I owe an apology to all those who are kind enough to subscribe to my blog. I was determined that I would not let my impending trial affect my output, but have been unable to see that through. It is partly because preparation does take up much more time than I had imagined. But it is mostly because I find it hard to put my mind to anything else and really concentrate.
I do not want to give you the impression that I am very worried, or depressed. I am rather angry; a deep, seething anger that keeps breaking into my thoughts. I am rather worried about this. I can with fairness claim to have devoted much of my life to fighting against injustice. I was prepared to sacrifice an extremely prestigious and lucrative career to take a stand against UK complicity in torture, driven largely by empathy for the victims. I have assisted with numerous individual human rights cases and particularly asylum claims, including representing people, without fee, before immigration courts. But I am nonetheless alarmed by how much more viscerally angry I am when the injustice is against myself than when it is against another. I am aware that is very unattractive. This fury at being personally mistreated is disproportionate and quite wrong, and ought not to stop me working. I feel guilty about it.
Among the results is a very annoying writers’ block. I have been intending this last five days to write an article on Barack Obama’s failure while President to tackle institutional racism and societal inequalities in the USA, and relate that to the remarkable fact he paid much less attention to aid to Africa than George W Bush. I enjoy writing most when I am running counter to the prevailing narrative and pointing to inconvenient fact. But the lines of logic refuse to flow, the fascinating asides do not pop up, and then I remember something else I must tell my lawyers.
Please do not worry. I am not sad, and my anger does not manifest itself by being horrible to others; on the contrary, for once I seem to be particularly considerate to my family and appreciative of how fortunate I am. The purpose of this post is to apologise to you, and thank you for your patience. It is not a signal of giving up – I do not intend to wait until after the trial before getting back to normal. Please bear with me.
Some law is made for the purpose of justice, which is excellent, but most law is made for the purpose if injustice. The thinking is that if people are made busy by injustice, they will not have time or resources to fight the petpetrators of injustice.
Nobody should think that the Justice system is designed to mete and dole equal laws unto a civilised race. Tennyson got it right. The colonial system is designed to make bananas that cost pennies for us and yet bankrupt the countries that grow them.
Scotland is a case in point. An independent Scotland would be able to give up work completely if it were charging a fair rent for the nuclear bases and Royal and Foriegner owned Estates. Beauty is worth money. Ask Govid . But Scotland is made busy dealing with blatant injustice like this case.
So much for the Lord Queen’s Tartan Avocado Tart.
Tennyson got it right. Mete and dole unequal laws unto a savage race.
Savage is the equivalent of what they used to call Muslims in India fanatics. But the meaning is the same. Savage means those that dare to resist the colonal yoke.
Mr Murray, je vous remercie de votre lutte incessante contre les injustices et notamment pour celle qui “attaque“ Julian Assange jour après jour. Je vous fais un signe de soutien par ce petit mot car comme vous je hais l injustice mais je suis bien loin de votre courage.
Total support and respect Mr Craig Murray for all you have done for victims of torture as Julian Assange, for truth and justice !
Given the nature of the charge against you, in which you are being persecuted for truthful reporting, and assuming an apology based on cabin fever or similar is not forthcoming, it is very difficult to imagine how the court can get past the bit where you put your hand on the bible without condemning itself before God – so please be wary of any use of virtual proceedings to dispense with such formalities.
Craig, firstly, good luck. Secondly here’s a handy tip. Entry to Court these days entails going through airport style security measures, usually manned by G4S staff or similar. You are required to empty your pockets, and then pass through a metal detector. For that reason, it is good advice to avoid wearing any metallic items that may set the alarm off. Belt buckles, buttons, keys etc. Those manning the security love nothing more than exerting their authority by giving you the run around at every little bleep. It can be very frustrating and disturbing to go through their rigmarole before you even het into Court.
justice during this health crisis has taken a turn to commercialise trials by profitting from multiple phonecalls ?
