Prominent Russian defence lawyer denied adequate medical care while awaiting trial

A Russian defence lawyer in pretrial detention in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, is being prevented from communicating with her attorney, being denied vital medication, and is having her meals thrown away, Slovo Zashchite, a legal defence advocacy organisation, reported on Saturday.

Maria Bontsler, a 64-year-old lawyer who gained a public profile after defending activist and pensioner Igor Baryshnikov in what was widely considered a politically motivated trial in June 2023, is awaiting trial after being charged with “cooperating with a foreign state on a confidential basis” on 29 May.

Since that time, Bontsler’s lawyer Ilya Sidorov told Slovo Zashchite, the pretrial detention centre’s administration has sought to put pressure on her, including by falsifying evidence and detaining her in solitary confinement for extended periods of time.

Sidorov also alleged that Kirill Gibalov, head of the detention centre’s medical unit, had openly “mocked” Bontsler:

“For almost a month, she has never had her blood pressure measured, even though she asks for it every day because she has high blood pressure… She also has a whole bunch of other diseases, including age-related ones. But they have not given her any vital medications or arranged their delivery during this time. Sometimes they deny her fruits and vegetables as well,” the lawyer said.

On another occasion, according to Sidorov, Bontsler caught a severe cold because the pretrial detention center staff “forgot” to bring her back to her cell after a walk in the pouring rain. She knocked on the door, calling for help, but was ignored.

“We are sure that such inhumane treatment is purely out of revenge for her advocacy and human rights activities,” Sidorov concluded.

Bontsler, who has long held a reputation for defending clients facing politically motivated prosecution, had her home searched on 28 May, along with those of two other defence lawyers from Kaliningrad.

One day later, she was detained and charged with handing over “information about the region’s security forces” to the intelligence services “of an unfriendly state” at some point in 2024, according to Kaliningrad’s regional Investigative Committee. If convicted, Bontsler faces up to eight years in prison.