Trial of Tycho Celchu

The Celchu Trial was a widely published trial, held in 7 ABY, where Captain Tycho Celchu of the Rogue Squadron was accused of treason against the New Republic and murder of his Rogue comrade Corran Horn. New Republic promoted the publicity of the trial to show that it was treating humans the same way it treated aliens.

Three prominent New Republic military leaders&mdash;Admiral Ackbar, General Horton Salm and General Crix Madine&mdash;were nominated to judge the case. The prosecutor was a well known attorney from Alderaan, Halla Ettyk, who was aided by a former CorSec investigator, Iella Wessiri. Celchu's attorney was another Rogue Squadron pilot, Twi'lek lawyer Nawara Ven. They were helped by the squadron's protocol droid Emtrey and Horn's astromech droid, Whistler, who didn't believe Celchu had murdered his former master.

Many witnesses were called to the court and among them were all the members of Rogue Squadron including legendary Pash Cracken and Wedge Antilles, the commander of the unit. Defense considered a Duros weapon dealer, Lai Nootka, to be their key witness but they were unable to locate him. Both sides found out that Celchu was truly innocent, when former Imperial Intelligence agent, Kirtan Loor, tried to defect to New Republic and volunteered to testify if New Republic would protect him from the Empire in return. But Loor never had a chance to testify because he was killed when arriving to the courthouse, by a brainwashed agent, Diric Wessiri, who believed him to be Evir Derricote.

The biggest surprise to the members of the court was when Corran Horn, who was believed to be dead, appeared and wanted to testify in Celchu's behalf. Horn had escaped from Ysanne Isard's private prison and during his escape found evidence that Celchu had not been brainwashed, and that the true traitor in the squadron had been Erisi Dlarit. After Horn's testimony all the charges against Celchu were immediately lifted. General Airen Cracken was even able to fix Celchu's tarnished reputation by claiming that he had voluntarily played the role of a victim in intelligence operation to find the real spy.

Infiltration to Coruscant and imprisonment
In 5 ABY Captain Tycho Celchu volunteered to fly a captured TIE Fighter to Coruscant to scout the planet. His mission was successful, but on his way out Galactic Empire captured him and send him to Lusankya, a private prison run by Director of Imperial Intelligence, Ysanne Isard. Isard interrogated Celchu and tried to brainwash him into one of her sleeper agents. After the brainwashing was proven fruitless Celchu was send among other prisoners.

When Celchu began to heal he was transferred to another prison in Akrit'tar where he spent three months and finally escaped and returned to the rebels. During his debriefing he was able to recall some of his memories from being in Lusankya but they were scarce. Lusankya was known from brainwashed agents it turned loose and even with Celchu remembering being there&mdash;other agents were connected to Lusankya only after they had been activated&mdash;New Republic considered Celchu to be a security risk. Celchu and some of his friends, like Wedge Antilles, were sure that he was not an agent, but he was not allowed to return to active duty and was held under house arrest.

Reformation of Rogue Squadron
"Tycho has been here as long as the rest of us have and has been working for me. I wanted one sabacc card that wouldn't change value on me and he was it. He'd been to Coruscant inside two years ago, knew how to get around, and, as we saw just now, has turned out to be very useful."

- Wedge Antilles to the rest of Rogue Squadron

In 6.5 ABY Wedge Antilles was allowed to reform the legendary Rogue Squadron to bolster New Republic morale. Antilles requested the permission to have Celchu as his executive officer to help him train new pilots and Admiral Ackbar decided to allow it, even against General Horton Salm's protests. Severe restrictions were placed on Celchu to protect the squadron from his possible betrayal and he was only allowed to fly unarmed ships, like Lambda-class shuttle Forbidden, during the practice sessions and real combat situations. More than once he bent the rules to rescue his squadron mates from danger.

When Rogue Squadron infiltrated to Coruscant in preparation of upcoming attack and conquer of the planet, Celchu was considered to be too untrustworthy to participate in planning or preparation. Antilles had other ideas and he quietly arranged Celchu to Coruscant to have someone there, ready to help, without Imperial knowledge. Under his sealed orders Celchu and protocol droid Emtrey were send to Coruscant to buy supplies and be backup if others would need unexpected help. To protect his scam Antilles had Corran Horn's astromech droid, Whistler filing in reports that placed Celchu in Noquivzor.

During his time on Coruscant Celchu met with Duros weapons dealer Lai Nootka in The Headquarters cantina. Corran Horn happened to see one meeting but thought that the tall, cloaked stranger was Imperial Intelligence agent, Kirtan Loor. Horn told Antilles what he had seen, but commander answered that it was impossible since report said that Celchu was among the casualties from Warlord Zsinj's attack to Noquivzor. In truth Antilles was aware that Celchu was alive and on Coruscant, but he didn't believe Celchu had met Loor. Squadron found out about Celchu's whereabouts when he and Emtrey rescued them from stormtroopers after failed attempt to sabotage Coruscant planetary shields.

