British citizen Sean Pinner, citizen of the Kingdom of Morocco Saadoun Brahim and British citizen Aiden Eslin in a courtroom in Donetsk. File photoMOSCOW, June 10Britain will continue to use all diplomatic channels in connection with the decision of the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, which sentenced to death two British mercenaries who fought on the side of Ukrainian troops. Earlier, two British citizens and a Moroccan citizen were sentenced to death in the DPR. According to the laws of the republic, the condemned will be shot. They can challenge the court's decision within a month. «We will continue to use all diplomatic channels,» British Minister for Schools Robin Walker said in an interview with Sky News. He noted that we are talking about prisoners of war and they should be treated accordingly. According to him, British Foreign Minister Liz Truss said that all possible support would be provided to those convicted in the DPR and their relatives. At the same time, he noted that the trial of them is «illegitimate».
Blinken commented on the death sentence for foreign mercenaries in the DNR Wednesday, the British Sean Pinner, Aiden Aslin and Moroccan Saadoun Brahim pleaded guilty to acts aimed at seizing power by force. The corresponding article of the Criminal Code of the DPR provides for the death penalty. Aslin also pleaded guilty under the article «Training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities.» The investigation found that foreign mercenaries took part in the armed aggression of Ukraine to forcibly seize power in the DPR for a fee. The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, stated that «The mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine are not combatants, the best thing that awaits them is a long term in prison.» He noted that foreign mercenaries do not have the status of combatants under international humanitarian law.
