The Copalan Appeal (In Exile!)

[Istkalen]

A selection of articles from today's issue of the Copalan Appeal, the leading pro-independence pamphlet of Anastasia City and Copala City

The IUAC further reveals its total ideological bankruptcy by allying with staunchly anti-regionalist parties.

Status-quo, status-quo, political theatrics - meanwhile, Duchian education, Duchian culture, and Duchian ways are forced on the Anastasians

A slow cultural genocide: famed sociologist analyzes policies in Anastasia City

Asianization, but make it Duchian

Will we ever see an investigation into the internment camps of New Saint Regina?

Is Roscoes exploiting Anastasians? The answer is yes.

Duchian parties - a menace to the political independence of the Anastasian people.

The series of machinations and lies that led to the Anastasian people giving up their autonomy to live in the gilded cage of the Duchian government

Private Anastasian citizen alleges that Duchian government bugged her home because of her political orientation

Is the United Duchies a rechtsstaat? No.

Terminally ill geriatric Anastasian citizen, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims that she was subject to a random and invasive probe of her genitals by the Duchian police on pretext of 'terrorism concerns'

Anastasian claims that their new apartment "groans in the night; there are many deep cracks in the wall, the electricity is intermittent, the water has a metallic taste and is also intermittent, the heating is broken..."

Anastasians have been systematically denied the same standard of living and economic rights as normal Duchians. Why?

The Anastasian people deserve control over their own education.

Are non-binary people recognized in the Duchies? The answer is complicated.

Non-inscrit member of municipal council, formerly a member of the CPCI, as well as last remaining CPCI member of the House of Duchies, join the Futurist Party of Anastasia City

Teder states that "hardline stances" of Duchian parties will force his Anastasian Democratic Assembly to remain outside of government for the time being - but that the party remains itself open to compromise

Anastasian Confederation of Labor applies for housing construction project, opens series of new communal kitchens, warehouses, to Anastasians

Anastasian Confederation of Labor's neighborhood watch associations have already identified and caught dozens of criminals - meanwhile, the Anastasian police struggles to operate

The CPCI announces that an estimated 39% of former residents of Copala City of non-Reitzmic or Inquistan nationality have already applied to vote in upcoming (completely nonbinding and non-government related) poll on independence

[Istkalen]

Poll results released, with estimated 54% of non-Reitzmic and non-Inquistan former residents of Copala City voting; many Anastasian nationalist institutions created; boycott of Roscoes begins

The CPCI's poll into support for Anastasian independence has concluded. An estimated 54% of non-Reitzmic and non-Inquistan former residents of Copala City present in Anastasia City participated in the poll - a surprisingly high number, especially given the short notice. The CPCI stated that it is possible that their calculations are wrong, but that they regardless congradulate the patriotism of Anastasians who voted.

92.7% of Anastasians participating voted in favor of Anastasian independence; 6.4% against, and the remainder submitted spoiled ballots.

This extreme result has been cited as the result of self-selection; Anastasians already in favor of independence were likely to participate in the poll, while those against were not. The minor segment which voted against might merely be a segment of the population that is politically active in general, and thus likely to participate in such political events in general.

The result, if the turnout calculations of the CPCI are correct, would demonstrate that a narrow majority of former residents of Copala City in Anastasia City support independence. This does not match with the results of the recent election, where secessionist and autonomist parties together obtained only about 37% of the vote altogether; the CPCI itself has argued that this is because participation in the election was heavily skewed towards new Duchian arrivals in the city, who make up perhaps 30 to 35% of the population, as well as affected by a partial Haanean boycott of the election, particularly among youth who make up its largest sector, as a result of Syndicalist agitation.

The announcement of the result was followed up with a massive rally in Anastasia City itself, held by the CPCI. Several orators gave rousing speeches:

"The Anastasian people have made their voice heard now more than ever. Faced with the encroachment of Roscoes, of Duchian elites who see them as nothing more than a source of labor, a source of cheap profit, foreigners who they can exploit; faced with the encroachment of the Duchian parties, who refuse any true political representation or power to the Anastasian people; faced with even the encroachment of the dark hand of the security forces of the Duchian government, who spy on innocent Anastasian citizens, who encroach on their personal dealings for no reason whatsoever, they have found that independence, social independence, economic independence, political independnece, is the only solution that will guarantee them true freedom," stated one.

Another extolled the virtues of the 'Anastasian nation:'

"Our nation is a unique nation, a nation of nations. A nation of the Nicoleizians, of the Haaneans, of the many other Copalans who found themselves drowning under the Reitzmic tyranny, who found themselves seized one terrible day and forced into the gilded cages of New Saint Regina. Who find themselves still reeling from the disappearances of many of their loved ones, who stayed there - and of course, some say that it was out of choice, but who knows; and who now find themselves here, united by surviving that tyranny and now against a new tyranny. We, Anastasians - we are the highest of the nations, the most developed, a nation founded on differences and diversity, a nation of many peoples, a nation united not by vuilgar race but through common experience and tribulation. All of us have felt the same sorrows, all of us have endured the same struggles; because of this, we all are in great union, and thus we bloom. Let us maintain this union, let us strengthen it, so that it lasts forever and the flower of our nation may be revealed to the world! Let no one stand against us; we must prevail, we will prevail! The free, independent Anastasian nation forever!"

This was followed by the announcement that a new youth organization, the "Anastasian Democratic Youth," would be formed.

"We shared, as everyone else, in the tribulations and struggles of the great Anastasian nation. We, too, are a part of it, just as anyone else; we too deserve a voice in it," stated another speaker, a youth herself.

The purpose of the Anastasian Democratic Youth will be to instill the values of Anastasian nationalism in its members - that of tolerance for others, as to maintain the "Great Union;" of solidarity, to strenghten the "Great Union" and of civic duties, as to maintain the democratic and pluralistic nature of the nation, as well as its independence from foreign powers that wish to subjugate it.

Mere hours later, leaders of a number of regionalist and secessionist parties - the Futurists, the Syndicalists, and the Anastasian Democratic Assembly - but noticably not the CPCI - gathered to found a new organization, the Anastasian Cultural Union, which will gather artists in Anastasia City, organizing them into a number of specific chambers for the various arts - visual arts, film, music, and so on and so forth - as to promote new forms of Anastasian art, culture, and architecture.

"Anastasia must go forth, and create a new world of art, a national art, to strengthen the Great Union of Peoples that makes up the Anastasian nation," stated a representative of the Futurist Party, summing up the purpose of the Anastasian Cultural Union.

The Union will provide income and materials for its members, and will also establish communal and public ateliers and other working spaces for its members.

"It is of the highest importance that Anastasia City establish an independent culture and style of art based on that of its constituent nationalities, if it itself is to remain free and independent," stated a representative of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly. "We will contribute and ensure all that is necessary to accomplish this."

In other news, a boycott of Roscoes, as well as other Duchian-owned businesses in Anastasia City, has begun. Tens of thousands of Anastasians have signed a petition swearing not to purchase from Roscoes or from any other Duchian-owned company.

Thousands of other Anastasians picketed Duchian-owned establishments, exhorting potential customers to stay away. "Don't give your money to the Roscoes, in bed with the Reitzmics!" shouted a number of protestors outside of a Roscoes. "Don't let them get their hands on our city! Duchies, go away!"

In an attempt to stop others from shopping at Duchian establishments, but with perhaps somewhat dubious financial effects, one wealthy man, who wishes to remain anonymous, attempted to buy up the whole of the stock of a number of Duchian-owned stores in the city. This was done, he claims, by employing large numbers of volunteers to, in a short period of time, buy up the stock of entire stores, on his behalf, and then to deliver this to various warehouses in the city. If a legal permit can be obtained, he stated, the stock will be resold to Anastasian companies, for the same or a lower price than that at which they were purchased.

"We must construct economic independence," he said simply in a statement made to our pamphlet.

A number of other wealthy inhabitants of the city have joined his cause, and appear to be cooperating in terms of this. The point appears to mostly be to discourage shopping at Duchian enterprises, and thus to give additional support to smaller Anastasian enterprises, which Anastasians will be forced to frequent.

Several political parties condemned this, however. The Syndicalists, Futurists, and ADA made a joint statement stating that attempts for autonomy and independence should not negatively affect Anastasians in such a way; the CPCI denounced it as "an activity of the out-of-touch rich which actually harms Anastasians more than it helps them."

[Istkalen]

ADA introduces act giving mayor sweeping powers over city in assembly; alleged Duchian plan to "liquidate" opponents on left and right across country leaked

Kristjan Teder, the leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly, formed from the parliamentarians elected from the CPCI who left that party over concerns of extremism, has introduced an act that would give the mayor sweeping powers over Anastasia City for the duration of three months, including full legislative powers and the ability to unilaterally recall and replace members of the government.

