The trial of Rodson and others took only one day. Rodson and others were assigned lawyers and a jury also participated in the trial, but the trial was over and the verdict was announced in just one day. Rodson and nine others were sentenced to death, and the remaining fourteen were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment from life imprisonment to prison.
Moreover, this special court for Ansan people has no appeal mechanism.
The traditional death penalty in Anshan is not electric shock, hanging, shooting, or even beheading, but beheading.
However, according to Anshan tradition, the death penalty will be carried out after autumn, usually in October, which is more than three months away.
Even the spouses of several main culprits, such as Rodson, were tried in absentia and sentenced to death. This is the traditional law of Anshan, which believes that the benefits gained by powerful criminals during their crimes were also fully enjoyed by their spouses, so they must bear joint responsibility for the crime. In the past, even children were punished equally, but now there has been some progress.
…
The reception room of the Red Rose Hotel's penthouse suite.
Lu Ming sipped his tea slowly. He had just returned from Montenegro. In the past few days in Montenegro, he mainly inspected the airport construction.
At the same time, Nanping and Wanzhou both have small airports that can serve as temporary relay stations.
Even this small airport in Shengjing can be used as a temporary military airport when needed.
This airport was originally privately owned by Baron Rodson. When the riot broke out, it was immediately occupied by the Montenegro Air Service Regiment. Now, it has been acquired by Commissioner Zhang through auction. The auction price is kept confidential, and the actual price is 1 yuan.
The property of Western corrupt criminal groups such as Rodson was dealt with in this way. After being confiscated, it was auctioned off. Most of it became the private property of the four major warlords, and a small part was acquired by representatives in Shengjing.
This time, Lu Ming went from Shengjing Airport to Heishan, a straight-line distance of about 700 kilometers, which took an hour and a half.
However, today's propeller planes are not as comfortable as the jet planes of the past, especially for long distances. Lu Ming was already a little dizzy because of the noise. The main reason was that Baron Rodson's private plane was an old model and the noise reduction technology in the cabin was seriously outdated, so the noise was surprisingly loud and even wearing headphones was a little unbearable.
But the guest has come several times and I have been in Montenegro all the time. If he comes to wait again early this morning, it would not be convenient to ask him to come again tomorrow.
At this time, I was slowly sipping my tea and listening to the Westerners talking opposite me.
Hovers was not there, although he was the one who introduced the person.
He is a middle-level manager of Fila Bank, named Shiraf, a middle-aged gentleman in his forties.
Fila Bank is a bank controlled by the Fila Oil Consortium. It has never been very prominent in the financial industry, but in Shengjing, Fila Bank is the most important bank connecting the north and the south of the finance. In addition, with the background of the Fila Consortium, no matter how chaotic Shengjing is, Fila Bank has not been affected. Soldiers from four provinces even set up defenses outside Fila Bank at the first time, strictly prohibiting real thugs from causing trouble, but also preventing refugees who came for refuge from approaching.
Shiraf was coughing and looked unwell, his face was weak and pale. Perhaps the recent events had a great psychological impact on him. This was inevitable for any Westerner in Shengjing, even if they were temporarily protected from harm.
"This is my thanks to you..." Shiraf handed a check for five thousand yuan to Lu Ming.
He found out through various channels that his sister was not dead, nor was she captured by the Anshan people. Instead, she was hiding in the Black Mountain Special Zone. So, he used his connections to find Hovers and repeatedly begged Hovers that he wanted to meet with Commissioner Zhang, but Hovers refused to introduce him, so he insisted on coming every day.
Hovers couldn't persuade him, so he finally told Commissioner Zhang about his situation. It seemed that Commissioner Zhang was very kind and actually agreed to meet him.
He did not have as much money as his brother-in-law, so he could only use up as much of his own savings as possible, hoping that Commissioner Zhang would show leniency and allow his sister to continue to stay in the concession area and not hand her over to the Anshan court.
Looking at Siraf who was begging him earnestly, Lu Ming sighed softly. It was rare to see such strong affection between Western brothers and sisters who were in their thirties or forties.
