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.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] gnutrino@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

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.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 month ago

They are an official part of the Ukrainian armed forces though

[–] Hansae@lemmy.dbzer0.com -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

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

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I mean Azov nazis are also an official unit of the armed forces of Ukraine, so sure any fascist can officially fight for Ukraine.

[–] Hansae@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

So is rusich in the Russian military, ultra nationalists are often found in militaries as they're generally quite useful for volunteering for the meat grinder, nice goal post move though.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

Next you'll tell me about meat wave assaults.