Senatorial arrests

"63 Senators Arrested in Collusion with Jedi Insurgency"

- HoloNet News headline

One day after the formation of the Galactic Empire, Imperial Intelligence arrested sixty-three Imperial senators on charges of conspiracy and treason. All those arrested were members of the Delegation of 2,000, a group of senators who made a failed bid to limit the growing executive powers of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine during the Clone Wars. The arrests were reported on by the state-sanctioned HoloNet News, which declared the event a "dramatic victory over the Jedi rebellion."

Prelude
"In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society!"

- Emperor Palpatine

As the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems entered its final stages in the year 19 BBY, Republic Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine &mdash;secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious &mdash;continued to gain emergency powers from the Galactic Senate. In response, former senators of the Loyalist Committee, displeased with the Chancellor's increasing authority, formed the Delegation of 2,000 to counter Palpatine's growing political power. During what became known as the Cantham House meetings, the delegation created the Petition of 2,000, a formal protest to Palpatine's political gains and an effort to return emergency powers back to the Senate at the end of the war.

Palpatine eventually sent his newly christened Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, to the planet Mustafar to destroy the Separatist Council and shut down the Separatist Droid Army, effectively ending the Clone Wars. Meanwhile, before a gathering of the Senate, the Chancellor declared the Jedi, the guardians of the Republic, to be traitors and revealed the quelling of a supposed Jedi rebellion. With strong public support, Palpatine also took the opportunity to proclaim that the Republic would be transformed into the first Galactic Empire, with himself ruling as Emperor&mdash;though certain Senators, such as Bail Organa and Padmé Amidala, only looked on with dismay.

The arrests
"Imperial Intelligence scored a dramatic victory against the Jedi rebellion today, arresting sixty-three senators on charges of conspiracy and treason."

- HoloNet News report

One day after the formation of the Empire, Imperial Intelligence, the state's espionage and anti-sedition agency, cracked down on Palpatine's political opponents on Coruscant, conducting a mass arrest of sixty-three senators&mdash;all signatories of the Petition of 2,000&mdash;on charges of conspiracy and treason. Included in the arrests were a number of senators from prominent Core Worlds and many alien senators from the Outer Rim Territories.

Senators Mon Mothma and Bail Organa were detained during the incident but later released after professing their loyalty to the Empire. Those arrested were herded onto a Theta-class shuttle by Imperial clone troopers.

Aftermath
"All those arrested had also been signatories to the Petition of the 2,000, a formal protest against Palpatine's new system of regional governorship that was signed by two thousand legislators and presented during the last full Senate session. Is your senator a traitor?"

- HoloNet News report

Following the arrests, HoloNet News, the official state-sanctioned news agency of the Empire, reported on the incident, labeling it a "dramatic victory over the Jedi rebellion." Before press time, a partial list of those taken into custody was released, revealing that Senators Shea Sadashassa of Herdessa, Ivor Drake or Kestos Minor, Fang Zar of Sern Prime, Streamdrinker of Tynna, and Tanner Cadaman of Feenix were among those arrested.

Sadashassa, Drake, and Cadaman were ultimately incarcerated at the Arrth-Eno Prison Complex on Coruscant and were executed there sometime after the Battle of Yavin when the Rebel Alliance's Arrth-Eno Mission to rescue them went awry when their agent, Eneb Ray, attempted to assassinate Emperor Palpatine, which in actuality was a double.

Reminiscence
"Bail and I were detained but released after we professed our loyalty. Why do I fight the Empire? One reason is my guilt."

- Mon Mothma reflecting on the arrests in the Rebel Files

Sometime after the creation of The Rebel Files, a central data repository which contained a non-electronic copy of sensitive rebel information, in 5 BBY, the arrests were documented in the Files by Mothma, noting how she and Organa were able to avoid being arrested after professing their loyalty. Mothma added that her guilt motivated her to continue to secretly oppose the Emperor and build up the Rebel Alliance.

Behind the scenes
The senatorial arrests were first mentioned in the new Star Wars canon in the 2017 reference book Star Wars: The Rebel Files, written by Daniel Wallace. The event was originally created for the Star Wars Legends HoloNet News article "Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:241," written by Daniel Wallace and Pablo Hidalgo and published in Star Wars Insider 84 in 2005.