We will execute captured British militants: Pro-Russian separatist leader refuses to pardon couple sentenced to death for fighting for Ukraine, claims it is ‘just punishment’ and there is no reason to change the country’s decision set aside by the court
- The DPR leader is likely to hear apologies from Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner
- Denis Pushilin has forestalled a court case to indicate he will not grant a pardon
- Her hearing last week was widely viewed in the West as a sham and show trial
The only man who can pardon two British militants facing the death penalty said he saw no reason to do so.
The leader of the Putin-backed separatist Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is likely to hear apologies from Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, and a Moroccan, Sadun Brahim, 21.
But Denis Pushilin has forestalled the trial in the puppet state to indicate he will not grant clemency.
Earlier, before their case went to court, he opened up about how they were guilty of “egregious” crimes.
Leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) Denis Pushilin speaks to journalists in Mariupol seaport
Her hearing last week was widely viewed in the West as a sham and show trial.
In footage shown on the Zvezda Channel controlled by Vladimir Putin’s Defense Ministry, Pushilin said: “As for possible exchanges, pardons and other things, at this moment I have the right to pardon these people in accordance with our legislation.
“But I don’t see any prerequisites for me to go in that direction.”
He said: “With the mercenaries, two Britons, one Moroccan – there was a trial, a direct trial, they were given lawyers….
“Their crimes can be categorized as felonies and extra felonies.
“It was easy to predict…that they should be sentenced to the death penalty.
British prisoners of war Aiden Aslin (first from left) and Shaun Pinner (second from left) were sentenced to the death penalty by a court in Donetsk on June 9
The trio appeals and these are heard before Pushilin is asked for a pardon
“My personal opinion is that this is just punishment for those who came to kill civilians for money from other countries.”
The trio appeals and these are heard before Pushilin is asked for a pardon.
But his testimony appears to be monopolizing the entire process and making a mockery of justice for the British and the Moroccans.
The trial they faced was riddled with questionable legal tactics, including the failure to appear of five witnesses, on whose word they were convicted.
Aslin’s family said he and Pinner “are not mercenaries and never have been”.
In footage shown on the Zvezda Channel controlled by Vladimir Putin’s Defense Ministry, Pushilin said: “As for possible exchanges, pardons and other things, at this moment I have the right to pardon these people in accordance with our legislation. But I don’t see any prerequisites for moving in that direction.”
They were living in Ukraine when war broke out and “as members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, they should be treated with the same respect as any other prisoner of war,” the family said in a statement.
Almost alone, Putin recognizes the DPR as independent.
Under international law, it is part of Ukraine, which does not carry out the death penalty, nor does Russia.
One suspicion is that Putin wants the men swapped for pro-Kremlin prisoners being held in Ukraine, such as politician and tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, a friend of the Kremlin leader.
A third British prisoner, Andrew Hill, 35, a father of four from Plymouth, was also told he could face the death penalty if his sentence was announced.