The big sister now has a huge weight on her shoulders: the little brother’s spirit.
A Moroccan-born Finn Imane Saadounen, 27, the younger brother is a prisoner of war in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic. It is an area in eastern Ukraine occupied by pro-Russian forces, whose administration is recognized only by Russia.
The “judiciary” of the occupied area sentenced the brother to death in early June Brahim Saadoune, 21, and to two British soldiers. The men were captured by the Russians in April while fighting in the Ukrainian forces.
Western countries have said the trial is a show staged by Russia. According to the UN, the death penalty is a war crime. Several EU countries and Britain have expressed a strong objection to the matter.
– He is practically still a child, looking for his own life. That’s why I’m now going public with this matter. I feel like he’s been left alone. To die there alone, Imane Saadoune tells in Helsinki.
The desperate sister is now looking for people who can help her brother.
Imane says that he called the Moroccan embassy in Finland and, among other things, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Morocco. According to him, the answers were rude.
– They said that what do you think we would do for you. It was like they didn’t care at all. It was as if they thought that it’s none of our business, call somewhere else, says Saadoune.
The Moroccan Embassy in Helsinki has not responded to ‘s request for comment.
The brother’s fate was revealed through Nettivideo
Imane Saadoune was last in touch with his brother about two months ago. My brother communicated that he no longer has an internet connection at the front.
It was quiet for a long time until Imane saw a video of his brother on the messaging service Telegram. At first he didn’t understand what was being said in the video.
– I thought he said he was fine or something like that. I asked my Ukrainian friend to translate the video, and it said that he is a prisoner of the Russians.
At first, Imane didn’t even tell her family living in Morocco about the situation.
– Then I had to call the mother and tell her that her son is imprisoned and in a really bad situation.
In early June, Brahim and the British were sentenced to death. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the Donetsk “court” convicted the men of “mercenary activities and actions aimed at a coup d’état and subverting the constitution of the Donetsk People’s Republic”.
However, Brahim is not a mercenary.
reached Brahim Saadounen’s friend from Kyiv Muiz Avghonzodan. He confirms that Brahim joined the Ukrainian army already at the end of last year.
Avghonzoda has previously given interviews on the subject to, among others, Deutsche Welle, The Washington Post and The Guardian.
Brahim’s papers are in possession of Avghonzoda in Kyiv and he also presented them to . The documents say that Brahim applied for the army in October and entered the service in November 2021 in Mykolayiv, where he received his training.
Brahim Saadoune joined the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps. According to Avghonzoda, he was transferred near the city of Pavlopoli in Donetsk in January. He served as an artillery driver.
– They lost their position there at the very beginning of the war, and after that his department was ordered to the Illich steel plant in Mariupol, says Avghonzoda.
The Illich steel plant is in the same industrial area as the Azovstal steel plant. There was heavy fighting in the area, and over a thousand Ukrainian soldiers surrendered to the Russians near the factory in mid-April. Brahim was with them.
Wanted to do something useful and joined the army
Brahim Saadoune arrived in Kyiv in 2019. He had been able to study aerospace rocket technology at the National Technical University of Ukraine. According to the sister, aeronautical engineer was her brother’s dream profession since he was young.
However, the corona pandemic caused the studies to no longer progress in the second academic year.
According to friend Muiz Avghonzoda, Brahim found drifting and hanging out with friends useless. He wanted to do something useful.
– He said he applied for the army. I said don’t do that. However, he wanted to prove something to himself. He also believed that it would make him a stronger person.
My sister also knew about applying for the army, and she wasn’t happy about it either. Imane believes that love for Ukraine was also behind the decision.
– At first, Ukraine was a completely random choice for him as a country. But when I talked to him, I found that he was in love with the atmosphere of the country, the people, the culture, everything. It was a new experience for him.
Other friends of Brahim, who appeared in international interviews, describe him as surrounded by friends, a social and affectionate person, although perhaps still a little lost in life. He particularly enjoyed techno music clubs in Kiev, where Muiz Avghonzoda also met him.
