Russian-backed Donbas court sentences another 5 foreigners

MONDAY, 15 AUGUST 2022, 20:17

A Russian-backed so-called "court" in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has charged five foreign nationals with being mercenaries, accusing them of involvement in hostilities on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Source: RIA Novosti (RIA News), a Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency

Details: RIA Novosti reported that John Harding (UK), Vjekoslav Prebeg (Croatia) and Mathias Gustafsson (Sweden) face a possible death sentence.

Another two UK citizens, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill, were also charged but do not face execution.

Background:

• The Ukrainian authorities are calling on world leaders and international organisations to prevent the illegal trial of Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol and to visit the prisoners in Olenivka while the occupiers prepare the Mariupol Philharmonic for their sham "trial".
• On 9 August, Russian-backed separatist terrorists from the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk Oblast sentenced to death three foreign nationals who fought on the side of the Ukrainian army: British nationals Aiden Eislin and Sean Pinner, and Moroccan national Saadun Brahim.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has said that all foreign citizens who take part in hostilities in the territory of Ukraine as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have the legal status of combatants and have to be treated in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Conventions.

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