The Lavrentis Papatzis Affair

Diplomatic action

"There is an infinite irony in the Impero insisting on its sovereignty and rights, while denying the basic right of freedom to a beleaguered individual. They call it aggression and murder, I call it justice." -Union Senator Fred King.

Lavrentis Papatzis was a mostly unremarkable slave serving an especially cruel master in the city of Singlar.   This was until Lavrentis murdered his master, stole his wallet, and booked a one-way train ticket to the Union city of Ibrim using stolen documents.   When the murder was discovered Tharrisian authorities tracked Lavrentis to Ibrim and attempted to apprehend him, only to be stopped by Union officials.   The political turmoil was immediate. Maximilian Vran made a statement that slavery was not legally recognized in the Federated Union of Eastern Kalin, thus Tharrisian authorities had no right to apprehend Lavrentis.   Cosima Ghiacciato responded in her own statement that while Lavrentis being a runaway slave was a minor part of the issue, the larger one was that he had murdered his master.   Both nations continued to jab at each other over the issue, and tensions began to rise. During the ongoing discussion, the Union passed the "Lavrentis Act" law that said that any escaping slaves that made it to Union territory would be given 150 Union Dollars and citizenship in their arriving state; this triggered a response in Tharrisia of barring several notable Senators and Business people from the Union that liked to Summer on the Tharrisian Coast and Olbern.   The crisis was only settled by the intervention of the neutral The Hopeful Return under its relatively new captain Karipos Zurlatos, with aid from Bartek Milatadies, who was still recovering from his attempted assassination earlier in the year.   The two parties negotiated with the Great Powers to a compromise. Lavrentis was sent back to Tharrisia, but had to be jailed in a manner consistent with a foreign citizen being jailed for a crime committed on Tharrisian soil instead of the manner that would be appropriate for a slave. In return, the Union nullified the Lavrentis Act. Though they replaced it with the "Beleaguered Freedom Act" which allowed any escaped slaves from Tharrisia to apply for citizenship and refuge when arriving in Union territory as long as they were not wanted for any other crimes besides bond breaking. This would often lead to situations where escaping slaves would be slapped with another minor charge such as "Theft of Goods" or "Break and Entering" as well as Bond Breaking to allow Tharrisian authorities to reclaim them from Union territory.