"We live in dangerous times; our city has been plunged into a spiral of death by those who will not stop until they are imprisoned. Swift and efficient action is necessary, now, to prevent tragedy, to prevent death, and to ensure the safety and security of those we represent. We cannot trust this assembly to act quickly enough; it is too cumbersome to do so. We must cede some of our power to the government, which is, by virtue of its size more able to act, to preserve the public tranquility and put a definitive end to this violence."

There were a number of objections to the legislation, including from the ADA, largely to do with potential authoritarianism. Teder responded with the following to an objection on this lines from his own party:

"As I have said, there is nothing in this legislation that suspends human rights, nothing that suggests that even the mayor could do so...she will still be limited by certain balances and checks, she will merely be able to act more decisively and quickly against the severe threat to all our safeties."

The general position of other parties to the legislation, however, is unknown; the sole member of the Futurist Party in the Assembly, who defected from the CPCI, however, has stated that she will abstain.

"It is my goal to create a government, centered around the monarchy from which all power flows, of technocrats, of experts, that will lead this city into the future and unite its many forces around progress and the great nation. This legislation has little to do with my goal; but it does not hamper it, either. There is, as such, no reason for me either to vote for or against; I thus will abstain [on the legislation]," she said in a public statement delivered today.

The legislation in question is considered unusual for the ADA, a pro-independence bloc which has often stood against the IUAC-dominated government, which it has previously criticized for failing to defend the economic interests of Anastasia City against those of Baltia, which is rapidly expanded and appears to view the city merely as a suburb or an extension of it, as well as for a lack of general direction, which they have argued is a sign of political opportunism. Their motivations for proposing such an act, as such, are unknown, although it may involve an attempt to gain confidence from the other members of the legislature after PM John Peter Key's condemnation of the party after conflating it with the CPCI, which recently conducted a poll on independence which the Duchian government appeared to believe was an attempt to hold a referendum, or alternatively for founding a youth organization. Another possible explanation may be found in the wording of the act, which not once refers to the United Duchies or uses the term Duchian - in essence, that it is an attempt to assert the political independence of Anastasia City, although this is highly unlikely, given that there was virtually no reason to mention either anyways.

In other news, a document almost two thousand pages in length, titled "Plan X" and allegedly an official internal document of the Duchian intelligence services, developed between them and the Duchian military, was leaked by an anonymous source. The plan primarily regards a course of action to be taken in the case of secession or rebellion, particularly in regards to the North, the far-right, the far-left, and Anastasia City.

It includes significant details on plans to indefinitely detain hundreds of thousands of Duchians in camps to be rapidly constructed (the plan lists possible sites for these camps, possible methods of construction, and includes engineering and surveying reports for the planned camps), as well as to "liquidate" thousands of Duchians who are deemed "a threat to state integrity," including significant members of major Duchian parties, particularly New Dawn and The Left, as well as members of the intelligentsia connected to these and other parties. Lists of individuals to be "liquidated," which sometimes but not always included addresses, were attached to the document.

Also included were details on possible military administration of the north, as well as possibly Anastasia CIty, which would entail the dissolution of governmental institutions, arrests of those who did not comply, and the suppression of a number of human rights, in particular freedom of expression, in order to clamp down on hostilities.

Other details included the planned division of the Duchian people into a number of classes - "hostile" (for immediate 'liquidation'), 'wavering,' (either to be 're-educated' in camps, merely detained, or surveilled), and 'loyal,' the last class of which encompassed most of the population. Details on how Duchians would be classified, on possible systems of informants to be used as to do so, and much more were included. Most worrying were details on "re-education" techniques, many of which, particularly one technique which appeared to be a form of white torture, likely would classify as cruel and unusual punishments and thus illegal under European law.

A specific separate report, apparently unfinished, on Anastasia City was in the document, listing various "hostile" elements to be liquidated in the city. Of particular concern in this report was the Romanov monarchy, which was perceived, because of its lack of connections to the Duchian state and its loyalty to a separate state, to be a possible pole around which nationalist and secessionist fervor, or general fervor against the status quo, could coalesce. Several options were discussed, including coercing Queen Anastasia into marriage to a Duchian noble in order to forcibly induct her into the Duchian royalty and thus ensure her loyalty while destroying her as a possible figure around which a Nicoleizian nationalist movement would form; assassinating her and blaming it on politically "disloyal" groupings, including the Duchian far-left, far-right, or possibly the existing Anastasian secessionist movements, thus both eliminating her while also speeding up the process of "liquidation;" and several more disturbing plans, the most entertaining of which involved her being seduced by and made completely dependent on a Duchian agent.

The document appears to have been a doomsday plan of sorts, in the case of an extremely widespread rebellion that the government would have difficulty in putting down; while it has been suggested that it is a forgery, the significant detail found it in it appears to prove this otherwise.

[Istkalen]

Teder argues that "Duchian parties in Anastasia City appear to be completely disconnected from reality,"

Kristjan Teder, parliamentary leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly, gave the following statement on the refusal of most Duchian parties to vote on the proposed 'enabling act,' which would give the Mayor of Anastasia City sweeping powers in order to combat terrorist threats against the city, including the right to write and pass legislation, as well as to unilaterally recall and replace members of the cabinet.

"The Duchian parties in Anastasia appear to be entirely disconnected from reality. Two terrorist attacks, in short succession, have occured in our city - surely that calls for strong measures against violence, strong measures against those who seek to commit mass acts of terror. That, above all, is the pressing concern for many Anastasians. Whether they will be the next to die. Their safety is at risk; and yet the Duchian parties have, despite all their concern at the beginning, suddenly thrown them aside. We appear to to now be the only ones who are truly standing by the Anastasian people, for their freedom, prosperity, and safety."

"The parties in question have claimed that this is some attempt to gain additional powers for Anastasia City. This is nothing short of conspiracy. Our commitment is to working in a transparent, democratic, and legal manner for the Anastasian people, not to hiding obscure clauses in unrelated legislation as I understand is sometimes a practice in the United Duchies. There is no hidden meaning behind this legislation - it is exactly what it claims to be, and should be clear to anyone who has read it, an act which gives the mayor of our city additional powers - powers already devolved to this city but presently held by other organs - as to combat the terrorist threat effectively and efficiency and thus protect the Anastasian people."

"It shocks me that the Duchian parties, for what appears to be a curious mix of ignorance and politicking, have refused any cooperation on this subject, have in fact decided that it is a good idea to block any progress on this matter completely. This is playing with lives, this is disgusting. It is extremely shameful that any party which claims to represent the Anastasian people has chosen to act in such a way. We are here not to go about shouting slogans, we are here to govern effectively for the Anastasians. Today more than ever it seems as though the majority of the politicians of Anastasia City have failed in this purpose."

"But let us come together, now, all those who are willing to work for the Anastasians; let us come together and genuinely defend them. If there are any in the assembly who believe in the Anastasian people, who truly seek to represent them; let them show themselves, and let them contribute."

[Istkalen]

Futurists, Syndicalists, feud after adoption of monarchist, nationalist platform by Futurists; second campaign for independence launched through grassroots efforts

Four days ago, the Futurists expelled Marine Marchand and a number of her collaborators from the party, before adopting a new platform based on monarchism and intense nationalism, although the movement has maintained its ultraprogressive stance.

The new ideas of the Futurists are primarily centered around the preservation and empowerment of the Romanov monarchy; they argue that it must serve as the leader of all society, uniting all sectors in defense of the nation and in progress. While they are not in favor of a full absolute monarchy, it is evident that they do desire the Romanov monarchy to hold significantly more power than it would normally, likely in a semi-constitutional agreement; they also seem to be near-totalitarian in nature, arguing that much of society, particularly in regard to labor relations, must be reorganized around the monarchy; for example the platform calls for a system in which trade and employer unions would be united, as one creating labor-capital agreements as to ensure the functioning of the economy but more importantly, as the platform explicitly states, "uniting the classes around the figure of the monarchy and thus the nation"; it also calls for the creation of state-backed mass organizations for the glorification of the monarchy, including women's, cultural, and youth associations, with significant changes to the educational system as to create education that would serve in part to instill love for the queen and patriotism for the nation in children.

In contrast, however, a number of their economic and social ideas remain heavily left-leaning. They call for significant encouragement of small businesses and sole proprietorships, arguing that these are more traditional and encourage the development of the monarchy, primarily through loans and a lowering and simplification of taxes and regulations on both; however, they also argue that larger businesses must in part be penalized - according to them, they are less likely to act in the interest of the queen, meaning that the monarchy must gain assurances from them, particularly in the form of taxation and further regulations. While they have abandoned their positions of intense anti-clericalism and enforced homosexuality, they continue to argue that the monarchy must enable social progress - that it must take control of the religious institutions to ensure loyalty, but also that the goal of the monarchy is the abolition of present morality, which it argues is degrading, with one more liberating, where all acts are free and in which people may lead "genuinely fulfilling and pleasurable lives" beneath the monarchy, in addition to the pursuing of constant technological progress to modernize society and glorify the monarchy and nation.

In essence, they seek the regimentation of society around the Romanov monarchy to create a new one, nationalist and progressive in its outlook.

