The Independent has an article about the new FCO sponsored Mitchell and Webb “comedy”, which was made with FCO co-operation and is openly an attempt to bolster its image – and to make light of, and acceptable, the disgraceful British alliance with the dictator of Uzbekistan. The argument that this series is based on – and is an attempt to counter the effect of – Murder in Samarkand – is overwhelming.
Not least because the producers of Ambassadors, Big Talk, attempted to buy the rights to Murder in Samarkand. They invited me to, and I attended, a meeting in their offices and they had several copies of Murder in Samarkand in their office. They also had access to the original unpublished (and much longer) manuscript of the book, under its original title Should Not Be Known. For them to pretend their “Tazbekistan” comedy is unrelated does not just make them lying bastards, it is ludicrous.
I did get solicitors to write both to Big Talk and to the BBC, but unfortunately the lawyers wanted money amounting to tens of thousands to apply for a copyright injunction, and I just don’t have it.
The Independent article takes the opportunity to recycle ten year old slurs against me by the FCO, without mentioning that they were disproven.
I wonder if one of my talented commenters could design an online “poster” for Murder in Samarkand, showing the book, Mitchell and Webb or the Ambassadors logo, and the slogan “Murder in Samarkand – Now a Major TV Series”. Then we can get it everywhere we can on the web, and the bastards can try and sue me! That would turn the tables nicely.
The other extraordinary thing in the Independent article is the contention that New Labour had an ethical foreign policy, as though the tabloid humiliation and marginalisation of Robin Cook- and the dodgy dossier and invasion of Iraq – had never happened.
Komodo egregiously insulted;
Sir how dare you, calling anyone banana?
Consider yourself slapped by a glove, and make sure your seconds meet my seconds to arrange for the meeting at dawn!
You may have the first choice of the pillows.
=====
This is reminding me of the time, the beeb vox pop after some riots up north, interviewing a bunch of lads, who maintained; the dead individual was going about his job, to earn his living, and that police had no right to chase him that lead to his death.
The deceased was a notorious car thief.
===
Come to Libya, where the romantic fires of war, and chaos are burning still. For some of you visiting this exciting country the adventures may include getting kidnapped and tortured by acid getting poured on your flesh, and batteries attached to your genitals too.
Jives, Anon also needs to brush up on his understanding of who Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan are. There seems to be a bit of confusion there. Let us re-outline the case.
Despite the police having paid compensation to Babar Ahmad for beating him up, a judge and jury subsequently find the police innocent. Do these images convince the doubting Thomases that there was a miscarriage of justice when the policemen were acquitted. I am certainly open to other reasonable explanations other than the decision to acquit was made at a Gentleman’s Club or Masonic Lodge.
http://metro.co.uk/2011/05/04/terror-suspect-babar-ahmad-beaten-up-by-police-at-home-654712/
Goss
So how did the judge direct the jury? If you cannot answer this question this just demonstrates your ignorance of the case and how you are not open to the explanations that the jury found reasonable.
Mary
I issued no legal threat – I specifically said I couldn’t, I just said others had a case to do so. Jives is probably right re the jury – perhaps he might wish to give his view on the judge as well? Or perhaps you might wish to do so rather than juts trolling.
Anon,
“Jives is probably right re the jury – perhaps he might wish to give his view on the judge as well?”
Of course.
In my opinion the judge was a banana,allegedly.
You haven’t really got to grips with this libel business have you Anon?
John Goss,
The following point has already been made but it does offer the most likely solution as to why the policemen were acquitted. In criminal cases the burden is placed upon the prosecution to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. In civil proceedings the burden of proof is based upon the balance of probabilities. Therefore, in legal terms it is quite possible to be found liable in a civil proceeding but acquitted a subsequent criminal trial. I find this far more plausible than a nefarious masonic connection or a decision to acquit which was agreed over port and cigars at the East India Club.
Mary
Aye i’m not surprised by it all.
The Libya catastrophe Breaks my heart, and then they / we – sent the same evil monster terrorists over to Syria, The elite owned Media make sure these Horrific crimes take place, maybe David Ike is correct after all – The non human monsters
Meanwhile in the land of the Free
A few days ago, an angry Park Service ranger publicly admitted that he and his fellow rangers have been ordered to “make life as difficult for people as we can” during this government shutdown. That Park Service ranger would never have received such an order unless it came from the very top.
The following are just a few examples of how Obama is using this shutdown to make life as difficult for people as possible…
#1 The Obama administration is doing all it can to keep Americans from even getting a glimpse of Mount Rushmore, but Barack Obama’s chefs have been deemed “essential” and are still preparing his meals.
#2 Small businesses cannot get loans, but the exclusive gyms that are only for members of Congress have been deemed “essential” and remain open…………..
#7 A runner has been fined $100 for jogging through Valley Forge National Historical Park, but the military golf course that Obama uses regularly is still open.
#8 The Obama administration has shut down the Grand Canyon, but the new two billion dollar NSA spy center is still spying on all of us.
#12 The Obama administration has actually removed all of the well pumps along a 184 mile trail that goes from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh just so that anyone that decides to use the trail will not be able to get any water to drink.
