Australian executive ‘appalled’ at Russia’s ‘sham trial’ of Oliver Jenkins who was once captured in Ukraine

An Australian guy captured via Russian forces whilst combating for Ukraine has been jailed for 13 years at the price of being a “mercenary”, a transfer that has “appalled” the Australian executive.

The overseas affairs minister, Penny Wong, mentioned on Saturday that Russia was once obliged to regard Oscar Jenkins humanely as he was once “a full serving member of the regular armed forces of Ukraine” and due to this fact “a prisoner of war”.

Wong accused Russia of engaging in a “sham trial” of Jenkins, a 33-year-old guy from Melbourne.

Jenkins was once convicted of being a “mercenary in an armed conflict” and sentenced on Friday to 13 years “in a strict regime penal colony” via a Russian-controlled courtroom in Ukraine’s east Luhansk area.

“The Australian government is appalled at the sham trial and 13-year sentence given to Australian man Oscar Jenkins,” Wong mentioned in a remark.

“The Australian government has made clear to Russia that Mr Jenkins must be given the protections afforded to him as a prisoner of war. Russia is obligated to treat him in accordance with international humanitarian law, including humane treatment.

“We continue to hold serious concerns for Mr Jenkins.”

Wong mentioned the federal government was once running with Ukraine and different companions together with the International Committee of the Red Cross to suggest for his welfare and unencumber, and offering consular make stronger to Jenkins’ circle of relatives.

Russia and its jap Ukrainian proxies imagine foreigners travelling to battle in Ukraine as mercenaries.

This allows them to prosecute them beneath its prison code, fairly than treating them as captured prisoners of conflict with protections and rights beneath the Geneva conventions.

The Australian executive has time and again known as on Russia to unencumber Jenkins, a former biology trainer.

Russia-installed prosecutors mentioned Jenkins “took part in combat operations against Russian military personnel between March and December 2024”.

They posted a video appearing Jenkins status in a court in the back of a pitcher cage, his arms in the back of his again and his expression despondent.

Russian forces captured Jenkins in December 2024.

In that very same month, he gave the impression in a video shared via a Russian army blogger appearing him being kind of interrogated and crushed.

In the video, Jenkins had his arms certain with what seems to be tape or plastic. He is dressed in army fatigues and has filth on his face. Answering in English and damaged Ukrainian, he says he’s 32 years outdated and lives in Australia and Ukraine.

“I’m Australian,” Jenkins says in English. “Oscar Jenkins. 32 years old … I study biology.”

A person in the back of the digital camera seems to strike Jenkins two times within the head with a stick as he’s puzzled in Russian.

He was once then believed to were killed in captivity, till Russia showed he was once alive in January.

A later video confirmed him present process a clinical exam, together with his captors heard joking within the background that his blood force confirmed “he wasn’t dead”.