The pro-Russian separatists in the east Ukrainewhere two Britons and a Moroccan have been sentenced to deaththey say that the death penalty will start to apply from 2025according to the updated criminal code of his breakaway People’s Republic Donetsk (LDN).
The DRC has had the death penalty in its legislation since 2014, but until now there are no laws to implement it. THE international Amnestywhich monitors the use of the death penalty around the world, has recorded no cases of official executions in the region.
Court in LDR in June convicted two Britons – Aiden Ashlin and Sean Pinner– and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun on death row for “mercenary activities” after being captured while fighting Ukrainian forces. Their lawyers say they will appeal the verdict, which came after a hasty trial without a jury and without access to independent or international media.
It was unclear what the new rules would mean for these men – described in the updated version of the penal code of the GDR published on the website of the legislature of the breakaway region.
The new criminal code, which comes into force today, also states, as reported by APE-MPE, that the death penalty is carried out by firing squad and that the head of the separatist republic will have the final say on whether to pardon anyone sentenced to death.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) announced yesterday, Thursday, that it had instructed Russia to ensure that those convicted did not face the death penalty. The Kremlin has said it is not bound by the rulings of the ECtHR, from which Russia has withdrawn since it launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has justified her his attack on Ukraine saying it is protecting Russian-speakers in the eastern part of the country from what Moscow calls “genocide” by Kyiv.
Ukraine and the West say there is no persecution of Russians in the region, and Putin is using those claims as a pretext to seize territory and attempt to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Leaders in the DRC and the neighboring self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, recognized only by Russia and Syria, have expressed their desire to become part of Russia. GDR politicians argue that if the region joins Russia, they will follow Russia’s criminal code, which has a moratorium on the death penalty.
Russia and its proxies in Donbass say the foreign fighters are “mercenaries” and therefore not covered by the protections of the Geneva Convention which prohibits the execution of prisoners of war.
Source: News Beast
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