Martin Saint-Yves

Martin Monroe Saint-Yves
4th President of Ossinia
In office April 1st, 1999 – May 27th, 2020
Preceded by	Jacob Plantier
2nd Vice President of Ossinia
In office March 1st, 1986 – April 1st, 1999
3rd Governor of Émeric
In office November 3rd, 1983 – March 1st, 1986
Personal details
Born	20 April 1960 (age 60) Périnnois, Ossinia
Nationality	Ossinian
Political party	New Ossinia Movement
Height	6 ft (183 cm)

Martin Saint-Yves is an Ossinian politician who served as the President of Ossinia from April 1st, 1999 to May 27th, 2020. Before assuming the presidency, he was a leading participant in the 1983 Ossinia Civil War alongside Jacob Plantier, responsible for overthrowing the government of Jean-Noël Anouilh. He took the position of First Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Émeric Province following the conflict, and was later chosen by Plantier to be his Vice-President in 1986. He assumed the presidency when Plantier died in 1999. Saint-Yves created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflicts between the government and the armed forces. nationalized oil and foreign banks leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to sanctions from countries like Zamastan, Emmiria, and Avergnon. From 1999-2005, he sent mercenaries and state-sponsored conscripts to fight alongside the M.L.F. terror group and Malvarian conscripts in the Second War in Vulkaria, a move which led to both Yuan and Beleroskov suspending their diplomatic ties.

Saint-Yves has been called a dictator by the Zamastanian Intelligence Service, as well as several dozen countries in the Coalition of Crown Albatross. Saint-Yves' regime has been accused of human rights violations such as frequent executions of citizens and political prisoners, torture, and massive censorship. He allowed criminal syndicates to operate in Ossinia, specifically drug cartels, to grow, produce, and manufacture drug products at a light tax to fund some of Ossinia's infrastructure and military endeavors, making Ossinia a drug network for international drug trading. In 2020, Saint-Yves began ordering his armed forces and state-sanctioned pirates to attack international shipping, eventually culminating with the ZMS August Vendetta incident. This prompted the C.C.A. to remove Ossinia's seat from the General Assembly and Zamastan to launch an invasion of the island nation. He was captured by Zamastanian forces on May 27th, 2020, and put on trial during the Tregueux hearings in Tregueux.

Early life

Saint-Yves was born on 20 April 1960 in Périnnois, Ossinia, to Elena Reneaux, a schoolteacher, and Miguel Saint-Yves, a mechanical plant worker in Périnnois. Of direct paternal Skithan descent; his great-grandfather left Skithiana for Périnnois in the late 19th century.

On 1st March 1983, the New Ossinia Movement launched a coup, which removed President Jean-Noël Anouilh, suspended the constitution, and established a People's Revolutionary Government (PRG), headed by Jacob Plantier who declared himself President. Saint-Yves fought alongside the revolutionaries during the coup and ensuing civil war, establishing himself as a leader among the rebellion.

Political career

Governor of Émeric

In 1983, Saint-Yves started work with the NJM and a year later was elected First Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Émeric Province (a position equivalent to a regional governor).

Vice Presidency

In March 1986, Jacob Plantier chose Saint-Yves as his Vice-President.

President of Ossinia

Domestic Policy

Saint-Yves actively fostered the modernization of the Ossinian economy along with the creation of a strong security apparatus to prevent coups within the power structure and insurrections apart from it. Ever concerned with broadening his base of support among the diverse elements of Ossinian society and mobilizing mass support, he closely followed the administration of state welfare and development programs. At the center of this strategy was Ossinia's oil. On 1 June 1999, Saint-Yves oversaw the seizure of international oil interests, which, at the time, dominated the country's oil sector. A year later, world oil prices rose dramatically as a result of the 2000 energy crisis, and skyrocketing revenues enabled Saint-Yves to expand his agenda.

With the help of increasing oil revenues, Saint-Yves diversified the largely oil-based economy. Saint-Yves implemented a national infrastructure campaign that made great progress in building roads, promoting mining, and developing other industries. The campaign helped Ossinia's energy industries. Electricity was brought to nearly every city in Ossinia, and many rural or mountainous areas. Before the 2000s, most of Ossinia's people lived in the countryside and roughly two-thirds were peasants. This number would decrease quickly after 2003 as global oil prices helped revenues to rise from less than a half billion dollars to tens of billions of dollars and the country invested into industrial expansion.

Despite the initial success of Saint-Yves' economic programs, the over production of supplies and manufacturing caused prices to rapidly inflate, devestating the Ossinian currency and causing a massive economic collapse that wiped out the majority of the country's GDP growth in 2004. Ossinia's economy never recovered, as aid packages were rarely sent by the international community as Saint-Yves began attacking, detaining, and ransoming international shipping vessels.

Saint-Yves was notable for using terror against his own people. The Tofino Times described Saint-Yves as "one of the last of the 21st century's great dictators, but not the least in terms of egotism, or cruelty, or morbid will to power." Saint-Yves's regime brought about the deaths of at least 53,000 Ossinians and committed war crimes in Vulkaria. Human Rights organizations and the C.C.A. Security Council issued regular reports of widespread imprisonment and torture.

