Dave Llewellyn sat next to me in the public gallery of the Salmond trial as we witnessed the defence witnesses – largely female – who shredded the prosecution case. A few weeks ago, seven detectives of the Serious Crime Squad raided Dave’s home at 5am, handcuffed him and questioned him over conspiracy to murder – in relation to a public Facebook post. Dave has now been charged with a lesser but still imprisonable offence.
You will recall Mark Hirst, friend of both Dave and I, being charged with threatening communication for using the expression “reap the whirlwind” in a political sense – a charge from the Crown Office so outrageous that it was eventually thrown out by the court as “no case to answer”. Well, the Dave Llewellyn case is extremely similar.
Future poet laureate John Betjeman should have been hung, drawn and quartered, oh at least three times, for writing in his famous poem “Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough”, if the standard of pretend literalness and credulity being applied by Police Scotland and the Crown Office had been applied to Betjeman. (And no, Dave’s post does not reference bombs.)
The truth is that in Scotland we now have a police, prosecutorial and justice system which is at the disposal of the Sturgeon clique for the pursuit of their private vendettas against political opponents. The fact that I am set to be jailed for “jigsaw identification”, when I demonstrably and provably did far less of this difficult to define activity than the mainstream media, who have not been prosecuted, is further evidence of that, as were the charges against Mark Hirst, and indeed Jeremy Gilchrist.
Please note that all of these political prosecutions have been based on thought crime. People in a small and definable political group – all people I know – are being prosecuted merely for publishing or saying things which annoy somebody in the Sturgeon clique. This is even before the Hate Crime Act, with its further swingeing restrictions on free speech, comes into effect. These are very dangerous times indeed to be any kind of dissident writer or campaigner in Scotland. The interesting thing, of course, is that the political orthodoxy being enforced is superficially liberal-left; a set of right-on beliefs whose exponents are so convinced of their own morality, they are happy to jail anybody who differs.
My personal crime against this orthodoxy is not to accept the mantra that all men accused of sex crime are automatically guilty, and that the “victim” must always be believed, whatever the evidence to the contrary. I also think people accused of serious crime should have the right to be judged by a jury of their peers. These are seriously unfashionable opinions.
On Tuesday I wrote a different post to this. It actually gave the detail of what David Llewellyn posted, and examined it. My article also revealed who was behind the complaint against him, and referred to some interesting history of Llewellyn’s own investigations.
However I received strong advice that to publish my article might itself be construed contempt of court, and that I ran the risk of being instantly jailed rather than free pending appeal, and further that to publish may attract yet another political prosecution from the Crown Office. I therefore did not publish and cannot give you the detail of the Llewellyn case, at least until after its conclusion.
I find this deeply depressing. I should not, in normal circumstances, have had the slightest hesitation in giving you the detail of what is happening to Dave Llewellyn, and more importantly why, in the same way I did with Mark Hirst. I find the notion that my own journalism is successfully being “chilled” in this way highly worrying, and this adds to the sense of injustice I feel in my own case. In fact anger and perhaps even humiliation at the powerlessness – and fear I am becoming a coward – has pretty well prostrated me for three days. I feel somewhat recovered now, and determined to fight on. But for the first time I find myself seriously considering, after my case is concluded, leaving my beloved Scotland and going to live in a country which does not jail dissident writers.
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“But for the first time I find myself seriously considering, after my case is concluded, leaving my beloved Scotland and going to live in a country which does not jail dissident writers.”
Curiously, before I reached the end of your piece, I was thinking of advising you to do just so.
Life is too damn short to live in the shit hole that the UK has become. I made that decision last September and wrote a little about it here. You may not approve of my choices, but you would be perfectly free to criticise the UK and Scotland from here. Here is China. Just don’t think of criticising China? Well, would you want to?
In the current climate, you have to take sides, and there are just two. Are you with the USA and its client states, or do you choose China and Russia? If you are with me then you have to give China some respect for what they are achieving. Almost a billion taken out of extreme poverty. A recent US survey showed that the Chinese give over 90% approval for their government. It’s difficult to shrug off years of anti-Chinese propaganda I know, but do try. Every government is evil, but some are more evil than others. And don’t buy into all the Uyghur crap. Are you aware that the Uyghurs are actually the second biggest Muslim group in China, the biggest are the Hui, but who has heard of them, because they do not inhabit the Chinese geographic equivalent of Ukraine to Russia.
Anyway, when China gets too frenetic I have a residence permit for the Philippines which I recommend wholeheartedly. All year round summer, friendly people, English widely spoken, looney right wing dictator: well you can’t have everything. At 76 years of age I have to choose from what is available.
I am considering various, including Turkey and Iran. Needs to be somewhere I would be welcome, and I would like the food, and could cope with my health conditions..
