Chapter 108
April 15th, 1999
Switzerland
As part of the committee assignments Harry had received at the start of the Senate Session was that one of the committees that he was now serving on was the Senate Intelligence Committee as well as the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees.
Part of Harry's work on Intelligence now was that Chairman Vatel wanted a select group of their committee to travel to Switzerland where they were currently in the fifth month of trials where twenty-three high ranking Death Eaters that survived the war would be tried for their war crimes
And Harry was of course chosen to visit Switzerland on an official capacity as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
So now he was freezing his ass off in Switzerland for a week but it would be very interesting to see how the trials turned out.
Today he was going to listen to the testimony of Józef Zajączek and Friedrich Gollwitzer two people who had been in Voldemort's Outer Circle who was accused of killing over a dozen muggle children during the war in several very gruesome and macabre ways especially after a bloody November 1997 Raid in Manchester.
On top of that the two of them where wanted criminals in their home countries that we're serving multiple life sentences before they had been broken out to join the Death Eaters.
So there would be people from Germany and Poland that would be testifying against the two Death Eaters in the proceedings today.
Harry got the impression that sitting in on this whole trial was going to be quite depressing, to say the least, but there was not much that he could do about it.
He was a member of the French Senate and it was now his job to travel and report on the war trials for the Senate and the Intel Committee Leadership.
That and he was interested in seeing what would happen to the Death Eaters and how the War Trials now would be different than those eighteen years ago.
Deciding to get ready to head out Harry left his hotel room and down the stairwell to where the rest of the French Delegation would be meeting before heading over to the courtroom.
He saw the other Senator that was traveling to Switzerland Valérie Lacroute as well as the Minister of Defense Raphaël Gauvain, Attorney General Damien Pichereau, Ambassador to the International Confederation of Wizards Nathalie Bassire and Presidential Chief of Staff Jean-Claude Leclabart who had succeeded Harry last October.
It was a high ranking delegation that made Harry extremely confused.
He and Senator Lacroute where freshmen in the Senate and so it made no sense why freshman Senators would be sent to Switzerland instead of more experienced people.
It was not his decision to make though so he would not complain and do what he was told.
He greeted his fellow Senator,
"Morning Valerie," Harry said.
"Morning," She said as she was currently talking with the Attorney General "I was talking with Damien and he was saying something about traffic".
Pichereau nodded "To get to the area where the trials are being held we have to travel through some Muggle Areas that are undergoing construction now so our route has to be rerouted now".
"Ok" Harry nodded "So when are the cars coming," He asked.
Pichereau looked at his watch "Right now" He said turning to the rest of the group calling out "Ok everyone please start heading outside I believe our limo should be here soon" He said.
Harry followed everyone else out of the front door of the hotel where they walked across the way to the limo that would be their transportation to the courtroom for the next couple of days.
As he walked Harry looked at the others around him most of whom just like himself were wearing a suit and tie.
He truly was a Senator now.
That thought followed Harry as he got into the limo after Bassire and Leclabart.
After getting out of the limo Harry and everyone else entered Gerichtsgebäude über das Schicksal der Verurteilten des zweiten Zaubererkriegs the specialty location of the war trials to find hordes of reporters lining the aisles leading to the entrance to the courtroom. They screamed and shouted out questions but they could not mob the delegation due to the guards massed along the aisles.
Harry and the rest of the group entered the courtroom where they were giving their language headphones and where directed to the first row of seats, where the other guests could also be seated.
He looked at the headphones that they had been given.
In terms of the Magical world, these where recent revolutionary technology that would allow people to hear the other languages people were speaking that was especially important in a courtroom where people would be speaking in many different languages.
Harry put his headphones on and looked around as spectators and reporters already filled the gallery and the judges were slowly filling into their seats.
Harry spotted Edmund Glaise-Horstenau the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards who had narrowly defeated Babajide Akingbade in a tough leadership race last month. After a short time, Glaise-Horstenau banged his gavel and the door to the side of the courtroom opened. Two men were escorted in and seated in chairs with chains. The chains glowed golden for a moment and wrapped around the men. The guards moved to the side of the courtroom.
