{"id":22413,"date":"2022-06-09T13:08:11","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T17:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=22413"},"modified":"2022-06-09T13:08:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T17:08:11","slug":"ukraine-war-britons-aiden-aslin-and-shaun-pinner-sentenced-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/06\/09\/ukraine-war-britons-aiden-aslin-and-shaun-pinner-sentenced-to-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war: Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner sentenced to death"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><b class=\"ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Saaudun Brahim are accused of being mercenaries, Russian state media says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The court, which is not internationally recognised, is in the pro-Russian so-called Donetsk People&#8217;s Republic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The men&#8217;s lawyer said they all wished to appeal against the sentence, Russia&#8217;s Tass news agency reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">All three men were charged with being mercenaries, the violent seizure of power and undergoing training to carry out terrorist activities, RIA Novosti said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The Britons&#8217; families have insisted they are long-serving members of the Ukrainian military and not mercenaries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The UK government is &#8220;deeply concerned&#8221; over the death sentences given to Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner, Downing Street has said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"unordered-list-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5f7ft-BulletListContainer e5tfeyi0\">\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><a class=\"ssrcss-kelrwg-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-61722243\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Captured Britons appear in Ukraine rebel court<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"ssrcss-kelrwg-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-nottinghamshire-61159284\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Family&#8217;s &#8216;distress&#8217; at video of captured Briton<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">A spokesman said the government was continuing to work with Ukraine to secure both men&#8217;s release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">He added that prisoners of war &#8220;shouldn&#8217;t be exploited for political purposes&#8221; and pointed to the laws of war laid out in the\u00a0<a class=\"ssrcss-kelrwg-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/genocideprevention\/documents\/atrocity-crimes\/Doc.33_GC-IV-EN.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Geneva Conventions<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; which confers &#8220;combatant immunity&#8221; on prisoners of war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Foreign Secretary Liz Truss condemned the sentencing and described it as a &#8220;sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;My thoughts are with the families. We continue to do everything we can to support them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-dm4ypg-ComponentWrapper-HeadlineComponentWrapper e1xue1i89\" data-component=\"subheadline-block\">\n<h2 id=\"Propaganda-above-law-\" class=\"ssrcss-y2fd7s-StyledHeading e1fj1fc10\" tabindex=\"-1\"><span role=\"text\">&#8216;Propaganda above law&#8217;<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">BBC Ukraine correspondent Joe Inwood, who is monitoring events from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, said the men, all dressed in black, had stood in a cage in the separatist courtroom listening intently as their sentences were read out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner had stood motionless with their heads bowed. In between them, Mr Brahim rocked nervously from side to side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Chair of the panel of judges Alexander Nikulin is quoted by the Russian-state Interfax agency as saying: &#8220;In passing the verdict the court was guided by not only the prescribed norms and riles, but the main, inviolable principle of justice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Mr Aslin, 28, from Newark, in Nottinghamshire, and Mr Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire, were captured by Russian forces in April. Their families say they were fighting in the Ukrainian military.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The younger man has a Ukrainian fiancee and both men are said to have lived in Ukraine since 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Newark MP Robert Jenrick called for the Russian Ambassador to the UK to be summoned to the Foreign Office to &#8220;account for this egregious breach&#8221; of international law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Ukraine&#8217;s Foreign Ministry told the BBC that all foreign nationals fighting for Ukraine&#8217;s military who are captured have rights as prisoners of war under international humanitarian law, and Russia was &#8220;forbidden to abuse, intimidate them or behave inhumanely with them&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">A spokesman described the &#8220;so-called trial&#8221; of all three men as &#8220;miserable&#8221;, adding the government would &#8220;continue to make every effort to release all defenders of Ukraine&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;Such public trails place the interests of propaganda above law and morality, and undermine the exchange mechanisms of war prisoners,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Chairman of the foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of carrying out &#8220;a form of hostage taking, a form of revenge&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The Conservative MP told BBC Radio 4&#8217;s PM programme: &#8220;It&#8217;s not a state, it&#8217;s not a court and the judges are merely people dressing up and pretending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;The reality is this is an absolutely brutal thing to do to three completely innocent people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18mjolk-ComponentWrapper e1xue1i810\" data-component=\"image-block\">\n<figure class=\"ssrcss-wpgbih-StyledFigure e34k3c23\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-ab5fd8-StyledFigureContainer e34k3c21\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1k8og7a-Placeholder e16icw910\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ssrcss-evoj7m-Image ee0ct7c0\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/D4FC\/production\/_125342545_2524272a-4a57-4bea-a813-8688ecbc9a4d.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/D4FC\/production\/_125342545_2524272a-4a57-4bea-a813-8688ecbc9a4d.png 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/D4FC\/production\/_125342545_2524272a-4a57-4bea-a813-8688ecbc9a4d.png 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/D4FC\/production\/_125342545_2524272a-4a57-4bea-a813-8688ecbc9a4d.png 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/D4FC\/production\/_125342545_2524272a-4a57-4bea-a813-8688ecbc9a4d.png 624w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/800\/cpsprodpb\/D4FC\/production\/_125342545_2524272a-4a57-4bea-a813-8688ecbc9a4d.png 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/976\/cpsprodpb\/D4FC\/production\/_125342545_2524272a-4a57-4bea-a813-8688ecbc9a4d.png 976w\" alt=\"Donbas map\" width=\"1024\" height=\"838.4\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The self-proclaimed Donetsk People&#8217;s Republic, or DNR, was set up by pro-Russian separatists in 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Prior to Russia&#8217;s 24 February invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced that he was recognising the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, in a move condemned by Nato and Western countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">A month into its invasion, Russia scaled back its ambitions to capture Kyiv, and instead moved its focus to Donbas.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-61745556\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine. Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Saaudun Brahim are <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/06\/09\/ukraine-war-britons-aiden-aslin-and-shaun-pinner-sentenced-to-death\/\" title=\"Ukraine war: Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner sentenced to death\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,109,2,4,6],"tags":[4060,8568,2493,8570,8569,5373,442,1286],"class_list":{"0":"post-22413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-human-rights","8":"category-headline","9":"category-news","10":"category-uk","11":"category-world","12":"tag-bedfordshire","13":"tag-donetsk-peoples-republic","14":"tag-geneva-conventions","15":"tag-mercenaries","16":"tag-newark","17":"tag-nottinghamshire","18":"tag-russia","19":"tag-ukraine","20":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22413"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22416,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22413\/revisions\/22416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}