FORMER diplomat Craig Murray has said he is in Switzerland “seeking the protection of the United Nations” after he was detained under terrorism laws.
The former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, who is currently a member of the Alba Party, previously told The National he had been detained at Glasgow Airport and questioned by border police for an hour.
In his latest blog post Murray said he is seeking the UN's protection while his legal team in Scotland is reviewing whether there are grounds for a judicial review.
He wrote: “I didn’t really volunteer to fight the British police state, it came after me.
“But here we are, and here I am, in Switzerland seeking the protection of the United Nations. I still don’t actually know whether the terrorism investigation into me is focused on Palestine or Wikileaks.”
Murray (below) had claimed his detention may have been related to a tweet he posted expressing support for Hamas. Doing so is a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act.
A Police Scotland spokesperson previously told The National: “We have received a number of complaints and officers are carrying out enquiries.”
The blog post added: “My legal team is now active in Scotland seeking some kind of clarification and explanation, which will probably require a judicial review.
“My experience of British airports being discouraging recently, I went by public transport from Edinburgh to Belfast.
“Arriving very late in Belfast due to the storm, I missed the last train to Dublin. Not wanting to stay in Belfast, I flagged down a taxi in the street and asked the driver to take me to Dublin. He did not wish to, so late at night.
“Then we realised we had worked in the same bar in Aviemore 45 years ago. I have always believed life is governed by forces we do not know.
“We have sent a formal complaint to the UN about this bogus terrorism persecution, to add to the complaint about my imprisonment which is already under review.”
Murray said that this was the third time since his imprisonment he had been interviewed by police.
He went on: "The first was over the leaking of Peter Murrell’s WhatsApp message to Sue Ruddick instructing her to put pressure on the police to act against Alex Salmond. The second was over Stewart MacDonald’s leaked emails.
"In neither of these incidents was I charged with any crime, nor could the police even tell me what offence they were investigating. And now this 'terrorism' utter nonsense.
"The second point is that the abuse of special anti-terrorism powers at ports in order to seize all papers and communications of journalists is becoming commonplace. Three other journalists I know personally – Vanessa Beeley, Kit Klarenberg and Johanna Ross – have suffered this.
"There are many other examples, most notably David Miranda. This really is police state stuff, yet there is an extraordinary lack of outrage from human rights organisations and the mainstream media.
"So I now have this new fight. Or I should say we now have this new fight, because the fight can only happen at all with financial support from the amazing readers of this blog. You have seen me through so much, and I am very grateful.
"But I honestly do believe that the fight is not for me, it is for freedom from an ever encroaching police state and from a political class trying to enforce a monopoly of information to the public."