After Horn found out that Celchu was alive, he filed in a report concerning the meeting he had witnessed in the cantina. He also mentioned that he had not seen the stranger's face but based on its height and gait he had positively identified it as Loor. When squadron was setting out to destroy the planetary shield Horn had an argument with Celchu and he threatened to reveal the captain to be an Imperial agent. Celchu answered calmly that he had nothing to fear from Horn's investigation since he was not a traitor. Both attorneys later used this calm reaction to prove their point in the court. After the battle to take down the shield, Horn was heading back to base to refuel when he lost control of his Z-95 Headhunter. Ysanne Isard had planned it to look like the fighter had hit to the side of a building and that Horn had died in the impact his body disappearing under the collapsing tower. In truth Isard had captured Horn and taken him to her Lusankya prison to try and brainwash him.

All this made Celchu look highly suspicious to New Republic and only four days later he was captured and charged with high treason and murder.

Judges
"I'm willing to take my chances with Salm."

- Tycho Celchu, thinking his judges

Since Celchu himself was a soldier and the New Republic judicial structure was yet to be developed, three judges were chosen among the highest military leadership. Admiral Ackbar, General Horton Salm and General Crix Madine were placed as judges.

As the Supreme Commander of New Republic Armed Forces Admiral Ackbar was chosen to be the chairman of the court. He was forced to divide his time between leading military campaigns, taking part to New Republic Provisional Council meetings and the trial. Ackbar was seen as fair and neutral judge who was not preoccupied either way. When Horn proved Celchu innocent Ackbar was evidently happy to clear Celchu from all the charges.

Defense would have been happy to deny General Salm from the proceedings based on conflict of interest since it was well known that Salm had been extremely suspicious of Celchu from the beginning. In the end they decided to leave him be, because if they had failed to get him replaced, they would have only made sure he was against them. When General Cracken revealed that he had known all along that Celchu was innocent Salm was angry because he saw how unfairly he had treated Celchu.

General Crix Madine from New Republic Intelligence was Ven's favorite judge and seen as the most supportive of their cause. Madine himself had been accused of being a double agent in a very similar trial and because of this he might feel certain sympathy towards Celchu. During his time among Imperials Madine had also likely met Ysanne Isard who defense said had manufactured the evidence used against Celchu.

Prosecution
Prosecutor in the trial was a famous attorney from Celchu's homeplanet Alderaan, Commander Halla Ettyk. After Alderaan was destroyed Ettyk had been working with General Cracken. Defense attorney Nawara Ven knew Ettyk's reputation and would have been happy to have her removed with some conflict of interest but was not able to find any. However Ettyk wasn't hostile toward Celchu and did her best to treat him fairly, even warning him against witnessing while Ven was in hospital. When Ettyk heard that Kirtan Loor was willing to testify in Celchu's behalf she was ready to admit that Celchu was innocent and after Horn gave his testimony she was quick to remove all charges against Celchu.

Former CorSec investigator Iella Wessiri was helping Ettyk in the court. Wessiri was Horn's old partner from CorSec and had decided to bring her friend's murderer to justice but defense didn't see this as a conflict of interest since Wessiri was known to be thorough in her investigations. Time to time Wessiri was more convinced of Celchu's guilt that Ettyk. This was most apparent after Wessiri had given her own testimony and revealed that she had some doubts about Horn's identification of Loor in the cantina. Wessiri was not present when Celchu was found innocent, since she had been escorting Kirtan Loor to testify when her husband Diric had attacked her, Ven and Loor under Isard's brainwashing. After Ven was injured and Loor shot to death Wessiri shot back and wounded the attacker mortally only afterward realizing that it was her husband. This shock prevented her from coming to final hearing.

Defense
Counsel for the defense was Celchu's companion from the Rogue Squadron, retired Twi'lek lawyer, Nawara Ven. Ven was often pressed with questions of why he, an alien, was defending a human in the court. He considered the racial question and publicity of the trial to be both good and bad thing for their defense. Sometimes he was unsure of his ability to defend Celchu against well-known prosecutor like Ettyk, but Celchu and other members of the squadron assured him that they trusted him completely.

