British nationals Aiden Eslin and Sean Pinner and Moroccan national Brahim Saadun were sentenced to death by the Moscow-installed Donetsk People’s Republic court, as reported by Russian propaganda media. Each of the POWs fought for Ukraine. They have thirty days to bring an appeal.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova announced on her Facebook page that Ukraine is investigating the events as war crimes. “According to the Geneva Conventions, Aiden Eislin, Sean Pinner and Brahim Saadun have combatant immunity as prisoners of war and cannot be prosecuted for direct participation in military action. Their detention should only be aimed at preventing their further involvement in combat,” noted Ms Venediktova.
Ms Venediktov stated that no prisoner of war can be convicted without the assistance of a qualified lawyer or defense counsel. “This is the basic principle of the right to a fair trial, which applies both in peacetime and in wartime,” the prosecutor general stressed.
