Moroccan and Briton appeal death sentences in separatist-controlled east Ukraine

Still image taken from footage of Donetsk People's Republic Supreme Court shows Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner captured by Russian forces in a military conflict in Ukraine. The image was taken in a courtroom enclosure at a location called Donetsk, Ukraine in a still from a June 7, 2022 video.

TASS reported that the Supreme Court of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a territory only recognized by Russia and Syria, received appeals from Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saadoun.

It stated that Aiden Aslin was another Briton who had been sentenced and had not yet appealed, citing Aslin’s lawyer.

Three men were sentenced last month to death for their "mercenary activities" while fighting for Ukraine against Russia, and Russian-backed forces. This was a trial that Western politicians described as a "show trial".

Their families claim that they were contracted to fight in the Ukrainian army and are therefore not mercenaries, but regular soldiers who are entitled to the protection of Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners-of-war.

TASS cited DPR Supreme Court, which stated that appeals would not take more than two months to be considered.

It was revealed that Pinner asked for his sentence be reduced to life imprisonment.

The DPR Criminal Code has been updated and posted on an official website. It states that the death penalty will be used starting in 2025.

This is not clear for the men. Unlike Russia, the DPR has capital punishment in its statutes since 2014, but no legislation was available to implement it.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday (30 June) said that it had issued an order for Russia to prevent the death penalty being applied to the two Britons.

Russia's parliament adopted legislation last month to exempt it from ECHR oversight. Russia said that it wasn't bound by the order and that it was up to the DPR.