NationStates Jolt Archive

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Controversial publication levels 'fascist police state' accusations

SAYENNA, Monday
It could very well be the most controversial book ever published in the history of Hamilay. This is political commentator and author Joseph Blackburn's newest release, Fascist Republic of Hamilay. As implied by the title, Blackburn blasts the current administration of Hamilay over issues, he claims, are indicative of an erosion of free speech, democracy and human rights. However, the bulk of the book is focused on the alleged crimes of the three intelligence agencies of the Federal Republic, the Federal Intelligence Directorate, the Federal Security Directorate and the Military Intelligence Unit. Blackburn gives voice to the views many of the military have supposedly been developing on the agency responsible for field military police, and it is not a good advertisement.

"As the instruments of the developing fascist police state, the activities FID, FSD and MIU organizations are the most obvious indicators of the increasing repression of the Hamilayan people.
...
The Military Intelligence Unit has been involved in the disappearances of over one thousand military officers over the past year, including the following people... How a purge of this size has gone unnoticed by the populace, who place members of the military on a pedestal, beggars belief... its ruthless moves to silence dissenting members of the armed forces has led it to be nicknamed 'NKVD' in military circles... MIU's reputation has gone from just another arm of the military to professional respect mingled with some awe and fear to simply abject terror."

The author even goes so far as to accuse MIU of mass executions and death camps maintained in Valencia for the Imperial population.

"Even more sinister doings of MIU, if that could be possible, are the ugly rumours of mass graves of people of the Hamilayan Empire circling throughout the armed forces, and it is common knowledge that Imperials have been herded into camps. Some say these camps may have further purposes than interning the population..."

The FSD receives the most damning criticism, being compared to all the infamous organizations of history such as the Gestapo and the KGB. Blackburn claims that its activities, amongst other things, involve regular extrajudicial executions, bugging the homes of 'enemies of the Republic' and

"The Security Directorate is the chief tool of the police state, responsible for silencing dissent and mass surveillance... I myself discovered a small metal object under a pot plant in my apartment which was confirmed to be a bugging device by a reputable contact of mine, who showed that it was a device constructed by Meyers Defence Systems. Not surprisingly, the police and Civil Guard denied that it was such... unsolved disappearances of citizens are at a forty-year high... the Directorate headquarters on 7 Union Square has seen, in the past year, over ten thousand people pass through its doors and never emerge.
...
Political commentators, members of non-mainstream political parties, anyone who holds viewpoints disliked by the government, such as communists, environmentalists, pacifists, religious fundamentalists... all are classified as 'enemy of the state'. These enemies of the state are numerous, and the Directorate has no hope of eliminating them all, but they try nonetheless... they die in 'car accidents', 'industrial accidents', of 'food poisoning', 'hunting accidents', where they manage to accidentally shoot themselves in the back of the head with a 9mm pistol.
...
In the last budget over four hundred billion Hamilayan Dollars were allocated to the FSD, with two hundred and twenty billion of those dollars being for 'classified expenses', a cynical term for illegal doings... The workings of this agency are hidden from the public."

So where are the roots of this repression? Not surprisingly, Blackburn blames the current government.

"The current President, through his ill-gotten status as a civil war hero, has deceitfully leveraged this popularity into consolidating control over the country... this would not be possible if it was not backed by Parliament, and all the four major parties of Parliament have an agreement with the Presidential Palace to stay out of its doings, the right of Parliament's survival being held sacrosanct with a guarantee that Parliament will allow repression to continue..."

Blackburn's book has come under particular criticism for arguably advocating violent revolution in its closing paragraphs.

"The government in Sayenna has solidified its hold over the military, the police, Parliament, the state governments... there is no way to restore freedom for the Federal Republic except by the will of the people... but if the people truly want freedom, it will be achieved, whether the government sees the futility of its actions or they take it."

Representatives from both the Presidential Palace and the Federal Security Directorate responded to the book rapidly. The President's press secretary, Lanette Gates, has stated that 'Mr Blackburn is entitled to his opinion, however false and ill-informed it may be', and that a full statement from the President's office should be expected later. Director Novikov of the FSD himself has responded in person, going further than Ms Gates in blasting the publication as 'a complete pack of lies, an insult to this fine organization and the others who work tirelessly for nothing but the protection of the Hamilayan people." Director Novikov has called a press conference for tomorrow in response to the allegations of the book, and representatives from all Hamilayan and international news agencies are invited to attend.

