There was never any doubt that the accusation of terrorism against Moazzam Begg was, once again, a tissue of politically motivated lies. What is still more appalling, I am told by a Home Office source that the decision to arrest and detain him was taken by Theresa May herself. This involvement of politicians in the abuse of individuals by the state is appalling.
Jacqui Smith did the same thing as Home Secretary, grandstanding about her role in the front page arrest of twelve Muslims in the North West of England, not one of whom was charged with any offence. The “bomb ingredient” the police found on that occasion turned out to be nothing but sugar.
Theresa May was lording it at the Tory party conference with a ludicrous speech about combating the “terrorist menace” which we are bombing Iraq to enhance, not decrease. At the same time as being acclaimed for further attacks on civil liberties, she was responsible for the completely unjustified imprisonment of the Muslim community’s most elegant spokesman against abuses, including torture, of state power against Muslims.
The other disgusting aspect of this case is the complicity of the judicial system with the state in the abuse of liberty by right wing politicians. There are no longer any effective checks on executive power in the British state. To cap this cycle of total power, Sky News last night were suggesting (and I understand behind the Murdoch paywall it is being propagated today) that Moazzam really is a terrorist and had been released as an appeasement to aid Islamic State British hostages. This total lie is a further snide attack by the terror state.
The truth of the persecution of Begg, who was detained to stop him researching British complicity in extraordinary rendition to Syria by Blair and Straw, is evidently something the Establishment does not want to enter a wider public consciousness.
In any decent society, Theresa May would have to resign over her involvement in the appalling mistreatment of Moazzam Begg. Instead she is touted as a future Prime Minister for the toughness on “terrorism”. That tells you everything about what a stinking, corrupt society the United Kingdom now has become.
‘There is thus a prima facie evidence of a premeditated attempt to pervert the course of justice, by M15 and other government agencies. Presumably it will be judged “not in the public interest” for such charges to be brought.’
Iain Orr- that is about the best summary of the case for the prosecution against Theresa May that I’ve seen; thanks. The Secret state knows it has been two faced in its recent dealings with MB, and will fob off the judiciary (as usual) with the ‘public interest ‘ argument a la Matrix Churchill.
@Youknowmyname: That may indeed be the case, but Ukraine still seems to be going its own “sweet” way with the backing of the Western media. Obama may be doing a deal with Putin “behind the scenes”, but is he really in charge?
And what of the intervention by Jo Biden this morning… where he apparently blames US allies for the rise of ISIS.
On October 11, 2011 – the Director of British civil rights group Cageprisoners, British-born Moazzam Begg (born in 1968), was denied entry to Canada at Montreal’s airport. Begg arrived at the airport from Paris on Air France flight. However, Canadian border guards refused to let him step outside the airport on the lame excuse that his name is on a US no-fly list and that he served prison sentence at Guantanamo concentration camp for allegedly an Al-Qaeda member.
Moazzam Begg was returning from a fact finding tour of Tunisia and Libya. He was scheduled to address some gatherings about his three-year (2002-2005) experience as a Guantanamo inmate. He also intended to talk to the defense lawyers for the child inmate at Guantanamo, Canada-born Omar Khadr, who is rumoured to be handed-over to Canadian authorities soon for prosecution. Omar was captured by US collaborators, Northern alliance, at the age of 15 – and has been kept inside the notorious Guantanamo Camp since 2001.
Moazzam Begg who was held in US custody for three years with no charge – was released in 2005 from Guantanamo Camp under British government’s pressure. Six months ago, Begg was barred from boarding an Air Canada flight from London to Toronto. He was invited by Omar Khadr’s defense attorney, Dennis Edney, to speak at a conference on Fear and Justice in Toronto, Quebec and Edmonton.
Begg is the most high profile advocate for the people currently imprisoned at the Guantanamo concentration camp. He is also author of book, Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim’s Journey To Guantanamo and Back. He has given many interviews and lectures, written articles, and appeared as a commentator on BBC’s Panorama, BBC’s Newsnight, PBS’s The Prisoner, Al-Jazeera’s Prisoner, Taking Liberties, Torturing Democracy, and National Geographic’s Guantanamo’s Secrets, traveling throughout the world to do so.
So far, Begg, has not been denied entry by any country other than the US, Canada and Israel.
http://rehmat1.com/2011/10/13/british-activist-stopped-entering-canada/
Iain Orr, I have written to the Coop to try and find out if they closed Cage’s account with them on their own initiative, or whether they were instructed to do so by some other authority, on the basis that if they can close one account they can close any of our accounts. The straight-bat answer was totally non-informative so even if I wanted to share its content with you there is nothing to share. What interested me a lot more than the answer was an addendum to the correspondence which contained the following.
“Any unauthorised disclosure, reproduction, dissemination, copying, modification, distribution and/or publication of this e-mail message is strictly prohibited.
We reserve the right to intercept any e-mails or other communication for permitted purposes in accordance with the current legislation which you send to, or receive from, any of the employees or agents of ours via its telecommunication systems. By so corresponding you also give your consent to us monitoring and recording of any correspondence using these systems.
Unless stated otherwise by an authorised individual, nothing contained in this e-mail is intended to create binding legal obligations between us and opinions expressed are those of the individual author.”
Anon1
2 Oct, 2014 – 5:01 pm
“That aside, what do you think really happened on 9/11?”
________________________________
Well, if it’s the 9/11 I’m thinking of, a military coup, with US backing, overthrew the elected government of Chile.
Pinochet came to power which resulted in:
40,000 political prisoners.
15,000 executed.
2,000 “disappeared”
30,000 Chileans exiled.
Fred
2 Oct, 2014 – 6:50 pm
“A ton is a large barrel of wine, this is why the capacity of ships is measured in tons, it is how many barrels of wine they could carry.”
_____________________________
No Fred, a TUN (not TON) is a measure of capacity of a large beer or wine cask equal to 4 hogsheads.
A TON is a measure of weight (not capacity) equal to 2,240 pounds avoirdupois.
The tonnage of ships represents the weight of water it displaces when the load line is just immersed.
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !
2 Oct, 2014 – 10:54 pm
“May I inquire who started posting about Israel/Palestine again (off-topic on this thread, which is supposed to be about Theresa May, terrorism and Moazzam Begg)??”
_________________________________
Off topic Habbabkuk?
Theresa May, Conservative Friend of Israel.
Israel carries out terrorism.
Moazzam Begg is a supporter of Palestinian rights.
I despair of the bloody united doomdom.
Scotland, why, oh why did you not vote AYE and have rid of this cesspit of slime and excreta that passes for the westpisster government of rats, toads and utter scumbags.
Cameron, May, Grayling, Clegg, Brown, the twat with the duck house, the arch scumbag of scumbags Bliar, a curse on all your houses!
Even Habba, yes, EVEN Habba must surely agree they are NOT VERY NICE PEOPLE, right!?
According to Doug, our querulous (but invisible) excrescence wonders who introduced Israel to the thread. Plainly having lost not only his marbles but the ability to scroll the page, he requires help. I will not pass by and desert him in his hour of need, consistently and intentionally obnoxious as he is: the contribution was from Aidworker, who appears to be an aid worker. Here:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2014/10/theresa-may-must-resign/#comment-484500
And here’s the link; it’s possible Havvacluck’s condition has deteriorated further and he is unable even to click:
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/news/since-the-gaza-ceasefire-hamas-has-not-fired-a-single-rocket-what-has-israel-done
To which I added subsequently that the bastards of genocidal Israelis (I didn’t add that, true, but I should have) had refused the UNCHR Rapporteur access to Gaza, but he had nevertheless prepared a damning report:
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14441-un-rights-expert-says-israels-self-defense-claim-in-gaza-untenable-urges-accountability
Delighted to be of assistance. And your careworker, H, can do the rest.
“No Fred, a TUN (not TON) is a measure of capacity of a large beer or wine cask equal to 4 hogsheads.
A TON is a measure of weight (not capacity) equal to 2,240 pounds avoirdupois.
The tonnage of ships represents the weight of water it displaces when the load line is just immersed.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_wine_cask_units#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonnage
And if that wasn’t enough… the Tories WILL take UK away from the European Charter of Human Rights if they get elected:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29466113
John Goss @ 2.04 pm: Thanks for sharing the Co-op’s gobbledygook explanation of what they unilaterally declare they can do with your emails. I hope you will give them a run for their money, for instance by asking if the person replying to your email was an “authorised individual”; and, if so, what is the extent of his or her authority within the Co-op?
It might also be worth pointing out that their final qualification makes it impossible for you to learn anything about Co-op policy, since, unless otherwise authorised all Co-op emails are no more than the opinion of “the individual author.”
Going back to where this thread started, this article’s got me genuinely baffled…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29442623
Looking at the chunk below, how much of it is the words of Marcus Beale…?
———
West Midlands assistant chief constable Marcus Beale walked out of the Old Bailey and told journalists that his force accepted that Moazzam Begg was an innocent man.
Be in no doubt, this result is a catastrophic blow to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service and other agencies who had sought to pursue the former Guantanamo Bay detainee.
There are many people in positions of authority who do not like Moazzam Begg – but he has been a tireless campaigner for what he says have been injustices in the “war on terror”.
This entire affair has therefore damaged relations between the British security services and some Muslim communities. Moazzam Begg’s supporters have said for months that he did nothing wrong when he went to Syria. They will feel vindicated by today’s formal acquittal.
———
@Moniker: If they accept that he’s an innocent man… then why is his bank account still frozen? Moazzam was main item on Channel 4 news… seemed quite angry that he had been put through it all again after his harrowing experiences in Guantanamo Bay. I’ve said what I think about it all on previous threads.
Moniker @ 9.51 pm on 3 October: Thanks for posting that BBC link. The short answer to your question is that all the words in the section you quoted were by Dominic Casciani, a BBC home affairs correspondent who was providing his analysis of the earlier news item that all the charges against Moazzam Begg had been dropped. None of the words were by Marcus Beale, the West Midlands assistant chief constable. However, Casciani was using reported speech when he wrote that Beale “told journalists that his force accepted that Moazzam Begg was an innocent man”. I note that Ba’al Zevul @ 11.23 am on 3 October concludes that the financial pressures on MB and Cage do not support the view that MB has been “cleared of baseless charges”; and that MB has been encouraged to “sing from the intelligence songsheet”. Let’s look a bit more closely.
Beale did indeed say that Moazzam Begg was “an innocent man”. That is recorded in the video of Beale speaking outside the Old Bailey on 1 October. Interestingly, that phrase is not included in the parts of Beale’s remarks that were quoted in the written statement issued by the West Midlands police. – see
http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/latest-news/news.aspx?Id=1791
That talked of the police and the crown prosecution service having “concluded there was no longer a realistic prospect of gaining a conviction”. There is, of course, a world of difference between that and “innocence”. There are many reasons why the prosecution may decide not to pursue charges: for example, when a witness on whom the prosecution was relying is no longer willing to testify; or is found to have acted in a way that totally discredits his/her reliability. But that does not imply that the accused was innocent, simply that the prosecution lacked the evidence needed to secure conviction in a criminal court. Innocence is when the accused is found not to be the person who committed the offence (e.g it was someone else who stole the car) or that no offence was ever committed.(e.g. the car had been lent, not stolen).
So, when Beale said that MB was “an innocent man” he was implying that the evidence on which the police were acting when they formally accused him (“ Full charges against Mr Begg were: attending a terrorist training camp, facilitating terrorism and possession of a document likely to be of use to a terrorist.”) was faulty. Who provided it? – the intelligence services. So in this statement it is the West Midland police who are singing from the intelligence songsheet, but through gritted teeth. Note this passage, where Beale is being quoted directly:
“I understand this is going to raise many questions. However, explaining what this newly revealed information is would mean discussing other aspects of the case which would be unfair and inappropriate as they are no longer going to be tested in court..”
Who would lose by the newly revealed information being tested in court? Not the West Midlands Police. As their statement implies, it does not help them tackle genuine terrorist offences if their local reputation is of being complicit with the intelligence services’ vendetta against MB because of his determination to reveal that – whatever successive UK prime ministers and Foreign Secretaries have claimed – the UK government has consciously colluded in the use of torture, primarily though the activities of its intelligence agencies.
The details of these newly revealed documents, which made such fools of the police, must be made public. Otherwise the budget that funds the intelligence services will be rightly seen as a public subsidy to pervert the course of justice.
I have just picked up that you were posting again Mr Murray. Good to see: Welcome back.
Good to see too that you are as contemptuous and scathing as ever at the antics of the fascists in the “Lord of the Flies Clubhouse”.
Ba’al Zevul: I’ve just noticed that your comments at 11.23 am on 3 October were based on the 2 October Guardian article by Ian Cobain and Randeep Ramesh, to which you provided the link. There was further information and analysis in their 3 October article:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/03/moazzam-begg-malicious-vindictive-detainment
If you have now read that – including “Begg says it is inevitable that he will be bringing civil proceedings against MI5 and the government.” – do you still think it plausible to say, as you did yesterday, that MB is “being encouraged to sing from the intelligence songsheet, and that his version of events may be approved, rather than true.” ?
It would be good to have you as an ally in probing and eventually cleaning out the stinking abscess in the body politic that is revealed by M15’s behaviour. Not towards MB; after all it’s part of their job to be skeptical about those whom their US Homeland Security colleagues have identified as terrorists who need to be incarcerated. What really stinks is their abuse of the trust placed in them by the West Midland’s Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Can you suggest any way in which 38 degrees or other web-based outfits could force open to public inspection the documentation that will bring to justice those who incarcerated an innocent man for the second time?
Obviously they have thrown Janner to the wolves because he doesn’t seem to be a psychopath.
The mob won’t bay so loudly because he tried to have a relationship with a vulnerable person instead of just dishing out abuse.
By association, they probably hope that we think that many of the rest of the paedo scum are are not sadists.
Very clever.
We don’t buy it.
Craig: I’m delighted that this thread has mostly developed your original theme, the “tissue of politically motivated lies” that lay behind the false terrorism charges laid against Moazzam Begg. While the routine dirty work was done by MI5, they were not “out of control”, as they sometimes were when Wilson was PM. They have been faithfully implementing government policy.
So, you are entirely justified in calling for Teresa May’s resignation. Not because she is incompetent but because she makes all too competent use of the agencies under her control to promote immoral perversions of justice.
I’ve just come on words by John Wesley (in his diary on 11 October 1775), originally applied to Lord Chesterfield, but which only require changes of pronoun to fit Mrs May like a pair of bespoke stilettos:
“If justice and truth take place, if she is rewarded according to her desert, her name will stink to all generations.”
@Iain: Wouldn’t that also be true of Blair, Straw, and chums…
When Home Secretary Jaqui Smith banned US-born Israeli Jew terrorist Mike Guzofsky from entering Britain, the organized Jewry forced prime minister Gordon Brown to fire her.
http://rehmat1.com/2014/10/04/uk-drops-terrorism-charges-against-muslim-activist/
“That tells you everything about what a stinking, corrupt society the United Kingdom now has become.”
Agreed. But show me a country/society where such things do not happen.
Humans are all the time humans. That is, much worse creatures than wild beasts.
@ Peacewisher: You are right that many besides Theresa May deserve honouring in the Hall of Shame. However, Craig is right to put her top of the stinking politicians list, simply on the basis of her current effectiveness in devaluing UK values. For has-beens like Blair and Straw, my attitude is that of Dr Johnson when asked to rank two bad poets:
“Sir, there is no settling the point of precedency between a louse and a flea.”
@Iain: Surely there is no more complete way to erode our society’s values than to lie to parliament in order to take that country to war, in order to suit the interests of another nation, or of any other interests for that matter. Not that anyone in our great country who reaches high office would be capable of doing such a thing…
@Kashmiri: Agreed about the human condition, and the Britain I grew up in was a humane society. It needs to restore its reputation. Removing us from the checks and balances of the united nations charter, enshrined in EU law, is really not a good move.
Iain Orr, just before I hit the sack I want you to know that I have read your comments and agree with them. I have also found them usefula nd edifying. Thank you.
This is getting very creepy.
CAGE Reveals Government’s Squandered Opportunities In Efforts To Secure Alan Henning’s Release:
http://cageuk.org/node/1379
Moazzam Begg approached the FCO offering to conduct high-level negotiations for the release of Henning a week before Theresa May ordered him arrested.
This is a copy of what I have just posted on the Purpose of Politics thread, since this thread is far more appropriate to material about Moazzam Begg.
“Nevermind and Mary
Thanks for both your comments (and welcome back Mary). Yes, I still plan to write to Frau May, probably late tomorrow or early on Friday after collecting more signatories. I’ve already sent John Goss and some others whose emails I have my latest draft. If you want to see it, please send me your email [the moderators have not yet done so] Mine is [email protected] – already put in a comment at 11.24 am on the Lack of Forgiveness thread, which is where most of the recent postings on Moazzam Begg have ended up, after Craig’s excellent blog on Teresa May Must Resign seemed to run out of steam, probably because of a tendency many of us have – myself included – to post on the most recent/ active thread rather than the one with the most appropriate heading.
Grateful to hear (by email) from anyone else (Peacewisher? Arbed?) who’d like to be a co-signatory. For continuity I suggest that other postings on fallout concerning the Moazzam Begg case revert to the Teresa May Must Resign thread, which will be open for another week. I’ll copy this one there, plus Mary’s useful identification of Lawrence Pollard as the interviewerof MB on the BBC World Service.”
This identification of Lawrence Pollard as the person who interviewed Moazzam Begg on the BBC World Service on 7 October was helpfully posted by Mary at 12.43 pm on the Purpose of Politics thread. However,it seems useful to have a copy on this thread where Craig first highlighted the latest evidence of Teresa May’s illogical persecution of MB.
“Lawrence Pollard Iain. Have not heard of him before.
‘Posted on Oct 7, 2014 7:53
592 plays
‘British Pakistani Moazzam Begg, 46, is perhaps best known for spending three years in US detention at Guantanamo Bay, before being released without charge in 2005. Since then, he’s become a vocal campaigner for other families caught up in anti-terrorism legislation. Earlier this year he was again detained, this time at Belmarsh prison near London, on suspicion of involvement in terrorist-related activities in Syria. Last week – after seven months – he was released and all charges were dropped. Moazzam Begg came into the studio and spoke to the BBC’s Lawrence Pollard. They began by discussing how best to avoid other people being caught up in the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.’
Here on a video
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hb5fx
and if anyone is interested
‘Lawrence Pollard is one of the regular presenters of Newsday, on BBC World Service, which is broadcast globally on the network.
Lawrence worked for several years as the culture correspondent for BBC World Service, before presenting the World Today daily news show. Among his favourite recent assignments were politics in Havana, economic catastrophe in Las Vegas and film in Ouagadougou.
Lawrence has worked across BBC radio news and television, as a producer and presenter on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3, BBC World Service and BBC Two.
Before working joining the BBC, Lawrence worked in in local radio, taught and studied art. He lives in London.’
Well embedded in the matrix.”
I posted this at 2.25 pm today on the Lack of Forgiveness thread, but it really fits better here for anyone wanting to see coverage of the Moazzam Begg case on today’s media.
Nevermind – thanks for your emails with the details I needed. Good to be in direct touch again.
“Today’s articles in the Telegraph and the Guardian about Moazzam Begg and the Syria/Iraq hostages (before during and after his time in Belmarsh Prison) show how easily – unavoidably? – news reaches readers with built-in reportorial and editorial biases. That is why the concentration of media and political power in the hands of those who share so many neo-liberal superstitions is so anti-democratic. And why a neutered BBC is all that our transnational politico-commercial oligarchs will tolerate.
These are the online texts (both also in their print editions), together with readers’ comments.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/07/moazzam-begg-offered-secure-release-alan-henning
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11147150/Moazzam-Begg-under-pressure-to-reveal-his-Isil-knowledge-to-help-hostages.html
But at least MB’s voice has not (yet) been silenced. I hope I live to hear him invited to contribute to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day.”
Worth looking at the statements by Amnesty International on 7 October and by Cage on 8 October on the collapsed prosecution of Moazzam Begg.
http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR45/009/2014/en/66465069-81cb-4151-a96d-4acfe7751ccf/eur450092014en.pdf
http://www.cageuk.org/article/amnesty-internationals-public-statement-collapsed-prosecution-moazzam-begg