Foreign Policy

Vulkaria Conflict

In 1999, Saint-Yves provided over 1,000 mercenaries to Vulkaria to fight alongside the Malvarian Liberation Front terror organization and Malvarian conscript soldiers during the Second War in Vulkaria. This action prompted many nations, including Beleroskov and Yuan (two of Ossinia's biggest allies), to condemn his administration and pull back a lot of support.

Detaining international vessels

In 2006, Saint-Yves demanded the detaining of any shipping vessel that entered the sea through routes that intersected Ossinian waters. While several ships were detained, many were detained in international waters, in some cases causing injuries when Ossinian forces boarded vessels, leading to widespread condemnation. A two-year pause in ship seizures began and lasted from 2010-12 after Yuan agreed to start trading with Ossinia again, meaning the economy was being stimulated and did not have to rely on ransoms from international vessels. In 2012, Saint-Yves ordered the resumption of detaining ships.

In 2016, a Zamastanian cargo ship was boarded in international waters and was taken back to Périnnois, and a crew member died. President Zacharias Castovia declared Ossinian capture and detaining of ships as piracy, and international shipping began avoiding Ossinia as governments began sanctioning the island nation. This series of events further crippled Ossinia's already sinking economy. According to the Z.I.S., Saint-Yves began hiring foreign mercenaries to train citizens (voluntarily in most cases, but in some cases forcibly) to board and hijack ships in 2014. Saint-Yves reportedly wanted to use state-sponsored piracy to capture ships and then demand ransoms for the vessel and crews to stimulate the crushed economy, effectively turning Ossinia into a haven for modern piracy. In the aftermath of the MV Gideoni Daen hijacking on March 6th, 2019 which left eleven sailors from Austrolis dead, President Anya Bishop called for full sanctions and a pause on international aid to Ossinia, to which 46 nations agreed.

2020 provoking and invasion

The ZMS Maple Wind is swarmed by ORNF speed boats on May 15th, 2020

On April 18th, 2020, an Avergnon vessel was hijacked by state-sponsored pirates. The ship was sailed to Ossinia and the hostage sailors were exchanged for Z$60 million. On May 8th, 2020, an Ossinian missile struck a Janapan oil rig, killing 5 workers. Two days later, an Austrolisian shipping vessel was boarded and detained by Ossinian naval vessels, resulting in the death of a sailor. On May 15th, only five days later, dozens of ORNF speed boats harrased the ZMS Maple Wind in Zamastanian territorial waters in a move called "dangerous and provocative" and "increased the risk of miscalculation and collision" by the Zamastanian Naval Forces.

A missile attack occured the next day on the ZMS August Vendetta, killing seven sailors and increasing hostilities even further. The missile is believed to have been intentionally fired from an Ossinian warship, the RNV Gabeaurd, operating in solo manuevers about five miles south of the fleet. While originally thought to be an accidental launch, the Defense Department and the Zamastanian Naval Command said that projections and radio chatter retrieved during and after the incident indicate that the ship intentionally fired the missile, marking the first time an Ossinian military asset attacked a Zamastanian military target. The attack occured in Zamastanian waters, making the attack a move against Zamastanian territory. Admiral Garrett Bittern, a spokesperson for the Navy, said that the Zamastanian Intelligence Service and the Navy were working congruently to determine who in the Ossinian chain of command ordered the attack.

A Zamastanian container ship, the MV Galen Schulz, was struck by a missile the day following, suffering fatal breaches in the ship's hull that caused it to eventually sink. A Ruskaynian ship, the MV Skipjack, was also detained. President Foley Sakzi called Congressional Hall to an emergency session to convene on how to respond to Ossinia's attacks on May 16th, while Secretary-General of the C.C.A., Katherine von Wettin, removed Ossinia's seat in the General Assembly.

In response to both Zamastan's debate and the C.C.A. resolution, Saint-Yves publically blasted the two powers and took personal responsibility for the attacks, declaring that "Zamastan will burn before we are done." Saint-Yves promised "more righteous strikes" on Zamastanian war vessels if they kept "operating in the Ossinia Sea." He also promised more detainings and possible attacks on international vessels, saying "the corporate alliances and alligient governments to Zamastan are not safe if they continue to sail here." On May 21st, a Barangadeshi vessel, the MV Felishan Star, was hit with a missile. The next day, an Avergnonian and a Costa Sarba vessel were detained.

