Pharaoh Addresses Recent RumoursPharaoh Akasha Di-‘nh-mi-Re has responded to rumours which she could "not allow to go unchecked." "Not one indentured servant was owned by the Royal Clysperi Government," the Pharaoh said as she sat down with Soraya Danesh, the newest Junior Domestic Affairs correspondent for CSMC who forged
a touching friendship with the Pharaoh following a spate of attacks against Clysperi Manists in mid-2019, "it was a sentence Clysperi courts were authorized to hand down in criminal cases. I can thus confirm, beyond any reasonable doubt, that no slave labour, or indentured servitude, was employed in the construction of the City of Setri. Indeed the highlight of the City of Dreams was its potential to provide my people with well-paying jobs, new homes, and new lives that were previously not possible. From the drawing board Setri was built for the People and our future, thus by design any form of servitude would have been wholly incompatible with the project."
"We have seen Tamoran investments across the Clysperi economy, an issue which has not escaped my attention nor that of Pharaoh Seti, himself a former Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Tamora. Working with Pharaoh Seti we have elected to keep those funds, utilizing those portions unspent to date to alleviate the vile nature of slavery. Earlier today I had the privilege of appointing the Counselor of Reparation and Healing who, working with a dedicated team of Scribes will work with a fund equaling $2.7bn, will see indentured servants, the sons and daughters of indentured servants, and the living descendants of slaves living in Clysperis, regardless of their nationality or the nationality of those who enslaved them, financial, housing, educational and employment aid. Setri itself will be a Primary City with housing blocks wholly dedicated to these victims of the institutions of servitude, while companies which hire such individuals, whether Clysperi based or foreign based, will receive further tax incentives for each such individual hired. These are programs which my Government has been working towards and, regardless of foreign meddling, are undertaken for the betterment of my People which is the motivation I wake with each day in Khemnen Palace: to protect them, enrich their lives, and secure for them a better future to the best of my abilities. Investments and interests in the Clysperi economy never demanded this, I care little for economic incentives, I follow this path because it is what is true and just; it is what is required of Ma'at."
"The Emperor is also mistaken in the events of the Clysperi war against terrorism, which saw as a precondition for Achkaerinese aid a binding agreement by Clysperi
and Tamoran forces to abide by the terms of the Uppsala Convention despite not being signatories. There was, thus, no risk of prisoners of war being enslaved or any other improper conduct through the actions of our forces. These are the assurances which Emperor Peter had in committing his forces in our fight against terrorism, and they are assurances which were proven to be upheld upon the conclusion of the conflict. Certainly the laws could have been taken off the books, however, at the time I was busy counseling families of priests who were hung from lamp posts, our Muslim brothers and sisters who had their mosques desecrated, and women in the Southern Lands who were victims of rape by the forces of Nekhtou: the needs of my People weighed more on my mind in those moments than renouncing a right not even my father had employed following the restoration of our sovereignty in the wake of the Soviet occupation and I pray Emperor Benson need never have to weigh whether to handle matters of law or visiting with the victims of terrorism day, after day."
"Furthermore, as servitude is illegal under Clysperi law businesses with ties to servitude will, and are, being dealt with by the Clysperi legal system. All businesses will be required to comply with the requirements of the Freestone Mark and, if they're incapable of doing so, they will no longer be allowed to legally operate on Clysperi soil. We're also seeing revisions of the Clysperi Ministry of Education which are updating Clysperi textbooks and, with my blessings, declaring the month of April to be one of national mourning and reflection upon the generational harm which the institutions of servitude have left on all of humanity, though more so the continued existence of these institutions throughout Midaranye. Khemnen shall also host a national museum dedicated to slavery, the effects it has had on Clysperis and its society, and a wing dedicated to the process of ending these institutions so that we may remember the long history which has brought us to this point and, perhaps, educate visitors from fellow Midaranye states that servitude
can be abolished, and we've a blueprint that can be replicated throughout the region to achieve the dream of a day I'm certain will dawn: one where no man, woman or child lives or is born into servitude. I know full well that the scales are stacked against us, and thus I issue an invitation to the Royal Government of the Kingdom of Tytor to come to Clysperis with full privileges to confirm what I say, and my actions, are true and reflect the present reality, at their earliest convenience."
"In economic developments we have the withdrawal of bids from Umarov Real Estate Trust and Diamond Farm Labs as a response to the words of Emperor Benson. I hope that my response, in a way, here today answers questions for them which could have been answered had they reached out to either myself or the Setri Development Authority on these issues. Too often in the modern world actions are taken too swiftly, however I have also received a generous offer from the Investments and Holdings Division of Abstergo Industries, that they and other Divisions remain committed to their interest in investing and establishing a presence in Setri and Clysperis, as well as the construction of the Ramses V Obelisk and its associated district. CEO Albert Relkin presented a compelling offer which would see the capabilities of Abstergo leveraged toward a speedy completion of the Tower and its district, while also seeing Setri as a "compelling labor pool for the Research and Future Technologies Division, amongst others." When the exchange between myself and Emperor Benson became public knowledge he reached out to me and, following an hours long conversation, his concerns were satisfied and he reconfirmed Abstergo's commitment."
"Both Umarov Real Estate Trust and Diamond Farm Labs have an open invitation to such a conversation with me, though I will require some reassurances from both that they will not act on speculation in our future dealings and will treat us as
partners. I will conclude though by stating that my marriage to Pharaoh Seti does
not reflect a closeness between the Kingdom and the Tamoran Empire: Pharaoh Seti has converted to Contemporary Manism, has renounced slavery as evil, and has joined with me on the path to seeing a world without slavery of his own volition. I will not see him slighted due to the actions of his father and will ensure he is judged by his actions."
Upon the conclusion of the interview the Pharaoh and Soraya Danesh reconnected, with the Pharaoh commending the young journalist on "a path which sees you growing into a confident young woman."