Russian local media have reported that five Europeans who were captured in eastern region of Ukraine, who have gone for trial on Monday in a court administered by Kremlin-supported separatists in Donetsk.
As per reports, the five — Vjekoslav Prebeg of Croatia, Mathias Gustafsson of Sweden and Britons John Harding, Andrew Hill as well as Dylan Healy — all appealed not guilty to charges of being mercenaries.
They could be either awarded the death penalty under the laws of the self-proclaimed, unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
The coming court hearing in their case is currently scheduled for October.
As per reports, Harding, Prebeg as well as Gustafsson were nabbed in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol as well as could face possible execution for trying to “seize power by force” & “participating in armed battles as mercenaries.”
Hill is currently facing charges of being a mercenary, while Healy is being tried for taking part in the recruitment of mercenaries for Ukraine.
On June 9, the supreme court of the self-proclaimed republic already sentenced two Britons and a Moroccan, all of whom were captured by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s industrial east, to death for being mercenaries. All three have appealed their verdicts.
There has been a moratorium on the death penalty in Russia since 1997, but it does not apply in the two separatist regions in Ukraine.