The Sword and Shield (Open, MT)

[Osea 767]

Belgrade, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

A fact that would surprise many foreigners would that there were actually other parties than the Communist Party in Osea. These parties did have difficulties in campaigning, were not that large, and generally needed to take left wing platforms to have any chance or surviving the hardships of Osean poliics. So far, this meant they had achieved little success against the Communist Party of Osea.

Apparently though, even this was not enough for those in power. One of these smaller parties, the United Socialist Party of Osea, was now getting a lot of negetive attention from the government. Despite it's name, the United Socialist Party was increasingly getting more capitalist in its policies. The Communists were unwilling to stand this. The opposition was becoming stronger and it's policies were not something that could be allowed to continue. Luckily for the Communist Party, they were in a position where they could easily deal with this irritation.

The United Socialist Party headquarters were busy. It was dark and getting late, but even then, the pary leadership felt that their business was worth working a bit over their usual hours. This was something preplanned and would now come back to hurt them. A handful of armoured personnel carriers now parked themselves outside the headquarters of the United Socialist Party. The noise inside was enough to block out their noise, as well as that of the OMON troops disembarking. These forces, under the employ of the Ministry of the Interior, were now to be used to get rid of the Kremlin's enemies. These troops took positions at various entrance points, and once they were in position, stormed the building.

The party leaders were taken by surprise and were quickly rounded up. A small number of party members tried to take action against the armed troops. This was, of course, futile. Some of the party leaders were spared, but most of them were now being accussed of some type of crime, ranging from corruption to treason. As far as politics was concerned, the leadership of the main opposition party in Osea had effectively been decapatated.


Kremlin Palace, Serovskya, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

At the Kremlin, the centre of Soviet political power, the reports had already come in. Now, a number of high ranking members of the Soviet government were now in conference. Premier Mironov, along with the foreign and defence minister, were on a state vist. So they were participating through web cameras and video conferencing displays. The connections were secure, with the links being established using equpment that the Oseans had brought with them

Mironov was the first to speak. "We have dealt a serious blow to the enemies of the revolution, there can be no doubt about that. It will be a while before they can seriously challenge us again. Now, Minister Schmidt, we are going to need to cover up our real motivations. This is why I gave you authorisation to launch your anti corruption mission at the same tiime as this operation. While useful by themselves, they also give us a perfect reason to justify what we have done.

Now, I have already talked with foreign minister Izvolsky on this. We will not do anything to draw attention to this. Those who ask will be told that this was only partof a widespread effort to deal with crime and all types of ilegal actives in our country being commited in our country. Do you agree?".

The ministers were quick in showing their agreement, nodding and and saying yes repeatedly. Mironov then finished the meeting by saying "Right, now that this matter has been relatively cleared, I say good night to you". He then turned off the camera at his end and his face dissapeared from the screen.

[The Ruivan Empire]

Belgrade, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

A fact that would surprise many foreigners would that there were actually other parties than the Communist Party in Osea. These parties did have difficulties in campaigning, were not that large, and generally needed to take left wing platforms to have any chance or surviving the hardships of Osean poliics. So far, this meant they had achieved little success against the Communist Party of Osea.

Apparently though, even this was not enough for those in power. One of these smaller parties, the United Socialist Party of Osea, was now getting a lot of negetive attention from the government. Despite it's name, the United Socialist Party was increasingly getting more capitalist in its policies. The Communists were unwilling to stand this. The opposition was becoming stronger and it's policies were not something that could be allowed to continue. Luckily for the Communist Party, they were in a position where they could easily deal with this irritation.

The United Socialist Party headquarters were busy. It was dark and getting late, but even then, the pary leadership felt that their business was worth working a bit over their usual hours. This was something preplanned and would now come back to hurt them. A handful of armoured personnel carriers now parked themselves outside the headquarters of the United Socialist Party. The noise inside was enough to block out their noise, as well as that of the OMON troops disembarking. These forces, under the employ of the Ministry of the Interior, were now to be used to get rid of the Kremlin's enemies. These troops took positions at various entrance points, and once they were in position, stormed the building.

