Betrayal Affair

The Betrayal Affair was a dispute in Themiclesian-occupied Menghe between 1947 and 1949 over the validity of a spate of judicial executions and the culpability of those who were involved.

After Themiclesian forces entered Menghe in 1945 – 46, military government was formally terminated by Themiclesia on July 15, 1946 in favour of a civilian authority controlling the part of Menghe it occupied, known as the Post-war viceroyalties. The Parliament of Kien-k'ang had issued a charter in 1945 declaring that it would respect the local usages and customs and recognize the personal and property right of Mengheans now under its administration. This policy ameliorated the need for the Themiclesian government to fund a large and expensive military establishment in Menghe by co-opting existing administrative devices left in place by the now-abdicated Menghean monarch.

The applicability of local Menghean law was put to judicial test because the law in effect immediately prior to Themiclesian occupation required courts-martial for many civilian offences, imposed to ensure absolute obedience from the nation's citizens. Under this regime crimes as trivial as petty larceny were liable to execution by firing squad in a public place. Thus as early as August 1946, the local military authorities (only lightly armed under the acquiescence of Themiclesian authorities) resumed some degree of administrative function and sought Themiclesian approval for a string of executions.

To make sure of this approval, some of the military judges anonymously wrote to the viceroy asking for his personal guarantee that the punishment about to be carried out was within the meaning of the charter promulgated by the Parliament of Kien-k'ang. In his response, the viceroy reiterated Parliament's promises to respect the usages and customs of Menghe as they are prior to occupation, which the recipients interpreted to include the harsh martial law imposed during the final days of the Menghean Empire. As a result the executons were carried out days after the response was gazetted.

Yet some Mengheans felt the terms of the charter did not include such extreme measures imposed only in the dying days of the Great Menghean Empire, and they reason that the charter predated, and thus could not be reasonably interpreted to include, these extreme measures. These views gained ground throughout 1946 and 1947, resulting in a decision by the Themiclesian Cabinet to arrest the three military executioners who carried out the executions in question. The arrested executioners protested that they were assured by the judges of the lawfulness of their actions, but the Viceroy in Menghe, in his memorandum to Themiclesia, said he only repeated the Parliamentary charter and made no promises about the legality of the executions. The Home Secretary was particularly dissatisfied with the Viceroy and demanded a resignation.

On October 2, 1947, the Attorney-general Lord Trim wrote to the Viceroy that the only way to distance himself from the contested executions was to prosecute the executioners for homicide, which the Viceroy did. Lord Trim helpfully issued instructions to the Viceroy's solicitor-general to issue indictments against the three executioners for the crime of murder. The three's only argument was that they did not know the genuine meaning of the Parliamentary charter, but the prosecution prevailed with the argument that the onus to prove the legality of their actions was on the defendents (ignorantia juris non excusat), since their actions were of a sort naturally and obviously illegal unless proven legal. The executioners unable to argue further, the court found them guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment and forfeiture.

The Viceroy commuted the penalty of forfeiture to a fine of £60,000 (which is believed to be the largest fine ever imposed to date by Themiclesia against individuals). While forfeiture would have seen their personal and real property seized and confiscated, thus endangering the livelihood of their families, a quantified fine would avoid the seizure and confiscation and is a measure of relief. Nevertheless, the average Menghean labourer's wage was less than £50 per year, so the fine was certainly and intended to be unrepayable. The executioners complained in the press they had been betrayed by the Viceroy and that the substitution of a fine for forfeiture was not a commutation but effectively an increase in penalties, since they would actually lose less in forfeiting their estates than in paying an "astronomical fine" of £60,000.

See also

• Post-war viceroyalties