If you want to discuss China or Philippines, write to me with an end to end encrypted email, I use protonmail. You have mine I presume.
Philippines would be a better bet than China. It really is glorious. But at the moment it is closed to foreigners, covidwise they are not too clever. Check it out. Down south we are free from typhoons,volcanoes, tsunamis and earthquakes. Hopefully I will be back in September for a really long stay. Would be privileged to help you.
They both fail the somewhere I would like the food test, by a very great margin.
Philippine food essentially western if that is what you want.
You are a skilled writer, you have information we need and excellent contacts. The punters need to know how their country works if they are to recover their national and civil rights.
I am angry just now at what is happening to honest people. People who actually give a toss about Scotland by folk who couldn’t give a fuck. If you go abroad make it temporary and keep writing.
Philippine food is not too great. Unfortunate mix of Spanish and American which are both rubbish. But Filipinos are great cooks and can prepare anything after instructional. In manila they have all types of excellent restaurants. All ingredients are available.
Hawaii. I’m sure Tulsi would love to have you!
I forgot to add, virtually zero cost of living.
Doctor K – do they do a good plate of mince and tatties in the Phillipines?
Unfortunately I suspect that the Philippines are wide open to US government agencies.
Turkey is a wonderful country, as I’m sure you know, with some of the friendliest people and best food to be found anywhere. But maybe not much of an improvement on Sturgeon’s Scotland in terms of being a sanctuary for radical journalists.
If you’re reporting on Scottish politics, then the Turkish authorities probably won’t bother you – and will be quite happy to assist you if the British or Americans try bothering you.
If you are seriously considering such “far out” options, I would take a long look at Russia. It’s not the USSR, or the corrupt mess of Yeltsin’s era. The government is formally quite hard-line in Western eyes, but I suspect it is rather more honest and law-abiding than we give it credit for. I think most of your journalism would be permitted, and if so would be much admired by the people. The more I learn about them, the more I like the Russian spirit. For example, to combat vicious US propaganda, the government chose a beautifully simple policy: to do absolutely nothing to censor it. Instead, it is widely quoted and replayed on TV – and the audiences laugh heartily.
The drawback would be learning the language – a requirement for living there.
You could always ask Edward Snowden, who I feel sure must have high regard for you.
” Turkey and Iran “
Are you having a laugh? According to the Committee to Protect Journalists Turkey is the worst country in the world for imprisoning journalists. You could always keep Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe company in Iran I suppose but you do realise that alcohol is prohibited?
Healthcare in Turkey is rated as being pretty good though.
Craig, as I’ve said before, your health and freedom with your family is paramount. We all want you to be free to write. I do not want you to be the one in the front, with everyone stading safe behind their keyboards behind you ! You’ve suffered enough. Let the many young journalists like Max Blumenthal take over. Have you thought of Ireland ? Or Lebanon? The Great Robert Fisk’s loves.
Kempe – you may (or may not) have noticed that Lady Dorrian has declared that Craig Murray should be banged up for the crime of very good journalism. As I understand it, this happened in Edinburgh Scotland.
The Committee to Protect Journalists should be respectfully requested to put that in their pipe and smoke it – and come to the conclusions that, no matter how bad Turkey may be, it isn’t as bad as Scotland (particularly for journalists reporting on Scottish politics).
A non NATO country and not part of the “Collective West”.
https://cpj.org/reports/europe/turkey/
“…isn’t as bad as Scotland.”
Really.
Kempe – let me spell this out in syllables that you may understand.
Craig Murray is currently under sentence of being banged up for 8 months in one of Her Majesty’s colleges for re-educating journalists. This is happening in Scotland.
There have never been any objections to Craig Murray’s journalism from the Turkish authorities.
If the Turks will let him in, then the choice from his point of view is therefore a no-brainer.
Craig has, to date, written little about Turkey and its leader but should he want to I’m sure he’d rather be living somewhere where he is free to write whatever he wants rather than having to be careful not to upset the regime.
It is, as you say, a ‘no-brainer’.
Kempe – since he hasn’t written much about Turkey or its leader to date, then it’s a fair bet that he doesn’t consider this within his sphere of competence and this is unlikely to change. He therefore has nothing to worry about from the Turkish authorities.
If he moves to Turkey, he’ll be able to write effectively about all the issues he has been writing about since I started following this blog (at the time of the Skripal fiasco) without having to worry about the authorities banging him up.
It’s all relative, isn’t it? But I think the point here was that the UK is no better. There is still this weird tendency for people in the UK to think they are so superior, even when their eyes are telling them otherwise. I guess it partly comes from colonialism and generations of brain-washing, lapping up bad journalism. I don’t think other nationalities suffer from the disease of navel-gazing-nationalistic-narcisism so much as the British, and Brexit ought to have taught us that cautionary lesson.