The party leaders were taken by surprise and were quickly rounded up. A small number of party members tried to take action against the armed troops. This was, of course, futile. Some of the party leaders were spared, but most of them were now being accussed of some type of crime, ranging from corruption to treason. As far as politics was concerned, the leadership of the main opposition party in Osea had effectively been decapatated.


Kremlin Palace, Serovskya, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

At the Kremlin, the centre of Soviet political power, the reports had already come in. Now, a number of high ranking members of the Soviet government were now in conference. Premier Mironov, along with the foreign and defence minister, were on a state vist. So they were participating through web cameras and video conferencing displays. The connections were secure, with the links being established using equpment that the Oseans had brought with them
OOC: what is it you wish to end up happening?
Mironov was the first to speak. "We have dealt a serious blow to the enemies of the revolution, there can be no doubt about that. It will be a while before they can seriously challenge us again. Now, Minister Schmidt, we are going to need to cover up our real motivations. This is why I gave you authorisation to launch your anti corruption mission at the same tiime as this operation. While useful by themselves, they also give us a perfect reason to justify what we have done.

Now, I have already talked with foreign minister Izvolsky on this. We will not do anything to draw attention to this. Those who ask will be told that this was only partof a widespread effort to deal with crime and all types of ilegal actives in our country being commited in our country. Do you agree?".

The ministers were quick in showing their agreement, nodding and and saying yes repeatedly. Mironov then finished the meeting by saying "Right, now that this matter has been relatively cleared, I say good night to you". He then turned off the camera at his end and his face dissapeared from the screen.

[Osea 767]

OOC: While you post is rather messed up, I will give it a responce. Even though my nations is communist, it is going to be rather easy for anyone to notice that key members of the opposition party have dissapeared. I don't have a particular outcome in mind for this RP. People can respond as they like, though I'd prefer not to be invaded.

[Nullivan]

The Empire of Nullivan congratulates you on taking care of the pathetic "opposition".
Political Freedoms are overrated.

[The Ruivan Empire]

Belgrade, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

A fact that would surprise many foreigners would that there were actually other parties than the Communist Party in Osea. These parties did have difficulties in campaigning, were not that large, and generally needed to take left wing platforms to have any chance or surviving the hardships of Osean poliics. So far, this meant they had achieved little success against the Communist Party of Osea.

Apparently though, even this was not enough for those in power. One of these smaller parties, the United Socialist Party of Osea, was now getting a lot of negetive attention from the government. Despite it's name, the United Socialist Party was increasingly getting more capitalist in its policies. The Communists were unwilling to stand this. The opposition was becoming stronger and it's policies were not something that could be allowed to continue. Luckily for the Communist Party, they were in a position where they could easily deal with this irritation.

The United Socialist Party headquarters were busy. It was dark and getting late, but even then, the pary leadership felt that their business was worth working a bit over their usual hours. This was something preplanned and would now come back to hurt them. A handful of armoured personnel carriers now parked themselves outside the headquarters of the United Socialist Party. The noise inside was enough to block out their noise, as well as that of the OMON troops disembarking. These forces, under the employ of the Ministry of the Interior, were now to be used to get rid of the Kremlin's enemies. These troops took positions at various entrance points, and once they were in position, stormed the building.

The party leaders were taken by surprise and were quickly rounded up. A small number of party members tried to take action against the armed troops. This was, of course, futile. Some of the party leaders were spared, but most of them were now being accussed of some type of crime, ranging from corruption to treason. As far as politics was concerned, the leadership of the main opposition party in Osea had effectively been decapatated.


Kremlin Palace, Serovskya, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

At the Kremlin, the centre of Soviet political power, the reports had already come in. Now, a number of high ranking members of the Soviet government were now in conference. Premier Mironov, along with the foreign and defence minister, were on a state vist. So they were participating through web cameras and video conferencing displays. The connections were secure, with the links being established using equpment that the Oseans had brought with them
OOC: what is it you wish to end up happening?
Mironov was the first to speak. "We have dealt a serious blow to the enemies of the revolution, there can be no doubt about that. It will be a while before they can seriously challenge us again. Now, Minister Schmidt, we are going to need to cover up our real motivations. This is why I gave you authorisation to launch your anti corruption mission at the same tiime as this operation. While useful by themselves, they also give us a perfect reason to justify what we have done.

