"Come like war crimes": Berlin appalled by death sentences by separatists

After three fighters were sentenced to death by a court in separatist Donetsk, the German government expressed shock.

"Come like war crimes": Berlin appalled by death sentences by separatists

After three fighters were sentenced to death by a court in separatist Donetsk, the German government expressed shock. Once again, Russia's "complete disregard for principles of international law" is evident. The UN also speaks of a judgment "without legitimacy".

The German government has sharply criticized the death sentences against three foreign fighters in a region in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels. The reports on the verdicts are "shocking," said a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin. The federal government condemns the court decisions. It shows "once again Russia's complete disregard for elementary principles of international humanitarian law".

"Regardless of nationality, members of armed forces and also members who are fighting on the side of Ukraine are so-called combatants and they have very special protection under international humanitarian law," added the ministry spokesman. He has "no knowledge" on the question of whether Germans are also prisoners of the separatists.

The UN also condemned the actions of the pro-Russian authorities against the three foreign fighters. "Such trials against prisoners of war are tantamount to a war crime," said UN Human Rights Commissioner Ravina Shamdasani spokeswoman. For years it has been observed that the judiciary in the self-proclaimed People's Republics "does not comply with the essential guarantees for a fair trial". British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss condemned the verdicts "strongly" on Thursday. She spoke of a "bogus judgment without legitimacy".

The two Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and the Moroccan Saaudun Brahim were sentenced by the separatist Supreme Court in Donetsk because they "participated in the fighting as mercenaries," the Russian news agency Tass reported on Thursday. The three men had fought on the Ukrainian side and had been captured by Russian soldiers.

Lawyer Pawel Kossowan said the three suspects would appeal the verdict, according to Tass. According to the report, when the sentence was passed, they were told they had the opportunity to ask for a pardon.

According to the Interfax news agency, the two Britons surrendered in April in the port city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, which had been besieged by Russian troops for weeks. The Moroccan fighter surrendered in March in Volnowacha in eastern Ukraine. The families of the two Britons had rejected the accusation of mercenary activity. Accordingly, Aslin and Pinner had joined the Ukrainian armed forces. The father of the Moroccan fighter Brahim also assured that his son was "not a mercenary".