#13 The Obama administration is actually attempting to close 1,100 square miles of ocean off of the coast of Florida. It is going to take a tremendous amount of time, money and energy to keep fishing boats out of that area.
#15 Of course one of the most disturbing abuses of power is how the Obama administration is using barricades and guards to keep military veterans away from open air memorials such as the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial and the Iwo Jima Memorial that are normally open to the public 24 hours a day.
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/10/extreme-hypocrisy-obama-orders-federal.html
Land of the Free ???? – have to go back a few hundred years for that Malarky…..
Let me be a free man; free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I chose, free to chose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to trade and think and act for myself, and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.
Chief Joseph (1840 – 1904)
Actually, the prosecution of the policemen (though relevant) is not the main issue. And Rivlin himself has expressed the hope that Ahmad’s indefinite detention without trial – or charge – could be concluded.
These are the salient points, and they should concern anyone, regardless of colour or affiliation.
• Babar Ahmad has been detained for over 7 years without trial and is the longest detained-without-trial British citizen in the modern history of the UK.
• Babar is held under the UK’s controversial Extradition Act 2003 which allows British Citizens to be extradited to the U.S for alleged offences that took place in Britain. The CPS has repeatedly refused to charge Babar Ahmad in the UK with any criminal offence whatsoever.
• Over 140,000 people have signed an e-petition calling for Babar to be put on trial in the UK rather than extradited to the US. The issue is therefore of tremendous public importance which requires a full debate with a vote in the main Chamber of the House of Commons.
• In June 2011, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights called for the UK’s extradition laws to be changed to prevent the extradition of Babar Ahmad and others in circumstances where the domestic authorities had decided not to prosecute them.
• In June 2011, the Recorder of Westminster, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC, said about Babar Ahmad’s case, “I express the hope that the ordeal of a man in detention in this country for a number of years without trial is brought to an end as soon as possible…”.
• The petition to put Babar on trial in the UK has also been supported by a leading lawyers, academics and celebrities. Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC stated recently that it would be “monstrous and scandalous to extradite Babar Ahmad to the US”.
• There are a number of other British citizens facing extradition to the US under the same Treaty including Gary McKinnon, Christopher Tappin, Richard O’ Dwyer, and Talha Ahsan. The alleged criminal conduct in all these cases is said to have taken place in the UK, yet the domestic authorities have not prosecuted them.
http://freebabarahmad.com/the-story/latest-news/item/203-updated-action-alert-contact-your-mp-to-demand-full-debate-on-babar-ahmad
Cases like that of Babar Ahmad and Julian Assange, and inquiries (whitewashes) like Hutton and O’Donnell are very often led by persons about to retire. This is so they cannot be questioned by their professional bodies, unless Anon has a different explanation, like just a coinicidence, for example. Riflin retired the very next week after acquitting the four policemen who beat up Babar. If the policemen involved, or the jury involved, or the judge involved want to bring an action against me I will defend it. This was such a high-profile case, everybody knew from the previous lawsuit, and from the fact that the police did not challenge it, that the judge would have had to have told the jury to ignore anything they had read to acquit these culprits. But they have probably all been promoted, while Babar, after more than ten years in captivity without a trial, has been broken by a government in which Anon and company can find no fault. Well don’t drag me down to your level.
Brian,
Wtf is a military golf course??
It’s got lotsa bunkers right…;.)
John Goss:
“The judge directs”. Yes indeed. As you appear to be expert in English legal procedure, please answer the following question : is the jury obliged to follow the judge’s direction? A simple yes or no will do.
You also said “They {ie, the jury} were probably masons too”. The “too” implies that the judge was a mason, does it not? Therefore :
1) what grounds do you have for implying that the judge was a mason?
2) and if he was, why should that have influenced his direction to the jury to acquit (assuming that was his direction – you haven’t yet responded to Anon on the latter point).
Thanks.
I say again, the issue is (Blair’s, smuggled past the House on a Thursday night) Extradition Act 2003. Which effectively deprives British citizens of their legal rights on the unsupported* say-so of a foreign power.
*Unsupported. Yes. No evidence required.
In case Anon has not retained the services of a firm of solicitors, Messrs Sue, Grabbit and Runne come highly recommended. I believe that Lord Gnome is the senior partner.
Komodo, unfortunately the link you gave is way out of date even though it says latest on the website. It predates his extradition. Last Saturday marked 12 months for Babar in a US maximum security prison (banged up 23 and sometimes 24 hours a day) in solitary confinement. That is what Theresa May did. She cleverly got Babar and Talha bundled together in a package-deal with the Yanks, with two others and Abu Hamza, the man with the hook and a man known to have preached racial unrest. The impartial BBC and all other channels showed perpetual footage of Abu Hamza with hardly any coverage of the other men’s cases. At the Tory conference Theresa May was bragging about how good it was to have got rid of these men, yes, because if the truth gets out it should finish Theresa May once and for all. She is evil personified.
I suppose when you’ve got independent means you can change your name as often as you like..;.)
