three foreign fighters sentenced to death by Donetsk separatists

On Thursday June 9, separatist authorities in Donetsk sentenced to death two Britons and a Moroccan who fought in the Donbass. “What they are accused of by the Court is their activity as mercenaries and then for having sought to seize power by force in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk”explains Luc Lacroix, correspondent in Moscow (Russia), this Thursday.

“The British Foreign Secretary has denounced a sham judgment without any legitimacy. London recalls that combatants are protected by the Geneva Convention but this is not the case for mercenaries and that is the whole point”says the journalist. “The families of the two Britons have told [qu’ils n’étaient] not mercenaries attracted by money but that they each had, for example, a Ukrainian companion”he continues. “For its part, Moscow has constantly denounced the use of foreign mercenaries by the power of kyiv, which replies that they are simple voluntary fighters”, says Luc Lacroix. The three convicts will appeal against this judgment.