King of All I Survey
Chapter 172: The Uncertainties of a Fair Trial

Chapter 172: The Uncertainties of a Fair Trial

I sat at my desk in my office and the direct feed of audio and video of the Hague press announcement filled my android vision. With these bodies, Joe could directly access the audio and visual inputs and override the ’eyes’ and ’ears.’

I don’t know what I expected from the announcement, but it was kind of anticlimactic. Basically, a spokesperson read a statement announcing that wanted war criminals had been delivered into the custody of the ICC at the Hague and would stand trial as soon as legal preparations for prosecution and defense could be made. Maxim Volkov, and the complicit generals were specifically named as defendants and the crimes of which they were accused enumerated.

The Russian government issued an immediate statement denying the charges, demanding their release, and threatening a direct assault on the Hague itself to free them. It was a fiery and blustery statement read by a newscaster. He attributed to top Russian government officials but did not give any names for the statement’s origin, which was interesting. The statement also threatened the United Earth Concord directly, calling us terrorists, kidnappers, saboteurs, and criminals. Any country that joined or aided the UEC, he said would face the full wrath of Russia’s military might. I was even mentioned by name, with a bounty for turning me over to Russian justice. I was worth one hundred million Russian rubles which tallied just about a million US dollars.

Belarus and other Russian allies issued similarly blustery threats and statements. North Korea threatened the nuclear annihilation of any nations joining the UEC.

"OK, Joe, that’s enough for now," I said aloud. I still preferred to speak normally when there were no others around to see me having a conversation with someone not physically present. "How are we doing with finding Russians in government positions who might be willing to support a change?"

"Not good, so far. Almost all of them are so afraid of Volkov and his retribution that they won’t even entertain a discussion of anything other than a full effort to get him back. Secretly, of course, many wish he would be permanently removed. They feel he has held Russia back economically and wasted its military reputation on petty aggressions to try to establish some sort of lasting legacy of rebuilding the Russian Empire. Fear, however, is a powerful deterrent. They believe he will manage to get out of this situation and return with a vengeance. Failing that, they fear his enforcement apparatus still operating freely in Russia. Indeed, several of Volkov’s rivals have either disappeared or had bizarre fatal accidents since his capture." Joe’s voice seemed to emanate from nowhere and everywhere within the room. I knew that it came from one of the shielded drones hovering unseen somewhere in the room. He always used a sound propagation pattern that disguised its origin whenever any drone made a sound, so as not to give away their physical locations. They were too fast and agile to be hit with anything Earth could throw at them, but still, it was good practice to use safety measures.

"How can we convince them, he’s gone forever?" I asked.

"Are we sure that’s the case?" Joe asked in return.

I sat up straight, "What? Of course. He’s under arrest on charges of genocide, mass murder, and a bunch of other charges all with life sentences." _{fr\eewebno vel .c(o)m}

"But he will have a fair trial."

"Sure, but he’s clearly guilty, we have stacks of evidence."

"Still his fate rests in the hands of three judges, human judges. Judges with families, perhaps financial pressures, maybe even political philosophies that may differ from yours. Volkov will have lawyers. They will most likely try to have the evidence you presented declared inadmissible as the result of illegal surveillance, originating from an organization with a known bias and technical capability to fake video, documents, and audio records."

"It’s all real!"

"That’s beside the point. His team will make a convincing argument that the evidence could have been faked. Likely they will even create evidence of their own against Ukraine alleging Ukraine planned a genocide against Russians living there and that Russia only acted to defend them. The outcome is far from certain, but I would estimate he has a better than fifty-fifty chance of being acquitted of the major charges."

"How... Holy cow, Joe, we can’t let that happen."

"Do you believe in the right to a fair trial for everyone?"

"Yes, I mean... sort of. Fair means the truth is presented and the verdict is based on the truth," I protested.

"Perhaps to you, that’s what a fair trial means, but in practice a fair trial means the defendant has every opportunity to challenge the evidence, true or not. If the truth was discovered through means not sanctioned by law, it may not be usable in the trial. Little of our surveillance and hacking would pass legal scrutiny, to be honest".

"So what are you saying, his arrest was for nothing?" I asked incredulously.

"No, he may be found guilty of some or even all of the charges. There is other evidence provided through legitimate sources after all. I’m just saying that the outcome is uncertain enough that almost no one in Russia is willing to take the chance and speak or act against him."

"So, they will continue fighting in Ukraine?"

"Currently, that is their plan."