Emtrey and Whistler&mdash;who was sure its master had made a mistake thinking that Celchu was a traitor&mdash;were helping Ven to prepare Celchu's defense. While Ven was away during the squadron missions the droids did some investigations of their own under Ven's orders. Whistler was not happy to see Wessiri helping the prosecutor but agreed to reveal some evidence the droids had found to the woman&mdash;droids had been able to find out that Celchu's actions had slowed down the spread of lethal Krytos virus. They believed that if Celchu had been a spy and a traitor he would have found a way to slow down the attack against Coruscant and thus given the virus more time to spread.

Antilles and the rest of the Rogue Squadron personnel were also supporting Celchu together with Iella Wessiri's husband, Diric, who had been found alive after thought to be dead for a year. Winter, who Celchu had met during his earlier missions, visited him in jail and was sure her loved one was innocent. Unwavering support from his friends, his own knowledge of his innocence and the though how much worse things could have been, were what kept Celchu calm during the trial. Celchu wanted to testify himself but Ven repeatedly told him not to since he was afraid that Ettyk would rip him apart in cross examination and the woman agreed with the estimation telling Celchu not to witness while Ven was wounded.

Indictment
Celchu trial was dealing with two different crimes at the same time: high treason against the New Republic and murder of Celchu's Rogue Squadron comrade, Corran Horn. Most accusations of treason were traced back to his time in Lusankya prison and possibility of brainwashing, with addition of fifteen million credits found from six accounts under Celchu's name. Horn's own report about seeing Celchu talking with Loor and him dying soon after threatening Celchu with exposure were seen as motive for Celchu to have Horn killed.

During the trial prosecution also brought up the possibility that Rogue Squadron's failed first attempt to take Borleias was somehow Celchu's fault. This accusation was on weak basis however, since after the attack even General Salm had admitted that Celchu couldn't have had anything to do with the failure. Another additional suspicion against Celchu was the death of another Squadron member, Bror Jace, in Imperial ambush enroute to his homeplanet Thyferra after Celchu had arranged a leave for him and done Jace's flight plan, that was leaked to the Imperials.

Legal proceedings
"The Empire would have snatched Celchu, broken him down until he confessed, then they would have killed him. He would have disappeared and no one would have dared ask about him. That's how the Empire would have handled it. The way we will handle it is to have a trial and assess innocence or guilt publicly, openly, aboveboard, so there is no question about justice being done or not."

- Airen Cracken

Tycho Celchu was arrested under the charges of treason and murder in 7 ABY, only four days after the first battle of Coruscant. Pressure form media led to starting of the trial soon after that and the investigations were still ongoing during the trial. Before the trial began Wedge Antilles asked the Provisional Council to drop the charges against Celchu but failed which almost led to his resignation from the military service.

Interrogating the witnesses
Beginning of the actual trial surprised the defense since Ven expected the prosecution to start with Celchu's time in Lusankya prison and show that Horn had been murdered to avoid exposure. Ettyk decided to start from the other end and invited Pash Cracken as her first witness. Cracken was not willing to testify against Celchu but Ettyk's subpoena&mdash;and pressure from his own father Airen &mdash;forced him to witness about an argument he had seen between Celchu and Horn before the battle. His attitude gave Ettyk a chance to interrogate him as a hostile witness.

Another member of Rogue Squadron, Erisi Dlarit, followed Cracken as a witness. She had also seen what happened between Horn and Celchu and heard Horn's version of the conversation&mdash;among other things how he had threatened to find out who was the traitor in the squadron. Prosecution didn't ask Dlarit to repeat what Horn had told her because Ven could have claimed it to be only hearsay. Since Ettyk was not able to bring out the things Horn had told to Dlarit Ven was able to point out that Horn had spoken with others before his meeting with Dlarit. That rendered Dlarit almost useless as a witness.

Iella Wessiri was also called as a witness and with her help prosecution tried to show that Celchu had had a motive for Horn's murder. Since Wessiri was also serving as an investigator in the case, her findings were part of her testimony. Eager to get her point through Ettyk asked one question too much about Horn's report and Wessiri admitted she was not entirely sure Horn had correctly identified Loor in the meeting with Celchu&mdash;Horn had not seen Loor's face and it was enough to reasonable doubt. Wessiri's experience investigating murder cases and about legal processes also helped defense when she admitted that the speed had been unusual. Based on Wessiri's testimony Admiral Ackbar postponed the trial another week what was welcomed on both sides. Later it was revealed that the true reason was a bombing threat made against the courthouse.

When the trial again continued Antilles was called in to witness. He hoped to clear Celchu from all charges but Ettyk skilfully forced him to answer in a way that supported suspicion about Celchu. Almost every minor problem Rogue Squadron had faced after its reformation was traced to Celchu. Antilles was not happy about his testimony afterwards. All the other members of the Squadron were also called forth but their role was minor as they only witnessed for Celchu's good character. During the trial Ven was still actively in military service and several times Rogue Squadron missions also forced Admiral Ackbar to postpone the trial further. During those times Whistler and Emtrey were left behind to collect evidence and process their findings.

