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The scene from inside court as the three men were sentenced to death

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv
A Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine has handed down death sentences to two Britons, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, and a Moroccan man, Saadun Brahim, who were captured while fighting for Ukraine.
All dressed in black, the three men stood in a cage in a separatist courtroom as their sentence was read out.
The British men – Mr Pinner and Mr Aslin - stood motionless with their heads bowed.
In between them, Sauud Brahim rocked nervously from side to side.
They listened intently as they were told they would be put to death.
All three had been captured in the battle for Mariupol – fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
They were charged with being foreign mercenaries, trying to seize power and terrorist offenses.
The Donetsk People’s Republic is not internationally recognised – neither is the court that convicted them, except by Russia. It is thought all three will appeal the sentence.

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UK government 'deeply concerned' by 'sham' death sentences



The UK government is "deeply concerned" by the death sentences handed to Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, Downing Street says.

"We have said continually that prisoners of war shouldn't be exploited for political purposes," a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson says.

"Under the Geneva Convention prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity and they should not be prosecuted for participation in hostilities.

"So we will continue to work with the Ukrainian authorities to try to secure the release of any British nationals who were serving in the Ukrainian armed forces and who are being held as prisoners of war."

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the court verdict was a "sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy".
Aslin, 28, and Pinner, 48, and Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, have been found guilty of being mercenaries and taking action towards violent seizure of power. They were sentenced in a court in the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic that is not internationally recognised.

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