Immediately after the announcement of the new platform, the Anastasian Confederation of Labor, which provides employment and services to many Anastasians in the form of its many collectives and mutual-aid societies, made a denunciation of the Futurists, arguing that they had become little more than fascists painted in progressive colors. They announced a breaking of all cooperation with the Futurists, with the Creative Union created through a joint endeavor of both made independent, given some funds as to survive by itself; the Futurists responded with their own condemnation, arguing that the Confederation was a group of anti-nationalists who did not believe in the Nicoleizian cause and who had contributed to the rise of leftist extremism in the city, before themselves also breaking all relations and cooperation with the Confederation. The Confederation then made a second statement arguing that it had actually done more to fight terrorism, having founded a number of neighborhood associations as to increase public vigilance, and that all violence was in reality the result of "vanguardism," which it stated that the Futurists, in spite of their orientation, were encouraging.

Both organized, in the coming days, significant rallies, speaking violently against each other, almost frothing at the mouth, red-faced, on some occasions, and in favor of their own visions. Both of them have organized significant "marches" through their youth organizations, which are militarized in uniform and layout but not in terms of being actually armed - none possessed or even appeared to possess arms; the marches were only great demonstrations of uniformed youth in formation, as loud, blaring music, often promoting ideological causes, played.

Significant demonstrations were also organized by both. The Futurists, for example, had hundreds march down the street, carrying large banners and signs with such messages as, "Anastasia for the Anastasians," "Preserve the prestige of the monarchy," "the sun of our Queen shines on all," and, simply, "Long live the Queen!" They shouted a number of inflammatory slogans, arguing that the Duchians were attempting to "corrupt and defile our Queen," and that "we must resist the -----' invasion of our city." "Anastasia for the Anastasians," while written on many of the banners and signs, was also a repeated cry. At a Syndicalist demonstration, hundreds also marched similarly, but carried signs with very different slogans - "Long live the free Anastasian people!", "Freedom will prevail," and "Self-administration now!" Many shouted the first; others a variation, "Long live the free and independent Anastasian people, down with the Duchies!" Another common cry, heard at both demonstrations as well as subsequent ones organized by the two organizations, was "Down with the Roscoes!", or in some cases, "To hell with the Roscoes!"

These rallies and marches are now commonplace, occuring seemingly everywhere and always, to the extent that it is unlikely than an Anastasian has not at least seen one. They have overpowered the slow politics of the municipal assembly for a politics of rhetoric and of quasi-violence, although no violence has actually occured; they have stirred the blood of many, and have created a significantly more tense environment.

The common feeling is that it is almost war, what with the uniforms and shouting and violence, if not physical violence then the violence of words.

In response, it seems as though a great upwelling of support for the cause of Anastasian independence has happened. Posters, often made by hand, have appeared across the city, on every surface. One, imitated by many others, points to the EUrovoice record of the Duchies and asks Nicoleizians in particular whether they really want to be associated with such a country; another points to policies requiring German education and German language in government and calls on the residents of Anastasia City to "Say "NO" to the invaders - speak your mothertongue!" remade in Nicoleizian and French versions by others, both of which were further imitated. One which cut deep pointed to the terrorist attack on the CPCI, which killed almost 30 but damaged little property and elicited no reaction from the Duchian government, and then to the attack on the Roscoes, which killed 19 and damaged much property, resulting in speeches, new government policy, and a nationwide outpouring of support for the Anastasians. A caption, in English, French, and Nicoleizian, asks whether it is lives or property the Duchian government cares more about, further saying that in a just world the victims of both would have been defended and spoken for.

A second poster included this but also invoked the budget store constructed on top of the site of a terrorist attack which killed hundreds elsewhere in the Duchies, again posing the same question - whether the Duchian government genuinely cares about lives or rather simply about defending property.

Yet another oft-replicated poster depicts a woman whose dreams are being "held" by a Duchian official who resembles the grim reaper, and warns against the significant collection of information by the Duchian government, stating that they may next be able to discern one's most secret thoughts.

The situation has become intolerable; everyone is rising up against the Duchies. Independence is only a matter of time.

[Istkalen]

van der Bijl, Katzian, to arrive in Anastasia CIty

Eva van der Bijl and Wolfgang Katzian, communist theorists, are to arrive in Anastasia City from their homes in Europolis, although they have not yet departed.

Eva van der Bijl was originally a communist Haanean, who was vehemently against electoralism and believed that anything short of the immediate abolition of markets, money, and non-democratic forms of industrial hierarchy not merely by a state but by a people acting through organs that they themselves established was capitalism and had to be fought. She later fled the country, having faked her death by throwing an innocent woman, who she claimed to be her, at a mob, before going back and forth between many countries attempting to convince others of her ideas. Ms. van der Bijl is a recognized war criminal in the country of Inimicus, and was also deported from Istkalen for having illegally immigrated. Now possessing a Europolis passport, she has made the decision to depart for Anastasia City, believing that she will be accepted and safe there. Ms. van der Bijl has stated that she will refrain from political activity, apart from publishing and giving academic addresses on books on Marxist theory, including her own original contributions. Ms. van der Bijl is perhaps best known for her books "On Bureaucracy," where she argues that bureaucracy is inherently capitalistic; and "On Workers' Organization," where she argues that non-sectoral forms of political organization are reactionary and bourgeois.

Wolfgang Katzian was originally a communist Austrian trade unionist and revolutionary, who overthrew the Austrian state in an attempt to establish a socialist republic but only contributed to its path to becoming a right-wing dictatorship. Mr. Katzian was not as opposed to electoralism as Ms. van der Bijl, but was considerably more extreme. Mr. Katzian's words were described as "deranged" and "disgusting" by many of his colleagues privately, and played a role in justifying Austria's exit from the Union and descent into dictatorship. The Czech state media went as far as to call one of his statements an "infamous proclamation...called for Czech prime minister to be brutally murdered..." Excerpts from Mr. Katzian's many statements are printed below:

"[The Socialist Republican Party] must be made to feel pain, the greatest pain, they must scream for mercy as the people assault them in glorious fashion, with sharp knives, with hot pokers, with boiling water, with shards of glass, scream for mercy as they die slowly and painfully on the crosses of the people's labor, the people's creation! They must be stripped nude, so that they may be indecent before the public, indecent and tortured and heckled, and then castrated with rusty knives covered in salt as the people cheer...."

" Mikaela Kligenberg - she shall suffer a fate so horrible that it cannot even be fully fathomed as of now! She shall be dragged through the streets of Inquista, tied to a car, living on the verge of death! She will be crucified, tortured with boiling water and poisons and castor oil daily until she dies, covered in her own excrement, dirty, filthy, as the people shout in joy for her death, that swine! She will scream, oh, how she will scream as she slowly, ever so slowly, perishes, excruciating pain coursing throughout her entire sorry excuse for a body, full of decadence!"

"Slavomíra Černá - you will die most horribly of all! You will be strung up by your feet as the people watch in happiness; they will enact their revenge upon you who tortured them for so long! They will torture you with hot pokers, beat you with sticks, carve bits of your body out; they shall do this until you die your deserved death! The dogs shall feed upon your lifeless, rotting body as the public watches, cheering! The remains of your body, your bones, shall be paraded all through Czech Slavia so that the liberated people, the people who you tortured and fed upon for so long, may spit on your body! You shall be thrown into sewage for a funeral; wherever your putrid remains end up shall become a public bathroom, so that your evil may be seen for what it is - disgusting and lowly!"

Mr. Katzian later fled to the Union of Syndicates, where he became the mayor of the capital in a rigged election marred by violence, before fleeing that country as the residents of the capital had lost their sanity. He then arrived in Istkalen; he was later deported from the country by the Republican government, at which point he departed from Europolis. Mr. Katzian is best known for his leadership of a constitutional convention in Austria, as well as his "Theory of the Great Pile," which posits that a revolution must organically unite the whole of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie in great fury, and then physically put the members of the bourgeoisie and physical reminders of its existence onto a great pile; socialism would entail reorganizing the whole of society around constantly attempting to destroy this pile, creating a "total hatred," and communism would be reached upon its total destruction. The Theory of the Great Pile has been expanded to become Marxism-Katzianism, which is allegedly a more correct interpretation of Marxism for the whole of the world than Marxism-Leninism or its derivatives. Katzian has published a number of books, including the aforementioned "Theory of the Great Pile," "The Failed Austrian Revolution and Its Consequences," "On Entryism," and other works.

Mr. Katzian believes that, compared to Europolis, where he was viewed as a lunatic, he will be better received in Anastasia City, although he has stated that he will refrain from making statements and will focus on his writing, collaborating with Ms. van der Bijl.

Mr. Katzian and Ms. van der Bijl met in the Union of Syndicates, and immediately found themselves friends due to their similar extremism. They have worked and lived together since then, and have cowritten a number of short works, including "On Workers' Councils," a synthesis of both theories, as well as other additions to the theory of Marxism-Katzianism.