There is an interesting series currently running on one of the cable channels.
It consists of archive film of life in Singapore in the glory days of the ‘Great’ British Colonial Empire.
The films horrifically show the disgusting exploitative racism inflicted on the poor native inhabitants
It really blows the whistle on what we were all brought up to believe – namely that the Empire was the greatest thing that ever happened to the world and the poor peoples who were unfortunate to be subjected to the racialist exploitation and violence.
I’ve no doubt that circumstances currently appear very bleak for you and I am not competent enough to offer you more support than my monthly contribution. I know you are shrewd enough to have already contemplated what happened to Mr Assange when the government in Ecuador came to an end and was replaced by an administration ready to invite British authorities into its London embassy in order to imprison him in HMP Belmarsh so no matter where you might exile, there could always be a similar eventuality; you would be subject to the whims of a government that holds only temporary power. As run-down as our NHS is, I hope you decide to remain in Scotland where people genuinely care about your circumstances and I believe it is ‘better the devil you know’ than to entrust your already reduced health conditions to any uncertainty. I wish you a speedy recovery.
Decent healthcare in Turkey, state or private, at least in large cities Ankara, Izmir, Istanbul, Antalya. I split my time between Istanbul and a small town outside Istanbul by the sea. Evidently, you have been here enough to know the food is good, and they grow most of the fruits and veggies themselves. Long sunny summers in the south and west. Avoid local politics or criticism, however mild, of the top. President is the litigating kind.
Iran practices ritual murder, keep out of it on moral grounds.
You obviously don’t know anything about Iran. I would say don’t go to Iran, because it’s a pain living under the sanctions, though the internet works.
Cuba? Good health care but terribly humid! Oh Craig I find myself weeping for what’s happening to you and to the country
Same here. Its shocking to the heart and soul. And as much as i try to bring attention to this blog to my friends and colleagues only a handful understand the implications of this action against principled journalism and the use of the judiciary (so blatantly) as a political sword to dismember and destroy. What an utter fucking disgrace.
“…I received strong advice that to publish my article might itself be construed contempt of court, and that I ran the risk of being instantly jailed rather than free pending appeal, and further that to publish may attract yet another political prosecution from the Crown Office. I therefore did not publish…”
Ah, the “chilling” mechanism is working as intended. A few more prosecutions, a few more prison sentences, and no one will be brave enough to say anything without Nicola Sturgeon’s written permission (witnessed of course, as you can’t be too safe) in advance.
Agree that contesting one contempt case at a time may be enough. In fact one may be enough for a life time.
And those making those making these allegations of being ‘offended’ by what’s said, will forever be in the powerful position of getting rid of all those who stand against them in their wishes to ‘get on in life’. Pretty scary!
I have never met a man more ethical fair or stronger willed than you Craig.
There is an option for you as you have regular backers, and with their support, you could send out what you wrote about Dave’s case ensuring it with a precise demand not to re publish it.
Such a move would guarantee that you seeded what you wrote with a wider circle, ensuring that Dave might get some extra financial support, should he need it, during his trial.
It would also ensure that the SCS knows that they are not just dealing with one journalist who potentially could throw a spanner into the works but also with a wider unidentifiable readership.
I’m sure that you know many other journalists who would also ‘store’ your thoughts until the case has run its painful, very likely nonsensical path.
Leaving Scotland is a personal issue, but you would have to look long and hard to find a society that fits your requirements. Bhutan and Nepal would make access to your engagements throughout the world a hard task and I don’t think that Russia would be easy to live in either. Lastly it would mean that your wider family is harder to visit.
Reading Lord Dunlops plans for a Union ministry and or Union ambassadors, i.e. “Every minister in a devolved Government should have (sounds like must) Unionism running through their veins”
I can’t see Nicola in any way becoming more humane and or independent from the vast amount of taxpayers lolly she will be earning whilst singing ‘the Bonnie banks of Loch Lomond’. with Woolfe on the fiddle and and lady Dorian on the bagpipes.
PS the supply of Lagavulin to Bhutan might also be of concern as its a long way and many a hands might want to deprive you of it. take care and enjoy the Canaries are singing at the top of the tree.
I know a lot ofpeople dont believe this. They only see anti SNP and conspiracy theory. Many don’t believe that Alex was set up by the Govt. They just can’t comprehend it.
The thing is that previously honest people go down dark roads for personal gain. Power has gone to the heads of Sturgeon and Murrell.
I think the intention was to rattle a few minor skeletons in front of Alex so he would quietly slink into ignominy.
That he would be fearful of his wife and family finding out about his indiscretions….
They underestimated the man, his response was to face it and refuse to be blackmailed..
