Trigunia

[Aquinas]

August 4212

Boycott Varnham funeral, Trigunian bishops tell World Congress


Turning their backs on Varnham's funeral

The bishops of the Terran Patriarchal Church and Aurorian Patriarchal Church in Trigunia have issued a joint statement condemning euthanasia as "not in accordance with the scriptures or with a meaningful understanding of the preciousness of human life". The statement goes on to call on ex-Hutori President Tiege Varnham "to urgently reconsider his decision to end his life, for the sake of his own soul and also for the spiritual welfare of those whom his decision may influence".

96-year old Tiege Varnham, who narrowly won the Hutori Presidency in June 4205 and held it until failing in his bid for re-election June 4209, has announced he wants to end his life through euthanasia next month.

More controversially, the bishops' statement adds:

If Mr. Varnham follows through with this tragic plan, then we cannot fail to emphasise that it would be entirely wrong and inappropriate for the World Congress to send a representative to the funeral. To do that would be for the World Congress to appear to endorse his decision to die by euthanasia, and that is something we and many billions of people all over Terra would be gravely disturbed by. Respect for human life was one of the key principles the World Congress was founded upon, so for the World Congress to do this would go completely against the values it claims to represent.

By convention, when a former Head of State dies, the General Secretary of the World Congress sends a representative to the funeral, and in some cases even appears him- or her-self. It is not yet known what Mariana Fonseca, the current General Secretary, intends to do with regards to the Varnham funeral.

Conservative Party leader Radoslav Dragunin has endorsed the bishops' statement, agreeing that "the spread of the ideology of euthanasia is one of the gravest threats to human welfare in Terra" and that "the World Congress has got to take a stand against this".

Euthanasia is currently legal in Trigunia, but is very controversial, with most conservative politicians and almost the entire religious establishment being strongly opposed to its practice.

[TheTsar]

Речь Народа
"WORLD CONGRESS INVESTIGATION IS FREE TO COME" SAYS NIKITIN
A recent statement released by the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, Duke Fyodor Nikitin, states that "the World Congress investigation on the alleged civil rights abuses is free to come to Trigunia, since the Provisional Governing Council of the TLA issued no orders on the execution of anyone during the Civil War. If any executions or atrocities were committed by the TLA, this was on order of the local administrators. We had not launched an investigation of our own because we thought the administrators' honour remained intact and they did not do anything of the kind, however, if the WC proves that any atrocities were committed, we will open a case and find the people behind them. We also request that investigation also review the alleged civil rights abuses of the Communist Party militias and "government" forces."

[Aquinas]

January 4213

Politicians accused of cover-up as lawmakers vote on law to weaken Freedom of Information Act



Following increasing calls for a World Congress Commission of Inquiry to investigate alleged war crimes committed during the Trigunian Civil War, the Conservative Party has provoked further outrage by proposing a National Security Act, which would make it more difficult for official government records and files to be released. Conservative leader Radoslav Dragunin claims the bill is "about protecting our vital national interests and the safety of our citizens and our security forces", but critics, led, by the Trigunian Civil Liberties Association, are raising concerns that this is an effort to hamper any future war crimes investigation.


Communists "were scum", says ex-Defence Minister and TLA leader

Vadim Menshikov, the former Defence Minister who became one of the first prominent defectors to the Trigunian Liberation Army (TLA) in the civil war and went on to become one of its senior leaders, has condemned what he calls "spurious talk about the Communist Party somehow being victims in the civil war". He continued:

Lets be frank about it, the Communists were - and are - human scum. They were utterly opposed to Trigunia and to Trigunian values, and they were trying to overthrow our whole system of society, including our Tsar, our religion and our way of life. They wanted to seize all of our properly, take away all of our rights and turn us into slaves under a Metzist totalitarian dictatorship. They were in armed revolt against the Tsar. Lets not make out these people were victims. These people were murderers. They were amongst the most evil people who ever lived.

Asked whether the Communist leaders "deserved to die", he replied:

I do not personally know what happened to them. There is all of this talk about them being executed. Did that really happen? I don't know. I'm sceptical, but I don't know.