[Istkalen]

Teder warns Anastasians of Duchian alliance with Reitzmag; Syndicalists expand community organization as Futurists fall flat; anti-Duchian business campaign continues

Over the past few weeks, pro-independence marches and rallies have become only more numerous. Daily do they occur in every quarter of Anastasia City; they are everpresent. Pro-independence posters are on every wall and every surface, exhorting Anastasians to oppose the Duchian government and support independence for a variety of reasons. A significant intensification occurred after the election of Nikolai II to the position of High Duke, due to his connections to the Reitzmic monarchy. Previously, the independence movement founded itself on opposition to language, education, surveillance and development policies; with the gravitation of the United Duchies towards Reitzmag, however, it has gained a far more salient argument.

"The United Duchies have moved ever closer to the Kingdom of Reitzmag. Reitzmag, who persecuted us for a year, who sought to choke us, to forcibly integrate us into their fold, to become loyal and willing subjects, and kill all those who did not comply. Reitzmag, who drove us here, away from our homes. Reitzmag, who imprisoned many of us in the camps of New Saint Regina, who refused to let us go until it was too late for them. The very lives of the Anastasian people are now at threat," said Kristjan Teder, the leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly, the de facto successor to the CPCI (dissolved on New Year's Day).

"No longer does the United Duchies have any reason to keep us here, to protect us. Reitzmag will demand ever more in return for cooperation, for further alliance, more and more and more, until finally the day comes that we Anastasians are handed over and find ourselves locked in the inescapable prisons of Reitzmag."

"We are free only because of our strength and our effort; but now we may soon find ourselves under tyranny yet again. We must stand, we must fight again. We can no longer trust the Duchies; it is only a matter of time before they sell us. Independence is the only way to guarantee that we have control over our own lives; to guarantee that we will not be sacrificed because of the whims of foreign policy."

Grassroots efforts to spread the call of independence have reflected this newfound concern over the Duchian alliance of Reitzmag. In addition to existing posters pointing to concerns over surveillance and language policy, new ones - the most widespread of which has been one depicting a demonic Simon Bridges outstreching spectral hands to Anastasia City - have been created and widely reproduced on these lines.

In other news, the Syndicalists have significantly expanded their community organization effort. They have yet again announced a further expansion of existing collectives, already diverse, ranging from shopping to IT services, in Anastasia City to help with employment; they have also announced the creation of a specialized agricultural union, which will take over existing collective farms that the union has established in the city while also leading the effort to further expand them and thus bring greater self-sufficiency to Anastasia City.

In addition, already existing housing assistance boards, which assist renters in paying their rent as well as help prospective tenants find affordable housing, will see their staff increased. Boards will also be made more neighborhood specific, to increase efficiency and accessibility.

The organization has also announced that it will continue its drive for the establishment of mutual-aid groups, in order to provide even more welfare "from the bottom up" to the Anastasian people. Similarly, it has also set a goal for the unionization of at least 50% of the Anastasian population by year's end under independent unions to "protect the Anastasians against the manipulation of others."

Neighborhood surveillance committees, which in certain areas, according to the organization, have been more effective than the Anastasian police in detecting crime, will find themselves complemented by neighborhood assemblies, which will exist to provide networks of mutual aid to communities, as well as help organize grassroots efforts for community upkeep and improvement.

The Futurists have not been as successful. Their labor associations have not been able to attract nearly as many, failing to gain traction; while they have had some success on the political front, having organized dozens of monarchist political associations and held perhaps hundreds of significant rallies and marches in favor of monarchism, they simply have not gained the same significance as the Anastasian Confederation of Labor. The artists' association they established in particular collapsed completely; to add insult to injury, the Syndicalists moved to establish a similar association, which has managed to stay afloat and has been significant more successful in employing artists and creating workspaces as well as supplying material for them.

In other news, the campaign against Duchian businesses has continued. The same wealthy businessman who previously sought to deprive Roscoes stores in the city of their stock has continued with his endeavor, employing a veritable army of roughly 3500 individuals to purchase Roscoes stock throughout the city at an industrial pace. These individuals are allegedly all full-time workers who are paid extremely well for their efforts, and also have very good benefits.

"We must deprive them of their dignity if nothing else," he said to writers for this pamphlet. "We intend to force them to say, 'we are dependent on the efforts of one rich man,' to say that in reality the Anastasians are not frequenting their businesses and go eleswhere."

Vandalism against Duchian businesses has also become a factor. Several individuals dressed in wedding gowns have been seen spraypainting the fronts of Duchian businesses with a variety of phrases, slogans, and images, many of which are obscene in nature. Some have also engaged in more significant property damage, seeking to smash glass storefronts, often with bricks. Others., similarly dresed, appear merely to travel to these businesses to quietly and discreetly urinate near and around them.

Crime has also increased around these businesses, although this is likely unrelated to anti-Duchian sentiment. An online movement calling for Anastasians to shoplift from Duchian businesses has formed, although it is not particularly large or successful for that matter. More physical and obvious crime has also occurred. Earlier today, it was reported that a man, possibly inebriated, entered a Roscoes store before stripping and performing acrobatic maneuvers, attacking multiple customers and urinating on stock. It is possible that this man has been arrested, although as of yet this has not yet been confirmed by anyone. In another case, also today, although it was not criminal in nature, a woman entered a Roscoes and began an expletive-laden rant in which she informed customers that they would face hellfire if they did not repent, complete with screaming.

More oddly, in the past two days a significant number of junkies have proliferated around Roscoes locations in particular. It is unknown why they have suddenly moved and grouped around these stores, but some claim that they were paid significant sums of cash and given transportation to do so. Some of these junkies have formed encampments outside the businesses. Representatives of the Syndicalists have traveled to these encampments to offer housing and rehabilitation, to limited success, but other than this they largely remain.

Protests have also continued, although the protestors have distanced themselves from the business locations to ensure that they are not arrested, and remain widely attended.

Kristjan Teder has condemned most of these occurances.

"Crime is never acceptable. Annoyances of this nature are never acceptable. Leave the Anastasian people in peace. The aim of independence must be pursued in a dignified, peaceful, and legal way."

[Istkalen]

Homeless "junkie" encampments outside of Roscoes locations in Anastasia City continue to grow

[OOC: Veracity doubtable]

Homeless encampments in front of multiple Roscoes locations in Anastasia CIty have continued to grow. Forming suddenly about three days ago, the encampments first were merely large groupings of junkies who gathered in front of Roscoes stores, before gradually becoming more permanent settlements. While the Anastasian Confederation of Labor has intensified its efforts to rehouse and rehabilitate those in the encampments, their success has remained relatively limited.

Writers for this pamphlet visited a Roscoes store where it was reported that encampments were massive. They estimated that perhaps 150 individuals were encamped outside of the Roscoes, and that there were "a great many more" apparent drug users also gathered within the encampment. Conditions were described as "horrific" and "akin to those prevailing in Nofoaga directly after the volcanic eruption;" the writers described pools of vomit and blood, excrement strewn everywhere, and several motionless bodies between tents

"It is horrible that people are forced to live like this in this modern age in a modern country," said one of our writers.

A frequenter of the Roscoes, who claimed to be employed by a wealthy man simply to purchase as many goods as possible from the Roscoes in question along with several hundred numbers, took a less than positive stance on the issue.

"It's horrible. There are the protestors on the sidewalk, who scream loudly, but now there is the encampment. I feel unsafe having to walk through it just to enter the store. The inside is no better. The restrooms have been completely destroyed, they stink of urine; I went into one and found that junkies had taken it over, they were everywhere, shooting up their drugs. Roscoes is terrifying now, and the only reason why I still go is because I'm paid well to do so!"

Our writers also interviewed others who frequented the store, all of whom also claimed to be employed by the same man for the same job, and who expressed roughly the same complaints. We could not find any genuine frequenters of Roscoes after spending six hours at this particular store.

Bizarre events occuring in Roscoes locations have also increased. At one location, it was reported that an intoxicated Haanean woman set her hair on fire in the middle of an aisle; in another, a bizarre "parade" of alleged junkies marched through the store, terrifying customers.

Roscoes locations in Anastasia City have been, in light of this, flooded with sharply negative reviews reporting on "filthy conditions," "extreme danger," and much more. One particularly memorable one is reprinted below.

"From the outside it's already very noticeable that this place is very run down! Don't let the prices fool you. The store STINKS an indescribable odor, I cover my nose everytime I walk through it. I can't stand it, It makes me gag. The smell of urine is so extremely heavy! Also, the amount if flies is unbelievable. They would just appear, as well as the most oddest spiders! There are also junkies everywhere! The shelves are grimy, I could go on and on about the FILTH Anastasia CIty needs to shut this place down it's definitely a health hazard. It STINKS, it's FILTHY, it's a health hazard, it's just a bunch of filth! I wish someone would of warned me about this place, never will you catch me in a filth like this."

The review was accompanied by a number of disturbing images of what the reviewer claimed to be the inside of the Roscoes location in question.

