Pour la Justice! (The Heldervin Trial/closed TG to join)

[European Federal Union]

Launched from the airport in Azmenabad, an A-350 took off, pointing its nose in the direction of the red horrizon which the sun just crossed. The flight went westwards back into the EFU, or more precisely, the city of Paris, in which the highest court of the EFU was located within. In the back section of the aircraft was their cargo: the infamous Lord of Heldervin, the constitutional monarch who, before his arrest by Azmen security forces, had been the official leader of the even more infamous and critical nation of Heldervin. But with the final conclusion of the war between the EFU and Heldervin, Azmeny agreed to have over the Lord, for him to face a trial for the crimes comitted by his nation, either to be pushed for the deeds of evil or to once again walk free as an innocent man. It will be up to the judges to decide which of these options will be the path history will take and, as what he will be remembered, whether he is a free, innocent victim of the circumstances or as an evil king with disregard for humanity.

Escorted by nearly a dozen figher jets, the aircraft reached Paris without any interruptions, quickly landing onto the previously reserved and closed runway. It had very few civilian personnel, but a plentyfull ammount of military personnel and secret service agents in and around the compound. As the aircraft touched and slowed down, its door opened, and all soldiers and agents were on high alert, watching out, while a first group of four agents exited the plaed, followed by an entire platoon that held the Lord, safely restrained by hand and leg cuffs, as well as a metal chain pinning him to a chief operative. The air was tense even though there have been no warnings about any potential liberation attempts by outside actors, but still, operatives looked at any step carefully, which even ended in some suspicious civilians who drove near the airport being temporarily detained. But then men continued to walk, going down the ladder, reaching an amoured black car, which they forced the Lord into driving him off in a convoy of multiple military vehicles, which included BTRs.

As the convoy drove through the streets, people gathered protesting against the Lord, voicing open disapproval of him and calling for him to be rather executed on the spot rather than being trialed and imprisoned. One of the agents allowed himself a joke, telling the driver to slow down as he opened the window of the seat. The Lord was one, giving the civilians a clean shot at him to throw food waste or other hard objects at him. A thing that was a great fun at first, but one that had to be stopped soon after as a drunk protestor fired a flare gun at the car, aiming to hit through the window.

But it went on. Hours later, the car reached the court house, a large, imposing structure on the outside covered by an old medieval castle wall and a ditch filled with water around it. Driving in through the gates, a quick check which was basically just the driver handing over his ID, and the car drove in with the gates closing down behind it. They parked the car and continued their way on foot. Lord in chains, they walked through the frontal yard, made up out of a large green meadow that fitted plants and flowers on it, with a large center fountain that filled out the water for the irrigation tunnels for the yard. On top of the fountain was a statue made up out of pure gold of a blind woman carrying a wage, balancing two small gold figures pointing toward the main building through the stone pathway they walked across.

They entered the front hall, walking through the wide entrance and heading through a door, which led them into another much larger room. Multiple rows of bank have been left and right of them; in front was a blue carpet with golden cloth sets on its edges, similarly to a red carpet leading forward. There was the end, right at the wall, a single row where nine people sat dressed in very dark plaid suits. In front of them was a final row of two separate banks, each with multiple seats. The judges called the agent and king forward, ordering them on the bank left of them.

Judge. Judy: "Welcome to the Federal Court of Justice. My name is Judy O., and I, as the president of the FCJ, will be playing the role of lead judge for the case Heldervin-V-European Federal Union. I herby announce the beginning of this case. May the defendant first provide their view of the following accusations, as well as if they pledge guilty or not, before the word is given to the laywer regarding the European Federal Union. I herby announce the case Heldervin-V-European Federal Union, to be in session."

[Heldervin]

The Lord, for his part, was disgusted at the crowds, especially since the state allowed violent protests. He shouted out the window, "Calm your protests down, before you injure someone else who is important!" After arriving within the court, he proclaimed to the judge, "I, His Most Honourable Lord Chaburteen XIV the Father Monarch of the House of Schreiberstudnt, hereby declare these allegations false, and place the possibility of me being guilty in, as the youngins say, 'garbage'."

