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Former Deputy Martin Drewery placed under Arrest in Kaliburg
Orthodox Leader charged with Corruption, but act is unclear
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
January 19, 5593


In a very public arrest, Eshar Deputy Martin Drewery is taken into Custody in Kaliburg

Now Former Deputy Martin Drewery, who represented Eshar Free City in the National Assembly was arrested yesterday and charged with corruption.  The official arrest writ said that Drewery had misappropriated not more than 1000 Imperial Rubles from a charity organization that his wife runs in Eshar.  Drewery loudly protested his innocence, and said he was the target of a coordinated campaign to smear his good name and vowed that he would fight the charges to his last breath.  The arrest warrant was sworn out by the office of the Ministry of Justice, and Drewery was held in custody over night in Kaliburg before being released back to Eshar where he will await his trial.  He was also summarily expelled from his seat in the National Assembly, and the Chancellor issued the Lord Mayor of Eshar a dictate to produce a new Deputy for the Eshar constituency within a week.

The arrest warrant was not specific as to the time and date of the alleged embezzlement, but the very public arrest which created a spectacle in downtown Kaliburg, as Mr. Drewery was pulled out of his seat on the floor of the National Assembly by armed police officers and roughly escorted from the Capitol building, the amount of press on hand to cover the event, and the forced perpetrator walk suggests that there is more to the arrest than simple embezzlement or public corruption.

"There's something strange going on here," said Deputy Colleen White, who represents the Senvias Constituency just across the bay from Eshar.  "Deputy Drewery and I have worked together for a long time, and I don't think he is the kind of guy who would misappropriate a single Ruble, let alone from a public charity.  It almost feels like they wanted to make an example of him."

If he was being made an example of, it was likely because Drewery was the leader of about 12 Orthodox Deputies who signed a petition publicly opposing Her Imperial Majesty's policy regarding Kundrati last fall.  The Petition was circulated around the National Assembly among members who would might be likely to sign it, but at the end only a dozen Deputies signed the form.  Drewery, instead of following a very public admonishment by the Chancellor to burn the petition, instead called for a vote of No Confidence against Her Imperial Majesty's Government, publicly denounced Her Imperial Majesty for "capitulating" to the Fascists in Kundrati, and calling for immediate restoration of the Blockade with the aim of re-attempting to turn the World against Fascism.

"What I don't get is why, if this was a political hit," said Deputy White, "why wait until now to do it?  After he lost the no-confidence vote, Her Imperial Majesty scheduled a formal audience to hear his grievances, and everyone thought that was the end of it.  So the timing on that doesn't make a lot of sense.  Perhaps he really is a crook."

The Chancellor was apparently informed of the arrest several days ago, and made sure it would be carried out when the Deputy actually needed to be present in the Assembly for votes.  Dame Diane Bolton also had a floor speech in hand to rail against corruption and theft when in the public trust.  Dame Bolton named Drewery specifically, and said that the Justice Ministry was investigating whether there were any other "thieves" among the Deputies in the National Assembly.

"The public arrest of Deputy Drewery, and his loss of his constituency has a very chilling effect," said Deputy White, "whether he is guilty or not.  The Assembly has been pushing several lines both in terms of its own discipline as well as their willingness to try to eke out any sort of political Power.  And the Institutional Party's leadership hasn't been as diligent as they need to be to reign in that kind of, ironically, heterodoxy coming from several Orthodox members."

Deputy White herself did not sign Deputy Drewery's petition, but when asked if she was ever asked to do so, she said, "No comm...  strike that, yes, I was asked.  I happen to identify with the Orthodox, open, classic position of the Institutional Party.  I would never sign it, because the Orthodoxos are the ones who required absolute obedience to the will of Her Imperial Majesty, and if I disagree with her, I certainly don't go on to the floor of the National Assembly and demand that her whole Government be thrown out.  That to me doesn't seem like an orthodox position to take.  But no, you can see the petition in the Public Record:  my name is not on that and I also advised Deputy Drewery against passing it around."

So far there is no official connection between the petition of last fall and the arrest this week in Kaliburg.  Drewery, for his part, will stand trial in May.

@TheRepublic