And on it went from there…..Sturgeon is now firmly on the road to hell. Her lies, half truths and voter manipulation forced her to attempt to silence Alex. Now she has no road back……
Yes. And if they allowed a petty political vendetta to escalate out of control – how much can we trust them if they start a war with Russia, China or Iran?
I suspect neither Russia, nor China, nor Iran are trembling in their boots at the thought of being assaulted by legions of kilted Jocks.
Those days are past – and in the past they will remain.
I think the Jocks will be safe enough at home – as long as home remains intact. My fear is that we attack them, they destroy our carrier, we launch missiles, they retaliate, and we launch the nuclear missiles.
Within one hour the UK would be uninhabitable. Just ten or a dozen ICBMs, each with a dozen or so warheads, would do it. Without more than scratching the surface of the Russian arsenal.
Britain doesn’t have any nuclear missiles, they are American.
You can’t. “They” won’t start a war with Russia, China or Iran. Because their “employers” are in bed with CCP, Vlad and Bibi. Iran just wants to join the tea club. The war has never stopped though – but there’s still a lot of “charitable work” to be done in the middle east, to carve out the space for the “edifice” the real stakeholders of the game intend to build there. Maybe, if that charitable work draws too much attention, they are going to lit some fireworks in other parts of the globe.
Chris
” charitable ” work in the Middle East.
How exactly does that work? Do we build the most enormous totem pole in the Middle East while we ourselves, lost in our pagan heritage, occasionally go on Pilgrimage to Zion and marvel at its works like stone age cavemen to Stonehenge?
What’s our role in this “””” charitable “”””” enterprise? Surely not as priests and priestesses? More like pyramid building slaves and sex slaves. I agree with your description, but are we Gentiles allowed to participate in the Zionist Empire?
It feels as though the vast intolerance of intellectual thought by Nicola Sturgeon is some kind of human experiment for our role as serfs to the Zion mythology.
In which case Craig Murray will have to propel himself to a corner of our universe well beyond the reach of Zion. Malaysia? Chile? Iceland? Syria? Uzbekistan?
Where is this place unaffected by the zionist Antichrist? Wherever is is, the penal system will be guaranteed to be infinitely worse than Scotland.
If Moses pbuh said Do not bear false witness, then obviously the reverse is required in these days of the Antichrist.
Where can you hide from the lies of the Antichrist? I suspect only in the mosque near you. Stay put, and seek refuge in the truth of Islam.
“They just can’t comprehend it.” Most of them simply don’t want to comprehend it. I hope some of them at least have the grace to apologise, having gaslit many of us from their comfortable perches, when they can no longer ignore the reality.
They comprehend it. And they embrace it. It’s most of “us” who are not prepared to comprehend their cynicism. Apologies on their behalf?? They would celebrate the destruction.
Blame idiot SNP supporters for voting for this corrupt dictatorship back in government.
As Sir Winston Churchill apparently did not say, “The best argument against democracy is a five minute talk with the average voter”.
On consideration, that looks more like Mencken to me.
(“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard”).
Tom, I recently bought a chest of drawers from a man in chingford, he was telling me that the “conservatory” vote was hopeless against Kahn in the mayoral elections.
He apparently didn’t know the name of the ruling party of the country which he’d always voted for. Well I mean why else would their name be shortened to Tory eh?
Chingford man may not have been so far off the mark: plot conservatory ownership with Tory support and you would probably find a very close correlation.
Hear, hear. Just like the idiots in America who keep voting for people like Joe Biden instead of Tulsi Gabbard or Ron Paul.
That’s because they vote on tribal lines, instead of learning about the candidates and their policies. They just listen to what the tribal chiefs tell them to do; do it; and go back to sleep.
Just as they unthinkingly comply with lockdown, face masks, and vaccinations, come to think of it.
Gabbard is a rightwing fraud, Paul a libertarian maniac. Nein dank.
For not adhering wholeheartedly to every single aspect of the simplistic and dogmatic tribalist gang culture which requires total and unthinking obedience to the never ending infinity virtue signalling purity spiral.
Yeah. Right mate.
Isn’t it time for the two minute hate session?
No, for the reasons I stated. If they are your heroes I’m sorry for you.
I’d imagine even people who can’t stand Sturgeon are happy that the elections left the door ajar to independence. A secure Tory /Labour/LD grand coalition and the door firmly shut would’ve been far, far worse for morale.
Sturgeon may have turned into the Red Queen: Off with his head! But being perceived as strong & dictatorial probably appeals to a section of Scottish society that otherwise wouldn’t vote for the SNP, were the party led by a more establishment confrontational leader like say Joanna Cherry.
Craig considers ” eaving my beloved Scotland and going to live in a country which does not jail dissident writers.”