Friends say they loved Brahim’s energy and helpfulness. Now those same guys are trying to save his life.
Avghonzoda started the #saveBrahim campaign on social media after the news of the death sentence became public.
– At first, Brahim wasn’t even really mentioned in any of the news, it was only about the two Brits. That’s when I realized that this needs to be made public.
The only information about Brahim has come through the interrogation videos released by Russia. The videos themselves are against the Geneva Convention. According to the legal text of the agreement, prisoners of war must be protected from, among other things, “insults and public curiosity”.
For this reason, also does not publish videos of Brahim’s interrogations.
However, there are many videos of Brahim on the internet, and Imane has seen several of them.
– He has a completely different face, I have never seen him like that. He looks like he’s seen something really bad. He has also lost a lot of weight.
Imane is worried about her brother’s health. The brother suffered from severe anemia throughout his childhood, which was finally controlled, but now the sister fears that it has returned based on the video images.
Cruel comments in Arab media
Videos have also been seen by Moroccans. Some of them are made in Arabic.
Many Moroccans are pro-Russian, and local media have made the most of Brahim’s death sentence. People are happy about it on social media. There are even news sites waiting for Brahim’s execution so that they can then show it first.
Part of the reason for the comments may be a scene in Arabic videos where Brahim was asked about his religion. He says he was a Muslim but is now an agnostic.
For many Muslims, this is a statement worthy of a death sentence.
– Now in Morocco it is said that if he comes back, we will kill him. If Russia doesn’t kill him, we will, describes Imane’s social media posts.
Of course, several Moroccans have also tried to help, but there are also a lot of threatening comments. Imane also says that she is genuinely afraid for her mother and her other relatives still in Morocco.
In addition, there is a lot of propaganda and outright errors in the Moroccan media, which are repeated without checking the facts. One of the most important is that Brahim has Ukrainian citizenship, which is not the case.
According to Avghonzoda, a friend from Kyiv, Brahim only has a permanent residence permit in Ukraine. He even has Brahim’s Moroccan passport in his possession in Kiev.
Morocco has used the alleged Ukrainian citizenship as one of the reasons that aid from the state has hardly arrived.
Morocco’s positions are explained by the country’s close relationship with Russia.
Although Morocco has officially sought to remain neutral in the war, it was one of the few countries that abstained from voting at the UN in early March in favor of a resolution calling for Russia’s withdrawal, as well as another resolution on the war a few weeks later.
The background is, among other things, that Morocco needs Russia’s support in its effort to take over the Western Sahara. The countries also have important trade relations. Morocco exports a lot of agricultural products, and that is why it urgently needs Russian fertilizers in particular.
The countries’ warm relations are illustrated, among other things, by the fact that the king of Morocco Muhammad VI sent friendly relations and cooperation a letter of emphasis (you are moving to another service) To Vladimir Putin on the Russian National Day, June 12.
The relations between the countries are also reflected in the opinion of the citizens. According to the latest survey (you will switch to another service) 37 percent of Moroccans support maintaining relations with Russia despite the war. Only 14 percent support cutting them off.
Brahim Saadounen’s fate has been to fall into the teeth of many Moroccans.
“I would like to say that he is not alone”
Brahim talks about the moment of his surrender in an Arabic video. He thought about getting shot or suffering, but he still wanted to see the people he loved.
Imane now hopes that she can pass on the information to her brother that she is not alone.
– I would just like to be able to call him. I would like to say that he is loved, that he has friends who love him and do everything for him.
Young people have a lot to rely on now.
However, the friends’ social media campaign has already attracted the attention of human rights activists, and volunteer Ukrainian lawyers have also provided help.
Last week, the European Court of Human Rights accepted the petition submitted by Imane regarding the Brahim Saadounen case.
The court called on the Russian government to ensure that the death sentence is not carried out. In addition, Russia must provide the court with an explanation within two weeks that Saadounen’s rights and, among other things, medical treatment will be taken care of.
Muiz Avghonzoda is confident that everything will still work out.
– Our main goal is to get him to Ukraine. I believe it is possible and I believe it will happen.