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Two Britons and a Moroccan man captured by Russian forces in Ukraine have been sentenced to death, the Russian-owned news agency RIA Novosti is reporting.
Aiden Aslin, 28, from Nottinghamshire, Shaun Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire, and a third man, Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, appeared in a court in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), which is held by pro-Russian rebels, reports BBC.
The court is not internationally recognised.
They are reportedly charged with being mercenaries. But the British men’s families say they were in Ukraine’s military.
Head of DPR Pushilin said : “The British authorities have not contacted me or the law enforcement agencies of the DPR about the fate of the convicted mercenaries, and it seems that neither Britain nor Morocco is interested in the fate of the convicts.”
Both British men are serving members of Ukraine’s armed forces and the UK has made clear they are prisoners of war entitled to immunity and should not face prosecution for taking part in hostilities.
On Telegram RIA News said: “The Supreme Court of the DPR passed the first sentence on mercenaries- the British Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner and the Moroccan Saadun Brahim were sentenced to death, RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom.”
The condemned can appeal the sentence within a month and ask for clemency. If the head of the DPR pardons them, their death penalty could be replaced with life or 25 years in a penal colony.
The death sentence in the DPR is carried out by firing squad.