Morocco reacts to arrest of its national in Donetsk

Morocco has made its first reaction to the arrest of a Moroccan young man by pro-Russian forces in Donetsk where he received the death sentence.

Brahim Saadoun, aged 21, together with two Britons were indicted by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic to the death penalty on mercenary charges.

Saadoun “is imprisoned by an entity that is neither recognized by Morocco nor by the UN,” sources at the Moroccan embassy in Kiev told official news agency MAP.

The Moroccan national was captured in an Ukrainian military outfit because he was a marines member, a choice he made by his own free will.

The sources added that Saadoun has Ukrainian nationality and this was also confirmed by his father.

His father told Reuters that his son should be treated as a prisoner of war and not as a mercenary because he has Ukrainian nationality.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Morocco’s foreign ministry issued a statement underscoring Rabat’s support for the territorial integrity of all UN member states and its rejection of the use of force in international conflicts.