Fascist Republic of Hamilay has received a huge amount of criticism and a huge amount of praise. Its initial production run of a million copies sold out within four hours, and sales remain extremely high. Fascist Republic is sold by all good bookstores in Hamilay for a price of $39.95 HmD, though you may have trouble finding a copy.

In a nation which for so long has respected the military and State, this book comes as a rude awakening for many.

While Dyelli Beybi was generally unconcerned with how other Nations treated their citizens, it was always interested in making sure it aligned itself globally in a manner which protected itself from attack while at the same time making as much money as possible.

One favourite method was to exploit rebellion, insurrection, terrorism and the like by supplying one or both sides with all the equipment the Dyellian military didn't want anymore (for a fee, of course), thereby making a nice little bonus Government income. Hamilay certainly looked like somewhere that might explode soon.

So the Dyellian Secret Service (the Cheka) watched and waited.

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Adygean Ministry of Foreign Affairs


As both a man who lived under the heel of something just as sinister as what is being described in the book Fascist Republic of Hamilay (and indeed is referenced directly; i.e. the KGB and its predecessors and relative agencies, the Cheka, OGPU, NKGB, MGB and MVD), and also as a politician who represents Adygea in an alliance for economic freedom in whose very charter, written by the government of Hamilay which now is under question, requires at least a sensible level of personal and political freedom, I am compelled to react strongly to this accusation. While Adygea may be considered conservative by most Western standards, we (and by we I mean the various ethnicities constituting Adygea: the Adyghe, the Kabardin, the Karachay, the Balkars, the Ingush, and others, as taken as a whole) have suffered long enough under totalitarian Communist Party rule, and have developed a vehement dedication to political rights.
+++Those who can remember the terror of the bad old days of night vanishings, missing friends and relatives, and most of all the horror when, at long, long terrible last, we discovered that our beloved had been sent to prison camps in the most terrible of conditions, and cruellest of punishments for simply speaking their mind, and often had died a miserable death in ignominy, recoil in disgust, revulsion and abject terror when we hear of such things as a "state security agency" or a similar apparatus of the government with military power and virtually unchallengeable legislative and executive authority. Such apparatii that are not beholden to any of the people which they are supposedly protecting are a farce and a terrible, ugly joke. With more emphasis than I can possibly put into words, I urge the government of Hamilay to end its practice of stifling what should be universal political rights of free speech, assembly and the ability to change the government, and recall what it meant when it wrote the charter of the AEFN.
+++If the government of Hamilay does not reverse what the government of Adygea believes is accurately described in the book, on the other hand, the government of Adygea will consider the treaty it has signed to be hollow and false; my government will withdraw its support post-haste, lest it be associated with a neo-Stalinist alliance of false promises and double standards.

Signed,
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Motya Niyazov
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Adygea

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Official Communique
The President of the Federal Republic of Hamilay

The Federal Republic and this administration will immediately state that no large-scale political repression as described in the recently released book Fascist Republic of Hamilay is occuring or has ever occured at any point in the Republic's history. I urge all governments and individuals to take the actions described in the book with a very large grain of salt. Amongst others, the Republic was founded on the principles of liberalism and freedom, and remains committed to ensuring the freedom of its citizens in all areas. The intelligence agencies of Hamilay are in no way involved in attempting to unlawfully keep the current government in power; their only duties are to maintain the security of the Hamilayan people and nation.

A full internal inquiry will be launched into some of the less ridiculous accusations made by Mr Blackburn, and the people of Hamilay and the world have my word that in the unlikely event any are found to be true they will be immediately halted. For the moment, I implore all to refrain from jumping to conclusions.

To our esteemed allies in the Republic of Adygea;

I sympathise with your views on this situation, and wholeheartedly agree. Institutions of authority must always be answerable to the people. However, the various organizations for the protection of the Republic are in no way involved in these heinous crimes on a scale of any significance. Isolated incidents of wrongful detention or surveillance may have occured due to human error, and this is greatly regrettable. As I have said previously, I will be launching a full inquiry into this matter, and these will be kept to a minimum.

