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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Craig, I am no expert on British tax law but I would think that any donations to you in the ordinary way will be income assessable for income tax while your legal expenses will be a personal expense and not a tax expense. Please ask your supporters to defer donating until you can set up an arms-length fund, perhaps a trust but again I’m not knowledgeable about UK law. Otherwise a sizeable amount of the donations will be pocketed by the Internal Revenue and you will incur a hefty tax bill on top of a hefty legal bill. Perhaps Alex Salmond can point you in the right direction there as having been there, done that.
Last time (when the Mail went after me for libel) I treated it as a legal expense of the blog, and donations as income to the blog, in my overall sole trader accounting. Revenue seemed fine with that.
I’d still get tax/legal advice as you’re facing a criminal and not a civil case. Better safe than sorry.
Agreed on the need for proper legal advice, but for what it’s worth: in the States the rule of thumb is that legal defenses in a criminal case can be deducted as a business expense if the charges are related to the taxpayer’s business, even if the defendant is eventually found guilty. This one’s about as clearly related as it gets.
Whoever is behind this needs to face public exposure.
It smells like there is a secret cabal within Holyrood pulling strings and working against independence.
Forgive me as I am utterly ignorant of British (and/or Scottish) law, but it seems absurd beyond belief that, AFTER a public trial has concluded, the names of the ADULT individuals who accused someone (whether they were acquitted or not) of a crime cannot be made public.
I could see an exemption for underage kids, but that’s it.
Bingo.
What is the situation with foreign news outlets, such as the Intercept reporting the names? Will be making a donation today Craig.
That hasn’t worked out so well for Assange, but I don’t know if Scottish jurisdiction is quite as universal as American jurisdiction has turned out to be. There’s a reason for all those overseas bases I suppose…
Sent some funds to help. Hope you win as comprehensively as Alec Salmond won…
If it were not for your coverage of many other machivalian legal assults by the UK state I could scarcely believe that such a cynically amoral charge would be brought. This is a new low in Scottish political and legal life. Our justice department strongarming any voices of dissent while the mainstream media run amok with their lies. I hope they are embarrased in court. The stakes are surely rising exponentially for the independence movement when such prominent figures are treated in this way. I have made a small donation. I will make more and encourage my friends to do likewise.
Thank you for your work Craig. I have appreciated your insights on many topics for many years and am sending a few bob in support.
Brilliant piece, I had no knowledge of who any of the accusers where until I read the charge sheet. It is almost as if the COPF knew who the accusers were and worked back. I don’t think that is how jigsaws work.
Have forwarded a donation and hope it helps in some way in this absurd situation. I would also like to thank you for the info during Mr Salmond’s ‘case’.Keep up the good work and I wish you every success in your future trials and tribulations.
I thought it was rather kind of him to give us the transcrispts of the Yes Minister scenes, were they read out in court during the trial? That would have been interesting.
I also find it laughable that they should suggest the blogs may have prejudiced the possibility of a fair trial, shouldn’t that accusation be levelled at every main stream media outlet who trumpeted salacious allegations from on high prior to any gavel being thumped.
I want to donate but I am sorry, I will not use PayPal. I am sending a cheque.
It was once an EBay subsidiary but was spun off as the saying goes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal
They banned donations to Palestine. ‘PayPal is available in Israel but is not available in the Palestinian territories. Nor can Palestinians working in the West Bank or Gaza access it but Israelis living in settlements in the West Bank can use PayPal. This discrepancy has prompted Palestinian tech companies to seek a policy change from PayPal.’ Wikipedia
They are owned by and take a cut. Rogues. ‘Standard merchant fee: 2.9% + $0.30. Micropayment fee: 5% of the transaction. They have acquired all of the competitors. Revenue $17billion.
Can’t say who exactly owns PayPal. Just look at the gangsters-in-charge on the eBay Board.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay#Board_of_directors
PayPal – but no attributions – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay#Board_of_directors
Banks and money changers are crooks. We need Jesus back to cast them out from the temples.