Next rhey will make you pay a paupers fee to sit in trials, if this convenient emergency law and lock down ever stops.
wishing Craig and his team good luck with the wordsmithing tomorrow.
support and respect Mr Craig Murray for all you do
Towards the end of the Lord Advocates letter in the National he says this:
‘The same tests were applied regardless of the nature of the breach or the perceived thrust of the comment. In most cases once an issue was raised it was addressed voluntarily. A number of potentially prejudicial comments were removed from the public domain as a result of those actions.’
I do not believe that Craig was ever offered the opportunity to address voluntarily something he had written, that was perceived as a breach.
Easily Confused – I have been thinking about this too.
He wrote his `Yes Minister’ take-off in January. I’d say that that doesn’t in any way help towards identification of the alphabet sisters, but they *did* write to him asking him to take it down. Look at his post of 5th March where they write that the article `gives rise to a potential contempt of court’.
I don’t know what `potential’ means here.
So maybe we’ve been barking up the wrong tree. I thought that their case against him was based on a couple of tweets late in March.
If their main complaint is the `Yes Minister’ article (which they quote at great length in the indictment) then I simply can’t see how the prosecution can be successful (no matter how corrupt the judges).
No need for apology. You need to take care of yourself at the moment. I wish you well with that. Suffering injustices just makes us stronger when we manage to pick ourselves up again. And in a better position to help others who have been violated by the sickos in high places.
You’re a beacon in a dark world Craig. Anyone would feel the same additional intensity when the injustice is towards themselves or their loved ones, so don’t hold yourself to an impossible standard.
I have received information from the Scotts Courts regarding access to Craig’s hearing tomorrow.
With respect to ‘virtual access’ it offers a telephone number to get ‘dial in’ access.
Can anybody tell me if I am therefore correct in assuming that access is via telephone only (unless you use a tablet for the same) and not available via computer? I have tried contacting the courts but am just getting ‘this service is not available’ automated answers or email addresses.
If that is the case, and it certainly seems so to me, then that appears to be a clever way to offer open access and then suppress the numbers ‘attending’.
Would appreciate any information.
I am pretty sure it’s just a dial-in using a telephone, its a method commonly in use in the civil service, essentially it will be like a great big conference call. I read that we have 15 minutes to dial in, but it does not say how many lines there are available, or if indeed there is a limit at all. I have never had an issue with this style of system but I have always been using it for a work meeting and therefore not large numbers of people. I have no idea of its capacity for the number of people who may wish to attend the hearing and I would therefore agree with you that there is a good chance we will not all get access.
Depends what sort of setup they have – in work, I’ve attended conference calls with literally hundreds of people on the line. Whether they want that capacity here is another thing, they might just allow for the number of people who would have attended in person, or limit it below that. If they do it on the cheap, and/or they don’t want too many witnesses, it might be a 15-port line.
Peter,
I have replied to the Court’s email asking for clarification:
I would be interested to know and grateful if you would enlighten me as to what is ‘capacity’ and on what basis such a ‘capacity’ is determined
Its been as silent as the grave thus far
I ain’t a happy chap. This hearing should be viewed through a video link to all that wish to do so, it’s called open justice.
“Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.”
Many thanks to all the above (as of 20:11) for your replies, very helpful.
@IMcK – It was glenn_uk who mentioned ‘capacity’, I have absolutely no idea how many that might be. glenn suggests it could be as few as 15 but it could also be 100s.
Not a great time for my phone to pack up – it refuses to charge just now and it has only enough charge left for emergencies – Apple, pahh!
Good luck for tomorrow Mr Murray, however many gain access there will be very, very many with you in spirit.
I, for one, find I increasingly have good feelings about the possibility of a positive outcome.
All best.
I have now had THREE of the same e-mails from Judicial Communications with the details for access to the hearing.
Bit chaotic up there in Edinburgh.
A little like Williamson (Mr Shurrup and Go Away) saying ALL schools can reopen and the primary school heads saying no way.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/01/drop-plan-to-reopen-english-primary-schools-to-all-pupils-heads-urge
I noticed what other commenters are saying. I think HMG/No 10 is employing Workfare.
