First look at a case on June 9th local time this year. Donetsk "Supreme Court" sentenced three mercenaries to death. They are British Aiden Esling and Sean Pinner, and Monaco Dun Brahim. The three were captured by Russian troops in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in April.
Image source network
Before the three people were tried, the families of mercenaries , the British government, and Ukraine all put pressure on the Russian side. At the end of April, Esling's mother also called on Russian President Putin , asking the Russian side to treat her son well. And called on the Kremlin to treat Eslin as a prisoner of war and to treat him in a "humane manner" according to the " Geneva Convention ". On June 7, Asling's family once again stated that they were working with the British and Ukrainian governments to try to bring him home.
Unfortunately, things went against my expectations, and the three of them were still tried as scheduled. According to a survey by Donetsk, all three of them joined the Ukrainian Foreign Corps for remuneration. In other words, they are veritable mercenaries.
According to Article 47 of the Geneva Convention, " mercenaries do not enjoy the treatment of prisoners of war" . This is also the reason why Russia dared to warn that mercenaries were not entitled to obtain prisoners of war status, because there was a law to follow.
pictures from the Internet
In the end, British Aiden Esling and Sean Pinner, as well as Monaco Dun Brahim were both sentenced to death penalty . The death penalty means being shot. However, they were allowed to appeal the court's judgment within one month.
One month appeal, in my opinion, there is still room for maneuver.
As expected, under the mediation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Russia released 10 US and British mercenaries from the Ukrainian conflict , including 5 British, 2 Americans, 1 Moroccan , 1 Swedish, and 1 Croatian. Two of the five British and Moroccans were the few who were sentenced to death in June.
pictures are from the Internet
It seems that face is still very important. But it is unknown how much interest disputes are involved.
To sum up, although mercenaries cannot enjoy the treatment of prisoners of war, many people will not be sentenced to death, and more will be sentenced to several years or decades of imprisonment. Moreover, it may be used as an exchange of interests, etc.
