Treason Treason , also known as treachery , was criminal action against a legitimately recognized government or someone who served that government . In the Galactic Empire , the definition of treason was such that merely speaking against the Empire or its policies was sufficient to place one under arrest , often without trial or other due process . " Traitor " was the formal term for an individual that had committed treason . History . After the Mission to Hissrich , Jedi Master Prosset Dibs was found guilty of treason for turning on and attacking fellow Jedi Mace Windu . During the Battle of Umbara , Jedi General Pong Krell was revealed to be a traitor to the Galactic Republic . Placed on trial for the bombing of a hangar at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant , Ahsoka Tano was accused of murder and treason against the Jedi Order and Galactic Republic , but the true culprit , Barriss Offee , was exposed before the court could render its decision . All charges against Tano were dropped , but the young Togruta chose to reject the Jedi Order ' s offer to rejoin their ranks , as they had not stood by her during the trial . When the Jedi attempted to arrest Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine after he refused to surrender control back to the Galactic Senate upon the defeat of General Grievous , he declared " " It ' s treason , then " " and engaged them in lightsaber combat . Afterwards , he declared the members of the Jedi Order enemies of the Republic and traitors in entirety and ordered their execution . Approximately five years after the end of the Clone Wars , Darth Sidious began to suspect that one or more officials of the Galactic Empire on Ryloth were guilty of treason , due to a series of attacks by members of the Free Ryloth movement that could not have enjoyed the level of success that they did without help from someone inside the Empire . He decided to lead a personal mission to Ryloth to root out the treachery , bringing along his Sith apprentice and feared agent Darth Vader with him . His suspicions were correct , as the Imperial colonel Belkor Dray had for years been supplying information to the Free Ryloth movement in an attempt to discredit his superior , Moff Mors , in the hope of claiming her position . During Sidious and Vaders ' mission , he was manipulated into his greatest treachery yet , aiding the Free Ryloth movement in a direct attack on their personal command ship , the " Perilous " , and then in tracking the two Sith Lord s when they escaped to the planet . He also manipulated matters to his own ends by having the rebels attack the vessel of Moff Mors as well . Dray eventually paid for his treason with his life when Moff Mors realized the extent of his activities and had him shot by a V - wing starfighter , an attack he chose not to evade . When a couple of Imperial agents harassed Yoffar about not having a license for selling Jogan fruit s , Yoffar grumbled that he remembered what life was like before Imperials ruled Lothal like the rest of the galaxy . Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko described his words as treasonous and tried to place him under arrest for it , but a timely distraction by Ezra Bridger allowed Yoffar to remain free . Later , Bridger encountered the residents of Tarkintown , many of which had been placed under arrest for similar " treasonous " statements . During his time at the Academy for Young Imperials and later the Arkanis Academy , Zare Leonis , an Imperial cadet , secretly participated in treasonous activities against the Galactic Empire . Despite this , when an Imperial crackdown began on the planet Lothal and fellow cadets reported hearing rumors that a cadet at the Pretor Flats Academy had been taken away by stormtrooper s for admitting to treason , Leonis dismissed such rumors . Playing the role of the model cadet he urged his fellow cadets not to believe what he referred to as " friend - of - your - brother " nonsense . Later , Leonis ' s own treachery was discovered at the Arkanis Academy . He was made to attend a tribunal and sentenced to death by firing squad , but escaped before the punishment could be carried out . Following an Imperial crackdown on the planet Lothal , a once loyal Imperial official , Minister Maketh Tua , felt increasingly conflicted regarding the Empire ' s brutal tactics in searching for a group of rebels that had long troubled Imperial operations on the planet . Also fearing for her own life , she chose to commit treason by defecting from the Empire , promising the rebels information on other rebel sympathizers in exchange for their help in spiriting her away from the planet . Her attempt at defection was not successful , as her actions were tracked by the Empire , and she was killed in a blast orchestrated by the Empire and overseen by Darth Vader . The rebels were then blamed publicly for her death . Following a rebellious incident involving the theft of a medical frigate , the Galactic Empire traced the incident to elements within the planet Christophsis , arrested many within the planet ' s government , and executed Christophsis ' s prime minister for treason , then " pacified " his home city of Tophen as an example . Though it did not always refer to it directly as such , the Galactic Empire considered any rebellion against it to be treason . When Senator Mon Mothma spoke out against the Ghorman Massacre , the Empire declared her to have committed treason . When he captured Prince ss Leia Organa , Darth Vader was unsympathetic to her pleas , describing her as " a member of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor . " He then subjected her to harsh torture , hoping to extract information from her regarding where she had hidden the stolen Death Star plans . Later , after the destruction of the Death Star , the Inferno Squad was formed and tasked with investigating and dealing with treasonous acts both inside and outside the Empire ' s ranks . Following the pivotal events of the Battle of Endor , Imperial Governor Adelhard described reports of the destruction of the Death Star II and the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader as treasonous rumors . He then established the Iron Blockade and began persecuting those who spread such " rumors . " The defection of the stormtrooper FN - 2187 , later known as " Finn , " was considered an act of high treason by the First Order . Following his defection , several individuals in the First Order such as FN - 2199 and Kylo Ren called him out as a traitor . The First Order stormtrooper executioner was a special type of First Order stormtrooper tasked with executing First Order soldier s found guilty of treason .