Is this ‘Rivlin’ or ‘Riflin’ the same as this Rivlin whose name I saw yesterday when finding out who polices Mr Parker and his mates in MI5.
Tribunal Members
THE TRIBUNAL MEMBERS
The Tribunal currently consists of nine members, including a President and Vice President. They are:
•Lord Justice Mummery (President)
•Mr Justice Burton (Vice President)
•Mr Robert Seabrook QC
•Sir Anthony Holland
•Ms Susan O’Brien QC
•Mr Charles Flint QC
•The Hon. Christopher Gardner QC
•Professor Graham Zellick CBE QC
•His Honour Geoffrey Rivlin QC
All members of the Tribunal are appointed by HM The Queen, and must be senior members of the legal profession. Both the President and Vice President must hold or have held high judicial office.
Appointments are made for terms of five years, after which members may stand down or declare themselves available for reappointment
http://www.ipt-uk.com/sections.asp?sectionID=22&chapter=2&type=top
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigatory_Powers_Tribunal Info
Guilty, John, no need to direct the jury. But the issues raised remain unchanged. Returning to the topic, where is the conceptual difference between indefinite internment without charge,followed by extradition on the whim of a foreign power, and Karimov’s legal framework? Granted, we don’t boil people alive. But don’t you think some of our legislators would, if they could?
Yes John. ‘At the Tory conference Theresa May was bragging about how good it was to have got rid of these men, yes, because if the truth gets out it should finish Theresa May once and for all. She is evil personified.’
She got applauded by the followers. They (the warmongers and the abusers of human rights) should all be put in cells on a cold island.
The audience (looking mostly geeky like young Goves and young Samantha Camerons) all applauded enthusiastically when she said she intends to get rid of the Human Rights Act.
Goss
How can you be so presumptious and ignorant to say that I can find no fault in the US Government, particularly when I have already made the point that justice is being denied by allowing these cases to take so long to court. Just because I don’t share your viewpoint and paranoia about western governments doesn’t mean that I endorse all their actions. The usual sign of someone being up someone’s bottom or being a shill is an ability to perceive that there is good and bad in most people and governments – might I suggest you take a long hard look at yourself first before leaping to accuse others in this regard.
Solon et al,
You think John Goss is wrong about judges and Masonic membership? Try this little Edinburgh cabal for starters…
http://thessoe.blogspot.co.uk/
Try getting a fair trial there if you’re not on the level,Brother…
I doubt if its any different in England mind..
Slightly O/T, but very pleasing.
A friend of mine has just had her last work inaugurated.
!00 years of Crystallography sucess, three cheers to Phoebe Halstead and well done woman, what a delightful animation.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2013/oct/09/100-years-x-ray-crystallography-video-animation
MC, I accept what you say. Nevertheless the injustice has been seen to be done.
Jives, it’s the same in the police force. I have been told that here in Birmingham it is impossible to rise above sergeant unless you are in the masons. (I guess there are one or two exceptions).
Anon, you are making the same point the Judge made, that although he was acquitting the guilty, he was concerned that Babar’s case was taking so long to get to court. What hypocrisy! And see what I mean? You’re following the establishment case.
Goss
How was the Assange decision made by judges who were about to retire – the final decision was made in the Supreme Court by a 5 to 2 majority. You really are just making things up as you go along in order to suit your argument.
And the president, who directed the other judges, retired to bring justice to Qatar – which since his arrival has been labelled ‘an open gaol’ by the ambassador of Nepal.
Actually the voting opinions of the judges would have been known before they were hand-picked. They allowed Marianne Ny to lie through her teeth in order to bring more ‘justice’ to this sceptred isle, and did not enforce the law on European Arrest Warrants. Arbed would tell you more. Surely you do not believe that British justice is fairly administered Anon?
O/T John Pilger on Yankee and Chinese interests in Africa.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/09/china-in-africa-obama-obsession
Would I be wrong in thinking Anon is anxious not to explore the core issues: justice delayed is justice denied; subordination of our laws to the US judicial system, the presumption of innocence until found guilty….etc?
And subversion of our laws until parallels with Uzbekistan are unavoidably visible?
Just a game Brian, by powerful men (and a few women) who have used their enormous wealth to bring America to the brink of a global disaster.
Pay-back for screwing the Syrian take-down…
Ello elllo. What have we here?
“I have been told that here in Birmingham it is impossible to rise above sergeant unless you are in the masons.”
Now listen here, sunshine. Who told you this information? What is their qualification? Have you got evidence to back this allegation? No? Then stop wasting police time.
SSR customers having to face price rises of 8.2% should know that SSE’s annual profit has been declared at £1.4 billion!
See their directors’ phenomenal salaries.
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/10/sse-makes-1500-profit-a-minute/
Earlier Fallon the energy minister was involved in a spat on Sky News
Energy Minister In Row Over Cost Of Taxes
Michael Fallon tells Sky News the impact of Government measures on bills is “small” but then admits it is almost 10%.
http://news.sky.com/story/1152631/energy-minister-in-row-over-cost-of-taxes
Mark Golding: “Pay-back for screwing the Syrian take-down…”
Did your SAS contact operating out of Dubai tell you this?