Would not blame him one bit. I think it would be a good idea. But where is safe from the evil (American) empire?
Ah, good you mentioned “American”! :)))
The American Empire is where the USSR was in the early 1980ies. It may collapse tomorrow or stumble on for another 40 years but its power is much less than it is thought to be.
Don’t go through all of this to give up. If you do then the ‘victors’ will write the history. Your account of the Salmond trial was the only one giving the actual details of the defence and now it no longer exists. It needs to be put back in the public domain as it is part of our history now.
And, I agree but disagree with your other point. At the point of complaint the police SHOULD be sympathetic and should believe the complainant as they would in any other crime. Evidence should be gathered but obviously due-diligence must be carried out so there are no surprises in court. This will involve trying to ‘head-off’ defences that could be made in court about prior relationship and consent. Once this is satisfied and the PF thinks it can make a case it should go to court but, as ever, there should always be a presumption of innocence. You cannot ask someone to prove their innocence, proving a negative just isn’t possible, legal or fair – it’s not justice. The evidence goes to the jury and the defendant gets a chance to rebut it. Ultimately it is for the court to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of a crime, always. That, I believe, is how it should work end to end. But for members of the public we are not bound by this, we can believe and say what we wish (within reason) I would hope that your case would be publicised overseas by those who value journalism. You have an unblemished reputation and journalists everywhere should be speaking out about it.
I don’t know if “every woman has the right to be believed “ is a legal thing now, or if it has just become an all-pervasive saying due to lazy phrasing by politicians and journalists. If it has any legal basis then it is plainly unjust.
Everyone, female, male and other, should have the right to have their complaint taken seriously. The accused should have the same rights (as they plainly do not have with sex crime allegations). The investigators need to remain objective which, by definition, they cannot not do if they “believe”.
Belief should be a matter for the court.
The British state has been using sexual crimes against “some” women as a Trojan horse against the presumption of innocence and due process since at least the 70s. La Sturgeon is being a good colonial.
– But for the first time I find myself seriously considering, after my case is concluded, leaving my beloved Scotland and going to live in a country which does not jail dissident writers.
Your last sentence in the above post. Craig I find myself wishing that if possible you put yourself first, think first of the safety and wellbeing of yourself and your family. This is a nasty nasty world and in that respect Scotland doesn’t look like it’s any better than anywhere else.
Mr Murray,
All the best. I hope you find peace.
Not sure if you’re into this sort of thing- there’s a poem that Tolkien enjoyed titled ‘The Wanderer’ it’s an old Anglo-Saxon poem, it made me think of you. There’s a good translation of it on Youtube, you may find some solace in it… I don’t know. But anyway. Take care.
I doubt anyone commenting here and those who read your blog sees you as cowardly, you will get your chance to write fully again, but it’s better you curtail it a wee bit rather than incur the wrath of Sturgeons COPFS, especially with your poor health and a young family to think of.
Those that read your blog will know what a Kafkaesque country Scotland has become under Stalin, oops I meant Sturgeon and her clique, it’s a terrible state of affairs, and Scotland’s reputation has been damaged by it. The likelihood of political prisoners in Scotland for reporting the truth grows by the day, and any dissent is swiftly put down by the threat of prosecution by Sturgeons Rottweiler the Lord Advocate.
I certainly couldn’t blame you if you left for pastures new, we have five more years of this and I only expect it to get worse, especially with Sturgeon and her clique having very little accountability. I can only hope that somehow the Alba party rise to office come 2026, by then I suppose Wolffe will be a High court judge, and the Hillary Clinton wannabe Sturgeon will have some cushy UN/EU job.
Craig, I don’t know what anybody else has in mind, you have not replied to me privately, but this is my offer, so reluctantly I offer it publicly.
My staff in Cebu, Philippines, can arrange a residence permit for you, your wife and your dependents.
It requires an investment of $75,000. I will lend this to you.
You may invest this money and receive the dividends, but the original sum must be willed to a person of my choosing.
I will pay your single air fares to Cebu Mactan airport. You will be collected by my staff and taken to my yacht at Cebu Yacht Club.
You may reside there until you have arranged your own accommodation at no cost to yourselves.
You will not be able to take advantage of this offer until the covid precautions are lifted.
The Philippines is essentially a western outpost in the east, as I said, the food is what ever you want, the range of ingredients is overwhelming. Like me I am sure you would feel very much at home there. Just be joyful to get out and enjoy a true liberation.
Doctor K.
A kind and generous offer, but would Craig be jumping from the frying pan into the fire?
Fair Observer: Press Freedom in the Philippines: Death by a Thousand Cuts
Legal battles and continuous friction between the Duterte administration and the media sustain fears over the erosion of press freedom in the Philippines.
