Russia Hasn’t Received Letter From the Father of Mercenary

Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the Kremlin had not yet received the letter from the father of Brahim Saadoun, the Moroccan sentenced to death in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

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"No, we have not received it yet," the Kremlin spokesman said. Saadoun's lawyer, Yelena Vesnina, said that they didn't know about the existence of such a letter. She believes that Saadoun's family might have written it on their own, without her recommendation.

The lawyer said that she had already explained to the Moroccan family that, firstly, an appeal would be filed against the sentence and only once it is turned down and the verdict comes into force will it be possible to submit a request for clemency to the DPR leader.

Last June 9, the death penalty was handed to Moroccan citizen Brahim Saadoun and UK citizens Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, by the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the DPR Supreme Court, accused of taking part in combat operations in the ranks of Ukrainian armed formations as mercenaries.

By June 16, the accused received copies of the sentence. According to the DPR Foreign Minister Natalya Nikonorova, the court should decide first if they could consider the appeals that the death-sentenced foreigners and a deadline may submit.