CARDASSIA IV — Thousands of Bajoran construction workers, employed by companies assisting with the rebuilding of the Cardassian Union, have officially begun to strike, protesting the Federation’s decision to not try suspected war criminal Breloc Tejar on Bajor.
“They think that we’ll complain once or twice and get over it,” said Bajoran Union representative Saun Neprem. “This isn’t a minor inconvenience. It’s a disgrace, and we won’t stand for it.”
The Bajorans currently assisting Cardassia are part of an exploratory exchange program, designed to continue the healing process between the two peoples that got its tumultuous start approximately ten years after the Occupation came to its bloody close. The Federation’s assistance, along with intensive participation and support from Bajor, has been a deciding factor in Cardassia’s rapid rebuilding process. However, in the face of this incident, one that many Bajorans are taking as a personal affront, this progress may be endangered.
Tejar was arrested last year, entering Federation space without license or destination. His trial continues on Andoria, where he is charged with various criminal acts from his time as an Overseer in the Cardassian military, many of them egregious and widespread crimes against sentience. As the leader of the Dakhur Province Labor Camp, his influence was instrumental in maintaining the catastrophic conditions during the Occupation. Bountiful testimony points to his significant involvement in several hundred thousand Bajoran casualties.
Despite the insistence of the Bajoran people that, as the aggrieved party and as members in good standing of the United Federation of Planets, the solemn duty of hosting the proceedings should be theirs, the Federation Council disagreed, citing concerns for the accused’s safety. Instead, they elected to call upon Andoria’s services and drafted a multi-species jury to render judgement.
Planetary polls show overall Bajoran satisfaction with Federation leadership is at a three-year low, and many who responded cited the Tejar situation as a notable factor. Molor Oyat, the Chief Administrator of the Foreign Exchange Reconstruction Effort, insisted that the strides made between the two peoples in recent years must not be wasted or dissuaded in an impassioned speech this Tuesday.
“What we have done cannot be undone, unless we permit it,” said Oyat to a mostly Cardassian audience. “Unless we allow our bonds of friendship, forged in strife and truth and hard-won victories, to fall away.”
Still, Saun Neprem is insistent.
“Beautiful words contorted to favor the wretched,” she stated, when asked to describe her feelings on Oyat’s speech.
It is unclear how the work program will be affected in the long term.
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