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In May, after a long period of constitutional issues, legal arguments, and failed trials, the Grant Court of Lazarus finally issued a ruling in the criminal trial of the so called ‘Gang of Five’, a consortium of players that plotted to coup Lazarus in 2015. The Court convicted Stujenske, Feux, Pergamon, Milograd, and A Mean Old Man of various criminal charges, including subversion, conspiracy, and forum destruction.

Soon after, Emperor Pergamon of the Pacific submitted an appeal to the Grand Court contesting the charges of Forum Destruction against all members on trial. His appeal was filed as an interested party, contesting that the evidence of forum destruction was insufficient proof of guilt and that a serious ‘out-of-character’ label should not be applied to ‘in-character’ actions if there is not a strong enough link. The Court accepted the appeal and began a slow deliberation process.

Almost a month later, after a resignation and the appointment of new justice Starberry, the Court issued a second, and final, ruling. The reshuffled bench, though discarding the argument about in-character actions, decided that the editing of Mandate 8 by Stujenske during the coup did not substantiate forum destruction, but that the turning off of the PRL forums did, given that the action was committed to deny forum service to the people of Lazarus. Because this was done by one nation without evidence of collaboration with the other members, the charge of Forum Destruction was overturned for all of the accused except Feux, for whom the conviction of Forum Destruction was upheld. All five nations remain banned from Lazarus due to the other guilty convictions.

With the conclusion of the trial, Pergamon briefly thanked the Court for its ruling on his appeal, and the serving of justice was done. For many citizens, it was a great sigh of relief. The long regional nightmare of the violent betrayal by the New Lazarene Order and the legal fallout afterwards was finally over. No longer would citizens have to look over their shoulders in collective anxiety over the looming spectre of past traumas gone unrectified. Finally, the matter was done.

A week later, the Pacific Order issued an official statement taking responsibility and apologizing for the April 2015 coup of Lazarus. In it, all of the members of the Gang of Five except Pergamon were declared personae non gratae in the Pacific. Then-Sovereign Loftegen made an official statement accepting the Pacific’s apology.