On the subject of freedoms and rights in Hamilay, we remain a multiparty democracy with universal suffrage for all over the age of 16, as we have for the past century. There are four major political parties (Progressive Capitalist Party, Libertarian Party, Hamilayan Democratic Socialist Party, Conservative Party of Hamilay) and all have greatly differing viewpoints, some members of all being vehemently opposed to the current government. However, these are all allowed to exist without interference, as their members will attest. There are hundreds of minor parties, again with full rights to exist. Some have been placed under surveillance by court order as being possible threats to the security of the Republic (various fascist parties spring to mind) but this is completely legal, and no arrests have been made or will ever be made for simply belonging to a particular political party.

With regards to free speech, the fact that Mr Blackburn has been allowed to publish his book Fascist Republic of Hamilay should speak for itself. If you have read it, some of the (false) things mentioned are absolutely horrific and monstrous. Frankly, no self-respecting police state would be so incompetent as to let this text reach store shelves. However, the publication of Fascist Republic has not been impeded in any way by the government of Hamilay. I will personally attest to this, and as Mr Blackburn makes no mention of any such activities in his book, I will assume that he is also aware of this. This book is perhaps the most damning criticism of free speech in the Republic's history; yet the fact that it was allowed to be released speaks volumes.

I hope this communication will alleviate the concerns of Adygea and of the international community. A press conference has been called by Director V. E. Novikov, head of the FSD, to speak to reporters and the world in person. If any wish further information, they are welcome to send a representative.

The President of the Federal Republic of Hamilay
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Bump before bed.

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Protests break out across Hamilay

SAYENNA, Wednesday
In response to the recent publication of the controversial Fascist Republic of Hamilay, mass protests have occured across the nation. The largest occured here in Sayenna, where over three million people marched through the city and 50,000 protestors gathered in Freedom Square outside the Presidential Palace, waving signs saying 'DOWN WITH FASCISM' and 'RESTORE DEMOCRACY'. Another 10,000 gathered outside the FSD headquarters at 7 Union Square, where protests turned violent. Rocks and bricks were thrown at the line of Civil Guards outside the Directorate, who returned fire with water cannon and rubber bullets. Four security personnel and 100 protestors are reported injured, with 200 being arrested.

Over 100,000 people marched in all the major cities of Hamilay, especially large protests occuring in Castell (~1.6 million protestors), which also turned violent when approximately 8,000 demonstrators attacked police lines, leading to 514 injuries. Apart from these incidents, protests have remained mostly peaceful.

However, large numbers of counter-demonstrators have marched in support of the government, most notably in Sayenna and Beferen, where 600,000 and 150,000 pro-government activists turned out onto the streets. The real fear at this time, according to the Minister of the Interior, is 'not so much that individual protests will turn violent, they have been peaceful so far and we can control them. The problem is if these demonstrators meet counter-demonstrators.'

Overall, approximately 16 million people across the nation are involved in protesting against the Hamilayan government, whilst 3 million rallying in its support. The President has given an address to the nation, repeating what was said in his communication to the international community, as well as commending the relatively peaceful nature of the protests and extending his personal thanks to pro-government demonstrators. This has appeared to calm the nation down, and numbers of violent incidents have reduced. Most protestors have dispersed from the streets, although large numbers hold an overnight vigil in Freedom Square and in many other cities.

More on this situation as it develops.

Bump

ooc: If you have any problems with it, then just say and I will edit/delete this post accordingly. I am assuming that it happens same time then we are fighting at Amavir?

As protests were going on, two men met in Sayenna:
“Mister Stenbock! I have not seen you for some time, how life has been?” said man with blue jacket.

Other man, with grey coat, replied: “Same to you mister Glehn, I think we should sit down and talk a bit somewhere. These streets are quite hot at the moment.”

Glehn laughed: “Yes, you can only feel sorry for those poor bastards who are fighting against imperialists in north, I heard they have enormous snowstorms and blizzards there. These protests here produce enough heat to warm a little country. Come with me, I know one nice place where we can eat and talk without problems.”

