I was lying there quietly dying in my cell. My heart stopped several times”...

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“I was lying there quietly dying in my cell. My heart stopped several times.” Lawyer Maria Bontsler, who was arrested on charges of cooperating with a foreign state, has described the unbearable conditions in the Kaliningrad pretrial detention center

Lawyer Maria Bontsler from Kaliningrad is known for defending people accused in political cases. A year ago, she was arrested on charges of confidential cooperation with a foreign state. Since then, Bontsler has been held in Kaliningrad SIZO-1 and, according to the prisoner and her lawyer, has been subjected to pressure. On June 30, it became known from her defense lawyer that several days earlier Bontsler had nearly died in the detention center “because of a lack of coordination in the medications prescribed to her.” The defense asked for the prisoner to be transferred to a hospital, but the court refused. According to OVD-Info, Bontsler has been diagnosed with hypertensive heart disease, which is accompanied by spikes in blood pressure and a high risk of stroke. Today, Bontsler appeared by video link during a court hearing on her lawsuit against the Regional Clinical Hospital and SIZO-1 over the quality of medical care and her conditions of detention. Here is what she said about her condition and life in the Kaliningrad detention center.

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“I was lying there quietly dying in my cell. My heart stopped several times”