Now, I have already talked with foreign minister Izvolsky on this. We will not do anything to draw attention to this. Those who ask will be told that this was only partof a widespread effort to deal with crime and all types of ilegal actives in our country being commited in our country. Do you agree?".

The ministers were quick in showing their agreement, nodding and and saying yes repeatedly. Mironov then finished the meeting by saying "Right, now that this matter has been relatively cleared, I say good night to you". He then turned off the camera at his end and his face dissapeared from the screen.

OOC: Oh crap! i did not notice that. sorry im not visually impaired! sorry.

[Old Tyrannia]

The Grand Fascist Empire of Old Tyrannia

TO: Communist Party of Osea
FROM: His Imperial Majesty Gaius Romulus IV
RE: Ha.

Communists claim that they are the noble ones, whom obey international law and protect individual's rights.
You've just proved yourself and your creed wrong. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. Remember this, Communists- you are no more moral or righteous than the most oppressive fascist state. This day has proved so. Good day.
Signed,

Gaius Romulus IV, Emperor of Old Tyrannia

[Osea 767]

Official Osean Communique

Message Open
To: The Grand Fascist Empire of Old Tyrannia
From: The Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

We are unsurprised that those who are the true enemies of fredom, democracy and morality are those quickest to delcare themselves suddenly superior to us. How it is possible for one to mistake the basic upholding of law for oppression is beyond me. However it is expectable from your nation and those like it. This hardly cripples our democracy and we remain a multi-prty democracy, though we doubt this matters to you.

Though would you wish those in charge of the second most important political party to be those who have their hands in criminal enterprises, who would cause suffering to your people and rip up the laws and ideals that form the basis for what your nation is? I doubt even you would want that.


Sincerely,
Aleksander Mironov,
Premier of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea,
Chairman of the Central Commitee of the Osean Communist Party

[Osea 767]

Bump

[Parilisa]

Cabinet Room, Presidential Halls, Prezdorf

“For an exercise in stamping out corruption, this seems pretty damn corrupt.” Commented the Chancellor, reading the latest intelligence report which had been sent from the embassy in Serovskya. “This doesn’t make it clear that the men are dead, but it doesn’t seem like they’re getting any sort of a fair hearing. Accusations of treason are pretty commonplace in the type of purges which we all know fanatical states authorise.”

“And,” added the Council Minister of Defence “It’s clear that the leadership aren’t as quick to accuse their own side of corruption. These are political arrests.”

The CMD, the Chancellor and the President sat in meditative silence for a while, considering what options they had in this unfortunate circumstance. Osea’s membership to ODECON had provided political fuel for the extreme right in Parilisa’s parliament, and public opinion had started to sway against the alliance. Nevertheless, President Klein had attempted to save the organisation’s image by upholding the Oseans as a much more democratic, honest and liberal form of communist government. When the news reached the media that the Oseans were responsible for clearly political purges against their opponents a great deal of damage would be done to the President himself.

“We need firm, radical action.” Said Klein, after a while. The other two men observed him as they spoke, but he continued to stare at the documents which were laid out on the desk in front of him. “We need to stop this. Immediately. A strongly worded letter should do the trick…”

“And if it doesn’t?” asked the Chancellor. “We can’t issue an economic sanction effectively with the ODECON charter binding us. If we asked ODECON to suspend Osea’s membership then it might be refused and we’d look like a bunch of pricks in front of the entire world.”

The President nodded. He understood the situation better than anyone; his political knowledge had been formed and forged in the fires of a radical democratic revolution, his education had been at the hands of the greatest thinker the nation had ever produced.

“Then we show the Oseans that we mean business. We show them that this is a very, very serious matter indeed.”

TO: Aleksander Mironov
FROM: Nathaniel Klein, President (nathanielklein@gov.par)

Dear Premier,

As you are undoubtedly aware, the bond of alliance which exists between the Republic of Parilisa and your fine, noble nation is one of which were are very proud. I hope that relations between our nations will exist in their current form for many years to come.