By Christianne France Collantes • Mar 11, 2021
Doctor K – do the delicacies on offer extend to haggis neeps and tatties? Or mince and tatties?
If so, I’ll consider moving there myself.
No problem. They are imported every year for Burn Night. I’m not sure about Cebu but Manila has a thriving St Andrews Society.
I lived in the Phils for 14 years in the 80s and 90s and still have interests there. I hope to visit as soon as the covid restrictions are lifted. My wife wants to see her 95 years old mother again before it’s too late.
Whilst criticism of Duterte is tricky they could care less about a blogger writing about events in a country 8,000 miles away.
Maybe an alternative method to disseminate ‘the truth’ is to not publish it into the public domain but directly send it to ‘subscribers’. Don’t know if this would meet the ‘legal tests’.
As an example, if Craig emailed me directly (encrypted) with his article, with the understanding that I would not pass it on or make it public, could that still be termed contempt ? Or illegal ?
If enough people ‘subscribed’, then the truth would still be out there.
Sorry to hear of your capture by the Ministry of Love
David Llewellyn’s early morning handcuffing for conspiracy to murder would seem beyond belief were we not aware of what they have done to you. It is not possible any longer to just chuckle at the absurdity of this tinpot power couple. They are a pair of nasty, vindictive, pitiless, dangerous individuals. I would advise you to escape their grip as soon as possible. They do not seem the kind of people who would allow you to continue on with your valuable work in peace.
To me it’s all quite clear that Sturgeon is acting for the British government. What she does at times may not appear so but it’s all part of the act to keep Westminster’s control over Scotland
Ruth
Acting for some other government’s interests is betraying the very thing they stand for. Alex Salmond has been betrayed politically and personally, which is of course intended to trigger some coping mechanism which they can then publicise.
Politics is an extremely dirty business. However any reversal of Sturgeon’s fortunes, like Craig’s case being rejected in the Supreme Court, would bring her down.
High stakes can lead to sudden bankruptcy. If only the public were not addicted to Who wants to be a millionaire drama, they might see her for the disgusting manipulator she really is.
Surely the lack of any clear separation of political and legal power in Scotland is the underlying issue at the heart of all these cases, Craig’s included, and whoever is in power will use and abuse this process until that is resolved. You even have some support in Westminster for a review of the Scotland Act in this respect, so perhaps your own appeal could help focus minds on this.
Keith
Multiple layers of abuse .
Craig, which country does not jail dissidents? To be honest, I noted certain level of cowardice when you started with your health to avoid jail. Craig, be a man and face whatever you have to face.
Thanks, Cruelly de Ville, for completely missing the point and sticking your knife in.
Holy cowshit, is it possible to post more compact mixture of insults, arrogance and condescension in one short post? I think not.
I wonder – is that the “stiff upper lip” to demand from others what you’re likely not even to consider?
“… fear I am becoming a coward …”
That’s a very significant turn of phrase.
It’s your choice whether it is worth enduring the worst the state can throw at you to continue with your work and live your life according to your own principles.
But if you choose to succumb, as you say you did this week in not publishing the post you had written, there is the further choice in whether to frankly face the truth of it (which is still courage of a sort) or whether to compound cowardice by self-deception.
That is disturbing news.
“I find myself seriously considering, after my case is concluded, leaving my beloved Scotland and going to live in a country which does not jail dissident writers.”
According to wiki, in 2020, the ten countries with the most press freedom are, in order: Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Switzerland, New Zealand and Portugal.
M.J.
Having being born in Jamaica and still living and working in the Caribbean, I can assure you that the Jamaican press is admirable for press freedom
.
For my part I have submitted and have had published quite critical and challenging commentaries with absolutely no fear of intimidation and/or challenge – save and except the legitimate counter letter and/or commentaries.
“Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Switzerland, New Zealand and Portugal.”
Yes and they are all neoliberal. It is essential to get away from neoliberal thought. None of those countries you mention (especially not NZ) have managed this. In fact they embrace the culture.
“Yes and they are all neoliberal.”
Which is why Wikkipedia aproves of them.
M,J. (19.24): I’m mildly surprised not to see Ireland or Iceland on your list. But it will depend on the criteria applied.
And even among the countries on your list there are difficulties. During the attempt by the Swedish authorities to extradite Julian Assange I was under the impression that he (or his lawyers) were concerned about trials in Sweden on charges of sexual offences being heard in secret with no reporting. Or did I get that wrong? Of course the identities of both supposed complainants against Julian were in the public domain from the start, but there would (if I’m right) have been no possibility of publicly reporting any of the evidence produced in the Swedish court.
