Shaun Pinner, Aidan Aslin, and Saadoun Brahim
On June 9, three foreign mercenaries were sentenced to death in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). The mercenaries include three young men – Briton Shaun Pinner, Briton Aidan Aslin, and Moroccan Saadoun Brahim. According to DPR laws, the death penalty is carried out by firing squad.
Judge Alexander Nikulin handed down a death sentence to the guys, as the prosecution was able to make enough arguments to convict the militants. Britons Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin surrendered in Mariupol in mid-April. Moroccan Brahim Saadoun surrendered in Volnovakha on March 12. Denis Pushilin, head of the DPR, noted that their trial was not part of a military tribunal.
Mr Nikulin himself commented: «In passing the sentence, the court was guided not only by prescribed norms and rules but also by the main, unshakable principle – fairness. It was this principle that made it possible to take this difficult decision to apply the exceptional punishment of the death penalty to the convicts».
On June 9, Britons Sean Pinner, Aiden Aslin and Moroccan Saadoun Brahim pleaded guilty to acts aimed at forcibly seizing power in the DPR. The corresponding article of the Criminal Code of the DPR provides for the death penalty in war times. Aslin also pleaded guilty under the article “Passing training in order to carry out terrorist activities.”
The investigation found that foreign mercenaries for remuneration took part in the armed aggression of Ukraine to forcibly seize power in the DPR. All the three foreigners were found guilty of acting as mercenaries.
Viktor Gavrilov, head of the department for investigation of crimes against peace and security of humanity at the DPR Prosecutor General’s Office, stated that the possible execution threatened the mercenaries in advance, as early as the end of May. An additional argument in favor of imposing such a harsh sentence was the establishment of martial law in the DPR.
The defendants still have a month to file an appeal. The convicted men may appeal the decision in court, or request a pardon from the head of the DPR. If they win the appeal, the capital punishment could be reduced to up to 25 years in prison.
The Kiev regime and its Western allies, including London now attempt to whitewash the crimes of the mercenaries, claiming that they had status of combatants and should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.
The speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolaenko, commenting on the verdict of foreign mercenaries in the Donetsk People’s Republic, said that all foreigners fighting in the Ukrainian troops have the status of a combatant.
London reportedly promised to use all diplomatic channels to support the militants. London has demanded that its citizens be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. However, Britain is not officially at war with the DPR.
The UK sent the DPR a request to appeal the verdict if the mercenaries were sentenced to death. If the court agreed with them, the convicts could face 25 years in a penal colony. British mercenary Aiden Eslin, known as Cossack Gundi or Johnny, asked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to assist their exchange for detained Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. He also repented for his years of service in the ranks of Ukrainian nationalists.
