British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was this Friday “horrified” at the death sentences imposed on the British Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner for having fought in Ukraine against Russia and has asked members of his Government to do everything possible to obtain his release.
“The prime minister was appalled at the sentences given to these men,” a Downing Street spokesman said on Friday.
(Read: Russia-Ukraine war today: foreign military sentenced to death penalty)
Johnson’s office reacted to the sentence issued by the Supreme Court of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic to the two British nationals, who were captured along with the Moroccan Braguim Saadun when fighting against Russian forces in Ukraine.
The official source pointed out that the “tory” leader “has been following the case closely and has asked members of his government to do everything in their power to try to reunite them with their families as soon as we can.”
“We completely condemn the farce of sentencing these men to death. There is absolutely no justification for this violation of the protection to which they are entitled,” the London spokesman added.
UN rejects the sentence
These POW trials constitute a war crime.
The UN was concerned on Friday about the death sentences handed down against two Britons and a Moroccan captured in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian separatists while fighting alongside kyiv troops.
“Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judicial system of these self-proclaimed republics (of Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine) does not meet the essential guarantees of a fair trial,” said the spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Humans, Ravina Shamdasani, in Geneva.
Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan Brahim Saadun were sentenced to death on Thursday by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
The three were captured at different points in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian separatists, who accused them of being “mercenaries” in the pay of kyiv.
Russia asks to continue
I would not hinder the work of the judicial system and the security forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov called this Friday to “not hinder” the work of the Justice of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republicwhich sentenced two suspected British mercenaries and a Moroccan captured in Ukraine to death.
“All the processes are taking place in accordance with the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), because the crimes in question were committed on the territory of the DNR,” Lavrov told reporters in Yerevan, where he is attending a meeting of security ministers. Foreign Affairs of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (OTSC). Everything else, he added, “is speculation.”
All foreigners fighting on Ukrainian territory as part of the kyiv Armed Forces are Ukrainian military personnel, a ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the foreign fighters sentenced in Donetsk are not prisoners of war and cannot be treated accordingly. “Despite the declarations of the British authorities, these people are not prisoners of war, they are mercenaries,” Foreign Affairs spokeswoman María Zajárova assured today.
According to Zakharova, London has so far not sent any requests about its citizens to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“We, for our part, have repeatedly told the British embassy in Moscow that for all matters concerning the imprisoned British they should address the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, but, we understand that they have not shown any initiative in this regard, even despite the requests of the relatives of the detained mercenaries,” he said.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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