Russian court jails 66-year-old rights lawyer for 12 years on treason charge in Kaliningrad

A court in Kaliningrad, Russia's exclave on the Baltic Sea, on Thursday sentenced 66-year-old human rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison for treason. Prosecutors accused her of passing sensitive information to Ukraine. The case fits a wider pattern in Russia of punishing conduct linked to the war in Ukraine, including the jailing of lawyers who take on politically sensitive cases.

The territory lies between Lithuania and Poland. The verdict was reported by the rights group Slovo Zashchite, which said Bontsler had worked with a number of defendants accused of political offences in Kaliningrad.

What prosecutors allege

A court statement posted on Telegram did not name her. It said she had been detained by the FSB, Russia's intelligence agency, on suspicion of passing information to Ukraine beginning in 2024 about security officers in Kaliningrad. Prosecutors also alleged she gave Ukraine details of criminal cases in the exclave that were of interest to Kyiv.

On top of the prison term, she received an additional year of restrictions on her activity. According to Slovo Zashchite, prosecutors had sought 15 years.

Closed trial

The group said the trial was held behind closed doors. Bontsler and her lawyers were prevented from attending, and she was allowed only to make a closing statement. Her lawyers argued that none of the information cited by prosecutors was secret, and that she had been in ill health in detention.

Background

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, parliament approved laws making public actions aimed at "discrediting" the army illegal and banning the spread of "fake news" about the armed forces. Russian courts have also jailed lawyers who took on politically sensitive cases. In January 2025, a court sentenced three lawyers of the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny to between three and a half and five and a half years on "extremism" charges, in a case widely seen as an effort to discourage defence lawyers from taking political cases.