It is deeply concerning that issues of such severity have made my writing of this letter an almost unavoidable reality. Whilst I have always upheld the example of your nation to others around the world, it would seem that my faith in the good will and respect for civil liberties which the Osean Government holds has been somewhat shaken by these disturbing incidences.

I have no doubt that you will wish to resolve this understanding immediately. As your friends and allies we wish to make it clear that we cannot support the arrest of political opponents without any serious evidence of wrong doing. It is hoped that this will not affect relations between us, but it would be impossible for the furtherance of diplomatic bonds to take place if such gross violations of civic rights were occurring in a nation whose friendship we hold dear.

If these actions are not immediately resolved, then my Government will have little choice but to issue strong decisions in the defence of human rights.

Your Friend and Ally,

President Nathaniel Klein

[Osea 767]

Kremlin Palace, Serovskya, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

The Central Commitee of the Soviet Government was assembled. This contained all the ministers of the warious ministries of the government. Mironov and the ministers that had gone with him on his recent state visit. He had not expected to be busy so soon after the visit. They had expected a negetive reaction. However this reaction had started to come from nations who's opinion that Mironov actually cared about.

Usually he carefully listened to the opinions of his ministers. He was very irritated though and was the first to speak. "How dare they condesend us! They are acting as though we are doing something wrong even though the people we are arresting are the real criminals". The assembled ministers decided not to speak, instead giving Mironov the chance to cool down. He did and soon started sorting out a solution. He said "Right, lets speed up our anti-corruption efforts. I have corruption and I know you do too. There are still many communist officials that are suspected of corruption and I will not let that continue.

Also, Minister Schmidt, the Interior Ministry should move its anti crime campaign forward. Start tommorrow if possible". This was a preplanned campaign to deal with crime in Osea. They would be dealing more rapidly with the drug dealers and other major criminals they had captured. They would silently check the border guards in Central Asian regions by using either the CSS or OMON. They would then re-staff most of them overnight with uncorrupt people from other regions. They would also re-staff the mayors and governors of Central Siberian republics. They would then put people who were known for being not corrupt, at least not to the extent to fraternize with criminals. An explaination that the drug problem required for such measures would be provided by the government, which would coincide this with a general crackdown on criminal organisations.

There would be no discrimination. Mironov knew that moving it up would be the best way of showing the Parilisans that this was not just them dealing with their enemies. A few of those arrested and were not guilty would be released. The Communists had not ever intended to execute the head of the main opposition party. He would instead be put into house arrest. The measures would be coupled with a message sent to Klein at the same time.

Official Osean Communique

Message Open
To: President Nathaniel Klein, Republic of Parilisa
From: Premier Aleksander Mironov, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

While annoyed that you are taking such an interest in our external affairs, we understand your concerns and wish to address them. While you have said "arrest of political opponents". I can assure you that this is not such in any way. You will surely notice that we are taking anti crime and corruption measures against all criminals in our nation.

I hate corruption in all its forms and will deal with it in all the methods I can. This is nothing other than me dealing with that crime. Our nation has freed itself and in these recent years has instituted democracy. If you wish, you can send observers to oversee the trials. However we are not going to halt what we are doing.

Sincerely,
Aleksander Mironov,
Premier of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea,
Chairman of the Central Commitee of the Osean Communist Party

[Sennai]

Sennai Council Chambers
"This is Grave news indeed. people have the right to vote and oppose each other politically. the political arrests are just the tools of a dictatorship of sorts under the form of an organised government what sort of action should be taken?" The Sennai Council sat and discussedfor a while before one of the council Women stood up "i beleive that we should watch further. if more of these take place a Cease and desist order will be sent. along with the threat of attack if the letter is not heeded." another shook his head "the millatry has substantial assest in the vastera island chain. we wouldentg have a full millatry task force to make good on that threat. at least not for a few more months. we should target their party head quarters with the Akira satelite! show them that we watch out for the rights of a countries citezens!" the council erupted into chatter. Coucilman Takai stood up and shouted "Be Quiet!" he cleared his throat once the noise had died down "the Akira satelite is not a millatry use only. taking it away from sennai would leave us to rely on our other power plants and as a result we would take a small economic dip. as was shown last time we used it. it is to continue its solar power duties...as for sending in a SOIA task force. we would be no better than them. the proper diplomatic channels should be followed. send them the letter."

