Russian lawyer on trial for ‘cooperating with a foreign state’ falls ill in court after medical care denied

Maria Bontsler, a 64-year-old Kaliningrad-based lawyer on trial for “cooperating with a foreign state on a confidential basis”, fell ill while in court on Thursday, independent news channel SOTAvision has reported.

Bontsler’s lawyers said she had been suffering the effects of high blood pressure earlier in the day and medication she did have access to only helped for a short period. The hearing was postponed until Friday.

Prior to her hearing, Bontsler complained of a lack of medical care, staff mocking her for her vegetarianism and refusing to hand over letters, according to SOTAvision. Since she has been in detention, she has been reprimanded for not keeping her hands behind her back while walking and for handing over paperwork to her lawyers.

Bontsler’s defence lawyer Ilya Sidorov said previously that she had caught a cold after prison staff “forgot” to take her back to her cell after she was taken for a walk in the pouring rain. It is thought she may have bronchitis.

Despite her age-related illnesses, including hypertension, Bontsler has not been given the medication she needs during her time in detention, Sidorov said. “Sometimes the staff won’t even accept fruit and vegetables for her,” he added.

Bontsler was one of the few lawyers in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, on the Baltic Sea, willing to defend political prisoners, including the seriously ill Igor Baryshnikov, who was convicted of spreading “false information” about the Russian army in what was widely considered a politically motivated trial in June 2023.

She was detained on 28 May and remanded in custody the following day for allegedly transferring data on the Russian security forces to overseas secret services.