I recently sent a sum to my stepson in Capetown. It was not mentioned at the time by the Santander cashier who just had to press a few buttons to send the money (my money) on that there would be a transaction charge. It appeared on a statement – £25. Yet we, the idiot taxpayers, bailed them out in £billions and billions.
@ Mary April 25, 2020 at 10:29
I am not saying Paypal isn’t run by crooks, but if you had sent the money by Paypal you would have saved yourself £25 (money to friends and family goes toll-free).
@ Mary April 25, 2020 at 09:18
Sorry, I am reading these comments from latest first at the moment, so my comment below was made before this one. You are right that they sometimes fail to serve people or campaigns that they dislike, but think of it like this – you could have used Paypal while holding your nose, then sent the £25 donation to PSC or a Palestinian charity.
Worth thinking about?
If I were you, Mr Murray, you should have no blockages to completely destroying the professional credibility of every police officer who is a witness at your trial. You should not consider their oath to have an ounce of credibility and ask them to state they will blow their children’s brains out if they are lying. If they refuse, you should make it clear in court that their oath is not worth anything. There cannot be any discussion about police officers carrying any concept of professional integrity nor principles. All they must be shown to be is tools of State bullying, a very low and venal form of existence.
You should show comprehensively that the police were completely incapable of doing their job, namely ignoring MSM evidence and solely focussing on a predetermined fitted-up criminal (i.e. you). That amounts to police corruption, a criminal charge, and there should be no question that the most senior police officer in Scotland responsible for your case should be directly accused in court of criminal corruption, professional misfeasance and behaviour completely incompatible with continuing a career in the police force. Every MSM journalist who prints lies about you must be brought to the attention of the judge and the judge must be ordered to gag them upon pain of losing whatever professional credibility they might conceive to retain (which I doubt will be anything).
Of course, if the police and judge actually behave with professional integrity, no such threats would be necessary because no trial would be taking place. The police would not be submitting evidence to the senior Law Officer and the judge would refuse to open proceedings based on telling the senior Law Officer that you had no case to answer.
Neither will have any integrity, nor any professional competence, which is why they are in the positions they are in.
Scotland is a banana Republic now and it is the SNP who is presiding over it.
Make what you will of that….
Craig,
I hope you reach your target, we need people like you more than ever.
Keep up the good work. You are a details man and the fascists don’t like details. I’ve just subscribed and will leave a donation later.
Good luck Craig, about time this political witch hunt was nipped in the bud.
Good luck dear sir. Your fight is a just and honest one.
Once again it would appear that the dark side of authority have crept from under their rock in the pursuit of a honest cause. They have the scent of honesty in their nostrils. They cannot alow this to flourish and succeed. Honesty and truth being so alien and damaging to them. Give their perverted studs a good boot on all our behalf.
Good bloody luck with it all Craig and may you and your dear wife emerge from this all the stronger
Go for it Craig. If you want more, just ask.
I have appreciated many of your articles, but reading this indictment, I am sad to say that it seems clear that you did indeed publish information which could identify the accusors. Item 41 in particular seems a clear case.
Evidently you did not read my admonishment not to judge the matter before you also see the defence case.
But on the wider question, any reporting is bound to indicate where and when events took place, including the fake assaults. If you say someone was allegedly attacked in Bute House on 19 July, you have immediately aided identification by eliminating all of the population who were not at Bute House on 19 July. By the standard you seek to establish, every single report of the trial by everyone was illicit.
“By the standard you seek to establish, every single report of the trial by everyone was illicit.”
Isn’t that precisely the point of the action in the first place: to establish, at least as a threat until a judge disposes of the argument, that any and all reporting of this matter is illegal? That and some prosecutorial discretion is all you need to set up a quite effective censorship.
I assume that’s what’s going on, anyway. It’s clear that it’s the standard the crown is assuming in their presentation.
Well, actually, it isn’t clear at all. I was following the trial, the blogs etc. and nothing Craig wrote gave me any insight as to who was involved. So I think the court is going to have to prove that what he published DID identify the accusers. People SAID that information helped them, but perhaps that was just said because they didn’t want to look like they couldn’t put two & two together. They weren’t saying it in a court of law, so it could be they lied. Who knows?? Because it’s in the Citation doesn’t make it TRUE.
