As many of you will already know, I was excluded from the public gallery of the Alex Salmond trial yesterday. Inside the High Court, in the queue to enter the courtroom, I was suddenly taken aside by the police and told I was barred. The prosecution had made an application to the judge for an order for my removal which the judge had agreed, over a “possible contempt of court.”
I asked the police – who were very pleasant – if they could tell me where the possible contempt lay, but they had no information. Later I phoned the court and was eventually phoned back by the clerk of the court, who was also very pleasant, but he could not tell me where the possible contempt lay either. He could however tell me I was excluded for the duration of the case, not just for the day.
I have to say that I find this process very unsatisfactory. To be excluded from a public trial on the basis of something I have “possibly” done, when nobody will even specify what it is I have “possibly” done, seems to me a very strange proceeding. I can only assume that it is something I have written on this blog as there has been no incident or disturbance of any kind inside the courtroom. But if the judge is genuinely concerned that something I have written is so wrong as to necessitate my exclusion, you would expect there would be a real desire for the court to ask me to amend or remove that wrong thing. But as nobody will even tell me what that wrong thing might “possibly” be, it seems only reasonable to conclude that they are not genuinely concerned, in a legal sense, about something I have written.
I will state openly that if the court asked me to remove or change anything I have written, I would certainly do that. But they have not asked me. They have just chucked me out without explanation. I do not find that satisfactory. It also seems to me very strange indeed, and quite contrary to natural justice, that the prosecution and the judge were formally discussing in secret a motion for my exclusion, while I was standing right outside their door. I was not given a hearing, allowed to be present, or even told it was happening. They knew I was there because the police then came straight to me. That seems to me contrary to all principles of natural justice. I am not a terrorist who needed to be secretly surveilled and dealt with in camera while excluded.
I do not doubt the judge may have the legal powers to do this. But the law is then wrong. Not to mention that this behaviour is extremely discourteous – she should at least have called me in and told me why. That would have taken a minute. And I then could also have removed any material she wished.
All of which – and the threat of prosecution for contempt which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail – is very unpleasant. But what is far worse is the terrible feeling of helplessness that has resulted. I have scarcely slept at all this night, and it really was a dark night of the soul. Having seen the crushing power of the state operate against both Julian Assange and Alex Salmond in the last month has been dreadful. It is of course, at a philosophical level, the state’s use and abuse of its monopoly of violence, including the violent enforcement of deprivation of liberty. I am excluded from the court by the state’s monopoly of violence, as I would discover very soon if I attempted to re-enter. I find the violence of the state, and its enforcement by officialdom, a more brutal and horrible thing than personal violence, which I abhor. It has kept me awake, in a sea of desolation, to think that how Julian and Alex feel tonight must be a million times worse than I am feeling, which is bad enough.
But it is also the helplessness. In both the Assange and Salmond cases, I felt strongly that by bringing the full and detailed facts of the court proceedings into the light, I was at least doing something for truth and honesty. The detailed accounts I could write in each instance presented a picture that was entirely different to the selective and horribly skewed view of the proceedings being fed to the populace by the state and corporate media. Even if my accounts reached only a few thousand people, a world where a few thousand people know the truth is better than a world of absolute darkness, by a factor of infinity.
Being deprived of that ability at least to hold a little candle in the darkness, at least to bear quiet witness to the truth, has just left me also in darkness. That is where I have been all night, unsleeping, fevered and restless. And today I shall not be in court.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/03/your-man-finally-in-the-public-gallery-the-alex-salmond-trial-day-7/
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/03/your-man-finally-in-the-public-gallery-the-alex-salmond-trial-day-8/
With grateful thanks to those who donated or subscribed to make this reporting possible.
This article is entirely free to reproduce and publish, including in translation, and I very much hope people will do so actively. Truth shall set us free.
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The real question is what do we do about state oppression particularly its use of the judicial system to enforce its agenda of curbing the truth in political cases and state crime. Should we set up a blog exclusively for this, should we gather together all victims of this abuse to share experiences and discuss ways of moving forward? We really need to do something – it’s just getting out of hand.
Ruth, yes good idea and now’s the time for it with so many people house-bound.
