Tensions Flare as Howe Blasts "Brutish, Bullying" Bariyan Remarks; One Reported Detained in Bariya
Hudson Less than a day after the Bariyan government broke its silence on the Express Maria case, Premier Jordan Howe lashed out at the remarks of Bariyan "First Citizen" Vyacheslav Grinko, calling the remarks "a stark and brutish reminder of the Bariyan government's modus operandi in our world."
Referencing a statement released today and attributed to Grinko, in which the Bariyan leader apparently threatens the jury in the case, Howe told assembled media that the remarks "illustrate perfectly what the world has long said of Vyacheslav Grinko...that he is a madman leading himself and his nation on the path to oblivion."
"Mr Grinko believes that he can bully and intimidate his neighbors, and strong-arm the courts of the free world to permit his criminality," Howe said in a prepared statement today. "We must now, more than ever, stand united as an alliance, as a reminder that terror and intimidation will not be tolerated in our world. I condemn the statements of Vyacheslav Grinko in strongest terms, and I give you my promise and my affirmation that Prestonia will never be cowed by such thuggery."
Howe's remarks come on the heels of a statement released from Koldiv earlier this afternoon in which Bariyan leader Vyacheslav Grinko warned Express Maria jurors of "severe consequences" for a guilty verdict, calling the case a reflection of "Prestonia's...attempt to fight [Bariya]." Bariyan state media also reported, but did not identify, a Prestonian national allegedly detained for insulting Grinko. PBC could not independently verify this claim, and the Justice Ministry offered no comment on the matter, calling it "a matter of ongoing investigation." Addressing the matter, the Premier today offered a stark warning to the Grinko regime should any harm befall any Prestonian nationals in Bariya.
"It has been the policy of this country, and remains the policy of my government, to give no quarrel where none is received," Howe told assembled media and MDs. "It is a policy that we will stand firmly behind. But make no mistake: we will not suffer our citizens to be brutalised by a petty tyrant bent on revenge. We will not suffer the subjects of any nation, friend or foe, to flout our laws while they are guests in our home. And while this nation will never seek to police the world nor gain self-aggrandizing glory through warfare, neither will we back down when justice compels us to go forth."
Howe also stated that the Foreign Ministry was upgrading its standing travel advisory to Bariya to Condition Red, strongly advising against all travel for non-life threatening purposes, while announcing that a vote on an outright travel ban would be entered into the agenda in the coming weeks; a separate Foreign Ministry statement released this afternoon and broadcast on social media announced that consular assistance would be available to any Prestonian national seeking "an expedited departure" from the Bariyan
Addressing the threats made this afternoon, Defence Minister Stephen Bonner told PBC that the Imperial Armed Forces' readiness state would remain unchanged, and planning for CMSA joint exercises in Prestonia would continue as normal.
"Quite frankly, we don't consider the [Bariyan] threat credible to warrant an increased readiness state," Bonner said this evening by telephone. "We have no plans to alter business as usual, and will maintain our usual state of operational readiness to deal with any potential threat that may materialize."
Tensions, Security Run High in Redford; No Verdict Yet
Tensions ran high in Redford for a third consecutive week this afternoon as pro-Bariyan picketers lined the steps of the Redford County Court of Common Law chanting slogans in support of defendant Vladimir Martinovic and Bariyan leader Vyacheslav Grinko, calling on the 12 person jury to acquit the 54 year old sea captain at the center of a rapidly-developing international incident.
The protesters, estimated at about two hundred in number, included students from nearby Redford University who identified themselves as members of the Students for International Justice, as well as a handful of Communist Party and United Socialist Workers League activists and several dozen independent protesters. While the protests were mostly peaceful in nature, three activists were detained for incitement and disturbance of the peace before being released late this evening. In consideration of recent remarks by the Bariyan government, security around the court was tightened, with jurors arriving on an armored bus through a service entrance and court officials being similarly protected. PBC spoke with one of the protesters, a Students for International Justice member who asked only to be identified as Mary and told PBC that she was protesting "the judicial imperialism and Borean Exceptionalism" evident in the trial.
"These people, they don't care what the law is, they go home and get f***ed up on coke and pills," Mary told PBC. "It's all bulls**t, it's just an excuse for the fatcats in Hudson to kick more money to their buddies in Gratislavia and in our military-industrial complex to start a war and distract us from the fact that until we're seventeen we're not even guaranteed a goddamn minimum wage. It's time we said enough is enough."
Asked if she supported the Bariyan government, Mary told PBC that "resistance to capitalist-globalism is always admirable," in spite of the numerous human rights violations of the Grinko regime.
"Grinko, I mean, he's kind of a hero almost," Mary said. "You know, when you stand up to what the world wants you to be, wants you to do, because you know that what you're doing is right. I mean sure Bariya isn't perfect but at least they're working toward making a better society instead of trying to start wars and wave their d**ks around."
Today's court session, meanwhile, lasted about 45 minutes, as the jury announced it had not returned a verdict as-yet.