I didn’t know who they were till I read Garavelli’s garbage. I hope Craig’s QC is going to make Garavelli’s part in it very clear to the Court, on just exactly WHO brought the names to my (and no doubt others’) attention!
Keep going Craig. I sincerely hope you beat these swine so roundly so that our contempt for them will become more widespread, popular and deeper than ever.
Best of luck.
Good luck Craig, about time this witch hunt was nipped in the bud!
Donation made.
Craig,
I am unfortunately a bit skint at the moment, however I want to do what I can to support you in what I think is an important issue.
Can you, perhaps, release a simple and straightforward method for folk that don’t necessarily read your site regularily but would agree with your ideas to contribute to your defence fund. Phew! That was a tad long winded.
I tried to copy and paste your appeal to a couple of SNP supporting web sites, and the links didn’t work. Kind of un-underlined. So not working. Getting folk a tad better off than me to support you is perhaps a baby step?
Best wishes.
Thank you Douglas and yes, I have been working on ways other than cash folk can help. Some online sleuthing will be needed and I shall do a post maybe tomorrow on it.
Don’t know why links don’t work when you try to repost.
Thanks.
I comment on a lot of AUWB sites and the likes. I would like to share your trials and tribulations on there, or therebouts. I’d be astonished if folk there didn’t contribute to your cause, as you are certainly one of us.
When the messengers are shot we are no longer on the right side – morally we are duty bound to usurp the despots who claim to be our ‘chosen’ defenders but are just showing their desperation of being cornered rats- like the aristos of France running from the masses.
A fixed trial without a jury and with an appointed hanging judge is the comical last stand.
Here’s £20.20 pence- more when my furlough arrives – might as well use the governments petty largesse against themselves.
This is a scandalous move against Freedom of Speech.
Go get them Craig!
Couldn’t get your link to work so donated direct to your account.
What I also find scandalous is the journalists house been raided by Police Scotland. What the hell is that all about? To me, there are some frightened people out there, and their fear is showing.
Stay strong Mr Murray, we will get you through this.
Donation made hopefully you will get a lot of support. So many thing in this United Kingdom are wrong on so many levels. Let’s right this wrong and move forward to independence.
He and his wife appear to have sewn up the Scottish legal system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wolffe
So sorry to read the latest episode in the cosmic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Three of the myriad stories of chronic injustice, not bordering on, but going well beyond the red line where sanity ends and madness begins, are unfolding before my eyes. The persecution of the great and noble Julian Assange supported by the media almost to the point of being led by it, the Covid 19 nonsense, not supported by the media but wholeheartedly led by it and the establishment persecution of Craig Murray, supported, aided and abetted by the media. When goodness and truth are the targets of the law. Where justice is but a game to be won or lost in battle of wits. Where God is only conspicuous by His total and utter absence from the ego driven machinations of mans lunacy, verily the end is nigh!
Take heart Craig! You have God on your side. Fight with all your worth but don’t fall into the trap of bitterness. Truly they know not what they do! Madness is the virus against which a stand must be made. Stay true Craig! Don’t be pulled down to their level no matter what. If you go to prison you will be in truly great company. Assange, Mandela and many, many other fine human beings passed that épreuve. The good people of the world are being tested to the limit now. But please hang onto your nobility Craig. Anger and bitterness are the kind of company to avoid at all costs in this end of epoch struggle. And take two tooth brushes Craig because they will surely find a reason to confiscate the first one. They are as children! Naughty children! Forgive them! They are mad and you are not! Be eternally grateful for that! And no matter what awful lies they say and write about you, we are legion who know who you really are. Courage Craig!
Well said John, thanks !
Lovely words. I so love reading your writings, John.
There’s a worrying implication in the charges that if you’re not specifically a court reporter then you should not be reporting what happens in court.
