The 2018 Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (CIPA) is a piece of national security legislation that expanded the definition of “state assets” to include privately owned facilities deemed essential to the economy of the Divine Republic of Kresimiria.
Passed in the immediate aftermath of the Bistrica Water Protests, the Act reclassified major mines, hydroelectric dams, and data centers as “National Security Sites.” This designation effectively criminalized protests or labor strikes within a designated perimeter of these facilities, categorizing such actions as “Economic Sabotage.”
The law was championed by Ari Stov as a necessary measure to protect the Republic’s energy and digital grid. However, opposition parties condemned it as a “Corporate Charter of Impunity,” arguing it deployed the Civil Order Force (COF) to act as private security for companies like SeverMin and YakaSys.
Background
In August 2018, Northern Power leader Syv Iric led a massive blockade of the SeverMin headquarters in Bistrica following a toxic chemical leak. The blockade paralyzed the district’s economy and humiliated the central government.
While the CIA eventually broke the protest using digital surveillance and targeted arrests, the government realized that existing trespassing laws were insufficient to deter large-scale civil disobedience on private land. Ari Stov argued that because SeverMin provided coal to National Energy, an attack on the mine was an attack on the state itself.
Key Provisions
- National Security Site Designation: The Council for Defence was empowered to designate private facilities as “Critical Infrastructure.” This immediately applied to:
- All SeverMin extraction sites.
- The Vjetar Dam and National Energy grid nodes.
- YakaSys server farms hosting the KresiX cloud.
- Maj Holdings logistics hubs (at the request of Bran Maj).
- Exclusion Zones: The Act established a mandatory 500-meter “Buffer Zone” around these sites where public assembly is prohibited without a federal permit.
- Trespass: Trespassing on a National Security Site was upgraded from a misdemeanor to a serious crime, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of three years.
- COF Jurisdiction: The Act legally authorized the Civil Order Force to patrol and secure these private properties, shifting the cost of corporate security onto the taxpayer.
Parliamentary Passage
The vote highlighted the alliance between the statist establishment and corporate interests.
The bill passed 10-7.
| Senator | Vote |
|---|---|
| Magdalena Zuvic (BD) | For |
| Sara Korunic (BD) | For |
| Viktor Durak (VJ) | For |
| Vesna Horvatin (CRF) | Against |
| Bran Maj (VJ) | For |
| Malik Kondratiev (SoK) | For |
| Syv Iric (NP) | Against |
| Branimir Hup (NP) | Against |
| Florijan Kostic (CRF) | Against |
| Dino Colic (BD) | For |
| Chwa Spas (NP) | Against |
| Stoyan Vasilis (BD) | Against |
| Natalia Rybarova (BD) | For |
| Zoran Pesic (BD) | For |
| Kresimir Bukowski (BD) | For |
| Misko Maretic (VJ) | For |
| Ari Stov (BD) | For |
| Boj Volansky (CRF) | Against |
| Ikka Wallman (BLF) | - |
| Isaak von Steuer (BLF) | 0 |
Impact
The Act effectively ended the era of mass physical protest in the north. Since 2018, Northern Power has been forced to rely on legal challenges and media campaigns via Northfocus, as physical blockades now result in immediate felony arrests.
In 2019, the law was used to arrest three activists from The Digital Front who were found trespassing near a YakaSys data center, ostensibly to map its physical vulnerabilities.