ER Editor: Many thanks to AlethoNews for making the RT report available. We’re also following up with a Zerohedge report that predictably focuses on the UK angle using MSM.
Back in April, we published a report from The Saker (Ukraine Sitrep: Operation Z for April 16) mentioning the arrests of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner. This link provides further links to Bitchute videos showing Aslin talking on camera. We include one here:
Some Twitter reactions at #aslin pinner which raise some interesting issues:
Liz Truss of the Johnson regime supported British mercenaries going to fight in the Ukraine.
Now two of them have been captured and sentenced to death.https://t.co/LGF2M2EUg8— David Kurten (@davidkurten) June 9, 2022
DPR has sentenced Aiden Aslin, Sean Pinner and Saadoun Brahim to death.
They can appeal their sentences and ask for clemency within the next month. If pardoned their sentence will be apparently commuted to life or 25 years in prison.
— The Sirius Report (@thesiriusreport) June 9, 2022
So @trussliz , you encouraged people from Britain to go to fight in Ukraine.. now Aidan aslin and Sean Pinner have been sentenced to death.. are you comfortable with the advice that you gave.. the activities you encouraged are illegal and everyone knows it
— Rkidd01 (@rkidd01) June 9, 2022
🧵 Per our previous reporting regarding deliberations of “advantages” of holding show trials in the “LDNR” where Putin can quickly sentence POWs to death – It has begun. Aidan Aslin, Sean Pinner, and Saadoun Brahim have been sentenced. Aidan joined Ukrainian military in 2016. pic.twitter.com/15fxdqo9X9
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) June 9, 2022
BREAKING:
A “court” in Donetsk has just sentenced British citizen Aiden Aslin @cossackgundi) to death for fighting against the Russian Army in Mariupol.
They call him a mercenary, despite the fact that he received Ukrainian citizenship many years ago and is a UA soldier.
🇬🇧🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/nztAR8Hfp5
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 9, 2022
What is the legal standing of the court in Donetsk? Back in late February, we published the following from The Saker site as to how Russia had officially recognized the two Donbass regions as sovereign nations:
Putin Recognizes Donbas, Orders Peacekeeping Operation In Ukraine’s Breakaway Regions
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UK fighters in Ukraine conflict sentenced to death
Samizdat RT
A court in Donetsk has sentenced to capital punishment three people, who came to Ukraine to join the Ukrainan forces against Russia. British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, as well as Moroccan citizen Saadun Ibrahim, were found guilty of mercenarism and attempt to seize power by force by the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Thursday.
Under the laws of the DPR, forcible seizure of power carries a penalty of 12-20 years behind bars, but could be escalated to capital punishment due to wartime aggravating circumstances. Being a mercenary is punishable by a prison sentence of three to seven years.
The DPR, which was recognized by Russia as a sovereign state, tried the three foreigners on several criminal charges. They pleaded guilty to joining a terrorist organization and attempting to forcefully topple the government in Donetsk, but denied being mercenaries hired by Kiev.
The three fighters were captured in or near Mariupol, a port city that the DPR claims as part of its sovereign territory. It saw weeks of intensive fighting and a blockade of remaining Ukrainian troops at a steelmaking plant.
London demanded that its citizens were treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions despite not formally being at war with the DPR. The Donetsk government said it considered them mercenaries, who are not granted the same privileges as regular combatants, since they were not part of any regular army.
Source
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UK Outraged After 2 British ‘Mercenaries’ Handed Death Sentences By Pro-Russian Donetsk Court
Initially, reports suggested that a pair of captured British foreign fighters in Russian military custody faced 20 years in jail, but the final ruling in what Western observers have condemned as a “show trial” has ended up shockingly worse. On Thursday 28-year old Aiden Aslin and 48-year old Shaun Pinner have been sentenced to death by a court in the pro-Russian breakaway republic of Donetsk.
The British nationals had been serving in the Ukrainian military, but were captured in April while fighting in now Russian-conquered Mariupol. They appeared in a Donetsk court this week on charges of “terrorism” and “being a mercenary”. On Wednesday Russian state RIA Novosti aired footage of the men pleading “guilty” to the crimes, which critics say was coerced. A captured Moroccan national fighting for the Ukrainians, Saaudun Brahim, was also sentenced to death in the same proceedings.
А court in separatist-held Donetsk region has reportedly sentenced two British men and a Moroccan man who were fighting for Ukrainian forces to death. pic.twitter.com/qTHgrSeyYc
— Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) June 9, 2022
Aslin’s family has rejected the “mercenary” accusation given he was in the Ukrainian Marines. A family statement said he “is not, contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, a volunteer, a mercenary, or a spy.” Further they said pro-Russian forces violated the Geneva conventions as they released a video of him “speaking under duress and having clearly suffered physical injuries.”
The Russian-owned news agency RIA Novosti said on Telegram: “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 Interfax news agency said the three men were tried for “mercenarism” and activities “aimed at seizing power and toppling the constitutional order” of Donetsk. —UK Express
After their capture in April, both men appeared on Russian state TV pleading for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to negotiate their release. DPR authorities claimed they had committed “monstrous” crimes against the people.
Pinner and Aiden during that prior appearance spoke at the prompting of an unidentified man in the footage, and requested that Johnson bring them home in exchange for pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who is being held by the Ukrainian side after Zelensky ordered the opposition leader’s arrest.
Thus, this latest shock death sentence pronouncement may be intended as leverage and to put pressure on the UK government to see the proposed prisoner exchange through. Regardless, Johnson and British leaders are going to be outraged over the death penalty sentencing.
An initial statement from London within hours of the verdict said the UK is “deeply concerned” over death sentences for British fighters in Ukraine. The UK intends to file protest, also given that the DPR court is not internationally recognized. A government statement said:
“We are obviously deeply concerned by this. We have said continually that prisoners of war shouldn’t be exploited for political purposes.
You will know that under the Geneva Convention prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity and they should not be prosecuted for participation in hostilities.
So we will continue to work with the Ukrainian authorities to try and secure the release of any British nationals who were serving in the Ukrainian armed forces and who are being held as prisoners of war.'”
Western and Ukrainian media have slammed the “sham trial” of the men.
Brit fighters Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, are ‘sentenced to death’ by pro-Russian court after sham trial https://t.co/RNDVlOSg2h pic.twitter.com/NJet0ZyAsv
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) June 9, 2022
Pinner previously served as a British Army soldier before moving to Ukraine four years ago, after which he enlisted in Ukraine’s national army. Likely the Kremlin also intends the extreme sentencing to serve as a warning and message to other foreign fighters volunteering to defend Ukraine, which are commonly estimated to be in the many thousands.
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