I remember either watching or reading something years ago, in which it was said that the only thing that really gets the UK government to stop unjust policy, is when people begin to get organised and take direct action, especially rioting.
David Cameron came down like a ton of bricks on people who rioted in Totenham a few years back, with one person given 2 years in prison for ‘Looting’ a bottle of water from a shop, during the riot.
This seemed to do the trick and everyone went back into their boxes, but the truth of the matter is, what Cameron has done is block the ‘safety pressure valve’ and as a result, we will suddenly see an explosion somewhere in the UK when people genuinely say ‘enough is enough’
If you are feeling angry at injustices in our political/social systems right now, there are many thousands out there feeling exactly the same.
The political classes are playing a dangerous game.
You are so right Ruth, we could start, all of us here, by sharing these extraordinary circumstances with our very own relatives children and friends, it is vital that we do.
If our movements are curtailed, as is planned by this wretched cabinet, for the fear they spread over this virus, legitimate as it is, this does not mean they can tape our mouth shut, or stop us talking to other people.
There used to be a vegetarian gathering called the Big Green Gathering, with hundreds of NGO’s and activists meeting, talking to each other coordinating their actions at the time of the road protests and later.
It was frustrated and stopped by the then Government at the last minute for reasons as ‘safety’, issues long agreed were denied three days before the gathering and councils, the fire services and local Government were pressurised to stop it.
This illegal act by police in collaboration with court officials/judge/whoever stinks of the same controlling attitudes that existed then.
They don’t like to be disturbed in their lying or their use of fear to kowtow people like Craig, but disturbed they must be.
does anyone know the next trial day?
Contrary to some posters on your remarkable and insightful blog, I do not think it would be advisable to bait the authorities further by any form of defiance, either legal or otherwise.
Any recourse to ‘law’ as it now stands is clearly futile.
Even if you were able to supply a proxy brave enough to take your place, or others attended working independently of yourself, their powers now are such they could completely close the court for ‘health’ reasons.
In my view, they have panicked; I think this has achieved a momentum of it’s own now. Keep your powder dry and wait.
https://twitter.com/BryanRutherford covering the speech today at Alex Salmond trial
actually this is a better link and this reporter Brian Rutherford, is doing a better job than Philip Sim today
https://twitter.com/RadioForthNews/status/1240941218353295361
You are a true hero, Mr. Murray, but be careful, they may not stop at barring you to attend the trial only, and thank you for all you’ve done and are still doing.
Not a professional, employed journalist, therefore not under the control of the establishment. You MAY not report anything that will embarrass them, on the other hand, they can’t guarantee you won’t, so out you go.
I remember being a prosecution witness in the same court. When sitting in the witness room awaiting my turn to give evidence I was really surprised that there was a court usher who kept coming back from the court room to give the waiting (prosecution) witnesses a summary of the testimony of the witness currently in the box. As Scots law is predicated on corroboration prosecution witnesses need to be singing from the same hymnsheet in order to get a result, the usher helped in that regard.
In addition to that I can say that a certain prosecution lawyer not a million miles from the subject at hand when my defence solicitor lied to me and was very glib about it. I’ve always felt that in my case his sympathy was with the prosecution and some of his behaviour was definitely not in his client’s (mine) best interest, although I pled guilty I still felt I was playing against two lawyers, one bending the truth and misrepresenting the facts and the other keeping quiet about it.
Scots law and procedure is the best if all the Crown players are honest however they are not always honest. If a defence lawyer is dishonest with a client what hope does an accused have when he is prosecuting?
What the heck has this to do with the article?
“All because of a glitch in the Horizon/Fujitsu system installed by the Post Office”.
Actually mostly due to arrogance and refusal to face facts by Post Office executives.
All software has defects, some of which cause problems as serious as those exhibited by Horizon. So anyone using software for serious purposes has an obligation – to themselves, to their organizations, stakeholders and customers – to pay close attention to software quality. Defects or the appearance of defects can never be safely ignored or brushed off.
I honestly hope that the cuplrits lose very heavily. Crushing penalties should be imposed.
“Even if my accounts reached only a few thousand people, a world where a few thousand people know the truth is better than a world of absolute darkness, by a factor of infinity.”
