Aenderia Decides 2018: Presydent Eden’s attempt to close sedition case fails yet again
Aenderian Acting Presydent Horatio Eden’s second attempt to have the sedition case brought against him dismissed has been rejected.
Aenderian Acting Presydent Horatio Eden’s attempt to have the sedition case brought against him by the local Attorney General, Joshua Mullins, has been shut down in court by Chief Justice Anthony Clark, marking the second time Eden has been unsuccessful in his attempts to throw off the case.
The motion to dismiss was grounded in his side’s claim that the accusations levied against him were not based in enacted law, and contended that any conviction would “set the alarming precedent that the executive government could just decide certain things were crimes and convict based on whatever they felt like”. His previous motion attempted to dismiss the case as a result of the prosecution’s failure to submit evidence they intended to present within the time limit set out by the court, though the court also dismissed this and extended the prosecution’s time.
Chief Justice Clark rejected the motion, but Eden’s side did manage to exact one concession: the prosecution is now required to establish that the charges filed are “to be treated as offences under law”, in Clark’s words.
A source within Eden’s camp called this “a small step forward,” adding that they were unconvinced the Attorney General would be able to satisfactorily meet the criteria set for him by the court.
The Attorney General for his part responded to the Presydent’s claim by asking what law allowed the Presydent and the ALC, the national legislature, to remove former Presydent Russell Gilzem from office in September. Eden responded that the ALC did so by passing a law to that effect, requiring no statutory backing in and of itself. Gilzem’s camp took this line of questioning as vindication of his persistent claim that he was illegally removed from office.
The case has been a persistent hurdle in Eden’s campaign to be elected to the presydency in his own right, but he has not suffered from a poll perspective as a result of the proceedings; all polling agencies put Eden ahead by varying margins. The case itself is still within the discovery period, and the prosecution has until next Tuesday to submit lists of evidence and witnesses it intends to present in court.
