The shocking news that two Britons fighting with the Ukrainian armed forces who were captured after the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol have been sentenced to death brings to mind the bad old days of the Soviet Union, when thousands who fell foul of Stalin were condemned after show trials which had more to do with political expediency – or the whim of the leader – than any notion of justice.
The two men, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, were convicted on the charge of “being a mercenary” whose actions had “led to the deaths and injury of civilians, as well as damage to civilian and social infrastructure”. But they had apparently both been fighting in the regular Ukrainian army for at least six years, and Aslin had reportedly taken Ukrainian nationality, which would appear to contradict this verdict straight away.
