‘Everything is ready’ for firing squad execution if appeals fail
AIDEN’S APPEAL STILL PENDING AFTER BEING CAPTURED FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE
AN internationally unrecognised republic is preparing to execute two captured Britons.
Aiden Aslin, 28, of Newark, and Shaun Pinner, 48, of Watford, were captured in April while fighting for Ukraine against the Russian invasion in Mariupol.
Last mopnth. the pair were sentenced to death by firing squad for fighting as mercenaries by the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
However, they were both fighting for the Ukrainian army. Both lived in Ukraine before the war.
Moroccan national Saadoun Brahim was also sentenced to death with the pair.
Aiden’s lawyer, Pavel Kosovan, filed an appeal against the sentence on July 4, and it has been reported that the other two men have also launched appeals.
However, a statement from officials in the breakaway region of Ukraine reportedly said that the separatists are now “preparing a place for their execution”.
DPR spokesman Denys Pushilin said: “Everything is ready. It won’t be public.”
A protest for the release of Aiden and the other prisoners took place in Nottingham’s Old Market Square, on June 26, as people showed their support for the men who they believe are entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention.
The Russian state-run news agency TASS has reported that Pushilin said: “All the foreigners filed appeals. We are awaiting a court session.
“If the court finds this punitive measure and the sentence to be appropriate, then their cases will be handed over to the corresponding agency to carry out the verdict.
“[Capital punishment in the DPR] stipulates execution by firing squad. It’s not public.”
Pushilin told TASS that: “The DPR has received no official inquiries from the United Kingdom and Morocco as of now.”
In June, Aiden’s family told the Newark Advertiser: “We love Aiden with all our hearts. He and Shaun, as members of Ukrainian armed forces, should be treated with respect just like any other prisoners of war.
“They are not, and never were, mercenaries. We hope that this sentence will be overturned, and beseech the governments of the UK and Ukraine to do everything in their power to have them returned to us safely, and soon. We can only imagine what they are going through right now.”
After the news of the death sentence broke, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “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 judgement with absolutely no legitimacy. My thoughts are with the families.”
Aiden’s appeal against the sentence is still pending.