Another recent review went as follows:

"urine smell is so bad, it is just dirty, , bad odors all over the place, but you should see all the mess that it is around it. this a true unsafe drug infested environment. roscoes a horrible crappy place that you never should go to!"

[Istkalen]

ADA manifesto for Anastasia City

The Anastasian Democratic Assembly, the successor party to the CPCI, has issued a manifesto of its own dealing with what it sees as the critical issues facing Anastasia City.

"Anastasia City, and I cannot put it nicely," said Kristjan Teder, the party's leader, "is a mess. Homelessness, drug use, and crime are skyrocketing; at the same time, the Anastasians have been denied any true autonomy. They have no control over their education, over their development, and may soon be at the total mercy of Duchian foreign policy as the country begins to swerve towards Reitzmag, the country oppressed us for so long, the country that wants us all dead. All the while, their privacy is violated on a daily basis. Change is absolutely necessary in order to establish an Anastasia for us all."

The manifesto is as follows:

1. Greater state intervention in the housing market; the state should begin constructing housing of its own in order to stimulate employment and add to housing stock. Management and ownership of state-constructed housing should be given to democratic, independent, and self-sufficient housing associations of all residents.

2. Establishment of state-owned but worker controlled unions which will establish independent and self-sufficient collectives in order to stimulate employment in a financially sustainable and democratic way.

3. The establishment of a widescale drug rehabilitation program specific to Anastasia City in order to reduce drug usage, as well as the construction supervised injection sites throughout Anastasia City in order to reduce overdose deaths and public crime.

4. Temporary provision of a basic income of 250 Dux Libra a month to all Anastasians above the age of majority in order to reduce poverty and stimulate economic development.

5. Lowering of taxation and simplification of regulations for the self-employed and small business owners, as well as for social enterprises, in order to stimulate employment and thus reverse the effects of poverty that have led to homelessness, crime, and drug use

6. Raising of taxes on larger enterprises in order to fund basic social programs, in conjunction with the establishment of full freedom of trade and movement in Anastasia City for all.

7. Establishment of superiority of Anastasian law over Duchian law in areas devolved to the Anastasian municipal government by the Treaty of Porterdam (public services, education, utilities, transport, policing , emergency services, social laws, and local economic law)

8. Removal or re-negotiation of Section II, Clause IV of the Treaty of Porterdam due to extreme privacy concerns.

9. Establishment of clause in the Treaty of Porterdam allowing the Anastasian municipal government to exempt Anastasia City and its residents from any agreements made with the Kingdom of Reitzmag specifically.

10. Establishment of an independent transportation authority in Anastasia City alongside the establishment of independent public transportation systems.

11. Establishment of state ownership - that is, ownership by the municipal government alone and no other actor, including the Duchian central government - over all Anastasia-specific public infrastructure, particularly ports, airports, roads, city-specific public transportation, energy, and sanitation.

[Istkalen]

Sewer explosions throughout Anastasia City leave much of the population without utilities as violence sweeps; Syndicalist vigilance committee catches possible criminal involved

A reported thirteen sewer explosions, based on information gathered from social media, reverberated throughout Anastasia CIty today. The cause as of yet remains unknown; hypotheses have ranged as widely from a buildup of "sewer gas" to an intentional terror attack. Roads across the city were destroyed. The explosions severed additional gas pipelines and electricity lines, alongside broadband infrastructure; widespread outages have been reported, as have several further gas explosions at the same sites as the sewer explosions. Damage was particularly concentrated at the city center, where seven explosions occurred.

"We have no water anymore, what are we to do?" asked an Anastasian. "We can't go outside, it's too dangerous, we're locked in here without water, electricity, or heating in the middle of winter!"

Elevated levels of chlorine gas in the city center were also claimed, although this has not yet been confirmed.

There have also been widespread reports of seemingly spontaneous apartment fires, as violence sweeps through the city. Citizens have reported individuals throwing incendiary devices into stores and other buildings, further adding to the fires. Many have been seen jumping from higher stories to escape the spreading fires, which have been reported as being unusually hot and long-lasting. It has been rumored that the fires were caused further by terrorists, who may have used rudimentary forms of napalm in order to set them, as possibly evidenced by residues where fires have been put out.

Widespread looting and violence has also been reported. Fleeing crowds have been beset by seemingly crazed individuals violently; several have been beheaded or in other ways extremely violently attacked; stores have allegedly been stormed and subjected to similar violence, alongside looting.

"The police have lost control over the city," said a resident of Anastasia City. "No matter what the Duchians say, they have lost control."

There have been reports of a mass shooting committed by members of the Duchian military as well.

"We can't trust them," said an Anastasian in response to the news, which has spread like wildfire across social media. "No, not at all. We are trapped here, and they will only worsen it."

In other news, a Syndicalist vigilance committee has caught a man dressed in a bridal gown attempting to set fire to a store. The man immediately confessed, during interrogation, to being a part of a plot masterminded by ultranationalist Duchians to destroy Anastasia City and kill as many immigrants as possible, before committing suicide by throwing himself into a fire.

[Istkalen]

A dark night: Surrounded by rubble, without heating, electricity, or water, and trapped within by the Duchian government, the Anastasian people suffer

Anastasia City, in the course of a single day, has found itself in ruins. Thirteen explosions throughout the city killed possibly hundreds, tearing apart streets, sewers, electricity, telephone, and broadband lines, as well as water and gas. Further massive gas explosions triggered by the destruction left the city in flames; several others have been reported since, likely due to the destruction. Buildings have been reported completely collapsed after the repeated explosions across Anastasia City, as gas continues to leak from pipelines exposed by the destruction.

Unusually hot and long lasting fires, suspected to be caused by a napalm-like substance contained within incendiary devices, spread across the city, destroying housing stock and stores and claiming even more lives, forcing Anastasians to flee across the streets where they were beset by violent individuals almost certainly on drugs. Other, more minor fires, were reported from other apartments. While firefighters have indeed made headway against the fires, they continue sporadically across the city. Several building collapses have further been reported since, however, and even more buildings are believed to be unhabitable as a result of the fires.

"We have nowhere to go," said an Anastasian who has been forced to return to their apartment, in a building that has half-collapsed.

The streets of Anastasia City are impassable, covered in rubble from the sewer explosions and later building collapses. Where the explosions themselves occurred, they have caved in completely, revealing pools of sewage, sometimes burning. In other places, bodies and bodyparts can be seen strewn across the street, killed and torn apart by the force of the explosions.

Conditions in the city have been described as "Haanean." Citizens have been seen defecating in the open, with nowhere else to do so due to the destruction of the city's water and sanitation systems; others have quickly constructed shelters out of debris, creating "shanty-towns" outside of collapsed or condemned apartment buildings. Significant portions of the city allegedly remain without contact, as roads leading to them have been rendered completely impassable.

While the violence has ended, reports of property crime remain rampant. Looting and robbery are common. Sporadic firebombing continues to be observed across the city, as emergency and police services struggle to deal with the situation in the destroyed city.

"They say that everything is intact," said an Anastasian, "but in reality we live in ruins. The whole city is devastated. Liars, the Duchians are!"

Fear has also spread through the city; images and videos of Duchian soldiers shooting indiscriminately at Anastasians, alongside widespread rumors, have made many fearful of reprisals.

"I can't stay here," said an Anastasian who was possibly of Nicoleizian descent, although this was based solely off the fact that she had a French accent, which could very well mean that she was in reality Haanean. "Anywhere else would be better than this hellhole, even the motherland."

The Syndicalists have begun community-based efforts to reach as many Anastasians as is possible, and have apparently been more successful with this than the Duchians; meanwhile, the party leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly made an address.

"Today is a black day for Anastasia City. Beset by terrorists, hundreds have died. Hundreds more are missing, lost beneath rubble, lost to fires, lost to the manipulations of these evil actors. Anastasians now lie on the street, beset by criminals, amid unending fires and rubble. Our city, which would have become the jewel of the Caspian, is now a ruin. We lend our full support to the actions of the Duchian government; but we insist that more be done for the Anastasians who have died, who continue to suffer. Those who did this must be condemned, must suffer, for the hundreds of lives they have taken; but more should be done for the Anastasians who are suffering. We must work as hard as we can to repair destroyed infrastructure and reconstruct housing, for the thousands upon thousands who have been left homeless and without even the most basic of services. We must remember, we must avenge, but we also must work to recover on our own terms, to show those behind this our strength."

[Istkalen]

Images from Anastasia City

[Istkalen]

Laura Harden has vanished

The Mayor of Anastasia City has not been seen by anyone, including, according to reports received by this pamphlet, members of her staff, for several hours. No one knows where she might have gone; some suspect that she might have in fact been taken by some group or other, although no one unknown was seen entering or exiting any buildings in which she was present prior to her disappearance.

"It's worrying," confided someone who claimed to be one of her aides. "What is she is dead?"

Her office has allegedly not been receiving or answering phone calls; no actions have been made by her office, in spite of the ongoing crisis in Anastasia City, since her alleged disappearance.

