# A 65-year-old defense attorney says she nearly died in a Russian pretrial detention center. Now prosecutors want to imprison her for 15 years for treason.

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/a-65-year-old-defense-attorney-says-she-nearly-died-in-a-russian-pretrial-detention-center-now-prosecutors-want-to-imprison-her-for-15-years-for-treason/
- Published: 2026-11-10T17:25:44+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T17:37:24+00:00
- Original publisher: Meduza
- Original article: https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/11/10/a-65-year-old-defense-attorney-says-she-nearly-died-in-a-russian-pretrial-detention-center-now-prosecutors-want-to-imprison-her-for-15-years-for-treason
- Topics: Europe, World

## Key points

- Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year sentence for lawyer Maria Bontsler.
- Her treason case was reclassified from a lesser charge.
- Her lawyers say she nearly died in detention after medication problems.

## Summary

Prosecutors have asked a Russian court to sentence Kaliningrad lawyer Maria Bontsler to 15 years in prison for treason. The case has drawn attention to the treatment of a 65-year-old lawyer known for defending people in political cases, who has been held in pretrial detention since May 2025.

Investigators allege Bontsler gathered information about law enforcement officers and shared details of criminal cases with a foreign state. Her case was initially investigated as confidential cooperation with a foreign state, but was later reclassified as treason, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years. Her lawyers say she has hypertensive heart disease and nearly died in detention in June 2026 after medication problems; prosecutors are also seeking movement restrictions and a 10,000-ruble fine.

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