I HAVE "CLEAN CONSCIENCE" SAYS SALMOND SEX CASE BLOGGER

Disgraced former diplomat and blogger Craig Murray has said he will “go to jail with a clean conscience” ahead of his eight-month jail term for contempt of court.

The former ambassador to Uzbekistan is due to start a prison sentence on Sunday after judges ruled that his blog coverage of former First Minister Alex Salmond's sex case trial could identify four plaintiffs.

The 62-year-old who was sacked from a UK diplomacy post amid allegations of drunkenness and womanising’s offending blog posts contained details which, if pieced together, could lead readers to discern the identity of the women who made allegations against Salmond, who was acquitted of 12 charges including sexual assault and attempted rape in May last year, with one remaining charge being adjudged by the jury to have been Not Proven.

The Craig Murray Justice campaign group have been criticised for failing to appreciate the full gravity or seriousness of the charges filed against Mr Murray, after releasing a statement saying his conviction “sets a dangerous legal precedent for freedom of speech and equality before the law”.  A view that is thought to be shared by the former diplomat, as acknowledged by sentencing judge Lady Dorrian, less he could possibly have been spared jail.

Some friends of the former British Envoy and supporters of Alex Salmond congregated outside St Leonard’s Police Station in Edinburgh on Friday afternoon and were joined by Murray, who will hand himself in at the station on Sunday morning to begin his sentence.

At a virtual sentencing in May, Lady Dorrian said Murray knew that there were court orders giving anonymity to the women in the Salmond sex case trial, something Murray didn't appear to think they were entitled to, and Lady Dorrian said that in her view he was “relishing” the potential disclosure of their identities.

Lady Dorrian said that Murray deliberately risked what is known as “jigsaw identification”, saying: “It appears from the posts and articles that he was in fact relishing the task he set himself, which was essentially to allow the identities of complainers to be discerned – which he thought was in the public interest – in a way which did not attract sanction.”

Former diplomat Murray has said he will go to jail with a “clean conscience”.

On Friday, Murray tweeted that “in my absence the Craig Murray Justice Campaign will be continuing the fight”, linking to a statement which suggested he would start his jail term “with a clean conscience” on Friday.

Neale Hanvey, the Alba MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said on Twitter he was “devastated and sickened by this development”, adding: “Scotland is no longer a safe, tolerant or free country. The vindictiveness of those who wield power is on naked display.”

Last month, Murray was refused in his bid to appeal the contempt finding against him at the UK Supreme Court, in a decision made by the High Court in Edinburgh

In February, Clive Thomson, who tweeted the names of women who gave evidence against Mr Salmond at his trial, was jailed for six months.

The 52-year-old carried out a “blatant and deliberate” breach of a contempt of court order banning the identification of the complainers by naming five of them on social media, said Lady Dorrian at the High Court in Edinburgh.