Nefantar Defector Presses Court Case Against Urban Management

Trytedald - The Vherokior tribal court has agreed to hear the case of Oguko Hagori, a former Mandate industrialist who fled to the Republic during the Elder War last year. Hagori is suing Urban Management for control of land his family once controlled on Trytedald III. His case is one of many being pursued by Nefantar immigrants in the wake of the Elder War, as most such lands were confiscated by the Republic government during the Minmatar Rebellion and made available for public use.

Hagori is the first such plaintiff that has managed to get his case seen by a high tribal court - a result of three previous appeals - and it is expected to set significant legal precedent in the Republic. His record in the Mandate, as a quiet supporter of stronger Mandate autonomy and a proponent of abolition, is believed to give him a better-than-average chance of winning his case with the Vherokior court. However, Urban Management is so far undefeated through the hundreds of court cases they have had on this very issue, and most legal analysts seem to agree that Hagori faces an uphill battle.

"Obviously, it's a difficult situation, because the land has not simply been left fallow - handing it over would displace homes and businesses that have been there for over a century, something that courts seem very unwilling to do," said Rian Elselfur, one such analyst, speaking on a recent Scope broadcast. "The point of view from the court in previous cases seems to be that the land was abandoned, for whatever reason, and therefore it became the property of the Republic negating all previous owners' claims. Revelations about the role of the Nefantar in the Rebellion notwithstanding, this would be a simple case, but that makes the issue considerably more muddled."