Information at this time is highly limited, and it is quite possible that she may merely turn up completely unharmed at some point. However, her disappearance during this time is worrying. The city would be left without a functioning executive, leaving it paralyzed; on the other extreme, it could give a pretext for the central Duchian government to take over the administration of the city - it already has a reason for doing so, that is the covering up of the severe situation in Anastasia City, where hundreds may be dead and hundreds more missing, in which thousands have been made homeless, iand in which utilities still have not been restored to the vast majority of the city, which it has attempted to limited success.

Further updates will be provided as information is made available.

[Istkalen]

In Bomballey

Bomballey was abandoned almost completely in the exodus from Copala City, leaving behind but a small scattering of caretakers, who wander its desolated, wide boulevards and protect the neighborhood from would-be developers and looters. The Reitzmics will insist that they have demolished the whole city and Asianized it; but this is untrue. One last vestige of socialism, of the Copalan nation, remains, a great bulwark against a force that threatens to suffocate it, and a portent of what is to come.

"We will not be uprooted by Reitzmag!" said the Patriarch of the United Apostolic Churches of Haane and Keste, one of the most well-known caretakers. "We will not give our homes and livelihoods to those demons! We will remain steadfast forever!"

The neighborhood remains much as it was a year ago. Revolutionary slogans and banners remain draped across old signposts, above streets; while faded with time, they remain a proud testament to its socialist history. "People's Warehouses" - stores collectivized and converted during the first socialist revolution in Copala City - stand now forlorn and abandoned, next to an assortment of "People's Banks," "People's Workshops," "People's Gardens," and "People's Canteens." Above them was once collectivized housing, communal housing. Now it is all abandoned.

Other storefronts, once little businesses, now stand empty, although the furniture within and outside remains untouched. It seems almost as though, a minute ago, this city was alive, and then, in an instant, all of those within disappeared.

The sidewalks here are wide, with occasional benches dedicated to martyrs of the Bomballey Revolution; the trees spreading and now in bloom. All a little damaged, a little burnt, but still tall and proud. Bomballey was what a city should, could, have been, without the effects of capital, a beautiful testament to the ingenuity and drive of the people, of the workers.

Walking along this, the Avenue of Devotion to Her Holy Leadership, one comes to the Boulevard of Her Imperial Glory,a wide and glorious boulevard. The boulevard itself has a wideness unknown in the rest of the city; the boulevard itself is lined by majestic, ornate apartments, truly crafted well and lovingly, without alienation, by the workers of Copala City. The Boulevard is divided into two sections; the section in imperial style, and the section in modern-imperial style, testaments to the advancement and design of the workers.

At the center of the Boulevard is the Bomballey Central Square. It is surrounded on two side by the Bomballey Park, and on the other by Areai's Palace.

Truly one of the wonders of the modern world, Areai's palace was moved from its previous location in a matter of weeks. Constructed entirely from panels of opulent materials, the palace was originally completed in early 2010, after 15 years of construction due to the difficulty in obtaining materials; only a mere few months later, however, it had to be deconstructed and taken from the country. Since then, the palace has been re-erected multiple times in multiple locations, often in a matter of but a few months, perhaps the world's greatest marvel of engineering. The palace takes up a little less than half the footprint of Bomballey, and is surrounded by private gardens. It remains private property; no one is allowed inside except for those entrusted with its caretaking.

At the center of the square is the great Statue to the Empress's Love, a statue of Areai which stands 120 meters tall, standing on a massive pdestal on which the words "PRAISE HER" are engraven. This, too, is a testament to engineering and the ingenuity of the people. Originally constructed alongside Areai's Palace, it too found itself moved multiple times, and now has finally come to rest here. All, of course, private property.

The wonders of Bomballey are those of the workers, of the world; they rest in Reitzmag, protected by valiant workers, who ensure that they are not damaged, as the heritage of all mankind.

[Istkalen]

Opinion: Anastasia in Ruins

The 21st of January 2022 marked one of the most horrific events in the history of the Anastasian nation. No death count has ever been released for the events, nor official account for the amount of property destruction, but we Anastasians saw the limp, burnt bodies, the loose, blood-streaked limbs and bits of flesh covering the dusty, burning streets on that day. We remember the choking black smoke that enveloped everything, we remember the heat of the fires burning through the city. We remember the hordes which attacked us as we ran through the streets, which surrounded us, which hacked at us. We remember the mad rush to get away, to find somewhere safe, in a city where there seemed to be no safety.

We remember too the long days after, everything lost. Our homes were destroyed, our things lost to the fires and explosions. We remember sitting in hovels built from what we could find, loose bits of concrete strewn across parks and roads, the burnt out shells of cars, half of a bedsheet, miraculously saved, hung from the spectral remnants of a blackened tree to provide some shelter. We remember walking at the edge of collapsed streets, looking at the crushed cars and homes beneath us, swallowed up by great, burning trenches, nervous. We remember the smell of feces and urine everywhere, when we, abandoned, had to relieve ourselves in the open.

This was the plight of so many in our city, which the Duchian government sought to suppress so selfishly.

Three months later, they claim to have repaired everything. They have, yes. But in what way? Many say that in the street they are dizzy, that they can smell gas. Many say that the water in their replaced homes is intermittent; others that it is murky, unsafe to drink. The electricity, too, for them, is not reliable; it will go off and on again throughout the day. On some days there will be none at all for many.

The new apartments themselves creak constantly; they shake in the wind. There are deep cracks running through the walls; cabinets shift constantly, the floor beneath warped, sometimes bending.

Crime is also at an extraordinarily high level. In Anastasia City, it is believed that there is a one in three chance that one will be the victim of a violent crime. Assaults, rapes, and murders are extraordinarily commonplace; abductions, too, abound. In one of the most egregious cases of crime, it appears that a slave auction was held in Anastasia City in early April, with videos of the event widely shared on social media. This has been tied to the rapid development of organized crime in the city following the terrorist attack of 21 January.

With the exodus of the Nicoleizians after this destruction, the local economy has been destroyed, and in its place have come the Duchian businessmen. From our city they want to extract all; our labor, our resources, everything; for themselves. There is now no one but them and what cooperative enterprises our patriotic Anastasian organizations have been able to resurrect - and they, with their friends who control the state and their vast sums of capital, they are winning.

Our roads are theirs, our homes are theirs, our electricity is theirs, our ports are theirs. For the Anastasian people there will be no independence in this new world; only control and obedience to the Duchians. A totalitarianism coated in sugar.

Our Anastasia is plunged in extreme criminality, without independence. The government, both municipal and national, has failed to bring benefit to the Anastasians or engage in reconstruction in a rational way. The city is failed and crumbling apart, and they seem content to let it collapse completely.

[Istkalen]

A People's Parliament is established in Anastasia City as resistance intensifies
Gaëtan Compère

The Anastasian Confederation of Labor has established a "People's Parliament" in Anastasia City, to unite the industrial federations and the neighborhood committees it has created, which have taken on the functions of the state in many areas, particularly after the January terrorist attacks. The intention is to "rationalize governance" in Anastasia City and to construct "alternate and decentralized channels of power."

The organization is a large economic player in Anastasia City, responsible for a large housing development and the creation of a large number of collective enterprises, alongside many vigilance committees and neighborhood associations which have protected communities and distributed aid to them. It also has begun a pilot of basic income with the income earned, while distributing free meals to the poor, mostly through mutual aid societies it has set up and now supports, using the funds it earns through the enterprises and through donations.

The "People's Parliament" is composed of 400 representatives, 200 of which are from the industrial federations and 200 of which are from the neighborhood associations. It convened today in a large park before an audience estimated to be in the thousands, to what it has termed "an anthem for Anastasia City," an instrumental piece of music, played by an ensemble organized by the Anastasian Cultural Association, founded by the Confederation.

The parliament then elected a speaker and a presidium before conducting its business.

The intention of the People's Parliament is to create a general plan for the further development of enterprises in Anastasia City, with the goal being self-sufficiency, as well as to combat an extreme epidemic of crime which has remained undetected and untracked by the Anastasian police and state authorities. The Housing Assistance Board created by the Confederation may also be expanded to cover housing improvements, desperately needed as a result of the deteriorating condition of poorly repaired or constructed buildings in Anastasia City. A plan to deal with claimed emissions of gas in the open may also be organized through the neighborhood associations and committees.

"Since the founding of this city, we have been the ones who have genuinely handled the issues of the Anastasian people, not the government. It is our industrial federations which have organized housing, work, education, healthcare, and cultural events, not their institutions. It is our vigilance committees, not the police, which safeguard the Anastasian people from crime. It is our mutual aid societies, not their bureaucracies, which provide welfare to the Anastasians. We govern the city, not them!" proclaimed the speaker of the People's Parliament.

The People's Parliament, however, has made clear that it does not intend to form an alternate government, and that its sole purpose is to organize the activities of the Confederation of Labor in a more rational way. It reasserted its syndicalism, which it identified not with "an uncontrolled statism" but with "prosperity, solidarity, and liberty;" however, it toned down its international nature, instead arguing that their syndicalism was merely in favor of a "libertarian-socialist polity in Anastasia City."

