“We are waiting for the court hearing”
On the air of the channel “Soloviev. Live» Denis Pushilin saidThat the death penalty in the Donetsk People’s Republic includes execution. Therefore, if the court refuses to honor the convicted foreign mercenaries’ appeal, the sentence will be executed.
“All foreigners have appealed, we are waiting for the hearing. If the court recognizes the relevant criminal measure, the cases will be transferred to the executive service for the enforcement of the sentence. (death penalty in DPR) is provided by execution. It is not open to the public,” he said.
Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, said that mercenaries arriving in Ukraine are not recognized as fighters, so “the best thing that awaits them is a long prison sentence.”
On Wednesday, on the broadcast of the Russia 1 TV channel, Pushilin also announced that none of the US representatives had appealed to the republican authorities about their compatriots who came to the DPR as mercenaries.
“It is not even possible to discuss how it would be possible to withdraw or save its citizens without reaching the leadership of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he said.
He added that his legislation does not provide for a specific date for the execution of the death penalty for mercenaries.
“Here, the executive service is guided by its own internal decisions, the execution of the sentence is not public and not subject to publicity,” said Pushilin.
Lifting the moratorium on execution
8 July on the website of the DPR Parliament seen message that the People’s Council of the Republic has lifted the moratorium on the death penalty. Lawmakers approved the bill.
“Considering that an exceptional penal measure can only be established for particularly serious life-threatening crimes and for certain crimes committed in or during wartime, the provisions of the Criminal Code on the execution of the death penalty shall apply. This Law will enter into force from the date of its official publication” was quoted on the website of the DPR parliament by Elena Shishkina, chairman of the Committee on Criminal and Administrative Legislation of the People’s Council.
It was also noted that the possibility of the death penalty being implemented in practice “will deter the commission of particularly serious crimes”. The bill proposing the abolition of the moratorium on the death penalty was passed by the deputies in two sessions. It entered into force on 12 July.
1 July on the website of the DPR Parliament reportedHe said that Cumhuriyet has created a new Penal Code that includes provisions on the death penalty.
“The death penalty is enforced by non-public shooting. The execution of the death penalty in relation to several convicts is carried out separately for each of them and in the absence of the others. During the execution of the death sentence, there is a prosecutor, a representative of the institution in which the death penalty is carried out, and a doctor, ”says in the document.
At the same time, the new law clarifies that the provisions on the execution of the death penalty will only come into effect from January 1, 2025.
Mercenary Decision
On June 9, in Donetsk, three foreign mercenaries – two British nationals Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin, and Moroccan citizen Saadoun Brahim – were sentenced to death for participating in hostilities on the Ukrainian side.
It was reported that the defendants also admitted to actions aimed at seizing power during the hearings. But under the article “Involvement of mercenaries in an armed conflict or hostilities,” they refused to take the blame. All of them objected to the death penalty.
Yuri Sirovatko, head of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic, said on July 12 that the court could decide on the appeal before the end of the month.
“Currently, the appeal made by foreign mercenaries is being considered, and if the court sees them unchanged, the verdict will take effect, the sentence will be executed,” Rossiya said in a broadcast on 24 TV channel.