Russian rights lawyer sentenced to 12 years in prison for treason
Maria Bontsler was sentenced in Kaliningrad after prosecutors accused her of sharing information with Ukraine, while her lawyers argued that none of the material was secret.
By Marina Weber ·
A Russian court sentenced rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison on Thursday, November 12, after prosecutors accused her of supplying sensitive information to Ukraine. The 66-year-old was convicted of treason in Kaliningrad, Russia’s Baltic exclave, according to the rights group Slovo Zashchite.
Bontsler had represented several defendants facing accusations of political offences in Kaliningrad, the group said. The territory lies on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland. Her sentence also included an additional year of restrictions on her activity. Slovo Zashchite said prosecutors had requested a prison term of 15 years, three years longer than the sentence imposed.
In a statement published on Telegram, the court described the allegations without identifying Bontsler by name. It said the FSB intelligence agency had detained her on suspicion of providing Ukraine with information about security officers based in Kaliningrad, with the alleged transfers beginning in 2024.
The court statement also outlined prosecutors’ accusation that she had supplied information about criminal proceedings in the exclave. Those cases were of interest to Kyiv, according to the prosecution’s account. Her lawyers disputed that the information cited in the case was secret, Slovo Zashchite reported.
The rights group said proceedings took place in a closed trial and that both Bontsler and her defence lawyers were barred from attending. According to its account, she was permitted to deliver only a closing statement. The group also reported that Bontsler had experienced ill health while being held in detention.
The sentencing comes against a backdrop of Russian legislation adopted since the country launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Parliament has made public actions aimed at discrediting the military illegal and prohibited the dissemination of what the laws describe as fake news about the armed forces.
Other lawyers representing defendants in politically sensitive proceedings have also received prison sentences from Russian courts. In January 2025, three lawyers who had worked for the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny were sentenced on extremism charges.
Their prison terms ranged from three and a half years to five and a half years. That prosecution was widely viewed as an attempt to deter defence lawyers from accepting political cases.
