tiny lemmy 

Russia jails Australian man for fighting alongside Ukraine

c/worldnews · u/yogthos@lemmy.ml · 22 points

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u/blinx615@lemmy.ml · 5 points

He's still alive; that's better than I would have expected. Or maybe its worse?

u/cfgaussian@lemmygrad.ml · 3 points

someone in the comments is claiming that this guy is not a mercenary because he is a member of the UAF's foreign legion

Irrelevant. All foreign fighters choosing to involve themselves in this conflict are mercenaries as far as Russia and the Russian justice system are concerned. They have repeatedly said this and have warned how they treat mercenaries. If you still go it's a case of FAFO.

u/BrainInABox@lemmy.ml · 2 points

Other articles about him definitely mention him being a member of the Ukrainian International Legion.

u/Hansae@lemmy.dbzer0.com · -2 points

The international legion is a official unit of the armed forces of Ukraine, set up by the Ukrainian MOD. Try again.

u/yogthos@lemmy.ml · 5 points

If you bothered reading the points in the law you linked, then you'd quickly see that he very much falls under the category of a mercenary. The fact that a bunch of marauders got together and call themselves an "international legion" doesn't change the nature of what's happening. Keep on digging though, it's adorable.

u/gnutrino@programming.dev · 1 points

It says he was convicted in a Russian-controlled court which is not at all the same thing. International law is clear on this and Russia is clearly breeching it.

Try putting some more effort into *your* trolling, I quoted the actual appropriate law.

u/yogthos@lemmy.ml · 5 points

the article literally says he's a mercenary, try putting more effort into your trolling in the future

Oscar Jenkins, 33, was convicted in a Russian-controlled court in occupied eastern Ukraine on Friday of fighting in an armed conflict as a mercenary.

u/gnutrino@programming.dev · 0 points

He is a member of the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine and as such is unambiguously not a mercenary by the definition used in the Geneva Convention and so is owed the protections afforded to prisoners of war.

Specifically, article 47 of Protocol 1 is clear that a neccesary condition to be considered a mercenary is that a person:

is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict

The fact that Russia has a history of ignoring this is not the knock-out argument you seem to think it is.

u/yogthos@lemmy.ml · 10 points

He's a mercenary, and Russia already stated that they don't treat maundering mercenaries as soldiers.

u/gnutrino@programming.dev · -1 points

What's a little contravention of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War between friends?

u/Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml · 7 points

>Oscar Jenkins, 33, was convicted in a Russian-controlled court in occupied eastern Ukraine on Friday of fighting in an armed conflict as a mercenary.

>Mr Jenkins, a teacher from Melbourne, was captured last December in the Luhansk region.

>Prosecutors said he arrived in Ukraine in February 2024, alleging he was paid between 600,000 and 800,000 rubles (£5,504 and £7,339) a month to take part in military operations against Russian troops.

The article seems to claim that this guy is a mercenary, but someone in the comments is claiming that this guy is not a mercenary because he is a member of the UAF's foreign legion. I don't know if there is any additional context here that I am missing.