On May 23rd, Sakzi was granted expanded military powers to act against Ossinia. That same day, the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry issued a joint advisory to the international community and the Coalition of Crown Albatross warning to avoid any navigation, international shipping, and aircraft or personal travel around Ossinian territorial waters, the Strait of Cranes, and the South Anchorhead Islands in Alenchon, Zamastan. Speculation quickly spread that President Sakzi was going to order strikes on Ossinia, as activity at both the Zian Presidential Mansion and the Congressional Hall Capitol Building heightened with military personel around 9:30 PM, an unusual time for the executive and legislative function Zamastanian government buildings to be in any sessions. In Drambenburg the sudden announcement prompted the government, which had historically let private companies invest and trade with the Ossinian government, to move towards high military alerts. Ruskayn put their airforce on high alert, with President Callum MacTavish calling President Sakzi to offer military support. Saint-Yves began making plans to abandon the capital and flee to a hideout compound on Augustin.

Shortly after midnight at 00:13 AM on May 24th, a surprise military invasion by the Zamastanian Armed Forces against Ossinia began. Neither President Sakzi or Congressional Hall issued a declaration of war, justified by Ossinia's previous attacks on Zamastanian vessels in Zamastanian waters, constituting an act of war. The invasion was led by Zamastanian Army General Avery Reynolds, under the code-name "Operation Black Blizzard".

The invasion was preceded by an intensive series of airstrikes involving eight squadrons of a total of forty two Z-15E fighter-bombers against military installations on the islands of Stéphane, Augustin, Chevalier, and Girardot. The main island of Augustin was hardest hit, with government and military sites the capital of Périnnois, including the headquarters of the Ossinia Revolutionary Armed Forces, the National Capitol Building, and the Presidential Palace. In addition to the building and facilities sites, the bulk of Ossinia's navy was destroyed or damaged in the initial bombardment, with both of Ossinia's destroyers provided by Drambenburg's Lakhid Myrtan being sunk in their respective ports. It's estimated that at least 400 Ossinians, including soldiers, sailors, officers, and maintenance workers were killed. In the space of three hours, 56 military sites were destroyed, effectively depriving the Ossinian military of any early warning of the coming invasion.

Just over a day into the invasion, the Zamastanian Army's 3rd Infantry Division, with the 2nd Marine Division also present, moved into Périnnois. Units of the Ossinian Special Revolutionary Guard led the defence of the city. The rest of the defenders were a mixture of Revolutionary Guard units, regular army units, paramilitary units, and non-Ossinian volunteers, largely made up of mercenaries. Initial plans were for Coalition units to surround the city and gradually move in, forcing Ossinian armor and ground units to cluster into a central pocket in the city, and then attack with air and artillery forces.

This plan soon became unnecessary, as an initial engagement of armored units south of the city saw most of the Revolutionary Guard's assets destroyed and routes in the southern outskirts of the city occupied. On May 25th, a Special Forces Division executed a raid, later called the "Thunder Drop", to test remaining Ossinian defenses, with 29 tanks and 14 armored fighting vehicles advancing to the Périnnois airport. They met significant resistance, but were successful in reaching the airport, and eventually secured it after heavy fighting.

The next day, another brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division attacked into downtown Périnnois and occupied one of the palaces of Saint-Yves in fierce fighting. Marines also faced heavy shelling from Ossinian artillery as they attempted to cross a creek bridge, but the creek crossing was successful. The Ossinians managed to inflict some casualties on the invading forces near the airport from defensive positions but suffered severe casualties from air bombardment. Within hours of the palace seizure and with television coverage of this spreading through Ossinia, Zamastanian forces ordered Ossinian forces within Périnnois to surrender, or the city would face a full-scale assault. Ossinian government officials had either disappeared or had conceded defeat, and on May 27th, Périnnois was formally occupied by Coalition forces.

Incarceration and trial

On May 27th, three days into the invasion, Operation Parakeet Race was launched after gaining actionable intelligence identifying two likely locations of Martin Saint-Yves' whereabouts code-named Badger 1 and Badger 2, near the town of Cienfuega. The Forces involved in the operation consisted of approximately 600 soldiers including cavalry, artillery, aviation, engineer and special operations forces.

The forces cleared the two objectives but initially did not find the target. Then, as the operators were finishing and the helicopters called in to extract them, one assaulter kicked a piece of fabricated dry wall, exposing a vaulted room; he prepared to throw a fragmentation grenade into it – in case it led to an insurgent tunnel system, when suddenly Saint-Yves appeared. The operator struck him with the stock of his rifle and disarmed him of a pistol.

Saint-Yves surrendered and offered no real resistance; he was exfiltrated by a Navy helicopter to the main Périnnois Mission Support Site (the government center of the city) where he was properly identified. After proper identification, he was then taken by another Navy helicopter from PMSS and into custody at Périnnois International Airport. Along with a pistol, an assault rifle and Z$2,750,000 in Zamastanian bank notes were recovered from the secret vault.

Two other individuals were also detained, one being a top-tier commander in the Ossinian Revolutionary Armed Forces. There were no casualties in the operation.

Saint-Yves was deported to Tregueux, Zamastan, where he was formally charged by the Zamastanian authorities with the endagerment of international shipping, international piracy, 173 counts of kidnapping, 500 counts of attempted murder, and 10 counts of fraud. Ossinian representatives additionally charged him with crimes against humanity, including 200 counts of torture and extensive punishment.