For years Tsillin Wel had followed Imperial funding in attempt to find secret projects and double agents Empire was paying&mdash;female Quarren had also witnessed when Madine was accused of being paid to betray the Rebels. Wel told that she had found six accounts connected to Celchu and on them fifteen million credits paid by the Empire. There was no sign of money being taken out from those accounts and nothing proved that Celchu had even known that they existed. Protection of the accounts was of medium difficulty and defense said this was a sign that Celchu was being framed since agents of that level usually got only thousands of credits.

Surprising revelations
Second most surprising change of events was when Kirtan Loor contacted Nawara Ven under the alias, Hes Glillto, used by Lai Nootka and showed willingness to testify in Celchu's behalf if New Republic would in turn protect him from Ysanne Isard. Loor also told that he could provide the identity of the traitor among the Rogue Squadron. Information about unexpected witness leaked to Isard who thought it to be Evir Derricote, who she believed had escaped from Lusankya prison. Isard decided to send her brainwashed puppet, Diric Wessiri, to stop Derricote before he could get to the courtroom. In the parking hall of courthouse Diric shot towards Ven, his wife, Iella, and Loor who they were escorting. Ven was wounded and Loor died but Iella was able to shoot back and inflicted a mortal wound to the attacker without realizing it was her husband.

What Iella had found out about Loor's testimony beforehand was enough to show her that Celchu was innocent but Loor's death and Ven's wounds complicated things. Ackbar wanted to postpone the trial again to give Ven enough time to recover but Celchu wanted to take advantage from his absence and testify himself. Ven had told him not to do so since Ettyk would ruin him in cross examination&mdash;the woman agreed with him and also told Celchu not to testify. Whistler wanted to bring in another witness who would leave no question about Celchu's innocence: Corran Horn had contacted the droid informing him that he was alive and had escaped from Lusankya and Whistler wanted to bring him to the court. While the court was still unsure about their next move Horn walked in and told everyone that he wanted to testify.

Horn started by telling how he had been captured during the battle, taken to Lusankya prison to be interrogated and brainwashed, and how he had heard stories about Celchu's time there from the other prisoners. He continued by telling how he had compared his files to Celchu's during his escape and noticed that they were both tagged as "unsuitable for conversion". This and other pieces of information in Celchu's file had showed Horn that the Captain could not be the traitor and gave him a chance to figure out the real spy. Before Horn was able to tell the name of the traitor General Cracken told him to keep his silence and led everyone to a adjoining room where they were able to see how Executor-class Star Dreadnought Lusankya blasted its way through planetary shields.

Conclusion
Horn's return and his simultaneous testimony with Antilles about the identity of the true traitor, Erisi Dlarit, convinced the judges that Celchu was truly innocent. Horn was also able to add that General Cracken had known it all along from Emtrey but allowed the trial to go forward to lure out the spy and find the evidence against her. To clear Celchu's tarnished reputation Cracken arranged a public ceremony where it was announced that Celchu had willingly played the role of a victim to fool the real traitor. Salm who had been considered to be Celchu's worst opponent was angry to Cracken feeling he had judged Celchu unfairly.

Publicity
Trial was widely published around the New Republic. This was partly because the Republic wanted to show it was different than the Empire that had shrouded its judicial system in mystery and xenophobia. New Republic government wanted to show that its trials followed the law and there was no question about the right judgment.

Whole trial was recorded for holo broadcasts and frequent summaries were shown in news. First the New Republic intended to deliver direct broadcast but decision was canceled in fear it would turn out to be only a media event. Journalists were still around the courtroom and wanted to interview all the witnesses. Publicly Celchu was branded guilty and his treason was compared to the crimes of Prince Xizor and Darth Vader. This ill will spread even to the jail where Celchu was and he was kept in solitary confinement for is own safety.

One thing that increased public interest in the trial was that accused was a human but his defense attorney was a twi'lek. Another important thing was that New Republic used the trial to give its people something else to think about while Krytos virus was killing people on Coruscant.

Behind the scenes
Celchu trial is one of the main themes in Michael A. Stackpole's third X-wing novel The Krytos Trap, but it was first mentioned in the previous novel X-wing: Wedge's Gamble. It is also mentioned in two other novels by Stackpole, X-wing: Isard's Revenge, and I, Jedi, as well as in Aaron Allston's first X-wing novel, X-wing: Wraith Squadron.

Appearances

 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * X-wing: The Krytos Trap
 * X-wing: Wraith Squadron
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * I, Jedi

Notes and references
Tycho Celchun oikeudenkäynti