An ancient Egyptian papyrus from the 2nd millenium bc, spoken by person on the expectation their eternal life depended on it “I have made an end to the darkness which has become light”. Those same texts are saturated with precepts exalting truth, justice and condeming their opposites.
Your love of the truth (Maat to the Ancient Egyptians) is an inspiration for all good hearted people and evidence that “the light shines in darkness; and the darkness overcame it not” (John 1:15)
Just written a long diatribe on the dark night of the soul which would have bored you to tears, now thankfully lost down the plug hole because of an incoming call.
So , chin up. You’re the best. Nil carborundum. The judge in both trials has panicked when you are making things too hot.
Rest, and know we are all 100% behind you. Better things are in store.
‘Better things are in store’
Maybe for you Giyane, but millions of us, down south (the hated ‘British’) face a lock down in a few days.
Where I suspect even the most basic of our ‘rights’ will literally disappear overnight. In the coming weeks many won’t make it out alive.
Before certain haters here clap their hands with Schadenfreude joy, Scotland’s will not be immune either.
Left, right, nationalist, unionist, flesh and blood,life and death.Proud men turn to dust like everyone else..
Fredi
Birmingham is in the south. Agreed we are going to pay, like Grenfell Tower, for years of political dogma.
So far I’ve seen no Tory solutions for the just managing May shed crocodile tears for.
In a dark night of the soul, the ptb tenaciously grab on to their worldly possessions , land , salaries, titles power but their worldliness prevents them from disobeying their worldly masters and allowing truth to have its say.
On the dedication to truth is in the financial currency of spiritual reward a currency that will last into eternity, even though the worldly will not allow truth to be heard.
The dark night of the soul is a surrendering to God’s will, which is the meaning actually of the Islam of all the prophets including Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them all.
It is a beautiful thing in the eyes of Allah to persevere for truth, incuding the truth of God and his last Messenger saw. Craig has passed the test inshallah,. That is why I predict better things, better than wealth, nuclear bombs that threaten the world, or offices of power.spiritual things that are given to those who persevere.
when you are in charge, Fredi, and see something really dangerous coming towards you, you should act on good examples shown to you. this Government waited and dithered and is still popping daily piecemeal actions, dressed up in fear, on us.
That this calamity will make more of an impact in large urban/suburban conurbations was also obvious, but soon we will have soldiers on the streets helping to dispense more fear, relax, it is what it is for as long as people will take it.
‘really dangerous’ – my Aunt Fanny.
Surely you’re not one of these denialists still? JHC.
You think this is all fake? It’s from Italy, warning us about what is to come.
https://youtu.be/_J60fQr0GWo
Maybe you’re young, JohnB, so you just don’t give a toss about a massive die-off of the elderly. Gets you your inheritance that much sooner, right?
Actually this could be extremely dangerous for your ‘ Aunt Fanny’
JohnB
March 20, 2020 at 13:34
Spot on.
They will not be able talk their way out of this nonsense so easily.
Apart from a few ‘believer’ hysterics out there, I think the public’s response is ‘let’s wait and see.’
“Lie to me once, shame on you. Lie to me twice, shame on me.”
The problem with liars, is not always the first lie – but that you can never, ever know later that what they are saying is true.
“Magic Robot” – you’re continuing with your lunacy. Lucky for you that we still live in a liberal enough democracy that idiots like you are free to promote dangerous fantasies that costs lives. Fox News are doing the same, and I’m surprised they are not being charged with public endangerment – which is a crime, btw.
glenn_uk
The media are lying right now concerning Mr. S’s trial.
They lied concerning ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and that lie cost the lives of 000’s.
But you know the media aren’t lying this time around, because…
glenn_uk @13:55, 22:21
“Maybe you’re young, JohnB, so you just don’t give a toss about a massive die-off of the elderly. Gets you your inheritance that much sooner, right?”
“Lucky for you that we still live in a liberal enough democracy that idiots like you are free to promote dangerous fantasies that costs lives.” And that’s why, lucky for you, you feel at liberty to go straight for the messengers, right?
Nice…
Pooh (forever young)
MR: “But you know the media aren’t lying this time around, because…”
… Because it’s not just “the media” saying it, you silly man.
