Record 5768339
30/11/2157
16:27 Andromeda Standard Time
Delta Quadrant Grand Court
Time Rented For Court Session: 2 Hours
Court Participants:
Judge: RH. Vigo Perez
Translator: Rylen Morentosur
Plaintiff: Interspecies Legal Representation Coalition on behalf of the Chasimlé (Extra-Federal Species)
Representative: Laika Tanaka
Present: Komé, Chasimlé Chieftain
Defendant: Moko Industries
Representative: Daniel Cohen
Present: Hobek Moko, member of the Moko Dynasty
Court in Session:
RH. Perez:
May the highest Gods bless these proceedings, and allow truth and justice to prevail. Amen.
Court:
Amen.
RH. Perez:
Your opening statement, Miss Tanaka.
Tanaka:
Your Honour, the plaintiff wishes to prove that Moko Industries has unjustly and illegally threatened Petrichor 3 and its native, sapient species. They approached a bronze age civilisation and knowingly misled them to get permission to erect Planet Harvest infrastructure in orbit around Petrichor 3; the resulting drain of natural resources had dangerously destabilized the planet's biosphere. Finally, they have injured and killed the native Chasimlé without just cause. All of these acts are outlawed by the first and twelfth articles of the Primitive Species Protection Act, which does not allow planets to be attacked, harvested, or colonized without authorisation from the dominant civilisation or the Federation.
RH. Perez:
Understood. Mr Cohen, your statement?
Cohen:
Your Honour, Moko Industries exercised standard Federation-approved procedures to get proper consent from the Chasimlé. They have a specialised committee for these situations: the Native Relations Committee. They observe the native species and search for signs of intelligent life; if found, they are contacted for a business partnership. Moko Industries did nothing that the dominant civilization on Petrichor 3 did not agree to. The Chasimlé were killed when they attacked the contractors. Everything was as per the PSPA.
Tanaka:
The Native Relations Committee deliberately and maliciously misled the Chasimlé. They wore symbolic garments, including red face paint, to convince them that they were deities. Petrichor 3's owners were misinformed, and the agreement rendered invalid. These images serve as proof.
Tanaka presents Evidence Item 1
Image Description: Image of humans wearing red face paint and robes.
Moko:
Moko Industries believes that cultural relations are vital to a beneficial relationship with primitive extra-federal species. No deception was ever intended.
Tanaka presents Evidence Item 2
Image Description: A carving depicting several Chasimlé (5 foot tall, fur-covered hexapods) standing below multiple taller, levitating, red-faced Chasimlé wearing robes.
Tanaka:
This is a traditional carving done by the Chasimlé, dating back to fifty Earth years before Moko Industries filed the official planet claim to the Federation.
RH. Perez Gesturing to Komé:
Translator, please ask it the significance of red face paint in its culture.
Translator:
Red is holy. Only Gods and Shamans may wear it upon themselves.
Tanaka:
The Native Relations Committee decided to meet with the Chasimlé while wearing those garments and that paint; clearly, they must have seen these carvings and imitated them to gain a position of authority. Pretending to be a God, which Chasimlé must obey or else face damnation, is effectively a threat. And threats, whether empty or not, are not permitted under section 23 in the Business and Trade act.
Moko:
It isn’t illegal to be convincing!
Cohen:
Let me do my job, Hobek.
Tanaka:
So you say that Moko Industries and the Chasimlé were on equal ground? What payment did the Chasimlé receive, then? Basic tools, in exchange for every resource that their planet had to offer.
RH. Perez:
Alright. Ask the Chasimlé about its experience.
Translator:
Moko told us they were Gods taking on a form with four limbs. They wanted to trade things of our world for anything we want. We wanted stronger tools, they gave us this. The tools could cut trees and meat easily, and so we did not care about the false Gods' actions.
Days later the sky turned black and the air becomes thick. Dead animals flowed down the river. Chasimlé are happy and eat the animals. Chasimlé that eat the animals, their eyes and skin rot and they die in great pain. Chasimlé are many, then few, then fewer. We see Gods pulling black water out of the ground. Chasimlé Chief hunts the Gods with his Shamans, and they die from stabbing stones - bullets - that the Gods, now known as Moko, sent. I became the Chasimlé Chief and meet with generous Humans, who take me to this place.
Extended Silence
Cohen:
Your Honour, Moko Industries is not at fault; they followed every word of the PSPA and their official company policy on peaceful interaction with natives. The Chasimlé are accountable for not understanding the agreement properly. Moko Industries cannot be expected to account for every time a business partner misinterprets a term.
Moko:
We are willing to settle with the Chasimlé by offering well-paid contract mining work!
RH. Perez:
I find Moko Industries' guilty of unlawful damages to a planet’s biosphere, unlawful extraction of resources from a planet, placement of objects in orbit, and failing to properly inform participating parties of all legal technicalities. They are innocent, however, of killing without just cause. I find Moko Industries’ Planet Harvesting practices to be predatory. I am ordering an external investigation into the Native Relations Committee and its subordinates' handling of the situation. Miss Tanaka, what are the plaintiff's demands?
Tanaka:
As reparations the Interspecies Legal Representation Coalition demand thirty billion SVU to fund the planet's restoration, removal of every Moko Industries structure, and the return or reimbursement of all materials that have been taken from Petrichor 3.
RH. Perez:
Very well. Moko Industries must pay thirty billion SVU to the plaintiff within ten earth days, as well as the Interspecies Legal Representation Coalition's legal costs. They must also facilitate the removal of all Moko Industries orbital and surface infrastructure, and return or reimburse all harvested resources within two Earth years. Lastly, they will have their Delta Sector Trade and Business licence locked until reapproved by the Trade and Business council.
Moko:
What does an alien need money for? This is ridi