The foundation of the People's Parliament has occurred amid increased unrest. Efforts to prevent consumption at Duchian businesses are well underway again, with mass buying from Duchian businesses beginning again. The leader of the movement, the same Haanean businessman and philanthropist, claims now to employ thousands to simply buy as much as they can from the stores. Many of the products have appeared in the hands of street vendors, who often sell them for significantly less than the price they go for in the actual stores. It is possible that this is connected to a coordinated effort to vandalize and shoplift from Duchian owned-stores, but this has been denied.

The businessman said that he was losing quite a bit of money from this venture, but that he was in his seventies and had quite a bit of money to waste, making it meaningless to him.

Meanwhile, there has been a coordinated breakdown of cars and trucks throughout Anastasia City. Hundreds, possibly up to a thousand, are believed to have taken part. This occurred in the context of further mass protests against what is seen as Reitzmic and Duchian intrusion into private affairs, particularly the smart CCTV system which is seen as dystopian and totalitarian in nature, as well as the possibility of a "backroom deal" with Reitzmag that would deport Anastasians back to Reitzmag for imagined crimes.

---

Reszelport Jezebel-Swift to visit city
Marcel Dubois

Reszelport Jezebel-Swift, the controversial "Pope Tabitha" of the Arian Church in Istkalen, intends to visit Anastasia City for the purpose of evangelism. She will establish a mission in the city, through which her ideas will be spread but also aid "to the suffering and poor, in body and in spirit" distributed. Eventually, a model community will be established in the mission to "provide an example to the world" of "the goodness of Christian ideals."

She will arrive by private plane, with her compatriots within the Curia of the Arian Church and a number of missionaries, and will deliver her first address in a public park, to which "everyone" is invited.

A church - the center of the mission and later model community - will be established in the following week, with the first service on 8 May.

Jezebel-Swift is best known for her changing theology, which began with modalism and traditionalism and since has returned to regular Arianism, albeit with a conservative bent.

[Istkalen]

Equipment stolen from illegal oncology center

An oncology center, which operated without a license, was robbed yesterday before being discovered by a vigilance committee established by the Anastasian Confederation of Labor, in the chaotic aftermath.

The vigilance committee described the discovery as follows:

"Within the community, there were a number of reports of a clinic which provided 'efficient' cancer treatment for an unusually low fee compared to legal private clinics. We began to investigate these claims due to concerns over the quality and legality of the clinic, particularly how its treatments might lead to severe consequences for the community. On the morning of the 28th of April, community vigilance volunteers going about their usual rounds saw a number of people behaving suspiciously, walking back and forth through an open door, behaving as though they were trying to look for something. They were questioned about what they were doing, and quite openly disclosed that they were employees for a cancer treatment center. The incident was reported to the central vigilance committee, and thereafter a more thorough search was conducted of the building in which the clinic was housed. The equipment contained within was quite rudimentary, and it is not an exaggeration to claim that the clinic was likely an extreme danger to the patients it treated."

"Workers there claimed that a significant amount of equipment from the clinic had been stolen in the night, but refused both to describe what was stolen or to provide a concrete list of the equipment they had had before the alleged theft."

"The workers of the clinic were referred to the police, and a motion has been introduced to the People's Parliament of the Anastasian Confederation of Labor to allow for a more thorough look into the possible victims of these criminal scheme."

"We strongly believe that the operation of the clinic was connected to organized crime, and was some sort of scheme."

The incident is yet another case of an unusual event in Anastasia City. Yesterday, human organs were thrown out of a window, an alleged "Satanic cult" appeared to be holding a ceremony in the middle of the night in a park involving cannibalism, and a "glowing apparition" that resembled Jesus Christ was seen "descending" into the city - in addition to a significant gas explosion, of which another occurred under relatively similar circumstances today.

While the government seeks to deny that there are issues in Anastasia City, this incident above all illustrates their lies. It first clearly shows deficiencies in the health care system which force cancer patients to turn to dubious and dangerous alternatives; it further clearly shows the continuous development of crime in Anastasia City, which has become increasingly complex and organized in nature.

The Anastasian people deserve better. They should not live in fear of their homes will blow up in a gas explosion; should not live in fear of being eaten by cannibalistic cults; should not be assaulted by flying human organs when they go out to walk; should not be forced to turn to the criminal world to get healthcare in an efficient and competent way. They should certainly not be made to live in an environment which plays mind games on them, to the extent that they can believe that Jesus Christ is descending from the sky.

The Duchian government refuses to address these concerns, and instead claims that all is fine, claims that there are no issues in the wonderful city they have built, pushing aside the intense sufferings and constant danger the Anastasian people must endure with every passing day.

[Istkalen]

The Anastasian Democratic Assembly's Plan of Action

The Anastasian Democratic Assembly has announced a new plan of action, which will guide their activity in parliament. It is as follows:

COST OF LIVING MEASURES

1. We will work to reduce prices in Anastasia City. We will focus on establishing internal agricultural production, which will be managed by the workers through state-owned labor organizations prevented from joining the agricultural cartels. We will further seek to set price ceilings on basic goods, in particular foodstuffs and fuel. In order to reduce the burden elsewhere, we also will work for a significant reduction or wholesale elimination of consumption taxes, as well as on taxes on social enterprises, small businesses, and cooperatives.

2. We will work to generally increase industrial production within Anastasia City. We want the city to establish a Development Planning Board which will be tasked with constructing new, green industry, particularly for consumer goods but not ignoring heavy industry. Ideally, these new industries will be managed by the workers through state-owned labor oragnizations. Our goal is to reduce the dependence of the city on imports, increase employment, and also to ameliorate the high cost of living by allowing for a higher degree of control over the price of consumer products.

3. We will work to increase the minimum wage to at least 15 Dux Libra an hour, with compensation for social enterprises, small businesses, and cooperatives as a result of possible losses to revenue.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MEASURES

1. We will work to develop the economy in Anastasia City in general; in every sector we will establish labor organizations which will be tasked with establishing self-managed firms in their respective sectors; the organizations will be responsible to the state and will have full ownership over the enterprises they establish. In this way, employment is increased, the economy is stimulated, social responsibilities in the economy are emphasized, finance is made fairer and more equal, and democracy is expanded.

2. We will work to encourage social entrepreneurship and the development of the social and solidarity economy, by establishing subsidies for social enterprises and cooperatives. We see this as discouraging abuse while increasing democracy in the workplace and the fair distribution of both goods and wages to the people. Our final goal is the development of a new economic conception, in which the economy is made to serve the public and which profit is secondary to social responsibility.

3. We will work to establish an Anastasian Investment Board, which will purchase and sell stock from companies operating in Anastasia City. The revenue will be distributed as an equal payment to all residents of the city over the age of 18, while control over investments will be exercised by the municipal council. We want to encourage investment in Anastasia City while maintaining local control, all the same continually advocating for a more equal and fair economy.

LABOR MEASURES

1. We will work to establish economic associations which will bring together employees and employers in different sectors, for the purpose of establishing norms for competition, workplace relations, the labor market, and benefits, reducing the constant state of warfare which characterizes most modern economies. We want Anastasia City to be a much more harmonious place in this regard.

2. We will work to continuously increase the power of workers in Anastasia City. We want workers to be able to veto major decisions made by a company's board; we also want to work to establish co-determination within internal management, eventually leading to completely democratic "day-to-day" management.

3. Through the state labor organizations, we will seek to establish an employment guarantee in Anastasia City.

HOUSING MEASURES

1. We will work to assess the safety of housing in Anastasia City, which has been put into question by a series of suspicious gas explosions occurring since the attacks of January. We want every house fo be insulated, structurally sound, and well-serviced by all utilities.

2. We will work to ban absentee landlords, to encourage the development of independent housing cooperatives, to allow for the continuous construction of new social housing in Anastasia City, and to establish rent controls in order to reduce costs and improve autonomy and democracy.

POLICE AND ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES

1. We will work to establish public vigilance committees in every neighborhood of Anastasia City to decentralize and thus increase the efficiency of law-enforcement, while at the same time allowing for a higher degree of citizen participation, making it more likely for criminals and terrorists to be apprehended.

2. We will work to significantly expand the size of the police while decentralizing it. Police command will be placed under the control of neighborhood committees, although centralized command will be retained, while the police itself will be at least doubled in size. The police therefore becomes more efficient by working "closer" to communities while being expanded in size.

3. We will seek to allow for the establishment of a specialized anti-terrorism corps in Anastasia City, which will be armed and which will continuously patrol the city. These corps will be militarized but placed under the control of a special Anastasian ministry. We want, by this, to increase enforcement while also increasing Anastasian autonomy over Anastasian affairs.