‘The hated British’? Any lockdown would far as I am aware be UK wide.
The people of Scotland who are pro independence, the civic and internationalists, do not hate anyone, they do however abhor the Tory Westminster bullies for their arrogance, and the blatant contempt shown towards Scotland’s democratically elected SNP MP’s. Those MP’s elected by the people of Scotland to represent their country within the union, which is by no means equal to say the very least.
Your comment is verging on nasty, ‘Scotland’s will not be immune either’. Are we not all meant to be looking after each other at this terrible time, not scoring nasty points against a whole country who sadly is still shackled to their neighbour led by really dangerous, authoritarian, incompetent imbeciles, that they did not vote for, and have not voted Tory at WM since something like 1955!
Scotland is well aware of what is at stake here, but is tethered to a restrictive ‘British’ government, that is who the people of Scotland ‘hate’, if they hate anyone.
Hetty my comment is reasonable and proportional to the sort of blatant hate speech certain posters here make about ‘the English’,’Brit Nats’ etc . I get my stuff deleted regularly, yet I see what is basically hate speech welcomed here, as long as it’s coached vaguely into support of left leaning Scottish so called nationalism.
Nil Desperandum! The whole thing is clearly a disgraceful plot to nobble Salmond. Anyway, it has spurred me on to subscribe so you will be getting £10 a month from me in future.
Craig, you have done everything that you could to bring us a balanced account of the court proceedings. Now it’s time to give yourself some respite. You are too valuable to the cause of justice to let your health suffer. (I realise this is a very selfish reason but I, like many others, have come to depend on your insights). Stay safe and once again many thanks to you.
I fully agree with Patsy and Ruth, you’re right – we must do something about this. Democracy? Doubtful.
Craig my wife and I have just won a monthly draw and wish to donate it to you also I would like to make a subscription but I am not a paypal user. Could you perhaps contact me.
Well done Craig for speaking out on state oppression. We in the Scottish Resistance occupied the Spanish consulate in Edinburgh to protest for the Catalans to have their referendum on self determination 3 days before they held it as we knew the Spanish state would try to wreck democracy and thatvis what they did.
Three days after the protest I was arrested at late at night with my 80 year old father being terrified at their presence at our house and detained at a police station charged with breach of the peace in a peaceful direct action . I had to go to edinburgh sheriff court about 8 times and then had a two day trial with me being depicted as a possible terrorist to Spanish people in the consulate. Suffice to say I was found not guilty despite all the stops being pulled out by the prosecution and police to do so. So Craig I do feel for you as you are a decent man and comrade and thank you for your brave efforts in pointing out the different aspects of evidence which MSM failed to give to the public. Saor Alba comrade and true patriot of Scotland
Dear Craig,
Thank you for your courage and for all you do. Don’t let the bastards get to you! Stay sane, the world needs you!
A Big Big Hug
Craig,
” I will state openly that if the court asked me to remove or change anything I have written, I would certainly do that. But they have not asked me. They have just chucked me out without explanation.”
Obviously because the Judge does not have any rational explanation, save and except the one that you are having a serious effect and impact by telling the truth about the trial.
The only kind of pre-emptive punishment in Court, of which I am aware, is for a ‘Contempt in the face of the Court’. However, even then, the Judge would permit the accused contemnor to state reasons in response to the alleged contempt. In other words, even then natural justice will be upheld.
Rather sad where the Judge has gone with this.
Surely whatever you have written is either contempt or it’s not. How can it be ‘possible’? Is the judge demonstrating her indecision as to whether it’s contempt? Is she really saying you ‘possibly’ broke the law but hey-ho we’re not so sure? But we’re gonna bar you from court anyways. What does ‘possible’ contempt mean or amount to, and do you get the chance to state your case or defend it?
I know the square root of hee-haw on the law, but to just a lowly peasant like me, the threat of contempt is being used to cherry-pick and exclude journalists to give their account of proceedings in court. It’s the old you’re either one of us or you’re not.
Scottish politics, government and the judicial system is appearing more and more rotten to the core.
