NE: Northeast v. SomebodyWhoExists

[pikachu]

Your honor, as I've posted in my office, I will not be available in any substantial capacity until Friday. I ask for a brief recess in the trial until then.

[cinyc]

Your honor, as I've posted in my office, I will not be available in any substantial capacity until Friday. I ask for a brief recess in the trial until then.

Okay.  The trial won't start until Friday, at the earliest.

[pikachu]

Now that I have internet again, I'd like to call SWE as a witness.

[Oakvale]

My client is willing to appear as a witness for the prosecution and is glad for the opportunity to definitively clear his name.

[cinyc]

Very well.  I will PM SWE to get him to the witness stand.  I will also ask him to say "I swear (or affirm) to tell the truth and nothing but the truth(, so help me Dave)".  If he decides to affirm instead of swear, he need not say the so help me Dave part.  

[SWE]

I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me Dave

[pikachu]

Were you a do-chairman of the Union of Atlasian Socialist Republica, which called for an ivasion of the Northeast?

[SWE]

Yeah but only nominally. I didn't have any invovlement outside of signing on because it was so funny, and joining an organization isn't illegal under the Constitution.

[pikachu]

However, hadn't the Atlasian Senate declared war on the militas that made up this organization?

[Oakvale]

Objection, Your Honor. The question is misleading and based on a false premise that may confuse the jury.

The Senate did not "declare war" on the far-left organisation my client joined in the spirit of anarchic comedy, but on the illegal government set up by Mr. TNF in the Midwest -

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- an entirely different matter.

[cinyc]

Objection, Your Honor. The question is misleading and based on a false premise that may confuse the jury.

The Senate did not "declare war" on the far-left organisation my client joined in the spirit of anarchic comedy, but on the illegal government set up by Mr. TNF in the Midwest -

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- an entirely different matter.

Overruled.  I suspect the witness can answer the question without anything being misleading.  SWE, please answer the question.

[SWE]

No, the senate merely declared war on the Midwest Republic established by TNF, which I was never a part of.

[SWE]

Your honor, I will be leaving for vacation tomorrow and will have limited (if any) internet access until September 7th. I ask for a recess until then.

[cinyc]

Your honor, I will be leaving for vacation tomorrow and will have limited (if any) internet access until September 7th. I ask for a recess until then.

Okay.  We will have a recess until September 7.

[cinyc]

SWE should be back from vacation now, and the court is back in session. 

Does the prosecution have any more questions for the witness?

[pikachu]

Yes.

Why did you continue to be part of this organization after it called for the arrest of 'counterevolutionary agents' (already identified by TNF as imporrtant officials including the President and Senate Speaker) and made delusional threats to use nuclear weapons on Northeastern cities?

[SWE]

It was pretty clearly to anyone that the red army had no actual power to arrest anyone, nor did it ever have any control over nuclear weapons, so there was no reason to take any of his threats seriously. I was never involved in the decision to call for these arrests or to threaten nuclear attacks, and never condoned them. Again, just being a member of an organization, even one where the founder makes delusional claims that he has no way of actually putting into practice is not a crime, and as of yet I've been given no explanation of my arrest, beyond my association with an organization.

[pikachu]

Final question:

How is this statement:

Official statement from the Northeast branch of the Communist Party of Atlasia

Comrades,

It has come to my attention that the bourgeois state is attempting to suppress my candidacy for governor. The state is no longer even pretending to have a democratic mandate, and as such, must be overthrown.

As we speak, my forces are marching into New York to overthrow the reactionary regime of Governor Pikachu.

Comrades, I know this will be a hard fought battle, but these sacrifices are necessary for the sake of overthrowing the dictatorship of the bourgeois.

Henceforth, we no longer recognize the authority of the Northeast and Atlasian governments. We call on the state to stand down peacefully. We do not want Civil War, but if our oppressors do not stand down, we will have no choice but to strike back in self-defense.

Workers of the Northeast, Atlasia, and the World, Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

indicitive of anything but the threatened use of violence by an armed militia against me and the regional government of the Northeast in an attempt to overthrow it?

[cinyc]

Bump.  Will the witness please answer the question?  Thanks.

[SWE]

That's just me being hyperbolic. I obviously had no forces under my control and they certainly did not "march on New York". I hadn't held any sort of position of power in months, whether elected office or some militia group or anything like that, so it's ridiculous to assume I had any sort of organized militia I could use to overthrow the Northeast, even if I wanted to. Additionally, the GM never acknowledged I had forces under my command, and, like it or not, what the GM says is reality - otherwise there's nothing to stop anyone randomly saying "I am nuking Nyman" and then becoming a war criminal. Compare that to Snowstalker, who was recognised by the acting GM, Cranberry, of not only having actual forces under him but having committed several acts of treason rather than just making a silly speech.

[pikachu]

No more questions, your honor.

[cinyc]

Defense counsel Oakvale, do you have any questions for the witness?  If so, please ask your first question.

[Oakvale]

I have no questions for my client, Your Honor.

I had wished to call the former Game Moderator, Mr. DKRol as a witness. I believe his testimony would have conclusively exonerated my client of the inane charges against him. Unfortunately Mr. Dkrol has not been online for some two weeks.

As such, I'd ask if I may, in lieu of questioning the then-GM, briefly address the Court to lay out the facts of the case and, with evidence, show the stark reality that the 'events' suggested by my client's exaggerated rhetoric for which he's been unjustly charged never happened.

[cinyc]

I have no questions for my client, Your Honor.

I had wished to call the former Game Moderator, Mr. DKRol as a witness. I believe his testimony would have conclusively exonerated my client of the inane charges against him. Unfortunately Mr. Dkrol has not been online for some two weeks.

As such, I'd ask if I may, in lieu of questioning the then-GM, briefly address the Court to lay out the facts of the case and, with evidence, show the stark reality that the 'events' suggested by my client's exaggerated rhetoric for which he's been unjustly charged never happened.

Well, I first have to ask the prosecution if they have any other witnesses.  I don't think they do, but they might.  If not, closing arguments will follow.

[pikachu]

I have no other witnesses, your honor.