//------------------------------// // BBC News article from Monday November 16th, 2015 // Story: Chrysalis Visits The Hague // by Dan The Man //------------------------------// Image not to scale. Click here for larger size. Transcript for those unable to see the image file: Equestria extradites Queen Chrysalis to The Hague Main Article: The former leader of the changeling empire, Queen Chrysalis has been flown to The Hague to attend the International Criminal Tribunal for Equestria to answer for the crimes during her reign. Under heavy security, Queen Chrysalis was loaded on a USAF cargo plane, which departed for the twelve-hour trip to the Netherlands on Sunday night. It has been more than a month since Equestrian soldiers managed to capture the fugitive regent of the aggressive changeling race. The Equestrian crown had warranted her arrest after a foiled coup attempt in the Equestrian capital city of Canterlot. Since this had not been the first instance of an unprovoked assault perpetrated by changelings, it is subject to prosecution under International Criminal Law. Until recently, the Equestrian government had persisted to subjugate her solely to Equestrian Law, independent from human participation. The Equestrian Princess Celestia had reasoned that Queen Chrysalis’ doings largely stemmed from a time prior to humanity’s first contact with equinity, and can therefore not fall under human laws. Last Tuesday however, diplomats of the UNEVEG (United Nations Equestrian Evaluation Group) reached a compromise. Queen Chrysalis was allowed to face The Hague’s International Criminal Court and answer to International Law, but with Equestrian legal participation. As of September’s UN resolution that secured Equestria’s unique position as a country within the international community, the UNEVEG fathered the International Criminal Tribunal for Equestria for the purpose of subjecting the Equestrian isle to the UN’s resolved laws and customs. Background of the arrest Chrysalis had last tried to infiltrate the royal city of residence during the wedding of the Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard, around September of 2013. Posing as the country’s highest military commander’s bride, she had her changeling army launch a surprise attack with the intention of pillaging the city and enslaving the population. The assault failed, and the invading force was dispersed. Chrysalis, while separated from her flock, went into hiding by gaining the trust of an unsuspecting Equestrian civilian. She managed to keep her identity a secret for nearly two years before being found out. In the meantime, Equestria had established first contact with humanity, which caused her arrest to be widely publicised throughout the world. According to Princess Celestia, Queen Chrysalis has a long history of agression and imperialism, leading the population under her command to attack and usurp neighbouring communities and nations, including Equestria. “Chrysalis is a predator. She and her changelings survived solely by feeding off weaker creatures, even if that meant enslaving and terrorising them.” Chrysalis is currently being charged under the Rome Statute, with added amendments originating from the Fillydelphia Review Conference earlier this year. The charges include the crime of agression, multiple accounts of (occasionally planned) genocide, crimes against sapiency (formerly humanity), crime of apartheid, war crimes, and the violation of the sanctity of the mind. The latter, a recently added amendment, interdicts the use of ‘mind control’, which Chrysalis used to subdue resisting opponents. Captivity and trial On Monday morning, the plane carrying Queen Chrysalis touched down at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, from where an armoured motorcade brought her to the Haaglanden Penal Institution in Belgisch Park, where she will await the start of the trial. The regent will be kept in a cell specifically designed to hold such a physically imposing creature. It does, for one, contain measures to prevent the use of magic. According to the director of the ICC Detention Centre, Otto Mjoberg, Chrysalis has indeed been acting “antagonistic” and “rampant” ever since her arrival, denying the court’s bailiffs any form of cooperation. The trial itself is expected to be held in the Court’s Permanent Premises in the former Alexanderkazerne, and the pre-trial chamber is due to be in session on the 31st of this month. The proceeding will be headed by a three-judge panel consisting of the Ugandan Jessica Suruma, the Irish Colm Mullan, and the Equestrian magistrate Lexy Fori. The Queen’s defence will be supplied by the ICC as well, namely through the Swiss ICC defence counsel Alexander Estermann. He told the press that “it would be an interesting, if without doubt complicated” case, seeing how there exists “no precedence for either side." Criticism of the trial Already in the weeks preceding the decision to trial the Queen in The Hague, there has been a tremendous political and legal backlash from various UN member countries. The main point of criticism was the nature of the defendant and of the crimes committed. It has been argued that Chrysalis’ motivation behind her action was not as egregious as popularily believed, and is even less so in the eyes of non-humans than the Rome Statute. Nazmi Delikaya, an equinologist at the University of Istanbul argues that the supposedly malevolent nature of changelings is solely dependent on their survival instinct rather than on any conscious desicion-making. “It would make as much sense as persecuting cats for the murder of mice.” he stated in a newspaper editorial released in the Hürryiet. The ICC’s Prosecutor’s Office however disagreed, referring to the facts submitted for the case. An official statement asserted that the crimes committed were the result of “drawn-out planning” and were carried out with “willful efficiency”, by creatures “sentient enough to distinguish ‘necessary’ from ‘excessive’.” Queen Chrysalis herself has been subject to the same and more accusations, as she is popularly seen as the unquestioned leader, and essentially as “the queen of a [bee] hive”. With that said, the Queen is considered innocent until proven guilty, so as of this point, the incriminating evidence has yet to turn out pivotal. A subject of controversy has also been the decision to the trial itself. Queen Chrysalis had been the ruler of the changeling population for a nondescript but long period time before Equestria’s existence was even acknowledged by a human state. Accordingly the Rome Statute declares that only offences may be prosecuted that actually fell into its jurisdiction by the time of its initiation. It has been suggested that the trial itself has merely been an attempt of the UN to gain the favour of the Equestrian civilisations to instill confidence and to promote long-term cooperation with the UN. The Doctor of Jurisprudence Jose Alvarez sees links between this suspicion and the active Equestrian participation in the trial’s legal process, He stated that “In the face of all political niceties.” it could become a “Kangaroo show trial” for the changeling regent herself. Analysis: Roger Keating, BBC News The Hague The Queen is obviously not amused. Strained from the long plane trip, she is unloaded behind the infamous red gate of the Haaglanden Prison, dragging along heavy chains of captivity, a weighty muzzle obscuring her five senses. Her wings are stashed under an improvised restraining jacket, and her horn is wrapped in plastic and foil, a battery dangling around it on a cable. The guards usher her up the ramp of the ICC Detention Centre’s main building, and the doors close behind her, trapping her in her new domicile. Whether or not this stay will be short-term is yet to be known, The tribunal has yet to find her guilty of the crimes she is said to have perpetrated against the equine races of Equestria. Once upon a time, she had been both hailed and feared as a powerful queen, leading a swarm of changelings - tens of thousands of creatures - with aggressive determination and unidsputed hegemony. Now, she is but an animal led into a cage, anticipating the ruling of creatures other than herself. Even as she persisted that she had always been in the right, the other dwellers of the Equestrian island, be it ponies, pegasi, unicorns, griffins, buffaloes or donkeys, cheer openly about the capture of one of the country’s most ruthless and devious warlords. She is accused of charges that paint an all the more graphic picture of the mystical creature. For countless decades, she had been the scourge of the land, having her changelings lash out at hapless victims and possible opposition, beating many, enslaving many, killing many, discriminating solely by the fact that they were not changelings, and utterly defenceless. She had instigated plundering and burnings, leaving entire communities for dead. Few details are known yet, but light will be shed on them in her subsequent trial. That said, Chrysalis is far from broken. A wrathful gleam in her squinting eyes, the occasional lunging at her chains and flexes of her limbs; those are subtle reminders of her old, vengeful and determined self, who led her subjects from loot to loot, and from prey to prey. It is apparent that she won’t bow to her fate, and will be defiant, regardless of how her human and unicorn judges rule. In her eyes, they are merely some other inferior creatures, some of whom she herself had been holding a sway over for a long time. For her, no tide has turned. Comments: 434. dinomelly11 16TH NOVEMBER 2015 - 20:47 What can you say about ‘Queen’ Chrysalis? Everybody is saying she‘s the next Mladic or Taylor... but really, I totally side with Delikaya! She is an animal, they even brought her in with a muzzle!! How much more proof do you need that she can’t control her instinctual impulses?! This is not a legitimate trial, this is a publicity stunt of the UN, to proove that they can convict Anything if they really want to. But hey, if it impresses Celestia... then it’s all just hunky dory! 370. northstar5 16TH NOVEMBER 2015 - 18:51 I now that not many ponys have axess to the internet yet, so I may be realy alone here. All so, please forgive my english. I was born and rased in Canterlot, and I was there a gain for the royal weding, wen the changlings came. I think its realy kind of the humans to care, but I would have given a lot for Krysalis to be ruled over bye my princess, Changelings are very trecherous creatures feeding on love and passion to live. Only a magic as powerfull as Celestias could make a tyrant like Krysalis atone. 358. Neil Glover 16TH NOVEMBER 2015 - 18:10 I have skimmed through some of the previous comments, and all I can say is, I disagree. Violence, injustice and oppression come out in many forms, so why not also among intelligent equines? Ever since I fought with the Desert Rats in Kosovo, I know how high the stakes are when fighting tyranny. The UN is justified to trial an equine just like a human. If the Equestrian island wants to be part of the world community, they’ve got to play after our rules. For me, the only risk is that this Queen Chrysalis could get off too easily. 306. bridgekeeper3 16TH NOVEMBER 2015 - 17:36 This whole thing is really polarizing. Then again, most news that come from Equestria are (really!) mixed bags. I understand that Queen Chrysalis’ actions are morally questionable, she is a warmonger and maybe a racist (or speciesist, dunno). But really, who are we humans to judge this? She is not a human, and I think she would be much better served at an Equestrian court-by her species’ (racial?) equals. It’s a thing just like with magic or flying. Keep this sort of things to their own likes, it keeps the world easier. No offense equines! 279. TomTov 16TH NOVEMBER 2015 - 15:48 what is there to say but “good start”? this queen of changelings is is going to made an example of what we humans deem justice. equestria is, from what i’ve gathered, really unstable. there are many opposing factions, rabid ideologies and powerful magic giving that all much more gravity than it should have. it’s great that some strong organisation like the un steps in and cleans things up. i was always a bit skeptic of the equines and their pseudo-monarchies. rly, the answer is to teach them a modern world view. start by arresting the tyrants!