I witnessed Thursday an elderly frail tiny lady at the supermarket who while packing her groceries and holding her empty carrier bags, handbag and purse briefly placed her debit card in her mouth, held between her teeth, the checkout assistant then refused to allow her to place the card into the machine and she therefore was unable make her purchases of what looked like bare essentials, bread, soup, frozen stuff etc. Left the shop and her purchases behind, quite shaken and in tears. What have we come to? Where is this going?
Another petty, needless “micro-tragedy”! Of course, it isn’t “micro” for the ruthlessly deprived shopper.
I’m in the US. My anecdote isn’t as tragic or distressing, but it speaks to the negative side-effects of ostensible “preventative measures”:
The other day I went to my local pharmacy to pick up a routine prescription. They have a “signature capture device” with a touchscreen that customers use when paying for their purchases. This one didn’t work properly; the screen kept freezing.
The friendly and sympathetic cashier was finally able to force the transaction to process by switching the device off and on a few times. She explained apologetically that all of the pharmacy’s cash-register devices were playing up (and breaking down); their IT department determined that staff had been cleaning and disinfecting the devices so frequently– in compliance with management directives– that the disinfectant cleaner had seeped down into the works.
So far, management hadn’t come up with a remedy or alternative, so they’ll keep cleaning the failing devices (or not) until they devise some suitable alternative procedure.
BTW, I sympathize with your frustration over your delayed realization that you could’ve offered to assist the victimized shopper; I know that feeling! That said, surely a “contaminated” debit card could be cleaned with a swipe from a disinfectant cloth had the supermarket staff been more considerate.
I realise now what a fool I was, I could have paid for her stuff with cash (I always use cash, never a card), but she was off so quickly before I could even come to my senses, comprehend what had happened or offer to help.
You are a good man, Tony M.
Respect
You are the man, Mr Murray.
Tao is a tightrope. If you keep your balance, Darkness shall have no dominion.
“For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.”
Best ()
A pity. Very interesting to follow proceedings in detail.
Maybe it was your comments on the judge’s ‘fairness’ compared to your JA experience, the prosecutions ‘approach’ to witnesses etc. Or could it be you took notes etc when only ‘accredited journalists’ are permitted? (is this law?)
Should Human rights campaigners fear prison? People have been after your head for some time now craig so I’d prepare for those two years. The fact that the judge has decided to deal with your ‘possible’ contempt at a later date does not bode well. Also consider: ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ regards what you know but can not disclose yet because of the trial.
Live and learn. When they go after Corbyn in the courts like Salmond for high-fiving witness ET’s tit on national TV you will be in a better position to report proceedings.
On a more interesting point of order – With hindsight and in light of what now has been exposed regards the Independence campaign teams, the SNP ‘leadership’, personal ambitions and where some peoples true loyalties seem to lie (unionism) etc do you think the the YES campaign was sabotaged and damaged from within (example responses to Sterling, oil, pensions etc)? Was Scotland betrayed once again?
Scottish Justice 2020; a little bit of Salem 1692, a little bit of Kafka, a little bit of McCarthyism, more than a wee bit of the Moscow trials, a little hint of Dreyfuss, a little bit of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts and with a little dusting with the stench of the good old Macropodidae…it’s very obvious that they don’t want any ‘dissenting’ take on what little reporting of the proceedings can be made.
Once this is all over, I would dearly love to see the results of some Natural Language Processing on the full transcripts of the testimonies and police statements of the accusers (suitably anonymised, of course…) as I suspect that they would make for some interesting reading, of course, this will never happen…pay no attention to that, umm, person?, entity?, cabal?, directorate? behind the curtain…
I once said (in another place) that the SNP were spook (English state variety) ridden through and through, and, amusingly, for my temerity in saying this, was then accused of being one of said spooks myself, then accused (by the same ‘persona’) a couple of days later of being one of the spooks who wears the requisite furry bunnet and drinks vodka..
I give up, it’s obvious that the SNP is full of cuckoos who have no interest in Scottish Independence, the fact that they’ve been somehow miraculously been handed this gift of a ‘Show Trial’ of their former leader at the opportune moment cause maximum damage to this cause, and to prevent him from ever upsetting these brood parasites, now safely ensconced in their comfy wee nest, makes me wish I’d never voted for the party, ever, and regretfully now have to acknowledge that my late father’s opinion of them was, indeed, correct and true, that they are indeed ‘a bunch o’ hoors and comic singers’.
