Rabat – The Moroccan Center for Human Rights (CMDH) has condemned the death sentence against Brahim Saadoun in Donetsk, calling for it to be repealed and for the defendant to be extradited to Morocco.
The Center criticized Morocco’s diplomatic silence on the subject, urging authorities to intervene in order to repeal the sentence by sending lawyers or contacting the Russian government.
The CMDH also said the 21 year-old has to be tried under Moroccan law in an internationally recognized court, and in accordance with international conventions of human rights.
Saadoun obtained Ukrainian nationality in 2020 as a student excelling in his field of aerospace technologies, the CMDH said, condemning his treatment as a mercenary and noting that he should be instead tried as a prisoner of war with all the caveats that comes with such a status in international law.
According to the CMDH’s statement, the university admission requirements for Saadoun required him to obtain the nationality, which they said is further evidence for his prisoner of war status.
The Center cast doubt on the integrity of the trial, explaining that many of Saadoun’s confessions were obtained under extraordinary circumstances of coercion.
After pro-Russian forces captured them in in early April, Saadoun and two British men were sentenced to death by firing squad on Thursday on charges of war crimes and terrorism.
While the Russia-backed tribunal accused the three of being foreign mercenaries for Ukraine, observers said the trial was unfair and based on “trumped up” charges.
Since the sentence was handed down, sympathy for the young Moroccan has been trending on social media, with friends and Moroccans in general calling for intervention from both the UK and Moroccan governments. The UN’s OHCHR also condemned the death sentences, calling them a war crime, while the UK’s Foreign Secretary called it a “sham trial without legitimacy.”
Read also: Brahim Saadoun: ‘I Wanted to Live, See the People I Love Again’
Sources from the Moroccan embassy in Ukraine said Saadoun was arrested wearing the uniform of the Ukrainian army.
“In his statements, the person concerned confirmed that he had joined the Ukrainian army by his choice. He even pointed out that he has Ukrainian nationality, information which was, moreover, confirmed by his father,” the sources added.
The court that handed down the sentence is not recognized by Morocco or the UN, according to diplomatic sources from Kiev.
Disclaimer: This article initially mistakenly reported that the statements were made by the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), and has since been amended.
