Defender of political prisoners suffers medical crisis during court hearing to extend detention

Russian lawyer Maria Bontsler, who is currently on trial for espionage in the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, suffered a medical incident in a court hearing on Friday, according to Slovo Zashchite, a legal defence advocacy organisation.

Bontsler’s lawyer Alexander Chauzov said that his client had been forced to lie down on a bench due to high blood pressure. This is at least the fourth medical incident Bontsler, who has a number of comorbidities, has suffered since she was first detained in May.

The hearing, an appeal against an extension to Bontsler’s pretrial detention, was postponed until Monday. Bontsler was promptly removed from the detention centre office from where she was appearing before the court via video link.

Despite being called, no paramedics came to assist Bontsler, according to Slovo Zashchite, prompting her lawyer to file a complaint against the court for failing to provide emergency medical care.

Bontsler, who was renowned as one of the few lawyers in the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad willing to defend political prisoners, was detained in May on suspicion of sharing data on the Russian security forces with overseas secret services, and has been remanded in pretrial custody since then.

Despite suffering from various chronic illnesses, Bontsler has been systematically denied medical care in custody, has had access to both her lawyers and basic necessities restricted, and has been the victim of targeted bullying while in detention.