But did they deserve to die? Yes they did. Lets assume for a moment that the rumours about them being executed are true. Would that be wrong? Not really. Now, in an ideal world, I would have preferred for them to be put on trial, and for them to have been held to account for their crimes, and then to be sentenced to death by hanging. Maybe, by the end of that process, they would have had a chance to finally repent of their sins and save their souls. Who knows? But if they were executed at the end of the civil war, well, frankly, so what? We should not be worrying about that now.

The people trying to dig all of this up now are Metzists and those who are falling for the Metzist agenda. Its all about trying to undermine Trigunia and blacken our reputation. Our leaders should have the guts to tell them - and the World Congress -
to shove off. This is a matter for Trigunians and nobody else.

[Aquinas]

May 4213

Bouncy castle disaster rocks Trigunia
"There must be a full and independent investigation," demands Trigunian Civil Liberties Association






Arkady Metz

One of Trigunia's leading communist activists lost his life yesterday in suspicious circumstances involving a bouncy castle accident. Arkady Metz, descendant of Karlstein Metz and director of Petrograd's Museum of Capitalism, was performing acrobatics on a bouncy castle at an event raising money for Justice for the 67, a group campaigning for an investigation into human rights abuses carried out against communists during the civil war. Then, to widespread horror, there was a sudden gust of wind and the bouncy castle took off high into the air, eventually spinning over and dropping Metz from a great height onto a municipal rubbish dump.


Police e-fit of the suspect

It did not take long for the ensuing police investigation to establish that minutes before the tragedy struck, a man had been seen tampering around outside the bouncy castle. Police believe he was a saboteur who deliberately loosened the ballasts in order to precipitate the accident. An e-fit of the suspect has been published (see picture above) and police are asking anyone who can identify him to contact them immediately.

The suspicious circumstances surrounding this tragedy has fuelled suspicions that dangerous, powerful elements are trying to do everything they can to intimidate people from either campaigning for a war crimes investigation or coming forward with information about atrocities which took place during the civil war. Both Justice for the 67 and the Trigunian Civil Liberties Association have issued statements demanding a full and independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Arkady Metz's death. They are also demanding that the investigation should be overseen by an international team responsible to the World Congress.

Conservative Party leader Radoslav Dragunin has offered his "heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Arkady Metz", but opposed calls for an international investigation, arguing "there is no reason to doubt the integrity and competence of our police officers".

[TheTsar]

Речь Народа
GOSSTRATAGRO PERFORMS BETTER THAN MARKZERNO
This years harvest has been comparatively unsuccessful for the Trigunian agricultural private sector, with Trigunia's largest grain producer, "Марковские Зерновые Фермы" (Markov Grain Farms), having their grain output reduced by a third. Meanwhile, Trigunia's state agricultural firm - "Государственное Стратегическое Агрикультурное Предпреятие" (State Strategic Agricultural Firm) - has had a 5% increase in harvests. It may seem to some that now is the time to go further left wing, and only let private business exist in medium and small business, however, Minister of Finance, Baron Vasiliy Soloviev, declared that none of this would happen. But, some speculate that the government is bound to do so, after the Kadets proposed a bill to reinstate workers' councils, and is just trying to keep the waning number of richer voters.

Baron Vasiliy Soloviev
PRIME MINISTER OFFERS HIS CONDOLENCES TO THE METZ FAMILY
The Chairman of the Committee of Minister, Duke Fyodor Nikitin, has spoken outside his residence today that "I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Arkady Metz" and "empathise the victim's relatives". He has also said that "this can be dealt by our police, however, as I have said previously, an international investigation into the so called "67", and other alleged victims, is welcome. He also criticised Dragunin's proposal to only release classified files "after a set period of time provided doing so is not deemed to endanger national security".

[Aquinas]

Euthanasia controversy: Church leaders condemn World Congress over presence at Varnham funeral

Following the World Congress General Secretary's decision to send a representative to the funeral of former Hutori President Tiege Varnham, against the protests of Trigunia's religious leaders, the Terran Patriarchal Church and Aurorian Patriarchal Church in Trigunia have issued another joint statement, condemning the General Secretary's decision as "inappropriate and sending out entirely the wrong message" and reaffirming their opposition to euthanasia.

