Propagandist Margarita Simonyan claims that the father of the Moroccan Saadoun Brahim, who was sentenced to death in the "DPR", contacted the Arabic edition of RT and asked that a letter be given to Russian President Vladimir Putin ( Simonyan called him "boss" in the text ) a letter pardoning his son. She published a translation of the letter on behalf of Tahar Saadoun in her Telegram channel.
"Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! My name is Tahar Saadoun. I am the father of a Moroccan student, Ibrahim Saadoun, who was captured by servicemen of the People's Militia of the DPR during a battle near Mariupol. Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, my son is 21 years old. In 2019, he came to Ukraine solely to continue his studies. My son, during the three years he spent in Ukraine, traveled to different cities of the country in accordance with the requirements of his educational institution. At the same time, due to his youth, he did not have sufficient life experience and did not know how to choose his social circle correctly. In addition, he was outside our direct control, although in Morocco he was constantly under our supervision.
My son was a good young man who fell in love with Russia from childhood, so he learned Russian. But due to financial difficulties, he could not go to study in Russia. In 2021, due to Ibrahim’s young age and lack of life experience, he was fraudulently recruited into the Ukrainian army on a contract basis. However, he did not notify us and did not consult with us. Ibrahim's environment contributed to the formation of another personality in him, fueled by his youthful enthusiasm and youthful denial of established norms.
Russia, guided by humanitarian considerations and seeking to end Nazism, launched a special military operation to save the inhabitants of Donbass from the bloody arbitrariness that this region has been subjected to since 2014. We did not even suspect that Ibrahim was transferred to the front line in eastern Ukraine, since we completely lost contact with him at the end of March of this year. It came as a complete surprise to us when we learned that he had surrendered to the Russian military in the area of military operations. At the same time, he was dressed in a Ukrainian military uniform, and he had Ukrainian weapons with him.
I will not hide, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, that, despite the shock we experienced, we were glad that our son was taken out of the battlefield and at the same time the servicemen of the People's Militia of the DPR saved his life.
In the second part of the letter, published by Simonyan, the father writes that his son is "a victim of manipulation and brainwashing of inexperienced young people." He talks about the deterioration of his son's health, exhaustion and anemia, which he has had since childhood. Saadoun also says that he hopes for Putin's mercy and wisdom, recalling that he himself is a father and "knows about his father's feelings firsthand" and also "believes in God, who always calls for peace, tolerance and forgiveness of sins."
“During your reign, the death penalty was abolished in Russia, which became a celebration of life. Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, we very much hope that you will contribute to the pardon of our son and return a smile and calmness to our family, which believes that Ibrahim got involved in this war in vain.”
Earlier, Saadoun's father stated that his son has Ukrainian citizenship. On June 9, the “DPR” sentenced to death three foreign mercenaries who took part in the war with Russia on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the so-called DPR and LPR. Two British men, Aiden Eslin and Sean Pinner, and Moroccan Saadoun Brahim were sentenced to death by firing squad.
The Russian Foreign Ministry does not consider Britons Aiden Eslin and Sean Pinner prisoners of war, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. “Contrary to the statements of British officials, the mentioned citizens are not prisoners of war, but mercenaries. The mercenaries sent by the West to help the Kyiv nationalist regime are not combatants under international humanitarian law and do not have the right to the status of a prisoner of war, ”Zakharova argued. She also stated that the British side did not address either the leadership of the "DPR" or the Foreign Ministry about Aislin and Pinner.
Lawyer 21-year-old Moroccan Saadoun Dmitry Ershov told Lente.ru that he surrendered on March 12 in Volnovakha. According to him, Saadoun moved to Ukraine in 2019, and in 2021 signed a three-year contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and, on the advice of Eslin, ended up in the 36th Separate Marine Brigade. On April 27, Kommersant wrote about lawyers Pinner and Saadoun. The publication presented them as "the first and so far the only Russian lawyers who work in the DPR and LPR." Accordingto Mediazona , earlier references to their advocacy activities could not be found.