Foreigners Fighting For Ukraine Sentenced To Death By Russian-Backed Rebel Court

A court in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), a pro-Russian separatist state in eastern Ukraine, has sentenced three captured foreigners who fought with the Ukrainian army to death.

The DPR's Supreme Court found British men Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, as well as Moroccan national Saadun Brahim, guilty of "committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR," Interfax reported, citing a court official.

All three were also found guilty of acting as mercenaries, according to The Moscow Times. The men insisted they were active-duty soldiers serving with Ukrainian marines.

Under the laws of the DPR, those who receive death penalties are to be executed by a firing squad, Russian media outlet RIA Novosti reported.

The 1949 Geneva convention prohibits the prosecution of prisoners of war for their direct part in hostilities.

Pinner and Aslin got captured by Russian-backed forces in the now-occupied city of Mariupol in April. Meanwhile, Brahim surrendered a month earlier while fighting in a small town between Mariupol and the regional capital of Donetsk.

Both Pinner and Brahim pleaded guilty to actions aimed at the violent seizure of power less than 24 hours before the court's verdict, Reuters reported, citing a video released by RIA Novosti Wednesday. Aslin appeared to have pleaded guilty to a lesser charge involving weapons and explosives.

All three will appeal the court's decision, a defense lawyer told Russian state-run news agency TASS. They have a month to appeal their sentences.

The convicted men can also ask to be pardoned by the DPR, which would commute their death penalties to 25-year or lifetime prison sentences.

British officials have condemned the outcome of the trial.

"I utterly condemn the sentencing of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner held by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine. They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy," the United Kingdom's foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

Robert Jenrick, the MP for Aslin's hometown of Newark, called the whole legal process a "disgusting Soviet-era show trial" that "is the latest reminder of the depravity of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's regime."

"Contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, Aiden Aslin is not a mercenary. He has been living in Ukraine and serving in its armed forces before Russia’s illegal invasion and as a prisoner of war is entitled to protection under the Geneva Convention," the official wrote on Twitter.

At least 20,000 international volunteers from 52 countries have traveled to Ukraine to join the fight against Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in early March.