The Execution of the 16

== About ==
The Execution of the 16, also known as Egzekucja 16, was the summary execution of 16 Kriadavian Poles carried out by the Free Bistonian Army on March 1988, around a month after the Kriadavia Mutiny by the group's leader, Stanislovas Viktoras. The execution occurred in the Kriadavia financial district beside Eraub Street in a small parking lot, where the Free Bistonian Army had rounded up 16 Kriadavian Poles, including women, children, and the elderly against the wall and had them shot and executed. Executions like these were not rare or uncommon after the Kriadavia mutiny, but this one was considered special as a photograph was taken moments before they were shot, which revealed the looks on the faces of the victims knowing they were on the verge of being shot.
The photograph taken by journalist Caileigh Maverick which showed the execution, became notorious due to its nature which described the situation of the massacre of the Polish minority in Kriadavia, and revealed Bistonia's war crimes during the Crimsonian-Bistonian War. The photographer, Caileigh, born in the St. Ark Federation and lived in New Vilnius since 1972, won several awards for the photograph.
== Execution ==
During the massacre and deportation of Kriadavian Poles, some of these people attempted to escape the city of Kriadavia on foot, after the Free Bistonian Army carried out a policy of purging the entire city of Polish immigrants and those with Polish backgrounds, following ethnic violence after the Kriadavia Mutiny and spontaneous riots which eventually prompted the policy to be enacted in the first place. On March 1988, around 1 month after the Kriadavia Mutiny, a group of 8 people from the Free Bistonian Army had snatched around 16 Polish people, comprising of women, children, and the elderly, who were unarmed. They were eventually forced to walk to an abandoned parking lot which had been converted into an execution grounds by the Free Bistonian Army, which was common during the purge of Kriadavia. 
After they were rounded up against the wall, around four soldiers belonging to the Free Bistonian Army began to point their rifles at their targets, and were summarily executed against the wall. In the aftermath of the execution, all 16 victims were executed, including the women and children. However, this execution would not go hidden, as two or three photographers were in the area at the time, as those who ordered the execution had encouraged them to take photographs and record the footage as souvenirs for the soldiers which had executed them. The victim's bodies would eventually be placed in trucks and driven to the outskirts of Kriadavia, where they were buried in mass graves and were simply left behind until the mass graves were discovered.
== Photograph ==
A photographer and journalist from the St. Ark Federation and lived in New Vilnius since 1972, Caileigh Maverick witnessed the event happening beside Eraub Street and was encouraged by the others from the Free Bistonian Army to both photograph and film the execution. Caileigh took out his camera along with two more photographers at the scene where they began to take photographs whilst the victims were in a state of horror and panic. Caileigh's photograph that he subsequently captured showed the moments before the Bistonian soldiers started firing. The broadcast and photograph were eventually spread worldwide, and caught the national attention of the media in the Republic of Zedrutia. Caileigh would also win several awards for the photograph around a year after the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, but would also traumatize Caileigh in his later years.
In 1998, he would later mention how the event traumatized him and how the photograph had ruined his reputation amongst the Zedrutian and the Bistonian public opinion. What happened on that day was something I couldn't forget. It was something that was imprinted into my mind and if I were there I wouldn't of taken the picture in the first place. I don't know why did the public think I deserve an award for a photograph which showed the last moments of people who were bound to be shot. I was making money off of that, and 10 years later I had regrets on what I did. People were sending me letters every week sending death threats and calling me the devil, because I was the one who couldn't do anything about it. I only had a camera. I never knew how to fight. Even if I knew, I still wouldn't mess with them. But then again, I regret everything to this day regarding the photograph. But what they don't take into discussion is how they let the perpetrators get away.The photograph would eventually reveal the devastating results of the deportation and massacre of Kriadavian Poles, Prior to the photograph, the extent of the genocide was not revealed to the public world, until the photograph and footage of the summary execution was revealed to the public. The photograph prompted authorities in Zedrutia to ban it from public view in 1988, but the ban was lifted after Caileigh provided a public apology to the victims involved and the Zedrutian government in 2004.