I went to the local council tip this morning to find a queue that would have taken an hour to get through. Each driver was being interviewed as to what they were disposing off. I gave up and went to another also run by Surrey CC where there was a shorter queue. The same questions from a jobsworth about items being disposed of and then another operating a barrier and lo and behold another one directing you to the appropriate skip. Mine was a large bag of garden waste.
Previously and pre Covid-19, the place is unmanned except for one chap in a cabin at the entrance. It doesn’t take much in the way of IQ for a council tax payer to read the signs by each skip indicating contents. I reckoned that there were three unnecessary jobs being paid out of council tax. In stores and garden centres, there are 2m [spaces markers on the floors and also queue managers directing you to the one and only till working. Then they only take bank cards so tough luck if you don’t have one or have lost one. All quite ridiculous and OTT. Meanwhile businesses are closing down and shutting up shops, pubs, restaurants and the like.
Get on with it Johnson. If you had taken more notice of Covid-19 coming into the country in January, instead of concentrating on your love life, we would not be in the mess we are in now.
You’re fortunate Mary, our civic amenity sites have only recently been reopened, and they are now restricted. You need to contact the Council, and agree to a list of t&cs before they grant you a slot. We rang last Thursday, and have been given 09:30 on Monday 15th June. Need to take ID proving you live in the Borough, No Vans, No Trailers, Must wear gloves, No commercial waste etc. While the skips were shut, fly-tipping around here went through the roof.
I too have had an email from Judicial Communications with the details for access to the hearing. It does indeed look like it is telephone only access.
Good Luck tomorrow Craig, wishing you all the best!
Good luck tomorrow Craig, I’m sure many folk around the world will be thinking of you, and your unjust predicament.
Best of luck for tomorrow, Craig.
Best of luck tomorrow Craig!
Craig, no need for you to apologise. The people who should be apologising and be in court are the alphabet women and their helpers in the SNP/Scotgov.
Best wishes for tomorrow.
MSM won’t cover the trial, only a superficial, guilty as charged comment. How can we monitor the progress of the trial.on here?
Monster – well, I hope that those who succeed in getting to listen to it (I will certainly try) do try to give accounts of it here after it is all over (apparently illegal to make comments while it is going on).
I guess the moderators will have their work cut out here separating the acting from the cleavage – which bits are we permitted to share and which bits we aren’t.
I wonder if James Wolffe qc will sing us a nice song explaining how he came to be a judge ….. (I’ve been listening to too much Gilbert and Sullivan)
Good luck Craig.
Remember you are a Jedi!
Years ago my wife had a dispute with the LDA soon after Boris took over the GLA. It was our first experience of the UK legal system, and made me understand the view of one of my friends (hailing from the Shetlands) that it is “feudal”.
I pass to you a note I wrote on a piece of paper and tucked it in her pocket on the morning of her first hearing: “I met my ancestors. I will call into the past. Far back to the beginning of time and beg them to come and help me at the judgement. I will reach back and draw them into me and they must come. For at this moment I am the whole reason they have existed at all.” – Cinque in Amistad
I wish you all the best – for you, your family and for all of us. And for my wife, on whom the hearing, more than the outcome, left deep scars. Truth shall set us free.
Dear Craig
You need that righteous anger also on your own behalf. It is not just for yourself at the moment, but for all those on behalf of whom you have fought. So please do not consider us, your supporters, you owe us nothing…we support you freely and in this monstrous injustice you face we see not just you but all the others. You must preserve your strength and your health above all. So just send us postcards or a snippet of your favourite poems or songs, or a waft of your favourite malt if you must send us something! And forget all the rest till this is over and then get stuck into Obut Obama …o but he would have if only…oh but he could nae because….
“It is important to understand the difference between REACTION and RESPONSE. A RESPONSE is born of calm mind and sensitive awareness.[…] A REACTION, however, is the antithesis of a response…It is a withdrawal of sensitivity and relational awareness.[…] When a conflict seems to have been resolved by reaction, most often it is a postponement not a resolution, and the real cost has not yet been realized.[…] When thoughts and feelings are non-reactive, calm, and responsive only, then the posture may become natural and remain natural in the midst of activity — never leaving equilibrium — and becoming still as soon as activity is not called for.” (Peter Ralston, ‘Cheng Hsin’)
Best of everything. As a signed supporter and follower, I signed up to listen to the court proceedings. It was sign-in time, 5am US time when I dialed and discovered my verizon plan did not included international calling. My attempt to add it immediately failed. Nevertheless …
You did not miss much, apart from the fact that when the defence lawyer (I think) spoke the line crackled in a way it did not when others were speaking…at least that’s how it was for me!
@ Easily Confused
Thanks for your comment. I assume from your response that the hearing is over as commenting on it whilst it is ongoing is held to be in contempt of court.
For those of us unable to listen in, such as myself, can you inform us as to the outcome – you are allowed to comment once the hearing is over?
Je voudrais participer à l’émission en tant que témoin.
Two years in jail would give us two years without Mr Murray telling us jobs aren’t finite, “Come on in immigrants – as many of you as you like! – Britain belongs to you as much – probably more so! – than it does to native Britons”. Think of all the minorities: a BILLION Indians; a BILLION Arabs; a BILLION Chinese, etc. Oppressed by us ordinary folk who must now be controlled by people like Murray because we can’t be trusted to do the right thing, so Murray will decide for us! And that’s why we have Brexit – thanks to the selfishness of people like Murray who thinks he OWNS this country and our lives, and minorities are in a minority!
I am not surprised that you hide behind a sobriquet to expose your racist and xenophobic agenda. What you write exhibits several logical fallacies. Your purported quote is you yourself setting up a Straw Man so you can ridicule what you yourself have said. Ignore. Then you trot out a False Dichotomy equating migrants to the UK with the teeming hordes of non-whites you hate; your bile emphasised with Block Capitals so we can imagine your shouty voice. You also ignore the need for a prosperous economy to welcome immigrants but the data supporting this are probably too hard for you to grasp. Next you go Ad Hominem on Murray who exerts no control nor decides for anybody same himself. In conclusion there is no substance in any of your arguments. Maybe you are just another scared anonymous troll whose game is provocation?
Neither do worry, Mr. Murray. It is absolutely normal that you take the necessary time and pay more attention to your defense.
You are supporting others; it’s your time to be supported.
How was the hearing today?
Good luck Craig, I admire that you gave up your career to support the people & causes that you care about. Scotland as an Independent nation will benefit from the support of you & your like, empathetic, caring & inclusive in our quest to be a sovereign nation again!
I am disgusted that you have been targeted & fully expect you to be exonerated from any wrongdoing!
I am not a subscriber – no need to apologise to me – but I did make a donation after following the lead of your supporter Campbell at WingsOver. I read the mainstream newspaper articles and using no other source except Google was able to identify Woman A. Therefore the assertion that you have been selected for prosecution is indeed evidence of police collusion in political vendetta. The worst aspect of all this for me is the harm it does to independence and the realisation that the present state of internal Machiavellian nonsense in Charlotte Square indicates the corruption of power and the primacy of non-Indy agendas among the people to whom I lend my vote. Good luck and I hope the lack of a jury in determining Contempt does not mean establishment wagons circle and you are the victim.
Pas besoin d’excuses : nous savons bien… Soutien sincère. Nous sommes toujours là !
We’ve cancelled our TV tax. We ain’t paying for that propaganda no more. The sum of £157.50 is winging it’s way to you.
I understand completely and this will not make me stop supporting you. On the contrary, it makes me support your struggle even more. I look forward to what you have to say about Barack Obama, not just in relation to racism, but also to his warmongering and war crimes and other misdeeds. Obama gets far too much praise for doing nothing more or less than other imperialist presidents. And they ALL have been imperialist presidents, make no mistake about that. Write about Libya. Write about how Obama helped betray the auto workers. Write about how he told the residents of Flint, Michigan that there was nothing wrong with their poisoned water. Stick a pin in the Obama balloon.