[Lemueria]

The Lord, for his part, was disgusted at the crowds, especially since the state allowed violent protests. He shouted out the window, "Calm your protests down, before you injure someone else who is important!" After arriving within the court, he proclaimed to the judge, "I, His Most Honourable Lord Chaburteen XIV the Father Monarch of the House of Schreiberstudnt, hereby declare these allegations false, and place the possibility of me being guilty in, as the youngins say, 'garbage'."

The Lemuerian representative started talking. "I, by the implicit consent of Lord-Emperor Velkintote II Velkintotenius, by the Will of God, of all Lemueria and Volkon, hereby do enter this trial and support the Lord's position, to an explicit degree."

[Heldervin]

The Lord, for his part, was disgusted at the crowds, especially since the state allowed violent protests. He shouted out the window, "Calm your protests down, before you injure someone else who is important!" After arriving within the court, he proclaimed to the judge, "I, His Most Honourable Lord Chaburteen XIV the Father Monarch of the House of Schreiberstudnt, hereby declare these allegations false, and place the possibility of me being guilty in, as the youngins say, 'garbage'."

The Lemuerian representative started talking. "I, by the implicit consent of Lord-Emperor Velkintote II Velkintotenius, by the Will of God, of all Lemueria and Volkon, hereby do enter this trial and support the Lord's position, to an explicit degree."

Lord Chaburteen would nod at the representative gratefully, disgust still spreading throughout him. He certainly did not like being falsely accused, no matter the circumstances.

[European Federal Union]

The Lord, for his part, was disgusted at the crowds, especially since the state allowed violent protests. He shouted out the window, "Calm your protests down, before you injure someone else who is important!" After arriving within the court, he proclaimed to the judge, "I, His Most Honourable Lord Chaburteen XIV the Father Monarch of the House of Schreiberstudnt, hereby declare these allegations false, and place the possibility of me being guilty in, as the youngins say, 'garbage'."

Judge Judy: "I see. Hearing that the defense is standing by the point of innocence, I herby give the word over to the states reprisentative, as she has yet to arrive I woul-"

Suddently, someone kicked in the door, interrupting Judy as she was about to finish her sentence. Through the open door, a very young woman with pale skin, white hair, and deep blue eyes entered the hall, walking toward the table with the mark reading for the Laywer of the European Federal Union. She put down a stack of paper that she had carried in her arms before walking up to the middle table right in front of the judges, looking in the direction of the obsevers and started to speak.

Law. Furina: "Greetings, my dear underlings, I, the glorious laywer Furina, have today got the incredible honor to prosecute and legalize the arrest and detention of this human scum into a facility that will make sure he is punished for the rest of his life. The first accusation, or rather the fact of the first crime he committed, has been the international crime of slavery and the trade of slaves under his raign and with his agreement within Heldervin. He and his government organized the sale of millions of originally child slaves but then also of normal slaves, selling millions of individuals to foreign nations. In addition to that, there have also been tens of millions of slaves who have been held within Heldervin and there forced to work against their will, which is a international crime and violates any principle of self determination. All of these crimes are well documented and have been the cause of a major controversy."

Judge Judy: "Thanks for your statment miss, I give the word back to the defnedant how to you respond to those allegations?"

[Lemueria]

The CSL representative squirmed in his seat, "Objection, your excellency! Where's the citation, especially about child supposed-slaves? I do hereby declare and fully believe that Heldervin did not put children into supposed-slavery, only non-working adults."

[European Federal Union]

The CSL representative squirmed in his seat, "Objection, your excellency! Where's the citation, especially about child supposed-slaves? I do hereby declare and fully believe that Heldervin did not put children into supposed-slavery, only non-working adults."

Law. Furina: "It is a shame that I have to provide citation for such obvious facts but fine here is the evidence, in form of a statment by a Heldervinian government agency, which openly states that it is legal to ensalve the offspring of slaves."

OOC: viewtopic.php?p=41460826#p41460826

"....It is considered illegal to enslave children, unless a child is the offspring of a slave....."

[Lemueria]

The CSL representative squirmed in his seat, "Objection, your excellency! Where's the citation, especially about child supposed-slaves? I do hereby declare and fully believe that Heldervin did not put children into supposed-slavery, only non-working adults."

Law. Furina: "It is a shame that I have to provide citation for such obvious facts but fine here is the evidence, in form of a statment by a Heldervinian government agency, which openly states that it is legal to ensalve the offspring of slaves."

OOC: viewtopic.php?p=41460826#p41460826

"....It is considered illegal to enslave children, unless a child is the offspring of a slave....."