They walked away from main streets to one quieter area, there was a little restaurant. Then they entered there were no other visitors, Glehn said,
“Hello Joe, two steaks, with potatoes as usual, and two black coffee’s. This is mister Stenbock, my long time friend and businesspartner. Could we take that quiet second floor table.”

Man in restaurant, obivously named Joe, smiled: “Of course mister Glehn, its good to see that you are still visiting us, despite this mess everywhere, the upper table is free so you can take it without any problems.”

Men went to second floor, there was rather small room, with only one table. Good place for talking privately, noticed Stenbock. Then they sat down, and talked about weather and food until coffee’s and steaks arrived. As Joe went back downstair, Stenbock thought, “time to get to business”, and said:
“Nice quiet place here.”

“Indeed very quiet,” answered Glehn, “actualy we are quite lucky that restaurant is opened and old Joe is not among anti-government protestors. His son died then fighting on imperialist side.”

Stenbock smiled, that had been confirmation that there weren’t unwelcome persons listening their conversation, still there was nothing wrong in staying careful:
“I personally think that government has handled situation well, no serious violence so far, although I am sceptical that it will stay so. Probably sooner or later some act of violence will come from shadows.”

Glehn took a sip of coffee, “violence from shadows” meant they were going to act themselfly, he said: “Probably you are right. Imperialists have good reason to use it for provoking violence, or you meant some small extremist gang acting independently?”

“Imperialists are busy trying to survive, in which they probably fail, that help those weak foreigners give them is not going to make any difference. I think violence will be initiated by some small radical group, or gang as you said, trying to achieve something big.” said Stenbock, giving Glehn free hands to act like he wishes, and then added:
“But enough of politics, tell me how your business have gone here.”

With that critical part of discussion was over, men talked about many things while eating lunch, from traffic to Sayenna arhitecture, but none if it had any relevance to events approaching.
After finishing eating and leaving restaurant Stenbock said:
“Alright, I need to go and meet one of my Chernaya business partners, hope to meet you soon.”

“I also need to work, it was pleasure to talk.”

Men shaked hands and left. Man in grey coat, currently known as Stenbock, although he was also known as Colonel Tõnisson from Olmedrecan Militay Intelligence, headed to bus station. Mister Glehn, or more accurately Military Intelligence Lieutnant Kuusakoski, headed other way, he had received his orders, now was time to act.

After walking about a hour, Kuusakoski stopped at front of a one old garage. Kuusakoski entered and saw that a blue van was inside, waiting. He brought from the cellar several boxes of military grade explosives, and loaded them in the van. Then he drove van full of explosives to other side of Sayenna and parked it at street. Today evening large anti-government protest was going to pass by from here, bomb timer was set to turn street into bloodbath then protestors pass. Of course closer to the city center would give more victims, but avoiding being filmed by some security camera then parking, was higher priority.

Kuusakoski’s job was not over yet, he went to bus station and soonly travelled with bus to city center. There he searched first random Post box, took a mail from his suitcase, it was adressed to one major newspaper, and put it in box. This anonymous mail contained a document of Federal Republic’s defence minister’s order to bomb an anti-government protest, for giving the government a pretext to use more aggressive methods to crack down opposition. It was faked of course, but job was done well, with proper stamps, and signature which was practically identical to minister’s. It could be possible to discover that it is fake, but it definitely was not going to be easy or fast job. And doubts would stay among general populance even if letter is proved fake.

With his task completed, Kuusakoski only had to wait, he decided that it is time to get few beers to reward himself for a good job. Now it was time to wait and see.

Presidential Palace, Sayenna

"Mr President? Directors Novikov, Bright and General Rosenberg here to see you."

"Ah, excellent. Send them in, Anne."

The wood-panelled steel door of the President's office slid open and two men and a woman entered. One man, in military uniform, threw a casual salute to the President, whilst the others nodded politely, and all took seats in three chairs facing the President's desk.

"Thanks for coming on such short notice, guys. I assume you all know why you're here?"

Three nods.

"Good. Now, this is simply intolerable. Something must be done."

"I quite agree," spoke up the woman, Director Bright of the FID. The two men glared at her.

"Yes, yes. I propose a complete halt to all... questionable activites. No more unauthorized wire taps and the like. Essentially, no more extrajudicial doings, period."

