Maria Bontsler receives 12-year treason sentence in Kaliningrad
A Kaliningrad court sentenced rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years as prosecutors alleged she passed information to Ukraine.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Russian rights lawyer Maria Bontsler received a 12-year prison term on a treason charge in Kaliningrad on Nov. 12, according to the rights group Slovo Zashchite and Reuters. The Maria Bontsler treason sentence also included one year of restrictions on her activity, reports said.
The case concerns a 66-year-old lawyer who represented defendants accused of politically sensitive offenses in Kaliningrad, the Russian territory on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland. Prosecutors had asked for a 15-year prison term, Slovo Zashchite said.
What did prosecutors allege Maria Bontsler passed to Ukraine?
A Kaliningrad court statement posted on Telegram did not identify Bontsler by name. It said the FSB security service had detained a woman suspected of providing Ukraine, beginning in 2024, with information about security officers in the region.
The statement also said prosecutors alleged that information about local criminal cases of interest to Kyiv had been supplied to Ukraine. Those are allegations by Russian authorities; the reports do not establish that the information was passed or that it was secret.
Slovo Zashchite said Bontsler’s lawyers argued that none of the material cited by prosecutors was classified. The group also said the proceedings were held in closed session and that Bontsler and her lawyers were barred from attending, except that she was allowed to deliver a final statement.
What is known about Bontsler’s case?
Bontsler was detained in late May 2025, according to VOA. The case was initially described as an allegation of confidential cooperation with a foreign state before it was reclassified as high treason, VOA reported.
Her health had worsened while she was in detention, according to Slovo Zashchite. VOA separately reported concerns about her condition from her lawyer and Valeria Vetoshkina of the rights group OVD-Info.
The closed nature of the proceedings means the allegations and the defense argument over whether the material was secret were not publicly aired in the reporting cited. The court statement did not name Bontsler, while Slovo Zashchite identified her as the lawyer who received the sentence.
Russia has adopted laws since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that criminalize actions authorities describe as discrediting the armed forces and the spread of what authorities call false information about the military, Reuters reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.