The Caliph, the Sultan, the Emperor

Preparing the Case Against Prince Kujil
Bingol, Packilvania
21 April 2024

The procurator in charge of Prince Kujil’s case was Jarneem Iltamin. Born in Qadash Kebir to a working-class family, he acquired a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Qadash Kebir. Having formed a relationship with Procurator Mukhtan Alduwab, he became his apprentice. After a failed first attempt, he passed his procuratorial exam and became a procurator in 1996. Known to be competent and ethical, he was surprisingly lighthearted for a procurator. Although notorious for staying later than most, he was a loving husband and father.

With a case as important as the attempted assassination of the Sultan of Packilvania, he was appointed as the Lead Procurator, helming a dedicated task force of procurators and apprentices. When the team was formed, he was placed in the Office of the National Director, reporting directly to Likhyam Najdim.

Given abundant resources, his team collected samples, gathered and questioned witnesses, reviewed hours of footage, checked travel logs, and examined documents. All paths lead to Prince Kujil, the former Governor of Kemer. Kujil hired Ismos, a former intelligence and army officer turned private contractor, who assembled a team of four assassins. He procured a bomb and acquired the procession schedule and route for Sultan Thumim V during the United Malordian president’s state visit. The victim of Sultan Thumim’s anti-corruption purges, he had a motive.

But the case had a gaping hole. Jasper Ray was a politician from a small Auroran country who helped him plan and organise the conspiracy. The State Security Agency detained and interrogated them without procuratorial involvement and presented a signed statement where Jasper claimed to be radicalised by Prince Kujil on visits to the Free Pax States, using them their political opposition to totalitarianism and queerphobia, values that Sultan Thumim V espoused. The Imperial Procuratorate tried to interrogate them themselves or via law enforcement, but the SSA was unmoving—their attempts to get court orders to force the SSA to comply failed. They had to be satisfied with a dubious statement and present it to the judge as fact.

As a procurator, his job was to present cases to the courts, not to interpret the facts or make recommendations on national security. Nevertheless, it was obvious that the SSA was hiding something and it would be remiss of him to let it slide. Much to Prince Lohadek’s chagrin, Jarneem was going to appeal to the Supreme Court to grant the court order to allow the Imperial Procuratorate to question Jasper.

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