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Trial of British, Swedish, and Croatian citizens who fought for Ukraine set to begin on August 15 in the self-proclaimed DNR

Source: Meduza

On August 15, the “supreme court” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) is set to review a criminal case against five foreign nationals who fought for Ukraine and were taken prisoner.

According to Interfax, citing a source in the court, the defendants are: Swedish citizen Mathias Gustafsson, Croatian citizen Vjekoslav Prebeg, and British citizens John Harding, Andrew Hill, and Dylan Healy. According to the source, the hearing will be closed.

If they're found guilty, they could face the death penalty, for which there is no moratorium in the DNR.

In June, a court in the self-proclaimed DNR sentenced British citizens Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, and Moroccan citizen Saaudun Brahim to death. They were accused of being mercenaries for fighting on the Ukrainian side.

John Harding is a paramedic in the Azov regiment, Dylan Healey reportedly also fought in Mariupol, and Andrew Hill, the Russian Defense Ministry announced, surrendered in the Mykolaiv region. The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed the detention of Mathias Gustafsson on August 5. The Croatian Foreign Ministry also stated that it had information about the upcoming trial of Vjekoslav Prebeg, stressing that it “rejects the charges and does not consider them justified and legal, as they contradict international law and international conventions on the treatment of captured civilians and prisoners of war.”

In connection with the trials of the foreigners, human rights activists, academics, and cultural figures called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to propose to the head of the self-proclaimed DNR to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty.

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