Oddly enough, when McCarthy did begin to get to the real heart of the matter he was investigating, that was precisely when the system and the media turned on him and the ‘witch-hunt’ label was invented.
Yup. Only recently appreciated this myself.
It has been mentioned on Facebook the presence of the army in Scotland. I wonder, is the state worried about civil disobedience?. Sorry to hear of your treatment Mr Murray. What can be believed in the future on any court case? That you for your efforts in trying to tell the truth.
Jim, they are getting ready to carry out a number of procedures, all “in the name of health and security”.
These include compulsory vaccinations, compulsory ID (possibly combining those two via vaccine+ idchip, the technology and testing have been done, there are also smart vaccines on the cards), compulsory issuing with mobile geolocation devices (phones for those haven’t got, apps for everyone), compulsory withdrawal of cash (“nasty dirty stuff”) and compulsory issuing of bank card (and/or mchip) to everyone, Fines for unapproved movements, fines or prison + mchip for not carrying device. Compulsory universal income (“Ooo, how nice!”) replacing all other gov obligations. Sudden roll-out and deployment of 5G. Compulsory 3d week. And sooner than expected, compulsory urbanising of the entire population and gradual replocation chaotic cities to smart cities.
Of course, many are in denial about all this, but it is clear as daylight and now imminent. Too late to resist once it starts rolling.
Military and militarised police to be deployed to aid enforcement, detect malingerers/opters-out/off-gridders.
A hypocrite.
‘The SNP
@theSNP·
23h
@NicolaSturgeon
: “In this crisis we are being reminded about what and who really matters in life.
Reminded of the importance of good health, of love, and friendship, and solidarity, and the importance of looking out for each other.” #FMQs
Craig, you used someone’s name in your blog I noticed, whether a witness or just an error I don’t know? Maybe it’s that that got you pulled up?
Time to get a lawyer and fight back, or to move out.
This situation is a disgrace. Is every other occupant of the public gallery a state stooge? Is there nobody else from whom an independent view can be obtained?
Ironically, you now have much more in common with ‘Tommy Robinson’ than you might have thought. You should compare notes with him on your respective treatment. A comparison would be an interesting documentary.
Respect for what you have done so far.
I was struck the other day by the big article in the Guardian complaining that Boris lacked fascist instincts. Doubtless no such complaint about the SNP would hold water.
Dear Craig, I read your blog posts regularly and find them invaluable. Your insights in the Skripal/Novichok saga were compelling, and your reporting of the Assange judicial process are both incredulous and heartbreaking.
Deep thanks
Of course I am very shocked by this development. One can only assume, since there is no order to alter or remove your blog that their concern is around the way you have framed the facts derived from testimony. The last blog post was very compelling for the way it clarified some of the issues. One must wonder how two such diametrically opposed accounts of the dinner can be tolerated. How can the judge not be involved in getting to the bottom of this? One or other individual is possibly committing perjury or is subject to hallucinations or subject to a serious deficit of integrity. It is actually intolerable that the trial is compromised in this way. Surely it must be possible to call the unnamed actor to testify. One must infer this person to be either Cumming or Cox. One must ask why this person is excused the burden of appearing as a witness.
The important point here is that, assuming that the woman accusing AS of attempted rape is revealed to have lied or hallucinated, the evidence then points to collusion and conspiracy. The failure to expose further the issue of the sixteen texts to the witness referred is also rather revealing in its reluctance to reveal. The prosecution service is thus brought into disrepute in pursuing the case when the evidence is so shaky.
One must wonder whether it is the court itself that exposes itself to widespread contempt by its own actions.
and failure to puesue significant matters.
As always the devil is in the detail. It looks as if a devil is being revealed by the close attention to detail provided by the blog and it is this that makes the court/judge/ prosecution uncomfortable.
I was curious about the opposing accounts of who was present at the dinner – surely it could have been better investigated through further interview with the celebrity witness, James Dolemans account said there was a matched description of the woman, not an actual ID. But this account of today’s statement says there was no opportunity for cross examination as the celebrity is in isolation:
https://twitter.com/RadioForthNews/status/1240949984972988416