“I can affirm that the FCO and MI6 knew that al-Megrahi was not the Lockerbie bomber.”

Former UK Ambassador Craig Murray

May 11 2021 — Former UK ambassador Craig Murray has been sentenced to eight months in jail for contempt of court over articles posted on his blog. This is not Justice. It is State Vendetta. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

RELATED POST: Bloggers Under Siege — Craig Murray Charged with Contempt of Court [UPDATE : Please Sign the Open Letter]

RELATED POST: One Year Ago — Former British Diplomat Craig Murray Barred From Entering The US

“If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won’t.” Hyman George Rickover 

UPDATE (July 30 2021) — Craig Murray is expected to surrender himself to police to begin his eight-month prison sentence for contempt of court after the UK Supreme Court refused the application to review his case.

“I have to hand myself in at St Leonards Police Station Edinburgh on Sunday morning to go to jail. I don’t want it to be sad and I should be delighted if anyone wants to come along with a little snack brunch and a glass of bubbly to toast me off. St Leonards Police Station 10.30am.”

Hugh Kerr, a former vice chair of the Scottish Executive Council of the National Union of Journalists, called the verdict and sentence “a real threat to civil liberties”

Murray is “the first person to be imprisoned in Scotland for media contempt for over 70 years.

“While journalists must ensure they adhere to court orders with regard to witness protection, Craig Murray’s prison sentence on charges related to his blogging is disproportionate and highly concerning. RSF emphasises that journalistic activity should not lead to prison sentences anywhere; imprisonment in connection with any journalistic activity should only ever be a measure of absolute last resort – if at all. It is certainly not what we would expect in a country committed to protecting media freedom and the safety of journalists. Murray should be released and alternative measures considered in lieu of his prison sentence,” said RSF’s Director of International Campaigns and UK Bureau Director Rebecca Vincent.

Last night, Craig posted the following message on his website:

“This blog will be going dark for a few months. The Queen kindly paid for my dinners for over twenty years while I was a British diplomat and Ambassador, and now she is going to be paying for my dinners again. That is very kind, I thought she had forgotten me.”

Award-winning investigative journalist John Pilger said, “In these dark times, Craig Murray’s truth-telling is a beacon. He is owed our debt of gratitude, not the travesty of a prison sentence which, like the prosecution of Julian Assange, is a universal warning.”

“Craig Murray has compiled a remarkable record of courage and integrity in exposing crimes of state and working to bring them to an end,” Professor Noam Chomsky stated. “Murray fully merits our deep respect and support for his achievements.”

END of UPDATE

“I know who leaked them [Hillary Clinton’s email]. I’ve met the person who leaked them, and they are certainly not Russian and it’s an insider. It’s a leak, not a hack; the two are different things.” — Former UK Ambassador Craig Murray

May 11 2021 — The Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian, along with Lord Menzies and Lord Turnbull have sentenced Craig Murray — a blogger — to eight months in jail.

Murray has been told he has 48 hours to hand himself in.

His QC Roddy Dunlop asked for permission to launch an appeal and indicated they will take the case to the Supreme Court.

Frankly, it is rather obvious that the charge against Murray [contempt of court in the Alex Salmond’s case] was not the true motive of the Crown Office.

From Lockerbie to the Skripals’ affair, and from Wikipedia to the Russia Hoax, Murray has of course upset people in high-places, including some who work for Intelligence Agencies.

By the way, does the name Turnbull ring a bell?

Lord Turnbull was one of the lead prosecutors in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial.

And of course, Murray has always regarded the Lockerbie verdict as a spectacular miscarriage of justice.

This is not Justice. It is State Vendetta.

PS — Murray was also ordered to surrender his passport. He was due to appear as a witness in a hacking trial in Spain involving Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder.

To be updated soon.

Stay tuned!

“Actually what I found most shocking about that was the peculiar determination of the judges to make sure that, during the three weeks we have to lodge the appeal, I am not allowed to go to Spain to testify in the criminal prosecution for the CIA spying on Assange’s legal team.”

Craig Murray (May 11 2021)

UPDATE — The world responds to this infamy [GMT 12:30]

“Craig Murray has compiled a remarkable record of courage and integrity in exposing crimes of state and working to bring them to an end. He fully merits our deep respect and support for his achievements.” — Noam Chomsky

“Sending him to prison because he has upset the Establishment – yet again – proves nothing more than the law is an ass. This is a sad day for Scottish Justice.” — Mark Hirst

“In these dark times, Craig Murray’s truth-telling is a beacon. He is owed our debt of gratitude, not the travesty of a prison sentence which, like the prosecution of Julian Assange, is a universal warning.” — John Pilger

“Allowing that the finding of contempt has been ruled by this court to be justified, the question is whether, given all the circumstances, that justification extends yet further to countenancing imprisonment, to taking a retired diplomat with an exemplary background away from his wife, his 11-year-old son, and his baby. For what purpose? The response might well be pour decourager les autres (French for to discourage others). If that is the purpose, job done. Mr Murray’s blogging is inevitably hamstrung by the ruling itself, the decision is and has been widely publicised.” — Roddy Dunlop QC

“Ex-ambassador Craig Murray gets 8 months after reporting the defence case that led to a jury acquitting Alex Salmond. It’s yet another assault on the right to do independent journalism – and yet again the corporate media will either draw a veil over it or cheerlead it as justice.” — Jonathan Cook

“Philip Cross has edited every single day from 29 August 2013 to 14 May 2018. Including five Christmas Days. That’s 1,721 consecutive days of editing. 133,612 edits to Wikipedia.”

Former UK Ambassador Craig Murray

REFERENCES

Craig Murray Defence Fund Launched — Craig Murray website

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BREAKING NEWS — Lockerbie prosecutor-turned-judge sends blogger to jail [Craig Murray]

Lockerbie prosecutor-turned-judge sends blogger Craig Murray to jail [UPDATE : Supreme Court refuses permission to appeal]