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Donetsk separatist court charges 5 foreigners as mercenaries, says 3 face death penalty
Russian media reported, a backed separatist court in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk charged five foreign nationals captured fighting with Ukrainian forces with being mercenaries on Monday (August 15), saying three could face the death penalty.
Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported that U.K. national John Harding, Croatian Vjekoslav Prebeg and Swedish citizen Mathias Gustafsson, who were captured in and around the port city of Mariupol, face a possible death sentence.
Two more Britons, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill, were also charged but do not face execution. All five of the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges, TASS reported.
It cited the judge as saying that the trial would resume in early October.
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The Donetsk authorities in June sentenced to death two Britons and one Moroccan citizen captured fighting with Ukrainian forces against Russia on charges of attempting to forcibly seize power, and of being mercenaries, the Anews reported, citing Reuters.
Foreign governments have declined to negotiate with the Donetsk People's Republic, one of two Russian-backed entities that have controlled parts of east Ukraine's Donbas region since 2014, citing its internationally recognised status as part of Ukraine.
Source: anews
