The UN is “concerned” about the death sentences of three foreign defenders in Donetsk
The actions of the so-called “court” are equated to a war crime
The United Nations says it is “concerned” about the death sentences of three foreigners in Donetsk, adding that “according to the chief command of Ukraine, all the men were part of the Ukrainian armed forces and should not be considered as mercenaries,” CNN reports.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing in Geneva on Friday, UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said: “The UN Office of Human Rights is concerned about the so-called Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sentencing three servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, foreign nationals, to death. They were taken prisoner in Mariupol for mercenaries and for trying to seize power in the so-called “republic”.”
On Thursday a pro-russian DPR court sentenced Moroccan citizen Saaudun Brahim and British nationals Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner to death, having accused them of being mercenaries on Ukraine's side.
Shamdasani said that “since 2015, the UN has observed that the so-called “judiciary” within these self-contained republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts and the right not to be compelled to testify.”
“Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime. In the case of the use of the death penalty, fair trial guarantees are of course all the more important,” Shamdasani added.
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