"But of course, Mr President," Director Novikov said smoothly. "This Blackburn will have encouraged others to nose around in our affairs. We must temporarily put out doings on hold, as they are more at risk of being discovered."

"I don't think you heard me correctly, Director. A complete halt. No more of your 'doings', ever," replied the President coldly.

"Impossible!" blurted out General Rosenthal.

"My colleague here is correct. That would be most unwise. Do you know how essential those are to the security of the Republic? With the war in the North, and the recent activity of terrorist groups, our capabilities are stretched as it is. You know that we never execute innocents, and you know that we never execute political opponents! Has this Blackburn got to you too, Mr President?" said Novikov in indignation.

"Hmm, yes, I see what you mean, but there's nothing for it. The people have spoken, and although it's the wrong decision, this is a democratic nation."

"What about organized crime? Our low incidence of this is precisely due to the fact that criminals can... disappear... rather than having to go to trial where they can use their connections to squirm out of things."

"And treason!" shouted the General. "Arrests for treason amongst the troops have increased by two hundred percent in the past few months. These are all cases verified under the necessary procedures."

"All eight of them?" the President muttered dryly. "I do understand. It would be a great pity to lose our record on organized crime. Well, we shall compromise. How about a six month moratorium on all of... this... and later, once it is started again, all execution orders by you must go through this office directly. This will make it legal. Of course, I want a reduction in this regardless. No more wiretaps without court order, for one. We can negotiate specifics later." The President didn't need to add that this would allow him to pick and choose the cases he approved of.

"You do realise that this will remove deniability, sir?"

"I am aware of that. You are no longer getting a free hand, Director."

"So be it. I find that acceptable. General? Director Bright?"

"Yes, I support it."

"If you wish, Mr President," sighed General Rosenberg.

"Excellent. Now, how about a-"

The President was interrupted by the door sliding open and his secretary and Chief of Staff running into the office.

"Oh, hello, Ben. Um, I'm just in a meet-"

"Mr President, you really need to see this." The Chief of Staff took the remote from the President's desk and turned on the TV screen in a cabinet on one side of the room.

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Government accused of protest bombing

SAYENNA, Thursday
This morning a bomb was detonated by the roadside in Westfield, a suburb on the outskirts of Sayenna, whilst an anti-government protest was taking place. At this stage, 115 people have been killed and over 500 injured by, investigators say, a large amount of military grade explosives. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, a letter has been sent to the media from an anonymous source involving an order from the Ministry of Defence to carry out the attack, signed by the Minister himself. This is allegedly a pretext for the government to crack down on opposition. Predictably, this has outraged citizens around the nation, with protests increasing tenfold. The Ministry has immediately released a statement saying that the order is a forgery, and that it has never ordered terrorism against Hamilayan citizens. No further statements from other arms of the government have been issued so far.

More on the situation as it develops.

Come on, everyone, look! War crimes! Repression! Murder! Oh noes!

OOC is up. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=544142)

Sayenna

Many lights of the National Bank tower were still bright even at this time of the night, but not on this floor, whose occupants, marketers, had gone home from the evening, which was dark and empty. Save one person.

The person in question, a man, walked calmly through the darkness, the security lights providing adequate light to avoid obstacles. He walked directly to a particular office, switched on the light and took a key from his pocket. This went into a lock on a drawer of the office's mahogany desk, and he opened the drawer to find a pair of headphones, which he put on.

The man unzipped the sports bag he had brought with him and extricated a pair of binoculars. Dimming the lights in the office, he walked to the window and raised the binoculars, scanning the building across the road. A sign several floors below the level he was on named it as the Eden Hotel. After a few seconds his eyes fixed on one of the rooms. He smiled, and pulled up one of the office chairs, in which he sat to wait.

Some time later, the door of the hotel room across the road opened and a man walked in. This made the first man sit up straight in his seat, and he briefly lowered the binoculars to check his watch. It read 00:41. Close enough, he thought. He was pleased to note that the headphones gave a reasonably clear sound of the opening door and footsteps. The man in the room collapsed on the bed and turned on the plasma TV.

Shortly afterwards, the doorbell rang and the man in the hotel room turned towards the door, unsurprisingly. He walked to it, looked through the peephole and opened it. A woman in cleaner's uniform entered, the cleaning trolley in the corridor behind her.

