
Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region say their top court has handed down death sentences to two British nationals and a Moroccan for being “mercenaries” and fighting with Ukraine’s armed forces.
The separatist leadership in the Donetsk region said that Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner of Britain, and Saaudun Brahim, a Moroccan student, were sentenced to death on June 9 after a two-day trial.
They were convicted of “mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order” in the region, which is controlled by the separatists and a current focal point of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops.
Aslin and Pinner, who served in a Ukrainian military unit in the city of Mariupol, were captured by the separatists in April. Saaudun was taken prisoner in March near the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region.
Their lawyer said they will appeal the decision.
Russian officials have said that since they consider the three mercenaries, they are not protected by international laws regarding prisoners of war.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, through his spokesman in London, expressed concern over the verdicts and sentences handed to the three men, as they are entitled to combatant immunity.
“We’re obviously deeply concerned by this. We’ve said continually that prisoners of war shouldn’t be exploited for political purposes,” the spokesman told reporters after the verdict was handed down.
“Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity, and they should not be prosecuted for participation in hostilities,” the statement said.
“So we will continue to work with Ukrainian authorities to try and secure the release of any British national who was serving in the Ukrainian armed forces and who are being held as prisoners of war.”
In April, Russian state television showed Pinner and Aslin pleading guilty after their capture and asking Johnson to assist in exchanging them and other captured Ukrainian soldiers for pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who is being held by Kyiv on high-treason charges.
Relatives of Pinner and Aslin said at the time that their televised statements were made under duress. They also said that the two men served in the Ukrainian armed forces on a contractual basis and therefore cannot be considered mercenaries.
Russian media reports say Pinner has lived in Mariupol with his Ukrainian wife since 2018.
Russia currently has a moratorium on using the death penalty, but says that does not apply to the areas of Ukraine controlled by the separatists. /RFE