In 1991 American whistleblower Lester Coleman, who was in serious trouble in the US on account of alleging official foul pay in connection with Lockerbie, sought and was given asylum in Sweden. However by 2010 Julian Assange was seriously worried about the possibility of being extradited from Sweden to the USA on account of Wikileaks disclosures. Tempora mutantur.
The list seems to be from Reporters without borders:
https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2020
Ireland and Iceland are respectively #13 and #15, quite respectable.
Here are their criteria:
https://rsf.org/en/detailed-methodology
Thanks, M.J., for these useful links.
There’s the rub. All journalists accept limitations on what they can publish. The usual response by the determined is to unattributably leak the story to someone else, who for whatever reason is able to publish. Is the key issue the story getting out or you being the one to publish it? I would suggest the former. Discretion is the better part of valour, its not a question of courage or cowardice more a rational risk assessment of the best overall outcome for you and your beliefs. Your courage is not in doubt for the vast majority of your readership.
As for leaving Scotland, have you studied the press freedom index? Of the warmer West European countries Portugal could be worth a look. You and I are both in the Midnight Express generation, can’t believe you would consider Turkey. You wouldn’t be able to stop yourself expressing solidarity with some oppressed Turkish group and Erdogan would be much less tolerant even than Sturgeon.
Better the devil you know?
Perhaps we need to think back to the days of the “underground press”, when publication was private. The modern equivalent is a mailing list, set read-only, in which you would print those articles which may cause the darkness to descend upon you and yours if published to the public on the web.
I imagine your entire readership would subscribe, including of course those who wish to cause you grief. Perhaps you could enquire of your lawyers as to your liabilities when your private readership has expressly agreed to keep those postings private.
You would still keep posting on the web of course, but your output would be augmented with private “underground” postings on a list.
To find yourself reluctant to march head-on into an overwhelming force is not at all a failure of courage – more an inner recognition of the folly of a full-frontal defeat. Back in the days of “samizdat” they also recognised this and took a different path. Doing this again would not only be a smart move but send a signal that days of darkness are once again upon us.
Lyn Hay
In the ’80s I was working as a bookbinder , and one of my Librarian customers asked me to repair some 1640 Civil War Tracts. I asked how much I should insure them for while in my workshop. He said they were unique and priceless. So I kept them in a huge , ex Post Office safe.
Sturgeo has done Maggie’s dirty old political trick of presenting antidiluvian reactionary conservativism as “” reform “”. She has scandalized the name of her predecessor with Calvinist horror for simply being a normal man of our time, working alongside women and being well behaved with them.
In the context of my religion , he could have 3 more wives and concubines before he got into the red danger zone. But like some fart from Papal Feudalism she has stoked the reactionary press with witch hunting zeal. To which Craig Murray and others have responded with their unique enlightenment 1640 tracts.
Sturgeon is a bastion of reactionary conservatism in an age of progress. Craig should not be depressed by the antique factions of the Scottish priveledges elites.
Rather he should be pirhouetting in his kilt to show us his manhood. Away with these crappy recidivist politics of Scottish joint Imperialism with England.
Not the time to give up, or move, or succumb to pressure from.the sqwawks of Masonic ignorance. Sorry if his pride is hurt a little by being sent to prison. In reality it is a massive victory for the cause of Scottish Independence that this bent Lord Advocate a d bought MSM have been deployed by this smelly old Unionist Establishment. .
Send me the evidence, I will find a way of getting it publishing, you have my details. Do it through a third party any advisement would be followed.
I’m willing to help fill the jails….. I don’t fear any penalty. Truth is only feared by rogues.
It looks like, I’d be in good company.
If a person who wants to crush you drives an armored bulldozer toward you, it is not cowardice to step aside.
If they then spin the machine and roar toward you again, it is not cowardice to get quickly to a place where the bulldozer cannot threaten you.
RJ,
“it is not cowardice to step aside”
BUT – it would indeed be cowardice to then after having reached safe ground – not having then ensured that the bully could not ever be empowered to do the same thing all over again.
Now – all up to you RJ
Intelligence isn’t cowardice, you’re no coward, and there’s always another way.
“leaving my beloved Scotland and going to live in a country which does not jail dissident writers”
That thought had crossed my mind, and a few days ago. Would be ironic if it were Russia, just to show up the “free speech liberals”!
Personally I wish euthanasia was legalised because I am so SICK of this shit country.
Dave
Craig believes in democracy. But is it surprising that the the institutions of the Imperial power deliver the results the Imperial.power desires? Like a casino..
Like an old gambler daily haunting a betting consortium and daily losing against the consortium computers. Euthanasia for corrupt old self-serving rigged institutions sounds like a good idea.
If Sturgeon is that stupid, that she uses the bent judiciary to lock.up Craig on trumped up charges , bring it on. Do it. We take note exactly who started the Scottish ” troubles ” , by which political act, and whose side Sturgeon is on , and who ‘s to blame for this blatant attempt to muzzle independent thought.