"Housekeeping!" came the cheery but muffled greeting heard in the National Bank across the road. The man stood aside to let her pass, turning his back to the door.

This ensured that he would never really know what happened next. A bellhop, or a man dressed as a bellhop, jumped out from behind the trolley in the corridor. He was holding an oddly-shaped pistol. This fired a dart shooting out and hitting the man in the back, who slumped to the ground. The watcher in the bank office smiled with satisfaction at seeing this.

The cleaning lady turned, greeted the bellhop with a wave and bent down to check if the man was dead- that was the objective, as all the participants knew, rather than unconscious- and he apparently was, so the trolley was wheeled in and the body tossed into a laundry bag. Meanwhile, the bellhop entered the walk-in wardrobe and emerged with two suitcases. He checked the drawers and cupboards of the room for any items of interest, found none, and walked to a pot plant, taking something small from its pot and putting it into his pocket. The muffled sounds coming through the watching man's headphones stopped. This was his cue, as he knew, and he put the headphones and binoculars into the sports bag, turned off the lights and departed.

In the hotel, the cleaner with the body and the bellhop with the suitcases went in opposite directions down the corridor. The bellhop went to the elevators, then took the suitcases down into the lobby and out the front of the hotel to the boot of a waiting black sedan, which drove off. He then proceeded to enter the toilets and change into normal clothes waiting in a bag for him, and in five minutes he was out of the hotel and gone in the Sayenna streets. The sedan, meanwhile, headed to the Government District.

The cleaner took the service elevator, and deposited the body into the back of an already half-full laundry truck. She got in, started the engine, and in a short time was out the back of a nearby 24-hour laundromat. The laundry was loaded on a cart and taken inside. Out the front of the laundromat, another black sedan pulled up and a well-dressed businessman got out of the driver's seat carrying an empty laundry bag. He then emerged from the building with a full one. The cleaner returned to the truck, also carrying clean laundry, and returned it to the hotel. She was gone five minutes later as well.

No one witnessed this seemingly mundane event at the laundromat from the inside, as the owner had been told his house was on fire and had hurried away without closing the business. To his relief, it turned out it had been a false report.

The businessman drove for half an hour, finally pulling up at the Federal Military Medical Institute (Central), a large, rectangular glass building. The laundry bag was taken inside, where two staff collected it and placed it on a gurney. His night's work done, the businessman returned to his car and drove off. In the well-lit hospital corridors, the numerous soldiers on duty could see that the shape in this bag was extremely suspicious, to say the least. However, they had been told to expect the bag's arrival, and if they didn't know what it was all about, the higher ups did, and they had learnt better than to waste time questioning these things. The bag was taken to the mortuary, where two staff stripped the body. The clothes and contents of the pockets were inspected, sterilised and taken to the roof helipad, where they were loaded into a UH-15 helicopter, which also flew off in the direction of the Government District. The body was placed into cold storage- just in case- but was prepared for cremation.

Meanwhile, the suitcases had arrived at their destination and opened. Their owner's laptop was taken out, turned on, and email brought up. Two things were sent; a message to the Eden Hotel, taking care of the remainder of the bill and apologising for a departure at such short notice, and a message to the owner's wife, stating that he had gone overseas, due to a matter of the utmost importance, and too secret to disclose the destination. Indeed, an international flight was booked, and someone very closely resembling this man got on it, but he flew, cleaned off his makeup in the terminal and changed his clothes, had a coffee and flew back in a few hours. Under a different name, of course.

A very thorough investigation might uncover something, but it would be seen to that any investigation would not be.

No, the world would hear no more of Joseph Blackburn.

