OMM Newsroom
A court in Russia’s Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad has sentenced human rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison after finding her guilty of treason. Prosecutors accused her of passing sensitive information to Ukraine, AnewZ reports.
Bontsler, 66, is one of the few lawyers in Kaliningrad to represent people in cases described as politically motivated, including cases involving criticism of the war in Ukraine. The court also barred her from certain activities for one year. Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison sentence.
A statement posted on the court’s Telegram channel did not name Bontsler. It said she had been detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and was suspected of passing information about security personnel in Kaliningrad to Ukraine since 2024. Prosecutors also alleged that she had provided Ukraine with information about criminal cases in the exclave that were of interest to Kyiv.
The independent legal project Slovo Zashchite said the trial was held behind closed doors and that Bontsler and her lawyers were not allowed to attend hearings. According to the project, she was allowed only to make a final statement. Slovo Zashchite also said the lawyers had argued that none of the information cited by prosecutors was classified.
Bontsler was detained in May 2025 and initially charged with “confidential cooperation with a foreign state,” an offense punishable by up to eight years in prison. In March 2026, investigators reclassified the case as treason, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The International Commission of Jurists, which has called for Bontsler’s release, said the treason charge was not based on new evidence. The commission said it relied on the same Telegram messages that had formed the basis of the original case.
“The Commission considers that Bontsler, who was previously prosecuted on charges of ‘confidential cooperation with a foreign state,’ is being criminally prosecuted for carrying out her legitimate professional activities,” the organization said in a statement issued in March 2026.
“The Commission calls on the Russian authorities to release Maria Bontsler immediately and drop all charges against her,” the statement added.
Concerns about Bontsler’s health
Slovo Zashchite said Bontsler’s health had deteriorated in detention. According to human rights group OVD-Info, the defense said in June that she had come close to death in custody after being given medications whose compatibility had not been checked.
The International Commission of Jurists said Bontsler was 65 and suffered from chronic high blood pressure and several gastrointestinal conditions, including a duodenal ulcer. The organization said she had been denied necessary medication for about a month.
According to the commission, Bontsler suffered a hypertensive crisis during a court hearing before the medication was provided.
Bontsler founded the Kaliningrad branch of the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers and led it for many years. In 2022, she was fined for “discrediting” the Russian army after using the word “war” during a court hearing.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it passed laws banning the “discrediting” of its armed forces and the spread of information about the military that the authorities call “deliberately false.”