The Terran Patriarchal Church in Trigunia also announced that it would increase from 50,000 rabol to 250,000 rabol the price of an indulgence to spare a person from Hell who commits euthanasia. "Unlike Mariana Fonseca, we are prepared to take a stand on this issue and send out the right moral message," they said in their statement.

Grigori Aleksandrov, the Aurorian Patriarchal Church's Bishop of Richtenburen, has been the only senior religious leader to set a different tone to his colleagues. In a recent talk at a theological college, he called euthanasia "a very painful, very complex, very difficult area" and suggested "not everything is as black-and-white as we sometimes think it is" and that "there is a need for the Church to show more compassion and understanding to people in these situations, to those who are suffering, and to their families and loved ones, and the medical professionals who are trying to help". He also argued "the Church should accompany people on their journey towards death, and be there for them, rather than condemning or abandoning them".

[Axxell]

Euthanasia for the former hutorian head of state: the Primate of Istalia joins the Richtenburen's Aurorian bishop: "Compassion and piety! Let us remember Eliyahu's teachings and lend our hand to the lost sheep"

[TheTsar]

Речь Народа
THE DEATH OF AN EMPEROR; THE END OF AN AGE
Yesterday night, His Imperial Majesty, Nikolay I, Emperor of all Trigunia, died in his sleep of nephritis. The exact cause of this disease is unknown, but most speculate that he got it from a visit to a chemical factory 3 months ago, and since then, his health slowly deteriorated. Upon his death, His Imperial Majesty was 104, and a week of mourning has been declared. Trigunians across the nation will truly miss this Emperor, who was born an heir, but fell down to a simple citizens, rose up to be President, and orchestrated the return of a benevolent dualistic constitutional monarchy, which stands to this day, despited Metzism and rebellion shaking its existence. Some however, think that he is no different from the tyrants before, and he used the revolt to secure his power. Nevertheless, Uspenskiy Sobor was packed with people, seeing their Emperor for the last time. Within the next week, Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Tsesarevna (heiress) to the Imperial Throne, will be crowned as Empress of all Trigunia. She is a known sympathiser to the Kadet Party, since it was them who brought the Romanovs to power, however, it is known that she herself (like all of her predecessors) is a liberal and philanthropist. We wish Grand Duchess Maria good luck in her oncoming reign.

Uspenskiy Sobor

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna

[Aquinas]

July 4214
Dragunin leads "March against Communism" through central Petrograd


Father Modest Ivanov from the Terran Patriarchal Church: one of the march's key organisers

Conservative Party leader Radoslav Dragunin yesterday led an impassioned march through central Petrograd in protest against "the Red Menace threatening Trigunia and the rest of Terra". Dragunin and the other organisers of the march claimed 300,000 people assembled for the march, although the police put their estimate at 75,000.

Conservatives are becoming increasingly concerned about the leftward direction of the Kadet government, which recently went so far as to place all businesses under the control of Workers Councils. They are also worried about the rise of communism internationally, especially with, for example, the emergence of a multinational communist superstate in Majatra, and the communist takeover in Hawu Mumenhes.


Trigunian Broadcasting Corporation to show Melodiefestival

Trigunia's state television broadcaster, the Trigunian Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), has announced it has negotiated rights to broadcast Melodiefestival, the international musical extravaganza scheduled to take place in Lourenne. Conservative leader Radoslav Dragunin has criticised the TBC for "wasting public money on foreign music", complaining that "for over a decade now, the TBC has been neglecting homegrown traditional Trigunia music in favour of unrefined foreign junk music, which dulls the musical senses - and all too often, dulls the public's morals as well". He also accused the TBC of having "been taken over by an arrogant Metzist, liberal elite" and suggested it should be "either radically reformed or closed down entirely".

[TheTsar]

Речь Народа
COLLAPSE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
In a surprising turn of events, a year after winning the Trigunian general election, the Conservative Party collapsed and has left over 2/3 of the Presidium empty. The Kadets, who were steamrolled in their previous election, have been accused of sponsoring traitorous elements of the Conservatives to divide the party and eventually achieve its downfall, however, this is spoken by the far-right of the former CP, and has very little likelihood. The Kadets, despite losing the election, have managed to remain in power, and have proposed an early election, in front of the 94 Kadet deputies. Trigunia, is once again, descending into a period of de facto one-party state, which previously achieved stability.