Shiraff's sister, Mrs. Britney, was a close friend of Lady Audrey's circle. Her husband was sentenced to death along with Baron Rodson. Britney was also one of the death row inmates who escaped.
After thinking for a while, Lu Ming said, "No need for money. Where is your hometown? How about arranging for Mrs. Britney to return to her hometown?"
Hiraf smiled bitterly, "Your Excellency, Commissioner, our grandfathers committed crimes and were exiled. Where is our hometown? Our family is heavily in debt in our hometown. If we go back, we will only be stoned. No one will sympathize with us if we beg. We can only starve to death."
Lu Ming nodded, "Okay then, I'll give this money to her. She'll have some capital in the concession, so it's good to start a small business."
After hearing what Lu Ming said, Yu Luan beside Lu Ming took the check and swiped the paper to record it. Naturally, she was the one to do this kind of thing.
Shiraf was stunned for a moment, then he sighed: "Anyway, everything is up to you, Commissioner!" Originally, the money was given to Commissioner Zhang in front of him, but he thought it was too little or something, and said he would give it to his sister. But he could only leave it to fate. After all, this was all he could do, and it was impossible for him to come up with a large sum of money.
Not long after Hiraf left, Hovers was brought in.
Although the Red Rose Hotel belongs to Hovers, the presidential suite on the top floor is not something he can just visit whenever he wants.
Legally speaking, the ownership of this presidential suite already belongs to "Commissioner Zhang".
It was something that Hovers had to give. Originally, he wanted to give half of the hotel's shares to Lu Ming. The share transfer agreement had been written and he was just waiting for Lu Ming to sign it.
For him, this was a blessing in disguise. In such a horrific riot, and the act of dividing up Westerners' property, he was able to escape unscathed, his family was unharmed, and he was able to keep most of his accumulated property. Only half of the hotel had to be given away. This outcome was much luckier than those friends who were sentenced to be beheaded or even disappeared without a trial.
Moreover, this is also for the future. Giving half of the Red Rose Hotel to Commissioner Zhang is equivalent to holding a talisman.
But unexpectedly, Commissioner Zhang refused to sign no matter what.
The last time he talked about this, Hovers almost cried, and even doubted this old friend. Did he want all his property
Seeing his expression, Lu Ming had no choice but to agree to Hovers' proposal to transfer the property rights of the top floor of the hotel to him.
The environment here is indeed good, and, in the past, Hovers used it to entertain important guests, and he basically never operated the hotel to receive paying guests. Transferring it to himself would not have much impact on his operation of the hotel.
During the Great Riot, the Red Rose Hotel sheltered many Westerners, which has given it a particularly good reputation among Westerners.
The same is true for the Montenegro Special Administrative Region and myself. We have become a very tall figure among the Western community. Even now, there are still several thousand Westerners staying in the concession, and they dare not return to their original communities for the time being.
Looking at Hovers, Lu Ming pondered over these things and said, "The Human Rights Observation Group is working for the legitimate rights and interests of the Greifani group. We will not touch those sentenced by the Anshan Court for now. We will first stabilize and resettle those innocent Greifani groups and achieve ethnic reconciliation in Shengjing. As for you, you should go to the refugee camp in the Black Mountain Concession more often during this period and talk to them more to reassure them."
Hovers was stunned when he heard Lu Ming's words. How could it sound like this? What did Commissioner Zhang think about the trial in Anshan Court? It was obviously a foregone conclusion.
Lu Ming would not talk much to Hoffs.
Although the governor of the four provinces in Shengjing became a bandit leader, from another perspective, it was also beneficial for the people in the northern region to look at Westerners with a normal attitude.
So, I just accepted everything that happened here.
Of course, if I want to stop it, the Montenegro Special Zone will probably have to go to war with the four major provinces and the Kingdom of Japan at the same time, and the result is self-evident.
However, the wheel of history keeps rolling. Although I have tried my best to minimize its negative impact, from an individual perspective, how many innocent lives have been cruelly killed in this great change
When I think about it, I can only sigh.
Due to my personality, I am actually not qualified to be a hero in troubled times, but I have made it this far.
For the first time, I feel a little confused about what the future will be like.
Will you really see your own ideal country