Paquito Tosell, Secretary of Justice in Lauchenoiria, released a statement today regarding the passage of a law prohibiting the prosecution of individuals for the consumption of recreational drugs in the World Assembly. The resolution, which passed with 68.7% in favour, will require Lauchenoiria to radically overhaul its drug laws, and to release a number of individuals convicted of such offences from prison. While Tosell expressed ‘great disappointment’ in the passage of the resolution, he declared that his government intends to ‘reluctantly comply’.
During the voting period regarding the resolution, speculation had begun that the Alvarez government would withdraw Lauchenoiria from the World Assembly, with many worried about the implications of such a move. However, it seems that such fears were unfounded. As Lauchenoiria has come under criticism for the detention of several journalists who were subscribed to WOE’s mailing list, fears about the direction of Alvarez’s government have grown.
Regarding the journalists, the FPIS released a statement that the detentions were ‘unfortunate’, and that they had happened as a result of “WOE themselves choosing to erroneously list any individual subscribed to their mailing list as a ‘member'”. At time of writing, over 24,000 people have been detained for questioning related to the WOE matter, with the vast majority – close to 19,000 – released within 12 hours. The operation has required substantial manpower, with all leave and days off cancelled for members of the FPIS and cooperating local police services cancelled.
The WOE operation has ‘delayed’ response to the drugs resolution, however, with Tosell claiming that the releases of offenders convicted under such laws must be ‘delayed’ as the WOE situation takes precedence for the prison service as well as police. And while Tosell’s statement commits the Lauchenoirian government to overhauling domestic drug laws, no timescale has been given on the implementation of this. This has led many to speculate that Lauchenoiria’s attempt at compliance will be to drag their feet in the hopes of a repeal.
It remains to be seen what will happen, regarding both the drugs law and WOE. As Lauchenoirian judicial systems come under intense strain from multiple directions, many hope the changes to the constitution following the civil war will prove robust to these challenges.