== Perpetrators and victims ==
=== Victims ===
Some victims were eventually identified after an investigation was carried out to reveal the names of the 16 victims including their information and whereabouts prior to their execution. Some of these victims were easily identified by their faces, in which some faces were recognized by relatives and those who were close to them. However, despite a successful investigation to reveal the names and identities of the victims, only 5 of them remain unnamed and unidentified, despite their faces being shown on the photograph and footage. The victims were aged between 20 to 30 years old, the youngest being 9 years of age and the oldest being 82. Some of the victims names were:
* Lechosław Uriasz, male, 18 years old
* Waldek Anatol, male, 8 years old
* Tobiasz Ambroży, male, 32 years old
* Roman Manfred, male, 82 years old
* Gerard Jakub, male, 12 years old
* Antonina Bogumiła, female, 43 years old
* Małgosia Irmina, female, 19 years old
* Lilianna Helena, female, 23 years old
* Zuzia Wioleta, female, 38 years old
* Grażyna Mieczysława, male, 9 years old
* Marta Andżelika, male, 21 years old
* Zenon Roman, male, 17 years old
* Mirek Ksawery, male, 19 years old
* Bogdan Irek, male, 28 years old
* Bolek Amadeusz, male, 31 years old
* Wit Tomasz, male, 23 years old
=== Perpetrators ===
Most of the perpetrators were identified shortly after the end of the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, due to testimonies and those who were formerly within the Free Bistonian Army who knew the identities of the perpetrators. Some of these perpetrators are dead, or alive and free in Bistonia, with little to no justice being brought to those responsible for the massacre of 16 people during the event. Some of the victim's relatives are still currently demanding action in the Bistonian court to imprison some of the perpetrators. 
* Simas Eugenijus
* Edwinas Judas
* Rokas Gustavas
* Kazimieras Kęstas
* Vincentas Marius
==== Simas Eugenijus ====
Simas Eugenijus is one of the perpetrators which was first identified. Simas Eugenijus is one of the only few perpetrators of the execution to have a known background. Simas Eugenijus was born in 1964 and at the age of 25 enlisted in the Bistonian Armed Forces. He eventually joined the Free Bistonian Army following the Kriadavia Mutiny and cooperated with several of his colleagues in massacring Polish civilians. Prior to the massacre beside Eraub Street, Simas had already killed around 6 people prior to the execution of 16 of his victims. After the massacre, he participated in numerous battles during the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, including the infamous Battle of Pezra where he was wounded during the initial battle, eventually surviving the war and becoming a veteran. After the war, Simas returned to Kriadavia where he took jobs to make a living. In 2008, on the 20th anniversary of the day the photograph was taken, Simas would eventually talk about the massacre for the first time, stating that he completely regretted his actions but he had to do what he could.To be fair, what I did was very wrong. It was a war at the time and things were very horrible. I regret what I did and I know I did wrong, but we all had to do what we had to do. Ever since then when I think about it I sit in silence and I wanted to get things off of my mind. I do not want to talk about this anymore and I want to apologize to all of the relatives of the people I hurt and killed. I couldn't do anything for them cause I am getting old and I wanted to close the book to what I have done.As of 2010, Simas Eugenijus owns an electronic store in Kriadavia, and has a small family of his own. His first talk regarding the massacre was unfortunately his last one, as Simas Eugenijus had refused to talk to journalists or media outlets regarding the massacre. However, despite his apology, most of his victims still demand justice, with help being provided and pressure being put on by activists from Zedrutia, demanding justice and the imprisonment of Simas for his war crimes. Despite this, Bistonian courts have not responded to the demands to send Simas to court, and currently as of today has refused to continue the situation regarding his court sentence.
==== Edwinas Judas ====
Edwinas Judas is one of the other perpetrators that were identified after Simas Eugenijus. Not much was known about his earlier life including Simas, except that he was born in 1968, which would make him around 20 years old at the time of the execution. Alongside Simas, he would join the Bistonian Armed Forces prior to 1987, and participated in the Kriadavia Mutiny. He was friends with Simas Eugenijus for a brief amount of period after the execution. Edwinas Judas eventually survived the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, but was deaf on his right ear and blind on his right eye, due to a near death experience by a mortar round which had nearly killed him. After the war, Edwinas Judas applied for benefits from the Bistonian government in 1995. Edwinas Judas, along with Simas at the time, would also speak out in the 20th anniversary of the picture being taken, and provided more information regarding perpetrators and the massacre at the time. Back then, as Simas had said, it was a chaotic time. Everybody did not know if their actions had consequences. We took 16 people including women and children from the groups of people where they were all walking in the roads, looked all badly beaten up and some were even barefoot. We took the ones that look weak and we had pushed them into the parking lot at Eraub Street. I still remember the execution as if it was a month ago. We all had them shot and killed and in the aftermath it went from a very loud scene to a quiet one. You may know Simas being the only one but I know some of the people that did it together with us, Gustavas and Kestas. The man who told us to fire, I don't know his name, but I think he was from outside of the city. They had random people to tell us to command things, not the people that we all knew eachother together. I don't know who Caileigh was. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings. All I did was to pay attention towards killing people, which I acknowledge is wrong. I believe Caileigh should've not taken the picture, but at the same time I believe he should've done it aswell, to tell the world that war is bad and there must be a way to stop it. As of 2020, Edwinas' lives a quiet and private life, hiding from public view. 
==== Rokas Gustavas ====
Rokas was the third to be identified as one of the perpetrators of the crime in the year of 1992. Born in 1958 in Kriadavia, he joined the Bistonian Armed Forces in 1985, and defected to the Free Bistonian Army and participated in the massacre when he was 30. Not much was known about him aswell, but Rokas survived the war but unfortunately lived in privacy and avoided others who tried to talk to him, including some of his relatives. According to Gustavas' cousin, he stated Gustavas was different after he survived the war. Not much was later known about him after that, but during the early 2000s he had applied for government benefits due to his status as a veteran, but the application was denied due to his involvement in the execution and was never seen or heard from again.
In 2014, Rokas Gustavas would eventually meet his own fate, when he was stabbed 50 times with 8 stab wounds being fatal. He was rushed to the emergency ward at a hospital in Kriadavia before eventually succumbing to his stab wounds and died of blood loss aged 56. The murderer was identified as one of the descendants of a Polish family from Kriadavia who came to the city to go on a stabbing spree in which he targeted those who were reported responsible for the killings. Gustavas' killer was sentenced to around 8 years in prison, and once his sentence was finally up he would be deported back to Zedrutia, where the murderer would face 5 years of probation until it ended. According to some investigations, Rokas Gustavas during his last years in life was living in a dilapidated flat in Kriadavia, and during an inspection of the flat, Rokas Gustavas was apparently an alcoholic, suffering from decades of depression and trauma following the end of the war.
Public opinion regarding his death was mixed, with veterans of the Free Bistonian Army attending his funeral including Simas and Edwinas, who still refused to comment. The Bistonian government issued a statement regarding the prejudice against the veterans of the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, with the president stating that the veterans had fought to defend the country. However, despite the heroic opinions towards Rokas Gustavas, his death was a closure to some who were survivors and descendants of the Polish minority which had been brutally killed or expelled from the city, claiming that his stabbing was the ultimate revenge for those who committed brutal atrocities and had praised the murderer. In Zedrutia, public opinion called for the murderer to be released, and was seen as a hero for the Zedrutian people and those who survived the war. Rokas Gustavas is buried in a military cemetery for veterans of the war including those who were killed.
==== Kazimieras Kęstas ====
Kazimieras Kęstas was the last person to be identified as one of the perpetrators who shot the crowd. He was around 36 at the time, born in 1952 near Kriadavia. He joined the Free Bistonian Army in 1988 and participated in the massacre. Not much is known about what happened to him after the massacre, but participated in battles and was known as Little Kęstas. He would lose half of his left arm in early 1989, when the mortar he was using suddenly malfunctioned and exploded, killing a person near him, but Kęstas survived, albeit he had lost his left arm. Kęstas was killed in the Battle of Pezra, killed in battle after surviving a chemical attack which killed almost all of the soldiers within the trench he was staying in according to testimonies. He was buried in one of the mass graves in Pezra, and although all of the bodies were located and provided a proper burial, Kęstas was one of the hundreds of bodies still buried and scattered around outside of Pezra. Not much information could be given regarding where he was buried, but Kęstas was identified as the perpetrators in 1992, along with Rokas Gustavas the following year.
In 2009, during an excavation to replace a pipe outside of Pezra, a mass grave was discovered in which around 28 bodies were located. The bodies were dug out one by one and were all badly decomposed beyond recognition. The bodies still had uniforms and helmets on them, including the tags which were on the soldiers which were used to identify them. One tag was discovered on one of the skeletons which later on was confirmed to be Kęstas. His skeleton, including 27 others, were given a reburial at a military cemetery in Pezra. 
==== Vincentas Marius ====
Vicentas Marius was identified in 1994, when one of the veterans of the Crimsonian-Bistonian War recognized him in the picture. He was the one which was mainly responsible for the massacre as he commanded four of the soldiers to begin firing. He was a officer within the Free Bistonian Army and was one of those who called for a mutiny against Stanislovas Darijus and his government. Vincentas Marius was eventually relocated to the island of Bistonian Shingleton, where he participated in the battle for Bistonqwerty International Airport. During his post-war career he critiqued those who were formerly in the Free Bistonian Army including Ethelbert Landon Morriss. He would go downhill following a shooting at a church in 1999, killing around 18 people. He was arrested, with his trial being held in 2000. However, when Marius was on the way to the court for his final sessions, he was assassinated by a former pastor in New Vilnius and was shot in the neck and chest a few times, in which all shots were fatal, and was rushed to the hospital where he eventually died. His shooting gained controversy regarding the veterans of the Free Bistonian Army, and public opinion was positive towards his assassination. The former pastor who assassinated Marius, was just only given 5 years in prison for the murder, and was released in 2005.
Vicentas Marius was buried in a cemetery in New Vilnius and requests made by his family to relocate him to a military cemetery were often refused by the Bistonian government, citing the actions he committed such as war crimes, and the murders of 18 people at the church.
== Aftermath ==
Immediately after the photograph was revealed to the public, the photograph was banned from public view in 1988 by the Zedrutian government due to its graphic nature and due to the photograph involving the massacre of around 16 Poles. Caileigh was ostracized within the general public opinion in Zedrutia including the Free Bistonian Army, which occupied Kriadavia at the time. Caileigh was banned from entering Zedrutia in 1990 after the Crimsonian-Bistonian War but in 2004, Caileigh provided an apology to the Zedrutian government for the publishing of the photograph, and the victims for making the photograph public, and gaining revenue from the photograph. The ban was lifted. The original photograph taken by Caileigh Maverick was put for display at the Crimsonian-Bistonian War Museum, where it is encased in a glass box next to a recreation of the photograph with mannequins, including pictures and biographies of the perpetrators, with the exception of Edwinas Judas, as his family filed a lawsuit towards the museum for displaying his name and image. 
Caileigh Maverick was praised for his marvelous journalism and his photograph after the Crimsonian-Bistonian War. Caileigh returned to the St. Ark Federation in 1994, after stating that the war "had destroyed the city I lived in for decades". He began a new career in journalism in the St. Ark Federation, founding a news network dedicated to enlightening information known as "Truthiton". Caileigh was arrested a year after returning to the St. Ark Federation after he published footage of the protests during the constitutional crisis of 1995, but was released. Caileigh was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and died in 2019 at the age of 68. His news network published a obituary of Caileigh on their official websites.
Relatives of the victims of the massacre still demand justice towards the perpetrators even to this day, including their descendants. Justice was not given to some of the victims, but those who were murderers of the perpetrators were seen as justice warriors by some of the relatives, including the man who murdered Rokas Gustavas and the former pastor who shot Vicentas Marius. 
=== The site today ===
Prior to the Crimsonian-Bistonian War and the Kriadavia Mutiny, the site was a small parking lot which was opened in 1979, sandwiched between two buildings with a 24 story office building located beside it, along with an alleyway leading to the office building. After the executions took place, evidence of the massacre was thoroughly cleaned but the bullet holes on the walls still remained. The parking lot was cleaned up to the point most residents who lived near the site at the time of the massacre had stated that "it was almost as if the massacre had never happened there". The parking lot still remained after the events of the Crimsonian-Bistonian War, and despite requests made by relatives of the victims including survivors of the deportation to create a memorial there, the parking lot remained operating and makeshift memorials next to it were taken down, resulting in backlash by the survivors and victims towards the owner. 
What made the situation even worse was that in 1993, a car parking lift was installed on the exact spot where the victims were shot, bringing immense disrespect to some of the relatives who wanted to make it a memorial. Eventually in 2005 due to pressure from the public the parking lot was closed by the owner and was sold at around 34,500, due to the owner's stubborn manner regarding the fate of the property. The parking lot was eventually demolished and a small green park was constructed with a statue of Mary in the center. In the spot where the victims faced the wall and were shot, Jesus and his 12 disciples were painted on the walls where they were shot. On the opposite wall where the Bistonian troops stood and shot at the crowd, an image of a bright garden was painted on the walls, symbolizing peace for the victims.