"So, we’re going to have to pull hundreds of thousands of Russian troops off the map after all?" I asked dejectedly. I had hoped to be able to fix this with a surgical strike at leadership instead of figuring out how to handle up to half a million prisoners, most of whom were not even criminals.

"Perhaps a wise king can think of other options." Joe suggested.

"Mom would say, ’just kill him and be done with it’." I said gloomily.

"That would certainly remove any doubt of his returning to Russia," Joe said casually.

I slammed my fist down on the table. "Violence is always the easy way out! It’s the first choice of the lazy and the cowardly. I won’t!"

"I remind you that he is almost certainly a psychologically intractable psychopath, prone to violence and anger. Even with memory implant therapy, we could not cure him. Standard Galactic Union policy for such individuals is termination." Joe stated flatly.

"I don’t care what other people’s policy is! Especially someone who thinks raiding the Earth and wiping out our cities for profit is acceptable policy! We need to make sure the trial judges consider all the evidence."

"If other sources put forward damning evidence, sources without challengeable legal complications, perhaps that would tip the scales of justice." Joe suggested.

"But you said anything we provide would be challenged."

"Yes, you need others to provide evidence of his crimes."

I drummed my fingers on the desk in agitation. "The oligarchs," I said. "I’m sure they have evidence against him. If we get them to aid the prosecution, even testify at the trial..."

"They fear Volkov more than most. They’ve seen his anger first-hand and even seen other powerful oligarchs sent to labor camps, or worse."

"OK, start by finding those he’s locked away somewhere, but who are still alive," I ordered. "They have nothing to lose. Ask them to contact the Hague, we’ll put them into a secure hotel in the Netherlands, with our drones and paramilitaries guarding them 24/7. And let’s open a dialogue with the other oligarchs, convince them it’s in their best interest to act now to make sure Volkov is convicted and removed from Russia permanently."

"As long as Volkov has active enforcement teams free in Russia, that’s going to be difficult."

"Government sanctioned murderers?"

"And worse..." Joe agreed.

"I have no problem dropping them into Simulation Room holding cells. You can find records of them and locate them?"

There was a two second pause, which was an incredibly long time for Joe to hesitate... I anticipated bad news.

"I believe so. However, I don’t have one hundred percent certainty that my list is complete."

"How much certainty do you have?" I asked.

"Approximately 93 percent," Joe answered.

I shrugged, "Good enough. Do we have enough cells available?"

"Yes, with one hundred fifty thousand to spare."

I smiled, "Ok, pick them up, LITV them to the holding cells. Grab their IDs, drivers’ licenses, whatever they use in Russia. I want to be able to show them to the Oligarchs to open discussions with them."

"You understand that many of them share certain motivations and methods with Volkov, even in his absence, they will seek power and will not hesitate to use force, violent force, to achieve it."

"Yes, but I’m hoping they are also pragmatists. We already know they tend to back down when confronted with greater power or they would have moved against Volkov long ago," I concluded.

"Perhaps," Joe said, noncommittally. "Perhaps, his removal will make them more willing to copy his tactics to take his place..."

"Then they will face trials as well. UEC trials where truth prevails over technicalities," I declared.

"So, you don’t believe in a guaranteed right to privacy as a matter of governmental policy?" Joe asked.

I tilted my head considering. A right to privacy was always something I had considered as a fundamental freedom. Something that governments should respect. Banning evidence gathered from a violation of one’s legal privacy was just a way to make sure governments didn’t have incentive to violate that basic right, even if it meant some guilty people went free. I kept going back and forth in my head, debating with myself. I thought of Volkov potentially being freed and the destruction he would wreak on Ukraine if he was.

"No," I declared with certainty, "public safety trumps privacy. I mean, you exist everywhere all at once. Nothing is really private from you, regardless of policy. I only ask for information gained that way when I have cause to believe crimes are being committed or someone’s safety is at stake. That’s fair game, as far as I’m concerned, Joe."

"Perhaps, but it seems you’ve accessed what might be ’private’ conversations for political leaders, like President Arroyo in Guatemala for example, without reason to think he was involved in any crime. Simply to gain advantage in negotiations or strategic maneuverings."

If Joe was physically present, I would have given him the stink-eye. "Maybe... I could still argue it was for a greater good and ultimately public safety."

"You could argue that... but I think it might be a lazy way out."

I shook my head. He was right. I needed to figure out whether privacy was a fundamental part of personal freedom or not and then abide by my own decision.