Glaise-Horstenau nodded to a young woman who picked up a quill and started to write.
"The trial of the Fifteenth of April of the year of nineteen hundred and ninety-nine in the matter of the accused Death Eaters Józef Franz Zajączek and Friedrich Erwin Gollwitzer."
He speared the men with his gaze; "You two are accused of being Death Eaters in the service of the evil wizard Tom Riddle, also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort. You are accused of murder, assault with deadly intention, use of an unforgivable curse, possession of Death Eater paraphernalia, theft of property, membership in a terrorist organization, torturing underage muggle children, killing and dismembering human beings, and conspiracy to overthrow the Magical government of Great Britain." Glaise-Horstenau turned to another man.
"When these men were arrested their wands were confiscated and tested. I have copies of the results for the members of the audience today as well as photographs taken at the time of the arrest." The man passed folders to a guard who began distributing them to the assembled Wizengamot members and guests.
He then continued; "As you can see, Prior Incantatem produced the last ten spells on each wand, and there was a least one unforgivable on each wand." the man turned to Glaise-Horstenau and nodded.
Glaise-Horstenau banged his gavel "The Wizengamot calls Senior Healer Louis Marie Guy d'Aumont de Rochebaron to the stand."
Healer d'Aumont walked and stood to the front of the courtroom. He was a distinguished-looking, older man with silver hair wearing a dress robe of pale green.
"Senior Healer, you examined these men upon their arrest for evidence of the Imperius curse?"
"Yes, Supreme Mugwump, I did."
"Please tell the court your findings."
"I found no evidence of the Imperius, I also ran several tests for the presence of controlling potions. Those tests were negative. I did, however, find the Dark Mark on each of their left forearms," stated the Healer.
"Thank you, Senior Healer, you may return to your seat." Glaise-Horstenau turned to the chained men.
"Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Zajączek glared at him and did not say anything.
Glaise-Horstenau eyed the men but they only looked away. "Very well, this court will recess for deliberation and in one hour we will call witness Carlo Zucchi and Erich Abraham to the stands to testify".
The gavel slammed down and people started muttering amongst each other.
The deliberations and testimony inside the courtroom had been going on for multiple hours by the time Harry left the courtroom to go to the bathroom.
He blinked though as when he left the room he was greeted by cameras and flashing lights.
Oh yeah, he had almost forgotten about the press pool outside the courtroom that were looking for scoops.
Upon hearing the voices shouted at him Harry decided to change his path deciding to walk to the podium and talk to the reporters for a few minutes about the trials.
"Hello everyone," Harry said, "The War Trials are currently ongoing and are covering topics definitely not for the faint of heart but I am confident that by the end of this process justice will be served to the fullest extent of the law and that crimes committed will not go unpunished".
He called on a reporter whose hand was raised.
"Yes Senator" The reporter began "Do you and the rest of the French Delegation have confidence in the Supreme Mugwumps ability to conduct a successful trial that will lead to justice for the victims of the war".
Harry thought carefully about his answer.
Edmund Glaise-Horstenau had won his leadership race narrowly and there had been much worry in the press about if he possessed the temperament and conviction to secure tough convictions for the Death Eaters.
The Supreme Mugwump at the end of the First Wizarding War Edward Vandermaesen had been ruthlessly criticized for getting lenient sentences for captured Death Eaters in 1981.
Harry did not want to criticize those who were conducting the trials though so he had to be careful.
"I could not speak for the rest of my colleagues," Harry said, "But from what I have seen in the past few hours of emotional testimony it is clear to everyone there that anything short of a harsh sentence would be a gross misjudgment on our humanity".
Harry then decided to answer a few more questions before he got moving again.
"Yes, you in the back," Harry said pointing to a reporter.
Author Note The War Trials for the Second Wizarding War will work for harsh sentences for captured Death Eaters that could potentially result in executions.
A lot more extreme than the war trials after Godrics Hollow and the first war.