LONDON, (Reuters) – Two Britons and a Moroccan were arrested while fighting for Ukraine. They were taken to a Donetsk People’s Republic court (DPR). This is one of Russia’s proxies within eastern Ukraine. Russian news agencies said that they sentenced them to death.

Three men, Britons Aiden Aslin (Shaun Pinner) and Moroccan Brahim Seadoun were found guilty by the court of “mercenary activity and committing actions in order to seize power and overthrow the DPR Constitutional Order”, Interfax reported.

Three men were taken prisoner while they fought for Ukraine against Russia, and Russian-backed forces. Their lawyer indicated that the men would appeal against this decision.

Britain condemned the court’s decision, calling it a “sham judge”.

On Twitter, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated that she “utterly condemned” the sentence of Aiden Aslin (and Shaun Pinner) held in Russian proxies to eastern Ukraine. “They are prisoner of war. It is a fraud judgment without any legitimacy.”

Boris Johnson the Prime Minister spoke out saying that prisoner of war under the Geneva Conventions are entitled to combatant immunity, and therefore should not face prosecution for participating in hostilities.

Robert Jenrick (the member of parliament representing the district in which Aslin and his family reside) said that the proceedings were similar to a Soviet-era trial. He demanded Truss summone the Russian Ambassador to the Foreign Office.

He stated that the Russian ambassador and Russian government must know their responsibilities.

The men were placed in a darkened cage and guarded with soldiers. After they had their faces covered, they were asked to stand for the reading of the verdict. A video taken from the courtroom was published by the RIA Novosti news service.

This hasty trial occurred largely behind closed door. However, information about the proceedings was made available to certain state-owned Russian media organizations.

Pinner, Saadoun pleaded guilty just 24 hours before the verdict. Aslin appears to have plead guilty to the lesser of weapons and explosives charges.

Alexander Nikulin said that after the judge handed down his verdict, “the evidence presented in this case enabled the court to pass the guilty verdict, and not to mention how all defendants, except for one, pleaded guilty”

The verdict was passed by the court based on the norms and regulations, as well as the unshakeable principle that justice. He said that it was this which allowed the court to make the difficult and complex decision of imposing the extreme punishment of death penalty.

STATE UNRECOGNISED

Russia has declared that it supports the DPR as one of two separatist Russian-backed entities found in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Russia recognized them as independent countries three days prior to launching the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, a move that was condemned by Ukraine as unconstitutional.

The DPR is not recognized by Britain and Britain has not engaged in public discussions with officials about the matter.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin, stated earlier in the week that if London raised the matter directly with DPR this could amount to de facto acknowledgment of the region’s independence.

Pinner (48), and Aslin (28) were British citizens captured in Mariupol by Russian-backed troops in April during bitter struggle for control. According to their respective families, they had both been living in Ukraine since 2018.

Moroccan Saadoun gave up his arms in March during fighting in a small community between Mariupol, Donetsk and regional capital.

The case has not been commented upon by the Moroccan authorities since its capture.

Russian forces, along with their proxy, have now refocused their efforts on the Donbas, and established a “land corridor”, a link between Russia’s Crimean peninsula and Russia, which was annexed by Ukraine in 2014.