To: The governement of Osea 767
From: The Sennai High Council.

This is a Cease and Desist order on targeting politically opposint parties in your country. it is the right of each person to show their own political veiw point and arresting and condemming them as part of an anti crime effort is rather strange. history has shown that many parties in the world who havew done the same haver become mad with power and oppresed whoever they are suppost to be serving. a government serves it's people. not the other way around. we wish to convay congraqtulations for stepping up your war on crime but we also condemm you for targeting an entire political party. if this continues we may respond with force as a last resort. once again we wish to convay that while your efforts are kind hearted an entire political party being brought up on crimes of treason and betrayal seems a little too suspicious and if this continues halting the change that should come with governemnts we may be forced to take action.

Signed:
Several signatures follow

[Parilisa]

OOC: Osea, are the arrested people political prisoners or corrupt scumbags? You made it clear in your original post that the former was the case, but now it appears that you have shifted towards the latter. If this is the case then Klein would certainly not get involved, so I need you to clairfy this issue before I make any further post.

[Osea 767]

OOC: Parilisa, its a bit of both. While there is a serious problem with corruption, the Communists are using the situation as a opertunity to deal with a few of their enemies, or at least keep them out of the way for a while. Sennai, I'll respond to you soon.

[Leistung]

TO: Chairman of the Central Commitee of the Osean Communist Party
FROM: Office of the President of ODECON

Dear Sir,

Though we have not had the pleasure of meeting personally, your nation's status as a member of the Coalition more than warrants my interest in the recent events which have transpired in your nation. There has been considerable concern, both in my home nation of Leistung and of course in the alliance as a whole concerning the apprehension of key members of an opposition party in Osea.

Though ODECON makes a point not to involve itself in the inner workings of its members, the reputation of the alliance must be taken into consideration. When Osea joined the Coalition, she agreed to uphold the tenets outlined in the preamble of the ODECON Charter -- as an ODECON member, your nation is asked to make strides toward democracy with the minimum of regulations. We of course understand that your government may be concerned about the evils of corruption in leadership positions, and we share that concern; however, we cannot sit idly by as one of our members imprisons members of the opposition party and does not publicize the evidence it used as justification.

It is a travesty of justice at best, and worthy of suspension from the Coalition at worst to use decidedly undemocratic means to keep your party in power. If Osea will allow it, I would very much appreciate if your nation would allow an ODEPOL team to meet with the accused so that an independent source can have a chance to hear their side of the story. If not, we will have no choice but to assume that just cause for these men's imprisonment does not exist and act accordingly to uphold this alliance's dedication to the rule of law.

Good day,

Evan Bachmeier
President of the Coalition

[Osea 767]

Official Osean Communique

Message Open
To: Evan Bachmeier, President of the Coalition
From: Premier Aleksander Mironov, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

Dear Sir,

This is not the first time that I have been accused of suppressing the oposition. Let me be the first to assure you that this is not the case. While we are a sovereign nation and could easily refuse, we respect both your nation, ODECON and the democratic processes of our nation. Therefore we will accept your ODEPOL team into our country.

In addition, your team will be given as much access as we can provide in our work. What you accuse us of is something not allowed by law. The Soviet Republic is a plural and democratic nation, something shown in the Soviet Constitution. As we said, we respect you, so we will give the full support and cooperation of our justice department and security services. We will have agents meet your ODEPOL team as they arrive and will take all of their advice into consideration.


Sincerely,
Aleksander Mironov,
Premier of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea,
Chairman of the Central Commitee of the Osean Communist Party

[Osea 767]

Bump

[Parilisa]

Nathaniel Klein’s Office, Presidential Halls, Prezdorf

“ODECON have made a move.” Said the President with a smile as he looked over his briefing for the day. It was a cold, frosty morning on the sweeping lawns outside, but already the press were starting to gather, and a bus full of school children could be seen as a school tour through the Presidential Halls was initiated. “Which makes things easier for us. It does seem peculiar, however, how the Oseans make no attempt to try to weaken the prospect of an ODEPOL arrival. We know that they are in violation of human rights, so we must presume that a cover-up or something more sinister is in preparation.”

