The Flight of Jacob Zuma

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
"I shall do my best, sir." He replied.

---

That night, Toprak left his two colleagues behind to arrange the evacuation of Zuma's entourage, while he finalised the preparations for crossing the border. As stated, the Turk roused Zuma from his bed, so that they could secretly leave the hotel and head east to the border, where they would catch their flight to Ethiopia, and then to Istanbul.

 

[Lavenderdame]

Zuma would get dressed at the sound of Turk calling, dressing in one of this best suits and making sure he has his papers before coming downstairs to travel out of the country. At the airport, he would present his papers to fly to Ethiopia along the most direct route, landing in Addis Ababa on layover.

When the plane touches down in Turkey, Zuma would present his papers to the proper authorities.

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
The inspector took the papers presented to him by Jacob Zuma and gazed at them intently, his hand hovering over his two stamps. After what seemed like an eternity, he looked up at the exiled South African.

"Wait here." The inspector ordered, while his hand tapped a button underneath his desk that caused a buzzer to sound. Within moments, a pair of police constables approach Zuma.

"Excuse me, sir, but we would like you to come with us for a moment." One asked, while the other confiscated the papers Zuma had given to the inspector.

 

[Lavenderdame]

"Yes, of course officers." Zuma would shoot Toprak a look as he was escorted away from the booth, but he would not resist.

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
Toprak mouths the words "stay calm" to him, as Zuma was escorted away to an interrogation room in the airport. Waiting for him was a plain-clothes officer of The Ottoman Constabulary. After a few moments of hushed words between him and the two officers that brought the exiled leader to the room, he dismissed them. One retreated to a corner of the room to watch the proceedings, while the second left the room, presumably to continue watching over the various peoples trying to gain entry to Turkey.

"Mister... Cassamo," The plain-clothes man began, while looking at his passport. "My name is Detective-Sergeant Ornek Selte. I am here to ask you a few questions regarding the papers you have attempted to use to gain entry to Turkey. Specifically, who gave these to you?"

 

[Lavenderdame]

Jacob Zuma sits with his back against the chair, "A pleasure to meet you, detective. I'm afraid I don't understand your question, what do you mean but who gave these to me?"

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
The detective presented the ticket and entry permit.

"These, Mr. Cassamo," He replied. "I don't know if you're aware of current Turkish immigration policy, but when a foreign citizen wishes to gain entry to Turkey, we require them to first submit an application to our immigration service. Once we have seen that application, an appointment to the nearest Turkish Consulate, or Turkey's embassy, in the foreign citizen's home nation is provided to the potential immigrant/tourist. I trust you are able to work out why you are now sitting in this room, after what I've just revealed to you."

 

[Lavenderdame]

Jacob Zuma leans forward in his chair, "Ah, I see. If you're looking for the name of the clerk who gave me these papers, I'm afraid I can't help you there. I never caught his name."

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
"Don't play games with me," The detective replied bluntly. "Turkey doesn't have an embassy in South Africa. All embassies were shut down across the globe last year, as part of Turkey's restructuring under a constitutional monarchy, instead of a republic. As such, it's impossible for you to have obtained these papers, unless they were forged.

So, drop the act. You're already going to be put in prison, for attempting to gain illegal entry into Turkey, for a year."

 

[Lavenderdame]

"I believe this is all just a big misunderstanding," Zuma says, "If you check my bag, in the pocket in the back, I believe that you'll find something that will clear this whole mess up."

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
The detective nodded at the constable stationed in the corner, who fetched the bag and began searching through it for the item that Zuma was referencing.

 

[Lavenderdame]

In the back of the bag would be several stacks of USD, totalling several thousand dollars. Zuma stares straight at Selte as the bag is opened, "Does this shine some light on my innocence, detective?"

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
"Mr. Cassamo, You are under arrest you for attempting to bribe a public official and attempting to gain illegal entry to Turkey," The detective replied abruptly, his expression melting into one of annoyance, while his colleague stood Zuma up and began handcuffing him. "It may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

 

[Lavenderdame]

Jacob Zuma would bite his tongue as he's arrested, refusing to speak as he's handcuffed.

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
"If you tell us about who aided you in trying to gain entry to Turkey, it may be taken into consideration," The detective said, while standing up. "Otherwise, there's nothing we can do, but throw the book at you. Do you honestly believe that you should go to jail for those who didn't care if they gave you shoddy papers? How much did you pay for them? $1,000? $10,000? The people who 'helped' you are probably thinking they've struck gold taking advantage of your naivety."

The constable who had cuffed Zuma sat him back down, while radioing for a squad car to come and pick him up.

"I'm going to ask you again, Mr. Cassamo, who gave you these papers?"

 

[Lavenderdame]

"If I tell you, I'd like to negotiate for asylum in Turkey in exchange. Can you make those arrangements?"

 

[Retroliser]

@Lavenderdame
"Asylum?" He repeated. "On what grounds? At best, I can probably arrange for you to receive no prison time, give you a fine and put you on the next plane back to South Africa, since you're not fleeing persecution. If you had a reason to seek asylum in Turkey, you would have followed the proper channels."