[ I'm sort of limited by what you tell me. At the moment, I don't know a thing about this. :/ ]

To the President of Hamilay
<<<To: Prime Minister Scott
From: Director Johnson (ISD)
This organisation has been keeping an eye in the recent civil unrest in Hamilay caused by a controversial and widely publicised book by one J. Blackburn. We believe that the book had a grain of truth but greatly exaggerated the transgressings of Hamilay's intelligence agencies. The wave of protests and near riots has urged top levels of that government to put greater restraints on it's intelligence community. However the situation has been complicated by foreign agents. According to one of our sources a meeting between agents of two different intelligence services in a Sayenna restaurant. Col. Tonnison of the OMI- who has been under close survaillance since being identified last month- met with an as yet unidentified man going by the probably fake name of Glehn. We believe that 'Glehn' may have a high level of responsibility for the recent bombing of an anti-government protest and implicating the Hamilayan defence ministry. Other sources indicate an imminent assassination attempt on Blackburn. These operations are probably aimed at destabilising Hamilay.
While I realise that direct intervention is too risky I do recommend warning the Hamilayan President.
E. O. Johnson, Director: Intelligence and Security Directorate>>>
In accordance with Director Johnson's recommendation I have decided to forward the government MEMO to your government. I would advise you and your security services to be prepared for concerted destabilisation attempts in the very near future.
Prime Minister Scott

FSD Headquarters, 7 Union Square, Sayenna

Director Vasily Novikov sat at his mahogany desk and attempted to ignore the muffled sounds of shouting and chanting from outside in the square. He looked through the papers on his desk, eventually selecting one, a forwarded memo from the President, in turn a forwarded memo from somewhere called the Artic Republics.

To the President of Hamilay
<<<To: Prime Minister Scott
From: Director Johnson (ISD)
This organisation has been keeping an eye in the recent civil unrest in Hamilay caused by a controversial and widely publicised book by one J. Blackburn. We believe that the book had a grain of truth but greatly exaggerated the transgressings of Hamilay's intelligence agencies. The wave of protests and near riots has urged top levels of that government to put greater restraints on it's intelligence community. However the situation has been complicated by foreign agents. According to one of our sources a meeting between agents of two different intelligence services in a Sayenna restaurant. Col. Tonnison of the OMI- who has been under close survaillance since being identified last month- met with an as yet unidentified man going by the probably fake name of Glehn. We believe that 'Glehn' may have a high level of responsibility for the recent bombing of an anti-government protest and implicating the Hamilayan defence ministry. Other sources indicate an imminent assassination attempt on Blackburn. These operations are probably aimed at destabilising Hamilay.
While I realise that direct intervention is too risky I do recommend warning the Hamilayan President.
E. O. Johnson, Director: Intelligence and Security Directorate>>>
In accordance with Director Johnson's recommendation I have decided to forward the government MEMO to your government. I would advise you and your security services to be prepared for concerted destabilisation attempts in the very near future.
Prime Minister Scott

This was both disturbing and embarassing news to the Director. It was expected that OMI agents had been operating in the Federal Republic, but as yet none had been identified. What was disturbing was that they were possibly responsible for the protest bombing. The immediate suspects had been a variety of home-grown suspicious organizations. Steps had already been taken immediately in response to this memo. It was taken with something of a grain of salt as the Artic Republics had never had any dealings with Hamilay, but a closer eye would be kept on the suspects.

What was more embarassing was the assassination attempt on Blackburn. It appeared that the ISD had thought the operation to be along the lines of the bombing, to instill anger towards the government. Novikov knew this to be false, and that it had been conducted to make sure the government wasn't blamed whatsoever. He knew as he'd signed the assassination order himself. It had been burnt later, of course. But the President hadn't been told- perhaps this would be the last time he wouldn't be told about these things, due to his silly new requirements- and Novikov wasn't looking forward to their next meeting.

Well, it couldn't be helped. Blackburn was dead now, ISD were a bit behind the times on that front. Though he would definitely have been worried if they weren't.

The Director jumped as a muffled boom sounded from outside, followed by noises unmistakable for anything other than gunshots and screaming.

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Protestors fired upon, violent riots break out

SAYENNA, Saturday
In scenes bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Freedom Square massacre during the Hamilayan Civil War, where the Imperial pretender government fired upon civilian demonstrators protesting in Freedom Square, leading to the deaths of twelve thousand, Federal Security Directorate security troops and guards have responded to Union Square protests with lethal force.

The tragedy began shortly after the allegations towards the government for conducting Thursday's Westfield bombing, leading to an exponential increase in numbers of protestors on the streets. At 12:30 today, approximately 50,000 people were gathered in Union Square outside the FSD headquarters in particular. A detonation occured, but by what means is unclear. It appears to be most likely from a grenade or homemade explosive device thrown from the crowd of protestors into lines of security forces and riot police. Reports indicate that this initial detonation killed three Civil Guard and injured a further ten.

The security forces responded to this attack by opening fire with small arms on the crowd. Some, who were armed, attempted to return fire, but the majority tried to flee in panic. A few minutes after the few protestors returned fire, armoured vehicles arrived and fired machine guns into the crowd. It is not clear how many were killed by Civil Guard and FSDF (Federal Security Directorate Force) fire and how many were killed by either fire from the crowd and being trampled in the escape which followed, but the total death toll at this time stands at 6,000, expected to rise.

This has been the spark to set off the mostly peaceful protests so far, and the majority of them across the nation have turned violent. Thousands of people are now rioting across the nation, throwing bricks and bottles at law enforcement personnel, in some cases even attacking with firearms, and indiscriminately destroying property. Protestors attempted to storm the gates of the Presidential Palce but were repelled by use of non-lethal weapons and the threat of deadly force. In addition to the Union Square massacre, over 1,000 people have been killed in violence across the nation, and this violence shows no signs of abating.

More on this situation as it develops.

A call was placed to the Director's office by the Praetor of Vetalia at 3:29 PM local time, a rather strange one given the lack of any previous notice or activity on the Vetalian side. The Praetor's rather schmaltzy tone carried with it the underlying confidence of a businessman sizing up a wonderful business opportunity.

"As you may know, the situation at hand is rather concerning to the Vetalian government. I recall the death of our Emperor Kosyachenko in that rather embarassing Crimm fiasco and the chaos it has produced, and I fear similar actions in your country could have considerably negative results."

Of course you remember it, you were the one who ordered him killed. The voice continued, becoming somewhat sterner as the Praetor listed out his specific concerns.

"...that being said, it is not of consequence to the matter at hand. As you probably know, we are interested in one thing and that is the continued opportunity for our country to invest in Hamilay. We are a country of businessmen, director, and all that matters is your government continues to pursue policies beneficial to business."

It reverted again, this time carefully chosen to euphemize the actions of both Hamilay and Vetalia, to avoid outright stating that the latter would effectively turn a blind eye to the former's actions in exchange for preferential trade and investment concessions. In fact, the deal would be sweetened with an abundant influx of untraceable hard currency.

"I have it on good faith that our country would not only be willing to overlook any alleged transgressions on your government's behalf but outright provide support in the event that the security situation deteroriates to a level where more coercive force is required. The Ministry of Finance will be able to ensure all aid passes through secure channels...there isn't an accountant in any of the world's intelligence agencies that would be able to track our funds once we're done hiding them.

Except our own, that is. Simply name what you need, Director, and my government will be able to make it happen."

The call to the Director's office was redirected to the bunker beneath the headquarters, where the Director was now sheltering under heavy guard. It had not been a good week.

Novikov listened with interest. At last, something less disastrous.

"Well, Praetor, first let me offer my condolences on the troubles your nation appears to have been having recently. It was not pleasant to hear of, and I am sorry. Now, I am an intelligence officer and do not dictate government policy. However, I have it on good authority that policies beneficial to business, as you put it, and specifically sympathetic to continued Vetalian investment in the Republic, shall continue as normal. As long as the current government stays in power. Perhaps on this front you would be better off talking to the Trade and Foreign Ministry, but probably they will say what I just have."

The Director thought for a moment. The Vetalians offering to turn a blind eye to his agency was nice, and might sweeten the deal for the President, but the man seemed to be set on making everything all clean and respectable. Novikov knew that not following the orders of the still reasonably popular President would rapidly lead to being forced to turn in a letter of resignation, and he didn't intend to retire just yet. So, unfortunately, that might come to nothing.

However, in the short term, some trade and investment to prop up the nation might be useful if Hamilayan allies demonstrated outrage to the situation. Plus, if the situation was to deteriorate further, Novikov suspected that the President might certainly institute some harsher measures. He certainly hoped so.

"At the moment, we have the situation under control. However, I will pass your message to the Ministry of the Interior, as we may need assistance to maintain law and order in the meantime. Vetalian investment is of course greatly welcomed in the Republic as always. Thank you very much for calling, Praetor."

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