DPR Leader: Foreign Mercenaries Will Serve Death Penalty By Shooting Squad If Appeal Is Rejected

Pemimpin DPR Denis Pushilin. (Wikimedia Commons/Administration of the President of Russia)

JAKARTA - The leader of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said foreign mercenaries caught in the war in Ukraine will face the death penalty if their appeal is rejected.

"All foreigners appeal, we are waiting for the court hearing. If the court finds this punitive measure and the sentence is appropriate, then their case will be submitted to the relevant institution to carry out the verdict. (Death penalty in DPR) stipulates execution by firing squad. It is not open for the public," he told the Soloviev Live TV channel, launching TASS July 13

The DPR leader also detailed that evidence in the case involving more than 100 militants from Ukraine's Azov nationalist battalion had been collected, with their files to be submitted to court.

Earlier, DPR Justice Minister Yury Sirovatko said foreign mercenaries were mainly charged with carrying out terrorist activities and mass murder.

"There are already more than 100 Azov members and their (mistakes) have been proven. They have been transferred from the location where they are being held as prisoners of war, to a pre-trial detention facility," he said.

"All the next steps with regard to them are being prepared, in some cases it will be a live court hearing, and in others a tribunal," he explained.

Previously, the DPR's Justice Minister said that the appeals of three foreign mercenaries sentenced to death in the DPR would be reviewed until the end of the month.

It is known that on June 9, a court in the House of Representatives sentenced two British nationals, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, who were arrested in Donbass, to participating in the fighting in Ukraine as mercenaries.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Office of the DPR previously said testimony obtained from Pinner, Aslin and Saadoun proved their involvement in crimes, such as forced seizure of power and mercenary activities.