MEASURES FOR AUTONOMY

1. We recognize that independence is infeasible and not a possibility at this time; we therefore will merely seek greater autonomy under the terms of the Treaty of Porterdam. We will therefore demand that our full rights as stated in the Treaty are given; namely, full control over "public services, education, utilities, transport, policing , emergency services, social laws, and local economic laws," with "local economic laws" being interpreted as the right to pass any economic laws so long as they do not heavily conflict with Duchian law.

2. We will further continue to call for the detachment of Anastasian surveillance from the Duchian central system, in order to increase Anastasian control over Anastasian data and Anastasian lives.

3. We will continue to call for separate Anastasian ID and passports

[Istkalen]

From the People's Parliament
Broadcast - available on citizen radio - and streaming on all accessible streaming platforms

Gaëtan Compère: The People's Parliament of Anastasia City is convening tonight, online and its members from secret locations, after several weeks of debate, to vote on a series of resolutions proposed to put to an end the sharp deterioration in civil and political rights, as well as in the general safety and security of citizens, that Anastasia City has experienced.

Jacqueline Aubry: Since the terrorist attacks in January, rates of crime and homelessness have skyrocketed in Anastasia City. Surveys conducted by the Anastasian Confederation of Labor have found that perhaps up to 5% of the current population is currently homeless, while almost 60% of the pre-attack population has fled. Over half of the businesses operating beforehand have shut down, and unemployment may be as high as 25%. Gas explosions are near constant; 75% of Anastasians feel that their homes are structurally unsound or unsafe. Murders and home invasions occur on a daily basis; drug use is open and everywhere. Muggings occur on buses and in stores; lawlessness prevails. The response of the government has been to arrest those members of the parliament and of the municipal assembly who dared to point these issues out, on trumped up charges of terrorism. Many, including an anonymous member of the municipal assembly, have come to us to say that they fear their arrest for daring to speak out against the complacency and authoritarianism of the government. A radical solution, in these chaotic times, seems necessary.

Marcel Dubois: For Anastasians, there are few other paths of recourse. There has been protest after protest, appeal after appeal, and no action. The government is unwilling to do anything but arrest, as public services go down the drain. The people have looked and looked, and the only solution seems to be in the Confederation and the neighborhood committees - and now the People's Parliament that groups them all, these institutions of popular power, together.

Gaëtan Compère: From the beginning, we have been victimized and denied autonomy. From the beginning, we have seen violence and terror. And now the people seem to be putting their feet - we will now turn to the People's Parliament, whom we have received a signal from.

---

SPEAKER: This session of the first People's Parliament of Anastasia City is hereby opened. All rise for the Copalan national anthem.

Copala é nossa is sung by the deputies.

SPEAKER: And now, in representation and expression of the plaintive voice and appeal of the oppressed Anastasian people, for the first time - the Anastasian national anthem, as approved by this body on 25 April and 30 June.

The following can be heard:

Lève toi, Patrie courageuse,

Toi qui en des journées glorieuses

Saisiras notre beau drapeau

Pour un pays libre et nouveau,

Qui ne jamais plus ne faillira,

Que personne n'effrayera !

Nous briserons nos chaines,

Nous travaillerons sans peine,

Nous serons une Nation souveraine,

Nous serons une Nation souveraine !

SPEAKER: You may now seat yourselves. We will now move to voting on the adoption of Resolution 45 of this body, the proposed Motion for the Declaration of Revised Status.

Gaëtan Compère: The Motion for the Declaration of Revised Status, as you may know, proclaims the People's Parliament as the sovereign of the Anastasian state and the legitimate representative of the Anastasian people, recognizing the Treaty of Porterdam as a treaty negotiated between the Anastasian state and the United Duchies, in effect declaring that Anastasia City is a protectorate of the United Duchies, rather than an integral but devolved part of its territory.

SPEAKER: 234 are for, 162 are against, 4 present did not vote. The resolution is adopted. We will now move to voting on the adoption of Resolution 46 of this body, the proposed Motion for the Expansion of the People's Parliament.

Gaëtan Compère: The Motion for the Expansion of the People's Parliament extends invitations to the Independent Union of Anastasia City, Our Home is the Empire, the Futurist Party of Anastasia City and UNITED to join the People's Parliament, each receiving 225 seats if they accept the invitation, with the exception of the Futurist Party, which will receive 50.

SPEAKER: 394 are for, 6 present did not vote. The resolution is adopted. We will now move to voting on the adoption of Resolution 47, the proposed Motion on the Mobilization of the Neighborhood Committees.

Gaëtan Compère: The Motion on the Mobilization of the Neighborhood Committees requires the neighborhood committees to 'rapidly' begin the construction of a state apparatus and effectively take over the process of governing.

SPEAKER: 400 are for. The resolution is adopted. We will now move to voting on the adoption of Resolution 48, the formation of a new government. Under the rule of Her Majesty, the Queen Anastasia II, the IUAC, OHE, and ADA will each designate one person to serve in a collective mayorship; the remainder of government positions will remain vacant until a mayor is definitively designated, but must contain ministers drawn from the IUAC, OHE, ADA, FPAC, and the Confederation of Anastasian Labor, those forces which will make up this body.

Gaëtan Compère: Resolution 48 argues that the current state of government in Anastasia City is unable to address the issues that the city is facing, and therefore proposes the creation of a government of national unity, made up of all "authentically Anastasian" forces - namely, the IUAC, OHE, ADA, FPAC, and the Confederation of Anastasian Labor, with decisions being made by consensus between the parties.

SPEAKER: 308 are for, 80 are against, 12 present did not vote. The resolution is adopted. We will now move to voting on the adjournment of this session until 4 June 2022.

[silence]

SPEAKER: 398 are for, 2 present did not vote. The resolution is adopted, and the People's Parliament is adjourned.

[Istkalen]

Teder: We demand nothing less than full freedom

Kristjan Teder, after his release from prison, strongly condemned the United Duchies before the municipal council.

"The United Duchies is not a rechsstaat. It is an illiberal state that arrests those who dare to point on its flaws. With the looming threat of Reitzmag approaching, we now risk a further deterioration in political and civil rights - and then not even the loudest of appeals from the Anastasian people will stop the final destruction of democracy. This, in our beloved city, already beset by crime and inflation, will tear us apart."

"We do not fear arrest for what we say; we will speak the truth no matter the consequences, and we will never be silenced. We will point out what we see; we will not close our eyes to the suffering of the Anastasian people, as the Duchian parties, obeying their masters in Cair Para, do."

"We insist that the issues, all the issues, of our Anastasia are caused by its continued subordination to the Duchian state; we insist that the only solution is in independence social and economic. And we will advocate for this without end, without tiring, until at last we have accomplished it."

"We have come, now, to the end. An illegal independence has been declared; my party, as well as two others represented in this assembly, have been invited to join a proposed government of national unity. The future of Anastasian government is now in question - and it is for us to act."

"To dismiss the declaration as mere terrorism or mere extremism is unwise. It revealed the discontent and the anger that have prevailed in this city from the very beginning. To ignore it, to ignore these sentiments and these issues, in favor of complacency, is to leave all of this brewing and simmering until at last, things come to a boil and the city itself comes to an end. Under these extraordinary conditions, we demand the only viable, the only true, solution to the impasse we face; nothing less than full freedom."

Teder put forwards a series of informal demands, a radical program which would transfer power in its entirety to the Anastasian people, which was as follows:

1. Anastasia City must immediately separate itself from the Duchian market; only then can it be freed from the deranged demands of Duchian cartels and businesses, which continuously victimize consumers.

2. The Anastasian government must be given full powers over those areas devolved to it by the Treaty of Porterdam; Duchian law should not be able to overrule Anastasian law in these areas.

3. Anastasia City must be given the right to negotiate, create, and enforce economic agreements of its own, so that it may find other, more stable markets, to depend on.

4. Treaties and other agreements made with foreign countries which the government of Anastasia City does not assent to must not be enforced in Anastasia City.

5. Property belonging to enterprises based in other Duchies or majority-owned by Duchians must be immediately nationalized.

6. Housing belonging to individuals and enterprises not residing in or based in Anastasia City must be immediately nationalized.

7. The ownership of utilities, transportation infrastructure, and ports must immediately be transferred in their entirety to the Anastasian government.

8. Sectoral boards to manage the nationalized enterprises, comprised half of appointments from the Anastasian government and half of workers' delegates, must be established with haste.

9. Works councils, boards elected by workers within an enterprise, which will appoint managers, approve of wages, working hours, benefits, and schedules, must be established in all nationalized enterprises with haste.

10. An Anastasian Investment Board, to facilitate the expansion of domestic industry and agriculture, private, public, and cooperative, must be established with haste.

"We need an immediate social and economic separation from the Duchies," Teder said. "Duchian businesses and owners must be expelled from Anastasia City, and economic links established with reliable countries, to ensure Anastasians both work and bread, so to speak."

He further called for the formation of an IUAC minority government, with support from the current coalition parties, as well as for negotiations with the People's Parliament of Anastasia City, with the allotment of 10 deputies in the Metropolitan Council as a suggested concession.