Court in Russia’s Kaliningrad sentences lawyer to 12 years on treason charge

MOSCOW: A court in Russia’s western enclave of Kaliningrad on Thursday sentenced a rights lawyer to 12 years in prison on treason charges, with prosecutors saying she passed on sensitive information to Ukraine.

The rights group Slovo Zashchite said Maria Bontsler, 66, had worked with a number of defendants accused of political offenses in Kaliningrad, a Russian territory on the Baltic Sea bordering Lithuania and Poland.

The rights group quoted Bontsler’s lawyers as saying ⁠that none of the ⁠information cited by prosecutors was secret. It said prosecutors had sought a 15-year sentence.

It said prosecutors also alleged she had provided Ukraine with information about criminal cases in the exclave of interest to Kyiv. She was handed a 12-year sentence with an additional year of restrictions on her activity.