“Yes,” nodded Ezekiel “But it will not do to make our suspicions public knowledge. I wonder, Nat, whether or not it would be wise to offer our own help to the ODEPOL team.”

“Have you spoken to our ambassador in Osea?”

“Not yet. I think your letter was the last correspondence we received from him. I was under the impression that the CM for Foreign Affairs intended to call him this afternoon. In the meantime, I have prepared a letter for you. You might want to get Miss Elenea to edit it to your personal preferences, but it outlines the course which I think we should follow.” The Chancellor handed the President the letter which he had written earlier that morning. Klein knew that Ezekiel was a man of routine, and that the message would almost certainly have been typed up about 3:00 in the morning, when the news was first coming in.

The President nodded.

“It’s fine how it is.” He said, taking a pen from his pocket and signing it with his name.

TO: Premier Mironov
FROM: Nathaniel Klein, President (nathanielklein@gov.par)

Dear Premier,

Thank you for your speedy reply to my letter, which was much appreciated.

I am perplexed as to the cause of the annoyance you express over our interest in your “external” (I can only presume that this is an error of typing, because the issue is very clearly internal) affairs. As an ally, we take a very keen interest in the civil rights records of your nation, as several pieces of parliamentary legislation prohibit the Republic from forming alliances with nations who violate the natural rights of humanity. If this is something which you find annoying then I sincerely apologise, but I would hope and presume that the benefits of a positive relationship with our nation far outweigh your personal dislike for our interest in your internal affairs.

We applaud the decision of President Bachmeier to send a team of ODEPOL representative to “meet with the accused”. I should make it clear that I intend to follow a similar course of action. This issue has been treated very seriously in Parilisa, and I hope that the Government may make an effort to rectify the situation, both in assisting ODEPOL and as an independent body.

In your last letter to my office, you offered me the chance to “send observers to oversee the trials”. I wish to take you up on this offer, and have asked the Chancellor to represent the nation at these trials. I would also appreciate the opportunity of organising a meeting between the Chancellor and yourself, to further discus this issue.

Sincerely,

President Nathaniel Klein

[Osea 767]

Official Osean Communique

Message Open
To: Nathaniel Klein, President of Parilisa
From: Premier Aleksander Mironov, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

Dear Sir,

First I apologize for the spelling mistake in my last letter to you. We all are capable of such mistakes. The Soviet foreign ministry will need to improve its checks on the communiques it sends. Anyway, your explaination makes sense to us. While we do not have such legislation ourselves, partially due to the realities of modern politics, I understand why one would put it into effect.

This goverment is more than willing to address the concerns of its allies in a manner befitting a modern democracy. As we said in our letter to President Bachmeier, the support and cooperation of our justice department and security service will be provided to the ODEPOL team. This will also be given to any team you send. As for a meeting with your Chancellor, I accept. We will be willing to leave it up to you on where and when the meeting his held.


Sincerely,
Aleksander Mironov,
Premier of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea,
Chairman of the Central Commitee of the Osean Communist Party



Lubyanka Prison, Serovskya, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

The Oseans did indeed intend to cover up their actions. However not all of it was in the way that the Parilisans would have expected. They did falsify evidence and make offers to members of the opposition to make them testify against their comrades in the party and others who opposed the party. Many times though, especially with more minor members of the opposition, they made offers to opposition members for them to just keep quiet about the whole affair.

Some of the more socialist members of the opposition were persuaded to side with the communists. In general, the strategy was to offer as large a carrot as possible to make those who weren't guity either side with the communists or agree to become less active. A serious efort was being made to ensure that many of those that could not be easily accused of a crime or framed for one were not put on trial. The ODEPOL team would be observing the trials, so they needed the people on trial to be those that could be given a guilty verdict without it raising the suspicion of the ODEPOL team.

A major problem with this was the leadership of the main opposition party, the United Socialist Party of Osea. Many of them, including their leader, Viktor Fyodorov, were refusing to accept any kind of deal. That was the news that Tatyana Kashina, the head of the Committee for State Security had recieved as she had arrived at the infamous prison. Many of those recently arrested had been locked up here. Her responce was simply "We'll have to put more effort on to retrieving new evidence". This time, "new evidence" was being used as a euphemism for the creation of evidence by the CSS and the alteration of items for CSS use.

Tatyana's visit was short. She simply took a look at the most important visitors and checked on how the collection of evidence, both real and fake, was going. At the same time, CSS agents had been sent to Serovskya International Airport to greet the ODEPOL team as they arrived. As far as she was concerned, these people locked up here were all guilty. Ths was quickly shown to those around her in a responce from her as a prisoner shouted "I've done nothing wrong. I'm innocent!" as she passed the prisoners cell.

That responce was "If you are innocent, then you would not be in that cell".

[Parilisa]

Parilisan Embassy, Osea

Chancellor Ezekiel was a man who often shunned convention, so the untraditional consequences of his arrival in Osea would be given very little coverage in the Parilisan Press. A quick message had been sent ahead of his arrival, asking for permission to land in the embassy via helicopter, rather than at the airport as could be expected. Ezekiel planned to meet with the Ambassador first, and so he now found himself in the representative’s office. It was a comfortable room, with old-fashioned furnishings and a warm, welcoming smell about it. On the wall behind the Ambassador’s desk hung a picture of the President, the flag of the Republic fluttering on a cold breeze in the background.

“They won’t budge, Mr Chancellor.” Said the Ambassador, a grave look of deep concentration furrowing his brow.

“I don’t expect them to, Michael. Not at first. The President believes that they will attempt to cover the affair up as far as possible and we presume that the trials will be little more than empty formalities. I think the Oseans are unaware of how seriously we are taking the issue.”

Chancellor Ezekiel, a Jewish man in his late fifties, commanded great respect amongst the employees of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador Michael Bentonhall was no exception. For years the Ambassador had read the Chancellor’s works attentively, and it was an honour to greet the man in his office.

“They’ve made it clear that they will definitely prosecute these people, and it seems that in some cases there is evidence for corruption. But so many of them are innocent, good people.”

“And we are going to help them. I hope to be able to make contact with Viktor Fyodorov and offer him some kind of escape arrangement. But for the time being we will go down the conventional route.”

There was a knock on the door, forcing the Chancellor to end what he was saying abruptly and turn to the source of the noise. A young man was stood there, his tie clasped too tightly around his neck and his pale face blushed with a rosy glow as he saw the Chancellor in the flesh for the first time.

“It would appear that our car is ready.” Said Ambassador Bentonhall, once it was clear that the man at the door found himself unable to speak in front of the Chancellor.

“Let’s go and meet the big guys then.” Replied the Chancellor with a grin. This was going to be very, very interesting.

OOC: If I’m taking things too fast then let me know.

[Osea 767]

Kremlin Palace, Serovskya, Soviet Socialist Republic of Osea

Considering that the reason the Parilisan Chancellor was there was about something the Oseans were trying to cover up, it was unsurprising that the Osean media wasn't present. In general, there was so little attention being drwan to the meeting that only a select few in Serovskya even knew that it was Ezekiel who was visiting Mironov.

Many of those around the Kremlin, such as the Kremlin Guard, only knew that a relatively important guest was coming here for a private meeting. That meant that, as Ezekiel's car passed through one of the entrances of the Kremlin Wall and their other position, they gave none of the salutes or special treatment they might of gave him. Instead, their only responce was to give the car a brief look as it passed before returning to their duties. There was at least a greeting set up, with Guards moving to open the front doors as Ezekiel got out of his car.

A number of diplomats, ranging in rank, quickly greeted Ezekiel, before guiding him to a room clearly meant for those waiting to meet the Soviet Premier. The head of the group told the Chancellor that there would be a short delay as he informed Mironov of Ezekiel's arrival, before dissapearing through a door into the meeting room, closing the door behind him.

Then the door was opened and the Parilisans were allowed in. The room itself was well designed, although the style tended towards the classical. This was an unsurprising fact, considering the age of the building. In many ways, it was now like an office ans was now used often when the Premier had discussions with others. The table, which the Soviets were already sitting at, was rectangle and placed slightly left from the centre of the room. Mironov was sitting at the opposite end of the table to the Parilisans. Nikita Izvolsky and Thomas Schmidt, the foreign and interior ministers, were present and sitted at Mironov's right side, as were the other Soviets.

The side to Mironov's left was saved for the Parilisans. Ezekiel was directed to the seat closest to Mironov so they could talk to each other with ease and no one in their way. Mironov then greeted them with "Welcome, Chancellor Ezekiel. Now that we are talking face to face, I am sure we will come to an understanding on the situation".

[Parilisa]

The lack of salutes with which they were received by the soldiers did not surprise the Chancellor or the Ambassador as they entered the Palace; they were here, after all, to persuade their leader that he was wrong and that he had to take a different course of action. Entering the Premier’s office with a polite smile, the Chancellor introduced himself with a shook hand, and announced the Ambassador.

“I think, Premier that we should get straight down to business.” The Chancellor was not fond of ceremony, he liked to get down to the nitty gritty of the situation and sort things out as quickly and as forcibly as possible.

“We cannot allow your government to arrest people because of their political beliefs. I know that you continue to assert that these men are corrupt but, and you will excuse my lack of diplomacy here, I am not convinced by your argument. If these men are corrupt then they deserve to be prosecuted, but these arrests appear for all the world to be nothing more than political oppression.”

Ezekiel was angry, but he concealed it well.

“By law, the law of Parilisa, if there is any doubt about the quality of human rights in Osea we will terminate our alliance. We will cease to offer you any protection, and we will seek confirmation of this through the alliance by which we are bound. Political arrests are completely unacceptable, intolerable. They must stop.”

[Osea 767]

Mironov was known for readily disregarding diplomatic procedure when it got in the way of sorting out a problem. With this problem though, he would be more strict in his application of it, in order to delay things. He would also be stubborn, though not so much that he annoyed Ezekiel and ruined the process.

"While we appreciate your nations friendship, I would hardly say that you are protecting us. You may do so at some point, but it is presently unlikely. Some might say that, by protecting these people, you are acting against Osea and her security. I am not amongt those individuals, but it is happening. I would also prefer that you avoid refering to our partnership in such a way. We are equal partners.

Now, the issue of these criminals is one that proving to be a divisive issue between our nations. Your insistance that thess people are innocent is something I find strange. However we are willing to make concessions on this issue. We will be willing to make agreements to enable the release of those who you insist are innocent. However, we will first require a list of those specific individuals, for bureaucratic reasons".

[Parilisa]

“I have never suggested, sir, that we are anything other than your equals. But the people of the Republic find it repulsive that we are bound to you in such a way as to impose that in the incidence of a war conducted against your nation we would be morally obliged to defend you, whilst at the same time you conduct such acts in your home policy.”

Ezekiel was surprised to find that the Premier was so keen to negotiate. It would, of course, be easy to come up with a list of innocents, but the show trials which were soon to be held in this nation would be of no assistance whatsoever. The Premier’s insistence, however, showed that he was not entirely convinced of what he himself was saying; would the man readily release prisoners if he truly believed they were guilty?

“We can very easily assemble a list of innocents, with the evidence granted to us by our intelligence reports. I would also wish to speak to the leader of the Socialist Party personally, to establish his view on these unfortunate occurrences.”

[OOC: Sorry it’s short, but I’m tired!}

[Osea 767]

Mironov replied "And some Oseans might find themselves against allying with capitalist nations. Yet we accept this. It is very hard these days to apply any sense of morality or principle to how one performs diplomacy. If we did thay, we'd have almost no one to ally with. As for this situation, what we have done is hardly that immoral. It is because of the respect we have for you as an ally that we have moved to address your concerns.

Your list, when provided, will be used to seperate those who are guilty from those who you think are not guilty. We will then free them, with the conditions for each prisoners release worked out on a case by case basis. There will be a requirement of ud doing this. That will be that, because their releases are being done for your state, if any of them commit crimes related to what we accused them of now or any high level crimes against the state, Parilisa will accept partial responsability for them being allowed to commit those crimes".

[Osea 767]

Bumping