"And your excellency, I do have to critique your immeasurably wrongful claims by saying that first of all, that where is the citation for them selling child supposed-slaves and especially first before 'normal' supposed-slaves, actually your words there are ambiguous and are at worst discriminationary to adult supposed-slaves. Next, the words there can be interpreted to imply that a child is not by default enslaved but even when the offspring of a slave needs to be enslaved, but children go to education, and education, though, ambiguously can mean the criteria of work, which means that de facto it might be impossible for child supposed-slaves to exist. Next I do still acknowledge that this doesn't relate with the Lord in anyway and the practice of supposed-slavery itself is unclear and ambiguous."

[European Federal Union]

"And your excellency, I do have to critique your immeasurably wrongful claims by saying that first of all, that where is the citation for them selling child supposed-slaves and especially first before 'normal' supposed-slaves, actually your words there are ambiguous and are at worst discriminationary to adult supposed-slaves. Next, the words there can be interpreted to imply that a child is not by default enslaved but even when the offspring of a slave needs to be enslaved, but children go to education, and education, though, ambiguously can mean the criteria of work, which means that de facto it might be impossible for child supposed-slaves to exist. Next I do still acknowledge that this doesn't relate with the Lord in anyway and the practice of supposed-slavery itself is unclear and ambiguous."

Judge Judy: "Before giving the word back to the state, if I understand you correctly you state that there has been no exports of child slaves within Heldervin. I will pointout that while I will keep your answer in mind, regardless of it is wrong or right, the impact it will have on the court ruleing is limited."

[Heldervin]

The Lord, for his part, was disgusted at the crowds, especially since the state allowed violent protests. He shouted out the window, "Calm your protests down, before you injure someone else who is important!" After arriving within the court, he proclaimed to the judge, "I, His Most Honourable Lord Chaburteen XIV the Father Monarch of the House of Schreiberstudnt, hereby declare these allegations false, and place the possibility of me being guilty in, as the youngins say, 'garbage'."

Judge Judy: "I see. Hearing that the defense is standing by the point of innocence, I herby give the word over to the states reprisentative, as she has yet to arrive I woul-"

Suddently, someone kicked in the door, interrupting Judy as she was about to finish her sentence. Through the open door, a very young woman with pale skin, white hair, and deep blue eyes entered the hall, walking toward the table with the mark reading for the Laywer of the European Federal Union. She put down a stack of paper that she had carried in her arms before walking up to the middle table right in front of the judges, looking in the direction of the obsevers and started to speak.

Law. Furina: "Greetings, my dear underlings, I, the glorious laywer Furina, have today got the incredible honor to prosecute and legalize the arrest and detention of this human scum into a facility that will make sure he is punished for the rest of his life. The first accusation, or rather the fact of the first crime he committed, has been the international crime of slavery and the trade of slaves under his raign and with his agreement within Heldervin. He and his government organized the sale of millions of originally child slaves but then also of normal slaves, selling millions of individuals to foreign nations. In addition to that, there have also been tens of millions of slaves who have been held within Heldervin and there forced to work against their will, which is a international crime and violates any principle of self determination. All of these crimes are well documented and have been the cause of a major controversy."

Judge Judy: "Thanks for your statment miss, I give the word back to the defnedant how to you respond to those allegations?"

"Objection, Your Most Honourable Judge Judy! I never organized such actions, it was the government."

[Lemueria]

"And your excellency, I do have to critique your immeasurably wrongful claims by saying that first of all, that where is the citation for them selling child supposed-slaves and especially first before 'normal' supposed-slaves, actually your words there are ambiguous and are at worst discriminationary to adult supposed-slaves. Next, the words there can be interpreted to imply that a child is not by default enslaved but even when the offspring of a slave needs to be enslaved, but children go to education, and education, though, ambiguously can mean the criteria of work, which means that de facto it might be impossible for child supposed-slaves to exist. Next I do still acknowledge that this doesn't relate with the Lord in anyway and the practice of supposed-slavery itself is unclear and ambiguous."

Judge Judy: "Before giving the word back to the state, if I understand you correctly you state that there has been no exports of child slaves within Heldervin. I will pointout that while I will keep your answer in mind, regardless of it is wrong or right, the impact it will have on the court ruleing is limited."

"My meaning was much more complex and nuanced than what you are implying, a gross underestimation of my arguments. I am saying that a child supposed-slave cannot technically be a child supposed-slave, and if you cannot disprove me, it really sounds like you're trying to slide it off."

[European Federal Union]

"My meaning was much more complex and nuanced than what you are implying, a gross underestimation of my arguments. I am saying that a child supposed-slave cannot technically be a child supposed-slave, and if you cannot disprove me, it really sounds like you're trying to slide it off."

Judge. Judy: "I asked you a simple question, I as judge am not here to argue with you, and the way you respond is incredibly disrespectful."

"Objection, Your Most Honourable Judge Judy! I never organized such actions, it was the government."

Judge. Judy: "Ths seems like a fair point, however what does the state say about this?"

Law. Furina: "To this I must say, that while he didnt organized any of these actions, he did endourse them and never attempted to do anything about this issue, instead of supporing or defecting to the anti slaver groups in Heldervin he also proudly supported the harsh fighting to stamp out the enemies of Heldervinian slavery. I must also add that he rejected any peace deal offered to Heldervin, thus contineing the war."

"And my dear judge, the Lemuerian here quite litterally incriminated himself, first by avoiding to answering a questioned voiced by a courts honourable judge, and second by publically denailing the Heldervinian child slave trade, which has been something which our own government confirmed having brough a couple thousand child slaves as test. I herby demand him to be arrested and temporarily detained."

[Heldervin]

"My meaning was much more complex and nuanced than what you are implying, a gross underestimation of my arguments. I am saying that a child supposed-slave cannot technically be a child supposed-slave, and if you cannot disprove me, it really sounds like you're trying to slide it off."

Judge. Judy: "I asked you a simple question, I as judge am not here to argue with you, and the way you respond is incredibly disrespectful."

"Objection, Your Most Honourable Judge Judy! I never organized such actions, it was the government."

Judge. Judy: "Ths seems like a fair point, however what does the state say about this?"

Law. Furina: "To this I must say, that while he didnt organized any of these actions, he did endourse them and never attempted to do anything about this issue, instead of supporing or defecting to the anti slaver groups in Heldervin he also proudly supported the harsh fighting to stamp out the enemies of Heldervinian slavery. I must also add that he rejected any peace deal offered to Heldervin, thus contineing the war."

"And my dear judge, the Lemuerian here quite litterally incriminated himself, first by avoiding to answering a questioned voiced by a courts honourable judge, and second by publically denailing the Heldervinian child slave trade, which has been something which our own government confirmed having brough a couple thousand child slaves as test. I herby demand him to be arrested and temporarily detained."

"Objection again, Your Most Honourable! I cannot legally stop them if the ministers and provincial representatives are in favour, that has been law since our unification, and that will remain as law. I legally do not have the power to accept or reject peace deals either. I am essentially just a figurehead."

[Assassins BrotherHoodd]

“Honestly. Heldervins lord is guilty as charged.”

[European Federal Union]

"Objection again, Your Most Honourable! I cannot legally stop them if the ministers and provincial representatives are in favour, that has been law since our unification, and that will remain as law. I legally do not have the power to accept or reject peace deals either. I am essentially just a figurehead."

Lay. Furina: "Hower you happily continued to serve as figurehead for a government which traded with slaves, while also profiting from the slavery system. Even if you held no power, you never even stated that those actions have been something you where against, nor have you ever given an opinion against Heldervins wartime narrative. Our honour, its as clear as the day, he was a supporter of the system and happily played the role as figurehead giving a slave holding and selling government credibility, which on itself should already be enough to sentence him."

[Heldervin]

"Objection again, Your Most Honourable! I cannot legally stop them if the ministers and provincial representatives are in favour, that has been law since our unification, and that will remain as law. I legally do not have the power to accept or reject peace deals either. I am essentially just a figurehead."

Lay. Furina: "Hower you happily continued to serve as figurehead for a government which traded with slaves, while also profiting from the slavery system. Even if you held no power, you never even stated that those actions have been something you where against, nor have you ever given an opinion against Heldervins wartime narrative. Our honour, its as clear as the day, he was a supporter of the system and happily played the role as figurehead giving a slave holding and selling government credibility, which on itself should already be enough to sentence him."

"Let's look at my father. He hated being the lord. He abdicated. He died that same year, only days later. That is hardly a coincidence. Look at Katharine V. She abdicated. She died shortly. You see a pattern? By abdicating, we are seen as a traitor to the people, and no longer a Defender of the Lives. Hence, we are executed. And that would break the hearts of my family, no? And of the people who love me, no? And you can not speak for me. We don't publish our laws to foreign countries, at least not the discussion for them. So, Your Most Honourable Judge Judy, I hereby counter Lawyer Furina, and I do request, on this 3rd May day of 2059, to turn over my defense to one of the peoples of the Heldervinian city-states."

[European Federal Union]

"Let's look at my father. He hated being the lord. He abdicated. He died that same year, only days later. That is hardly a coincidence. Look at Katharine V. She abdicated. She died shortly. You see a pattern? By abdicating, we are seen as a traitor to the people, and no longer a Defender of the Lives. Hence, we are executed. And that would break the hearts of my family, no? And of the people who love me, no? And you can not speak for me. We don't publish our laws to foreign countries, at least not the discussion for them. So, Your Most Honourable Judge Judy, I hereby counter Lawyer Furina, and I do request, on this 3rd May day of 2059, to turn over my defense to one of the peoples of the Heldervinian city-states."

Lay. Furina: "And? Do you have any evidence to prove that those killings have been conducted by your government and that because of those former monarchs stepping down. Furthermore, do you have any evidence which proves that you are not gulti of supporting the actions of your government."

[Heldervin]

"Let's look at my father. He hated being the lord. He abdicated. He died that same year, only days later. That is hardly a coincidence. Look at Katharine V. She abdicated. She died shortly. You see a pattern? By abdicating, we are seen as a traitor to the people, and no longer a Defender of the Lives. Hence, we are executed. And that would break the hearts of my family, no? And of the people who love me, no? And you can not speak for me. We don't publish our laws to foreign countries, at least not the discussion for them. So, Your Most Honourable Judge Judy, I hereby counter Lawyer Furina, and I do request, on this 3rd May day of 2059, to turn over my defense to one of the peoples of the Heldervinian city-states."

Lay. Furina: "And? Do you have any evidence to prove that those killings have been conducted by your government and that because of those former monarchs stepping down. Furthermore, do you have any evidence which proves that you are not gulti of supporting the actions of your government."

"Why yes, actually." He would then proceed to ask if he could borrow a computer in order to access the official government files.

[European Federal Union]

"Why yes, actually." He would then proceed to ask if he could borrow a computer in order to access the official government files.

Law. Furina: "Sadly this is not possible, you should brought and handed the evidence for your claims over to the judges before the case starts."

[Heldervin]

"Why yes, actually." He would then proceed to ask if he could borrow a computer in order to access the official government files.

Law. Furina: "Sadly this is not possible, you should brought and handed the evidence for your claims over to the judges before the case starts."

"I wasn't asking you, Ms. Furina," Chaburteen snapped tersely, his face muscles tightening. "I was taken hostage, mind you. How do I retrieve documents? Must I also note that we do not keep paper copies?"

[European Federal Union]

"I wasn't asking you, Ms. Furina," Chaburteen snapped tersely, his face muscles tightening. "I was taken hostage, mind you. How do I retrieve documents? Must I also note that we do not keep paper copies?"

Judge Judy: "I must state that was Furina said is true, you should have pressented and brough all the evidence which yo would need beforehand. I must also point out, that it took you quite a while to get here hower you at no point asked anyone for anything you could use to defend yourself, and if you cannot provide evidence for your claim now, I must give this point to the state."

[Heldervin]

"I wasn't asking you, Ms. Furina," Chaburteen snapped tersely, his face muscles tightening. "I was taken hostage, mind you. How do I retrieve documents? Must I also note that we do not keep paper copies?"

Judge Judy: "I must state that was Furina said is true, you should have pressented and brough all the evidence which yo would need beforehand. I must also point out, that it took you quite a while to get here hower you at no point asked anyone for anything you could use to defend yourself, and if you cannot provide evidence for your claim now, I must give this point to the state."

"Excuse me? Are you even listening? I did not know that I was going to a court case, all I thought was that I was being imprisoned. Do know that in Heldervin, you would have immediately been fired from your position and stripped of all honours. You should not deny a suspect the right to present evidence. If you do, then it is a lop-sided argument. And finally, where's my lawyer!?"