However, by far the most worrying thing is the way the ‘fan fiction’ is taken seriously. There is something very soviet about this, it’s like Milan Kundera’s book ‘The Joke’ only infinitly worse (it’s not a joke being misunderstood, it’s a joke being actively prosecuted). Even people who really dislike Craig Murray and the Independence movement need to look hard at the implications of this.
This would be comical if it weren’t so serious.
This has really angered me.
Most Joe and Jeanie Blogs sitting at home won’t even realise this is happening.
I’ve made a donation in support of you.
I really hope you meet your target.
Good luck mate. Right behind you.
I’ve never had a credit card. Can I walk into any Natwest Bank with some dosh & your Account Name, Acct. Nos. and Sort Code?
All the best Craig.
It’s a very kind thought Franc. I believe you can.
@Craig
Since last year depositing cash directly that way has been barred. I myself am having problems with bank transfer as needs confirmation by automated call and that type seems wrong tone where I am, using UK mobile. Will send from my local account Monday. Good luck and all the best.
Not any more you need a pay in slip . Supposedly to stop drug money or terrorism or some rot.
You could do a bank to bank transfer or direct debit
Yes Franc, all UK bank accounts support this. They will do standard checks to make sure you are the owner of the account that is being debited – sometimes just a card scan and PIN entry is fine. I have previously used formal ID instead (such as a passport or driving license).
Thanks Craig, keep fighting for the truth, made a small donation out of my meagre UK state pension.
Salmond’s acquittal has stung them badly so they’re lashing out. It all has sick echoes of the period around the invasion of Iraq when the only people in UK public life who paid a price were those who opposed the criminals and highlighted their lies.
Donated ??
Dear Craig – I have followed your blog for many years and am a huge fan of your work. As you say, the state is attempting to punish you for you brave and honest reporting of the Julian Assange and Alex Salmond cases. So now is the time for your supporters to rally round you. To that end I have made a small donation to your legal fund. I am sure that many others will do the same. My very best wishes to you sir!
This needs to be done transparently via a third party such as gofundme rather than just sending cash to your paypal.
@ Henry Young April 25, 2020 at 11:21
Why not both?
I suspect Craig is openly merging “blog funds” with “defence funds”, since they both contribute to the same aim. Speaking personally, I am very happy for him to use my previously donated blog funds for his defence, and I would expect most donors to feel the same way.
Indeed. My expenses have always included legal expenses. As a sole trader, for tax purposes I declare any net income from the blog, together with any other net earnings, to the Inland Revenue. The donations will simply count as income, the lawyers’ fees as expenses. I am not a registered charity.
Looking back, the original wheeze, to hide behind rape victim anonymity, was intended to kettle opposition to this political fit up against Scottish Independence. The pressure cooker is still heating and pressuring up, all from this sheltering behind their rape victim status.
The devil’s plan is weak. He wants to terrify you with bankruptcy and reputational loss. Are we really supposed to believe a proposition that court rules of the anonymity of the allegers of rape still apply after the court has proved them to be liars?
As to the jigsaw accusations, those who were in the know a out their identities have an advantage over the rest of us in spotting hints to their identities. But the contempt rules are surely set at the bar of preventing the public finding them out, not from preventing those who already know them?
One wonders if the police in the van were equipped with tasers like the ones who killed a man who was being settled in the London demonstration. This really does look like a very used and nicotiney fag end the PTB have picked up here. As soon as Salmond reveals the names of the alphabet conspirators this will all be completely irrelevant.
In the meantime it looks like the PTB have sloped off to a betting shop to gamble , and inevitably lose , against a betting company’s computer, and now they’ve lost , have gone outside to smoke the fag end for a bit of comfort after their loss.
Until we are all lobotomised at birth, the court of public opinion will always be able to see through this pathetic piece of Dickensian squalor. Perhaps one of the ladies could be made to spontaneously self-combust. Not really, just to get this sorry episode to admit they lost.
They are NOT rape victims, they are NOT any harrassment victims, because Mr. Salmond is found NOT GUILTY, by the court.
No rape, no harrassment, no victims, anonymity? Apparently anonymity is needed only to conceal the fact that the witness is actually a “daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador”