Russian ambassador Andrei Kelin (right) meanwhile claimed British authorities did appeal for help in relation to the cases of Aslin and Pinner, but the note was ignored 'They need to approach the DPR - our recommendation remains the same,' Kelin said. 'There was an approach by the British to us - they sent us a note but the note was so full of such arrogant and didactic expressions that it really didn't produce any desire in us to cooperate in these questions,' Ambassador Andrei Kelin told Russian state television. Truss said she believes the best way to resolve the situation is via the Ukrainians, and has held talks with Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on the topic.Ī Kremlin official meanwhile claimed British authorities did appeal for help in relation to the cases of Aslin and Pinner, but the note was ignored. The British government says its citizens were regular soldiers and should be exempt under the Geneva Conventions from prosecution for participation in hostilities. 'No-one prevents the British authorities from going out directly and applying to the state authorities of the DPR, in some way at least inquire about the fate of their subject officially, and not make loud statements in the air in the media.' Tserkovnikova added: 'This seems a very bad position for British representatives to publicly put on a show in the media and talk about protecting the rights of their citizen…. She said that 'if the British authorities have such an intention, I know only from the media'. Tserkovnikova echoed Russian and DPR officials and commentators in criticising the British government for not doing more to seek clemency or their release, possibly as part of a swap. Truss has argued that a British governmental intervention could be seen to legitimise pro-Russian claims that Aslin and Pinner are 'mercenaries', despite them being paid members of the Ukrainian army with Ukrainian wives. Of course, it was a shock for them.'Īslin is pictured with facial lacerations and bruises after being capturedīritish foreign secretary Liz Truss called the sentences 'a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy', but the Government has thus far refused to intervene directly to prevent the sentence. 'They understood that punishment was inevitable for the crimes they had committed, but it seems to me that they did not expect capital punishment. 'All three of them understood that punishment awaited them. 'He changed just before our eyes,' she said. Tserkovnikova said that Pinner had been crushed by the death sentence verdict. It is unclear why it has taken two weeks to announce an appeal, though the hopes of any change in the verdict are seen as all but non-existent.Īn appeal hearing is expected in around a fortnight.Īslin, from Nottinghamshire, and Pinner, from Bedfordshire, were on 9 June convicted to death alongside Moroccan Sadun Brahim, 21, after all three surrendered alongside Ukrainian forces to pro-Putin fighters in Mariupol.Īnother British detainee Andrew Hill, 35, a father of four from Plymouth, has also been warned to expect the death penalty when his verdict is separately handed down. Yulia Tserkovnikova, lawyer of Shaun Pinner It must not be violated and they strongly insist on using it.'īut the rebel official Denis Pushilin, who would hear a pardon plea, has already said he sees no grounds to grant it. 'If the appeal is rejected and the verdict comes into force, a request for pardon will be filed because it is the inalienable right of our clients based on the laws of the Donetsk People's Republic. Lawyer Yulia Tserkovnikova, appointed by the Donetsk court to represent Pinner, said: 'My colleagues and I are working on the text of the appeal in the interests of our clients. The pair were captured in the besieged city of Mariupol in April after their Ukrainian army unit surrendered after battling the Russian army for 48 days. The British fighters sentenced to death by Vladimir Putin's men in eastern Ukraine are appealing their sentence, a lawyer acting for one of the Britons confirmed.Īiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, face being shot by a firing squad after being convicted of attempting 'a violent seizure of power' in an internationally unrecognised court in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |