My Defence Fund has now reached over £75,000 from almost 5,000 donors. I am extremely grateful to each and every one. Work is now proceeding apace with the legal team. If charges are brought against any of the others who have been threatened by Police Scotland or the Crown Office over this case, including the journalist whose laptops and phones were seized by police, the funds will be made available to their defence also.
Original Post (from 24 April, with further update below).
I know of four pro-Independence folk who were last week phoned or visited by Police Scotland and threatened with contempt of court proceedings over social media postings they had made weeks back on the Alex Salmond case. Then on Monday, a Scottish journalist I know had his home raided by five policemen, who confiscated (and still have) all his computers and phones. They said they were from the “Alex Salmond team” and investigating his postings on the Alex Salmond case. He has not to date been charged, and his lawyer is advising him at present to say nothing, so I am not revealing his name.
Then on Tuesday morning, a large Police van full of police pulled up onto the pavement right outside my front gate, actually while I was talking on the phone to a senior political figure about the raid on my friend. The police just sat in the van staring at my house. I contacted my lawyers who contacted the Crown Office. The police van pulled away and my lawyers contacted me back to say that the Crown Office had told them I would be charged, or officially “cited”, with Contempt of Court, but they agreed there was no need for a search of my home or to remove my devices, or for vans full of police.
On Thursday two plain clothes police arrived and handed me the indictment. Shortly thereafter, an email arrived from The Times newspaper, saying that the Crown Office had “confirmed” that I had been charged with contempt of court. In the case of my friend whose house was raided, he was contacted by the Daily Record just before the raid even happened!
I am charged with contempt of court and the hearing is on 7 July at the High Court in Edinburgh. The contempt charge falls in two categories:
i) Material published before the trial liable to prejudice a jury
ii) Material published which could assist “jigsaw identification” of the failed accusers.
Plainly neither of these is the true motive of the Crown Office. If they believed that material I published was likely to have prejudiced the jury, then they had an obvious public duty to take action BEFORE the trial – and the indictment shows conclusively they were monitoring my material long before the trial. To leave this action until after the trial which they claim the material was prejudicing, would be a serious act of negligence on their part. It is quite extraordinary to prosecute for it now and not before the trial.
As for identifying the failed conspirators, I have done less than the mainstream media. But plainly the Crown Office, or whoever is pushing them to this persecution, had no genuine interest in protecting the identities, otherwise why did they tip off the media that I was being charged, and thus guarantee further publicity? If protecting the identities was their motive, to tip off the media would obviously be counterproductive.
But what proves that the Crown Office is acting from base motives and not those stated is the one-sided nature of this. Only supporters of Alex Salmond – the Alex Salmond found innocent by the jury – are being pursued by this continuing Police Scotland operation.
There are literally thousands who put out “Salmond is guilty” “Salmond is a rapist” “Salmond is a pervert” posts on social media before and during the trial. Not one has had the police knock on the door. The Herald published absolutely deliberately, the day before the trial, a montage of Alex Salmond amongst photos of mass murderers. They have not been charged. Every newspaper published “jigsaw identification” information which I withheld. They have not been charged or investigated, despite the evidence brilliantly compiled and presented to the Police.
No, this is a blatant, one-sided political persecution. That much is entirely plain. I have therefore decided, in the interests of open justice, to publish the entire indictment against me (with a single sentence redacted where I think the prosecution were excessively indiscreet). Neither the indictment nor the covering letter is marked confidential or not for publication. It is, so far as I know, a public document.
The Crown have very deliberately not included the names of any of the failed conspirators in the indictment and instead refer to the women by their court allocated letters. That is a plain indication to me that this is a public document drafted specifically with publication in mind. Otherwise the document would have more naturally used the names and not the alphabet letters.
More fundamentally this indictment is the basis on which they are attempting to put me in prison – in fact the indictment specifies up to two years in jail and an unlimited fine as the punishment sought from the court. I think the public interest, and my own interest, in it being public is very substantial.
The state believes it has finally discovered a way to put me in prison without the inconvenient hurdle of a jury of my peers. Contempt of Court is just decided by a judge. It is extraordinary that you can go to jail for a substantial two years with no jury protection and no test of “beyond reasonable doubt”; and on the whim of a judge defending what he may view as the dignity of his own office. This really is the epitome of bad law. To use it against freedom of speech is disgusting.
So here is the full indictment against me:
redactedcaseagainstcraigmurray (1)
If the indictment contains anything they did not wish to be public, well, I didn’t force them to serve it on me. From my side, the proceedings against me will be entirely open. I will remind you that you may find all or part of the indictment initially convincing; but you are yet to see my point by point reply, which naturally I shall also publish in due course.
[UPDATE
Pending the outcome of the trial, and on legal advice, I have redacted from the indictment those sentences complained of as aiding identification of a witness, and have redacted same sentences from original blog posts. My position is firmly that they absolutely do not they do not contribute to likely identification of witnesses, and the mainstream media did that to a far greater degree than I.]
The purpose of this operation against free speech is a desperate attempt to keep the lid on the nature of the state conspiracy to fit up Alex Salmond. Once the parliamentary inquiry starts, a huge amount of evidence of conspiracy which the court did not allow the defence to introduce in evidence during the criminal trial, will be released. The persecution of myself is an attempt to intimidate independent figures into not publishing anything about it. The lickspittle media of course do not have to be intimidated. To this end, I am charged specifically with saying that the Alex Salmond case was a fit-up and a conspiracy in which the Crown Office was implicated. So I thought I would say it again now:
The Alex Salmond case was a fit-up and a conspiracy in which the Crown Office was implicated, foiled by the jury. If Scotland is the kind of country where you go to jail for saying that, let me get my toothbrush.
Before then, I am afraid we have to fund my defence and I shall be very grateful for donations to my defence fund. My initial target is £60,000. I shall post daily updates on total reached, but I shall be using my established funding channels and not involving a crowdfunding website. I do not intend to fight this battle entirely on the defensive, and some of the funding may be put to launching actions against the Crown or others.
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Clearly, as juries are instructed to Not follow coverage of the trial they are engaged in considering, your coverage cannot have influenced the jury in the Salmond case.
As for the possibility of ‘Some’ being able to derive the identity of the prosecution witnesses by dint of information presented here, maybe we ought to remember that apart from the single instance of Not Proven, the jury brought in decisions of Not Guilty on the remaining charges. So based upon the logic being employed by the Crown in pursuing CM and others, should not the alphabetical ladies be facing investigation regarding a potential perversion of justice ? Then there is the matter of said ladies being able to imply through media with a national reach, that somehow the verdict of the Jury was wrong, which in its turn seems to demonstrate some contempt.
The lengthy referral to the ‘Yes Minister’ style satire in the indictment probably reveals the true intent of the action. Its going to demand much of your time and treasure over a very extended period. It does however carry the risk of allowing the Salmond issue to fester, which is probably the real intent of an establishment who have perfected their technique since the ‘Hammer’ did ‘Good Business’.
Historians will write of the Murray Affair, which ended the careers of politicians, civil servants, and key figures in Police Scotland.
Rule 1: SJW’s always double down.
I can’t know who is involved, but given Leslie Evans had previous involvement with Police Scotland, one can’t help but surmise that she’s at it again. Allegedly. Nicole and her inner circle are in full ass-covering mode, and preparing for Salmond’s Revenge. If knocking off a ‘blogger’ (journalist and historian, actually) helps, then that’s what they’ll do. Doubtless ‘further charges’ will soon appear against Salmond.
The charges are bullshit obviously. But it does appear that the SNP government is, in fact, corrupt. What did Nicola know, and when did she know it? It’s a question that I think, one day, will be answered.
I’ve donated, obviously. It’s a stitch up, clear as day.
I’ve just read the legal document, and it makes it clear who the defendant really is.
Quoting comments and retweets by parties other than Craig Murray could be part of a stitch-up, too, in the knowledge that the head of the UK armed forces has admitted that 77 Brigade are active in influencing public opinion – at least in the CoronaVirus issue.
If Craig Murray was right in claiming that the case against Alex Salmond was a fitup, then the same could well apply to the correspondents who claimed to be able to identify the complainers against Alex Salmond.
Alex Salmond stated after his acquittal that he would be back with revelations. That could be interesting. I don’t know where that would put Craig Murray if the complainers are prosecuted. Morally he would be vindicated.
I just wonder whether an independent Scotland would be independent of The Crown. If so, I think a lot of people in Yorkshire might want independence, too. I wrote in my recent Truthseeker articles that the UK should be granted independence from The Crown – meaning The City of London. The UK is a Crown colony.
Nihil desperandum f*ckem Craig! I hope you have a good solicitor and QC. As a retired solicitor myself (albeit not a criminal one), it appears to me, assuming everything in the indictment is true, any “contempt” was towards the prosecution and Police Scotland and not of the court (i.e. judge and jury). And what about Garavelli? Why isn’t she being charged for making identification of one of the jurors possible to anyone who was in court and implying he disagreed with the verdict? I worry who will report your trial as objectively as you did on Alex’s case. Best of luck.
It must be deeply frustrating for this spy state that the same technology which they use to keep us in control is being used to control them. Several state employees have been found to have been lying in court, sheltered by court immunity. Now they are trying to divert attention from the seriousness of bearing false witness, by suggesting that this blog exposed their identities. They thought they could hide under the protection of victims of sexual abuse, but now they have been proved to be liars, they have run out of ideas. Only dim-wiited freemason do-as-they’re told plods, like the Skripal plods in Salisbury, could carry so many obvious contradictions in their little heads, by only obeying orders.
In the Salisbury farce, they were daft enough to take their ridiculous accusations against Russia to the EU, who dutifully complied like one-for-all Cavaliers. In Scotland , where will they take their stupid case against Craig when it gets thrown out in court? Maybe a fatwa against Mr Murray from Iran’s Ayatollahs? Or a tweet from Scottish Donald?
By the end of this year , Gove willing, these Empire2 morons will be free to make new friends. Myanmar? North Korea? Assad? There must be someone out there to support their stupid ideas.
I think you got it wrong. The situation is from this: “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion” (Italian: Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto) is a 1970 Italian crime drama film directed by Elio Petri”. There the head of the office in Rome police department that is responsible for investigating radical movements decides to kill a prostitute and leave assorted clues to his guilt, and his underlings duly investigate making heroic efforts to overlook all those clues. That give the main character the most perverted pleasure, stronger than sex and even the murder itself.
Skripal plods in Salisbury (or Metropolitan Police) create the most amazingly implausible theory, tangle timelines, kill cats, destroy roofs, uncover every stone and leaf in Wiltshire only to overlook a full bottle of the mysterious Novichock, and what!? The media follows the prescribe stories, and the lack of faith in this charade is used as a proof of fakeness, being useful idiot, low information blog etc. Now I should ask you, Giyane, are you a Russian troll, or a useful idiot (useful for Putin)? Perhaps Craig can use it in his defense: his blog became so disreputable by plying disbelief in the only approved Skripal scenario that no reasonable Scot would believe him (lamentably, some Scots fail to be reasonable, but those were lost for the cause of justice to begin with).
And that nicely give the strategy for alphabet victims. Yes, it was a sad moment after they lost, with Witness K was suffering in her Kitchen (according to a newspaper story), Witness A sobbed in the solitude of her attic, B in the bedroom, C in the closet etc. But now we know that the jury was swayed by the self-assurance of the defense that was mentally supported by the millennia of patriarchy, but the reasonable media take the pity of them and only the low-information Scotnats support the verdict. And how low is the information of those Scotnats? Well, it could not be any lower than the Skripal-revisionist Craig Murray blog!!! To give you some picture how low this guy is, he even dislikes the Tridents. while champions the cause of the worst traitor since Johann Rheingold Patkul
Can’t second your recommendation of that movie strongly enough. Saw it decades ago, still a strong impression. Provides great enlightenment about so much today. Craig Murray’s case. Robert Mueller’s similar fake investigation in the USA. etc.
Donated what I can and I wish you well.
Often read your blog, never comment. Thank you for reporting the facts as far as you could, without it we’d never have had an honest account. For what it’s worth, I hadn’t a clue who any of the accusers were from anything you’d written.
For me, the Sturgeon / Murrell SNP are finished. They’ve replaced SLab in Scotland in more ways than one and are now overdue a reckoning in the same way.
Take care and look after yourself
“you are yet to see my point by point reply, which naturally I shall also publish in due course.” A good point; I look forward to seeing your response to sections 41,42, 45, 46 and 51.
But for now, I see all this as a repeat performance of what happened with Wallis Simons – your personality getting you into trouble. The last time your fans bailed you out. Let’s see what happens this time.
As an ignoramus when it comes to legal affairs, purely as an ordinary citizen of no importance, I would advise you to contact and make a deal with the Prosecution, if you can, offering to apologise for any contempt, remove any offending material and promise not to do it again. I sincerely hope that that would work – it would enhance my view of Scottish justice, not to mention the Scottish people.
Otherwise you may have to prepare for a year or two of lockdown at Her Majesty’s expense, which would be undesirable for just about everybodyinvolved – not to mention taxpayers who would have to pay for your incarceration.
Better to use what connections you have to do a deal with the Courts, and fast!
No doubt Craig is very grateful for the advice, but I’m not sure that he’s really one of those “Oh sir please sir could you stop kicking me in the face for a second or two so I can lick your boot” types.
Good grief. Get off your knees!
MJ is obviously the plant to get them off the hook. They got it wrong and are now looking for a way out.
MJ is a long-standing commentator, having posted here for many years (though of course anyone can post under any name). While it would not be beneath the state to send agents provocateurs here – I expect they have done – it is quite normal for ordinary folk to disagree with the blog owner.
Are you in the States. Sounds like it, or you have been watching too much crime TV.
“As an ignoramus when it comes to legal affairs, purely as an ordinary citizen of no importance,” I think we’ll stop there.
MJ I think you miss the point entirely. The point is that an injustice is about to be perpetrated or, at least, attempted (I sincerely hope it fails that attempt). Why would Mr Murray seek to bend the knee to those who seek to unjustly persecute him? It is the State that is willing to spend however much it takes to do that and to waste ‘taxpayer’s money’, not Mr Murray. Should we just bend harder into the yoke when our ‘master’ chooses to whip us harder? Don’t you see how wrong that is?
Small donate made, wish it could be more.
I admire you.
Wanted to point out, the trolls are poisoning hard on twitter right now, a clear public relations campaign against you is taking place.
Having shopped in Harrods today, I happened to pass the Ecuadorean Embassy, and noticed two policemen stationed on the door – don’t even think of it!
Good Luck.
According to the indictment, “12. The 23 August article was published on the Website at or around 23 August 2020.”
However did you manage that?
If you have access to a time machine, perhaps you could provide me with the winning numbers for an upcoming lottery. Then I would be able to contribute more to your fund than I will be forthwith contributing.
All the best.
OK. I’ve read the indictment, but kept coming back to the first line.. Was this really written by a qualified lawyer? “….. in relation to a number of incidents that had taken place in Scotland….”… Surely, at that stage, they were only incidents which were alleged to have taken place? And since the trial we can say with the law on our side that many of them hadn’t happened, and others were not arrestable or criminal…. So is the author of the indictment trying to continue/to reopen the salmond case with you as proxy? If not, surely the indictment must fall at that first mis-statement of fact. Genuinely wishing you all the best Craig. If worst comes to worst, please make sure your full disclosure articles are available to the public. We cannot afford to lose your knowledge and insight.
I had the exact same thought, that they are stating as fact incidents that were only alleged and have since been found by a jury to have been untrue, as indicated by the fact that the jury found Salmond “not guilty” rather than “not proven”. However that distinction in Scots law probably escapes many who will still think Salmond is guilty but “got off”. That ratbag Prentice is replacing “innocent until proven guilty” with “guilty even when proven innocent”. That’s why allegations of sexual assault are so devastating – the mud still sticks even if they are subsequently shown to have been completely baseless. Which of course is precisely why baseless accusations are made.
Salmond got off on a technicality – he was found not guilty 😀
Which technicality was that. Not proven, maybe. An old Scots verdict. Proven, or, Not Proven. ie Guilty, or Not guilty.
“So is the author of the indictment trying to continue/to reopen the Salmond case with you as proxy?”
Interesting thought. This would explain why Alex Prentice has signed the indictment and why Salmond’s “team” has not been disbanded after not guilty verdict. Killing two birds with one stone is an efficient use of taxpayer’s resources (/sarcasm).
Some sympathisers for justice might not be willing to support Craig openly but covertly make a few holes in such case as there is against him for eagle-eyed supporters/barristers to spot. Remember how cases against state servants liker murderous prison guards and soldiers who torture Iraqi hotel receptionists tend to be made mincemeat of by the defence? Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander….
Dear Craig,
My thoughts on your charges are to prevent AS from revealing any information as (while they keep your charges extant) that will be the subject of a C of C case. So your case will drag on and on (I don’t know about your colleague’s).
I wish you all the very best. I have no income at the moment (bloody Covid) but if I can in future, I’ll donate a few pounds.
Meantime, best wishes
Irene
Alex Salmond….get your hands in your pockets and deliver, you owe it to Craig.
Outcome? Scottish judiciary to fall flat o its face AGAIN.
Donation? Prove the spooks wont know its me and you can have 100 Sterling.
Regards.
A song we used to sing at protests .
— to the tune of Yellow Submarine —
We all live in a po-lice state
a po-lice state
a po-lice state
a po-lice state
We all live in a po-lice state
etc.
It was hard not to get that impression when facing lines of riot-police because you were out protesting the destruction of your nation’s economy. We all live in a po-lice state, indeed.
The next time I hear someone blather on about the UK being the heart of democracy, I’ll remember to laugh really hard at the nation where the state media lies and anyone who says different is dragged into the Franz Kafka Memorial Courtroom.
Seems to me the person who brought forth this charge (apologies for non-legal phrasing) is most upset about being criticised by Mr Murray and being laughed at. Straight out of the Petty Revenge of Dictator’s Guide.
Stop bullying Mr Murray, you clowns at the Crown Office. You lost the AS case because it was a pile of shit and you were humiliated. Look outside – this is not Estonia in the 1960s.
SCOTLAND NEEDS FAR BETTER
PS Donation made
I was going to send you £50 by bank transfer. I set it up and then thought of the other people who have posted on this thread who had already paid a hundred. So I thought to myself “Pony up”, and I added an extra zero. So there should be another 500 in your account by the time you get up. I can’t pretend it wasn’t a little daunting to see a sum that size leave my account, but it was the right thing to do.
I’m writing this not to boast, but for three reasons:
1. I know it will hearten you at a very stressful time to see that ordinary people are standing behind you.
2. I know that there are many people who would want to contribute, but who have no money at all coming in right now and can’t. So 9 extra fifty quids have gone in on their behalf.
3. Among all your thousands of supporters and the hundreds of thousands of genuine independence supporters, it only needs another 119 and your first goal will be reached. At that point all the other smaller sums become extra reserves to be put to good use at the appropriate time.
Aside from that, I would reiterate the suggestion from Ian+Brotherhood on page 1, to try to get a Donate Button and a running total up and working. They do work. And if the money comes in fast, it’s a huge morale boost for your supporters. If it doesn’t, it will encourage those who don’t think they can afford anything to find a little, and those who have already donated to dig a little deeper.
One last thing. Please don’t employ Jackson for your defence. It would stick in my craw more than a little to think of my hard-earned finding its way into the pockets of that stupid ScotLab blabbermouth.
I don’t know what to say, I am honestly very touched. Yours is not the only message that has had me tearing up a bit.
I am indeed using a different legal team.
Thank you Stonky.
I would love to contribute here as this attack on human rights and decency regards all of us.
I am unfortunately far from Scotland and living with very minimal resources, trying to do my little bit to create a better world by giving my time and energy as an “honorary voluntary worker”, and have presently not even a bank account.
It is heartwarming to see how someone I have never met is willing to chip in in my place.
I thank all the people who have donated to Craig, in the midst of economic hardship.
If they would let us, this world would be such a wonderful place to live in!
Lovely touch stonky.
Haven’t had a penny in door for month and half and young family. I will donate first opportunity. I appreciate your gesture too.
Very well done, Sir. Beat me by a bit.
Well said Stonky, and I tip my hat to your generosity.
It occurs to me as well that those of us with some spare cash have another reason to donate to Craig’s work. It is a horrible truth that the persistent attacks and sabotage from the state, from the corporate media, from the security services, from litigious members of the establishment, and from trolls on social media are both frightening and exhausting. And, to be honest, I am not sure I would have the fortitude for it, so I try to help the brave folk who do.
Hat tip to Craig too, as usual.
Why can’t I just give my credit card # to donate. 20 minutes farting around with my PayPal account ticking me off.
If you have a credit card you must have a bank account. So just do a bank transfer. That takes about 2 minutes.
5 seconds according to Transferwise! Who delight in telling you how fast they are, with a little pictorial of you and Craig on screen and the money whizzing between you. They charge 60p flat which is very reasonable.
Craig, you are an inspiration. Bon courage.
Good luck Craig.
I was wondering when and how the state would come for you. Now I know. No need for a jury eh? That’s handy.
It is clear in this upside world that we all have to gather to fight this power. It seems all the journalists who are speaking truth to power are being picked off… or should I say embarrass the power structure. If anyone has the mind and understanding of how power works it’s you.
Just going to donate. Good luck. And lawyers out there to join in the good fight.
First they came for Julian Assange, but I did nothing because I had no sympathy for Wikileaks.
Then they came for Craig Murray…
It’s for sure a fit up. It also stinks of the rent boys scandal in the early 90s with the judiciary & whole legal establishment involved who were the guilty ones but ended up with innocent police officers being lambs to the slaughter having their careers destroyed but the guilty judiciary legal establishment and corrupt cops including the then chief constable and deputy chief constable involved along with MI5 getting away with it.
Thanks God I live in a third world country and not in the banana monarchy of the yUcK!
Why is that joke country still one of the five permanent members UN security council?? Or is it actually a select club of autocratic bullies: the US, China, Russia, the UK?
I’m sorry to hear this Craig, but some good may yet come out of it.
You always knew big brother was watching you and frankly reading your indictment it would make anyone sick to think of the money we pay these pompous lickspittle anal asses.
You’ll be alright, they are only making fools of themselves.
Donated. Something rotten in the state of Scotland.
Just made a donation Craig. Wish I could have given more, but we all really need to do what we can to stand up to this corruption and let them know that we are going nowhere, and we will never back down.
Keep up the good work. It is people like you, and others, that have a great talent that will make a difference to the lives of us who are not so gifted.
Thank you.
A reminder of Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2005/pinter/25621-harold-pinter-nobel-lecture-2005/
He gave Craig a copy. It is in a frame on Craig’s wall. Take heart.
That gave me a start Mary, because as I read your comment I had just stopped staring at the frame on the wall and was wondering what Harold would say to me in the current circumstances.
I am pretty sure he would say “Fuck’em, Craig, Fuck’em”.
Craig, you’ve been such a staunch advocate and supporter of Julian Assange that it’s now a privilege to donate to your defense here ( just donated earlier to Julian’s defense fund as well ). I flew from Seattle to join the late-February protests outside the Belmarsh gates, and I’ll never forget being warmed by the bottle of Glenfiddich you so generously presented us with. A belated Cheers for that act of kindness. Honored to have also heard you speak at St. Pancras, as well as sharing the heartbreak in the Visitor’s Gallery on the “Show Hearing’s” final day. Keep up the good fight my man (both of them now it appears), and stay strong, focused and healthy. You are an inspiration.
Is there an appeal procedure for contempt of court in Scotland? Or is it like Vanessa Barmitsva, the South Africa judge down south who makes up the law as she goes along?