Lefties are always right. They love control. When you are right, the end justifies the means.
I am so sorry to hear that one of the most courageous people of great integrity has been made to doubt themselves due to the extreme intimidating levels of power being used to thwart them. I and countless others, many of far more note than myself, have the utmost respect and deepest admiration for all that you have accomplished for the forces of fairness, justice, truth and of course, for Scotland’s independence. We are behind you, rooting for you and (I hope) donating to your fund! Don’t be diminished by these cowards – they quake in fear at you!
Clarinda
Well said .
[MOD : Caught in spam-filter]
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The problem with going after the case is over is that if the conviction stands many countries will not allow you in on the basis of that conviction. Many Latin American countries have retiree residents’ visas and you can find a clutch of them that will dish out the visa to anyone who has an income of around $12,000 a year, which covers most British pensioners. However, will they allow you in with a conviction? I dunno.
Russia looks more likely. Northern Cyprus is pretty certain as well.
jesus craig, but this is depressing… canada would welcome out.. come to vancouver island and let go of the past… however, i will be the first to admit how much i value your insights on all you discuss which is more often then not centered in scotland..
if you are into food, turkey and iran sound like much better choices… turkey might be the easiest place to be and quite nice on so many levels..
Hello james.
I made a reply to you on Moon of Alabama. I don-t suppose it would hurt to reprint here
Reposted from Moon of Alabama
All – thank you for your comments and replies. There are some interesting matters arising.
karloff, that is a provocative and illuminating comment.
John Cleary @135–
It appears to be Enclosure all over again; this time the mind and reasoning are targeted. If you don’t like what they’re doing, they’ll simply write an ordinance and kill you, as was done quite often from the Elizabethan Age onward. Those ordinances and the associated Terror finally spawned the Revolution that Cromwell co-opted and the UK has yet to free itself from. Yes, the stakes are quite high, and the new Terror is lurking ready to be employed.
Yes yes yes. You do know of this quote from none other than Winston S, don-t you_
The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.
That was from a Harvard commencement address just after the war. They have been planning all of this for a very long time.
You zero in on the English Civil War. What was that all about_
Parliament was historically able to control the monarch by means of the purse. The conflict between Charles I and Parliament was a succession of fights over money.
But what if a monarch had their own money_
They would be impossible to control.
That is why the asbestosis fraud at Lloyds of London is so important. For the first time ever an English monarch had their own *stolen( money, enormous amounts of money they have been able to deploy in the corruption of every government imaginable in Europe and North America.
I don’t know if you saw it, but about a fortnight ago there was a story to the effect that Queen Elizabeth II is trying to change the law to prevent the public from knowing how much money she possesses. Above and beyond everything else, it keeps the price of bribery down if they don-t know how much you’ve got!
Grieved
I wish I had words for this but at the moment I am speechless.
This is a hugely significant thing, both as an injustice of the first order and as a proof of a living history that affects even the US to this day, as many would claim.
Yes yes yes.
These are ancient forces ranged against us, and we must not be too proud to deploy ancient forces in our own defence. Like the Church.
I posted my @Defending Craig Murray@ post on the blog of Iain Lawson. This is how he responded>
iainlawson27
21st May 2021 at 11:36 am
Excellent post. I wish my dad was still alive. He was a Church of Scotland minister and a strong defender of Freedom of Speech.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/here-is-shirley-she-hopes-to-confuse-your-kids/
Craig Murray really is a red line for Scottish society, and the Church of Scotland really is our last hope. I-ve read commentators on Scottish blogs say things like @Nicola cannot go on forever@ and so on. No, she cannot. But the British royals apparently can. For at least 140 years so far. And so long as the British queen is in place, then Nicola-s successor will be as bad or worse.
They are livestreaming the General Assembly here>
https://stream1.churchofscotland.org.uk/about_us/general_assembly/
If anybody has any influence at all please get the Church to take this opportunity to put Prince William on the spot. Please.
james
thanks for the update… this vendetta against craig murray is infuriating… i have donated to his cause as well.. it perfectly encapsulates what is wrong in our world today..
You-re right James. Poor Craig is talking about giving up. And who can blame him_
But for the first time I find myself seriously considering, after my case is concluded, leaving my beloved Scotland and going to live in a country which does not jail dissident writers.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2021/05/chilling-not-in-a-good-way/
thanks john… it truly is deplorable what is happening here to craig, akin to what has happened with assange and i suspect it is no coincidence either…. the only obvious difference is one is thanks britian and the other scotland which makes one think this snp are working in cahoots with london… for anyone paying attention, the conclusions are not pretty..