The Trial of Insurik Damask
Trader and businessman Insurik Damask was found guilty on Year 16 Day 46 of multiple counts of treason, conspiracy to commit treason, and espionage. He is currently serving his sentence of labor in a House Arkoh funded prison under the supervision of Con Semper who presided over his case. There remains the chance that after rehabilitation, Damask may be reintroduced into civilian life.
Insurik Damask had been an active citizen of the Avance Coalition for nearly two years after joining Rendili Stardrive from the family banking business Damask Holdings on his home planet of Muunilist, which he oversaw together with his brother, Hugo Damask, until various and unknown pressures forced him to leave the Holdings for a time. Given his experience he was fast-tracked through the Academy and received good marks from his instructors. During his time at Rendilli he managed shipyards and over saw the construction of heavy freighters. While his service record was not exemplary in nature, it is obvious he was a hard worker.
Damask immediately began to make a name for himself it the wider Avance community. Once reconciled to his brother, Hugo, and the family business, Damask Holdings began to grow in the Avance market offering many products and services to Avance's citizens. He also was admitted into House Valeo. Most notably, Insurik was known to lend his experience at real estate development and personnel management to many who requested it. Many of those clients still report how much his advice and expertise helped them get the very best profit margins from their businesses and personal estates. Many large Avancian corporations made use of his services and at different times Mr. Damask managed most of Avance's corporate infrastructure. Damask also became deeply involved with the Avance News Network as a reporter and fundraiser, and in a matter of months was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of the network following some resignations and recommendations.
Fractures began to appear a mere four months after his coming to notoriety in Avance public life as the face of the news. Both Damask brothers were invited to Golan Technologies' inaugural "Round Table", a large expo for new developments in hunting weaponry and sportsman technology in the context of a wild game feast. As proprietors of Damask Holdings, both were invited to not only the expo, but also to join the Avance Rangers and take part in a hunting expedition the next morning to try out the new equipment. During the feast, however, Avance Security Force officers escorted Insurik from the premises and placed him under arrest for a hit-and-run collision with an ship in the orbit of Bhuna Sound V. He was found to be severely intoxicated and was placed in a holding cell after he readily confessed and cooperated with the officers. He was released in a few days with a court order to seek help for alcoholism, which he did. Damask continued to advise and manage properties around Avance and expand Damask Holdings around the galaxy.
With his business growing, he soon resigned from Rendilli to accept a position as president of the Intergalactic Banking Clan, a large bank then affiliated with the Krath Dynasty. He still maintained his membership with House Valeo and his position as Editor-in-Chief of the ANN. Shortly into his tenure at IGBC a scandal hit when clients accused the bank of stealing over 400 million credits entrusted to them. Both the Damask brothers had recently taken control of the bank and labored to salvage the bank's reputation and make well of the wrong doings of the former administration. Insurik in particular felt the task was ultimately beyond his abilities and, feeling worn out by it all, shortly resigned and began looking for other employment while keeping up his advising and management duties for private and public Avancian real estate.
A year later concerns and suspicions started to grow after word spread of his alleged ties to the Dark Star Hellions, a criminal organization. Damask had interviewed Xakic Jix, known as Cobra Commander, on his ANN talkshow, and during an interview off-screen Insurik was offered a job, which he accepted. Public statements were issued by Damask stating that his connection to the Hellions was simply professional and did not go further than his relationships to any other of his clients. He was hired, he claimed, by the Raging Banthas, a Hellion's affiliate, to advise the contractors of several residential and commercial building projects in those areas of space under Hellion control. Despite his efforts to clear his name, public sentiment against him grew and he found it difficult to continue business in Avancian space. Around day 142 of Year 15 press releases surfaced from Damask Holdings announcing his withdraw from Avancian public life and business. When it was realized how much real estate Damask was managing for Avance's citizens, corporations, and government the fear of his alleged connections only grew and he soon lost most of his business. It is reported that when he resigned from the ANN and largely disappeared he had less than 200,000 credits to his name.
Around day 356 of the same year Insurik quietly applied for a job at the Avancian nationalized mining business Czerka Corporation. He was cleared for duty after a short and informal investigation of the claims made against him. Shortly, word spread and public outcry again grew as the accusations were revived and Damask was further charged with spying on Avance for the Hellions. Some reports had him managing a network of spies while other reports had him leaking sensitive information back to the Hellion command. Damask plead that these reports were unfounded and appealed to the Avance Hall of Justice for a fair trial. He believed such a trial would clear his name officially. Coinciding with his appeal, however, was the public announcement of the merger talks and the ensuing debate which commanded the public's attention. With much of the Avance government and infrastructure preparing for the merge with the Trade Federation and the Hall of Justice undergoing a change of leadership, it soon became clear that the traditional means of trial would not be able to speedily give Damask the investigation he requested.
By this time Paul Luz, then director of Golan Technologies and longtime friend and associate of Damask, had figured that Damask would not receive a trial in any respectable amount of time and petitioned the Avance command to hold a private trial under Avance law. His request was granted, and Golan's headquarters on Bhuna Sound V was selected as the location.
Luz approached Con Semper to act as judge, as he was a respected citizen who had until then been neutral in the investigation. Wraith Imperator Belloq Tull emerged as the chief investigator and prosecutor. He himself had a long history of weeding out spies and insurgents, and was certain Damask was guilty. Tull was concerned that Damask's request for a trial might be a bluff, and that once the actual proceedings drew near, Damask would flee beyond the jurisdiction of the Avancian legal system.
As Luz was in the process of placing Damask on the Golan payroll to give him support while he was out of work facing the trial, Tull convinced Luz to authorize the Wraiths to detain Damask as soon as he entered Golan-controlled space, to which Luz agreed. In an unpredictable move, reports soon arose that Damask had voluntarily turned himself in to Semper near the Kira Sector. The formation of the Kingdom of Elysia and Luz's resignation from Golan Technologies complicated the case further, as there would be no fair place to hold the trial. Top Avance leaders officially turned the duty over to the Wraiths as an independent organization, in an effort to avoid the grey area and red tape involved in transferring an on-going case under Avancian Law to the Trade Federation Department of Justice.
The case opened aboard the Fenrir, the flagship of Imperator Tull's command. Tull represented the people formerly of the Avance Coalition, and Damask asked to deny legal counsel and represent himself. He insisted that his reputation and clean business and duty records would absolve him and show the accusation to be slander and straw. Con Semper allowed the prosecution to present first, and after hearing their case, Damask refused to answer saying only, "You can't believe them, your honor. Clearly those are absolute lies!"
Semper, seeing how Damask failed to present any evidence to combat the accusations made against him, pronounced him guilty. Damask was taken back into custody.
Following the guilty verdict, Wraith forces conducted raids of several flats around the Combined Avance Territories registered in Damask's name. More records were found linking Damask to the Banthas and Hellions, but investigators found no additional sensitive documents or information taken from Avance. Among the affects seized were illicit communications and photographs of the most sensitive and perverse nature. A full report will be issued to all matters which concern the public as investigations finalize.
