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GENEVA/ UKRAINE FOREIGN FIGHTERS SENTENCE
STORY: GENEVA / UKRAINE FOREIGN FIGHTERS SENTENCE
TRT: 1:42
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10 JUNE 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations, exterior
10 JUNE 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“We are concerned - the UN human rights Office - is concerned about the so-called Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sentencing three servicemen to death. Now, these were, as you said, citizens of foreign countries who were captured in Mariupol for being mercenaries. According to the chief command of Ukraine, all the men were part of the Ukrainian armed forces, and if that is the case, they should not be considered as mercenaries.”
4. Med shot, podium speakers, to rear, participant’s face blurred in foreground
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary within these self-contained republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts, and the right not to be compelled to testify.”
6. Med shot, participant, standing with arms folded, framed between other participants in foreground, blurred
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime. In the case of the use of the death penalty, fair trial guarantees are, of course, all the more important.”
8. Med shot, participants, podium speakers
9. Wide shot, journalists, seated, writing notes, and checking mobile phones
10. Close up, speaker shown in TV camera viewfinder, TV screen to rear, blurred
11. Med shot, participants, seated and working on laptops
12. Close up, journalist writes notes on notepad
13. Med shot, participants, one wearing headphones.
On Friday (10 Jun), the UN human rights office (OHCHR) condemned the death sentence handed down to three foreign fighters in Ukraine by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
The three men - Britons Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim – were captured while fighting for Ukraine, reportedly defending the southern port city of Mariupol.
Bitter fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces since the Russian invasion on 24 February flattened the city, where UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet has previously condemned attacks against civilians and civilian objects that have likely caused thousands of deaths.
“We are concerned - the UN human rights Office - is concerned about the so-called Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sentencing three servicemen to death,” said Shamdasani. “According to the chief command of Ukraine, all the men were part of the Ukrainian armed forces, and if that is the case, they should not be considered as mercenaries.”
The UN rights office spokesperson also highlighted longstanding concerns about fair trial violations in Ukraine’s breakaway eastern regions bordering Russia.
“Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary within these self-contained republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts, and the right not to be compelled to testify.”
Speaking in Geneva, Shamdasani added, “such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime. In the case of the use of the death penalty, fair trial guarantees are, of course, all the more important.”
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