Police Raids Continue in Western Alcovia

June 22, 2012

In a continuation of the increased police activities in western Alcovian cities that followed the May 23 attack on a very public benefit concert, Internal Security forces have made an astounding 32 additional arrests of individuals either confirmed as or suspected of being members of various militia, terrorist and even activism groups.

Though not all are believed to be directly involved in the attack, Alcovian national authorities are not taking any chances and a general sweep has been ordered to either remove or confine any known or suspected threats against internal stability in the still mostly-peaceful west of the nation. It is feared, should such elements be allowed to operate unchecked even under surveillance, that such elements could bring open fighting.

The large scale police action has not been without its detractors both locally and abroad as some see such board use of police powers as an affront to personal and civil liberties. The Alcovian government has answered these concerns by making it very clear that Alcovia is still a benevolent nation with the safety of its people and preservation of peace as its primary motivations. Civil rights organizations around the world have protested and insisted that Alcovia maintain due process and fair standards when dealing with its own civilian population.

What is being protested most are those individuals that are taken without any direct connection to known terrorist or militia activities and/or without any past record of such activities. Amnisty International has began to work with UN member states to pressure them to intervene on behalf of the Alcovian people, however with King Ullo's absolute ban on direct foreign involvement on Alcovian soil, there is little that can be done by government forces of any nation that would not constitute an immediate violation of Alcovia's sovereignty.

Minister for the Interior, Rudolf Rudnost, stated in a press conference - 

The Kingdom of Alcovia is not a den of tyrants. It has never been our desire to see our people subjected to the horrors of war, terror and injustice. What we are seeing these days is a blight upon the history of what has been a peaceful nation. However, we cannot allow the cancer of fear and rebellion to grow and prosper. 

What you have been witnessing over the last month are necessary action to preserve the peace and sanctity of our nation. We ask only that we be allowed to conduct Alcovian internal matters in the Alcovian way and assure all onlookers in the world, that justice will be achieved without undo bloodshed and pain. Those who have been taken into custody are individuals who either have had a hand in recent actions taken against the nation and its people or those who we believe might be of assistance and help in finding more who might harm the people of this great kingdom.

To those who would cast us in the same mold as the villains of the past, we ask that you maintain an open mind and trust that we, a nation of peace and a kingdom ordained by divinity itself, shall prove ourselves to you all. To those who would not give us this consideration, we ask that you at least leave us to our own matters and not make Alcovia's troubles an excuse for your usual saber rattling and pretense. Alcovia will not be used an excuse for aggression and opportunity.

The minster's words, assumed to have been handed to him by the office of the king himself, maintain the Alcovian stance on the conflict since its beginning, demonstrating the conviction that Alcovia's internal matters should remain its own. the last bit of the short address has been met with some criticism for being, perhaps, a bit too confrontational. Experts say that such direct challenge to the policies and activities of other nations may have a reversed effect on foreign governments who are watching the Alcovian civil war. The statement also follows a trend in previous addresses and statements wherein Alcovia has overlooked and sidestepped its own imperialist invasion of Theogonia, now, the west-most province of the Alcovian kingdom.