London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Britain's ex-ambassador to Uzbekistan vows to appeal against sentence

Britain's ex-ambassador to Uzbekistan vows to appeal against sentence

Craig Murray, 62, had watched two days of Alex Salmond's trial in March 2020 at Edinburgh's High Court before writing on his blog. Judges ruled he was in contempt of court and jailed him for eight months.

Britain's former ambassador to Uzbekistan has said he was 'slightly surprised' at being sentenced to eight months in jail for contempt of court over his blog on Alex Salmond's sex assault trial.

Craig Murray, 62, had watched two days of Mr Salmond's trial in March 2020 from the public gallery of Edinburgh's High Court before writing about the proceedings on his own website.

Speaking today the former ambassador told MailOnline he planned to appeal.

'I'm genuinely slightly surprised with how the sentence went, it seems sort of out of line from what people have known to get for contempt of court.

'I was really surprised by some of the judge's comments. One thing to say is I will be appealing not just to the sentence but to the whole offence,' Murray said.

Judges ruled that Murray was in contempt of court relating to material capable of identifying four of the nine women who accused the former first minister of sexual abuse.

Mr Salmond was acquitted of 13 sexual assault charges following his trial.

'I genuinely did not intend to identify anyone I really didn't, and I don't think I did identify anyone. I still believe that,' Murray said.

'There was no evidence led at all by anyone to justify the judges remarks about doing it 'deliberately and lethally' as she said.

'I just don't know where that came from, it wasn't alleged by the prosecution, it wasn't in the evidence. I don't know how she could say such a thing. I found it all a bit strange. Slightly bemused but ready to continue with the appeal.'

Craig Murray, 62, (pictured alongside his second wife Nadira Alieva) had watched two days of Mr Salmond's trial in March 2020 from the public gallery of Edinburgh's High Court before writing about the proceedings on his own website


Earlier on Tuesday, Murray was sentenced to eight months behind bars and was given 48 hours, later extended to three weeks, to surrender himself to a police station.

Sentencing the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, judge Lady Dorrian said Murray knew there were court orders giving the women anonymity and he was 'relishing' the potential disclosure of their identities.

At the virtual sentencing today, Lady Dorrian explained that Murray deliberately risked jigsaw identification and that revealing complainers' identities was 'abhorrent'.

She said it was 'particularly so, given the enormous publicity which the case in question attracted and continues to attract'.

Murray's offending blog posts and tweets were written over a period of a month and remained up, unredacted, despite the blogger being told they could potentially lead to the identification of women who had made complaints about Mr Salmond.

Lady Dorrian said: '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.'

She added: 'These actions create a real risk that complainers may be reluctant to come forward in future cases, particularly where the case may be high profile or likely to attract significant publicity.

'The actions strike at the heart of the fair administration of justice.

'Notwithstanding the previous character of the respondent and his health issues, we do not think we can dispose of this case other than by way of a sentence of imprisonment.'

Murray was initially given 48 hours to hand himself in to a police station, but after a challenge by his lawyer Roddy Dunlop QC, this was extended to three weeks so he can appeal the sentence - but he was ordered to surrender his passport.

Judges subsequently ruled that he was in contempt of court relating to material capable of identifying four of the nine women who accused former first minister Alex Salmond (pictured at electoral count on Saturday) of sexual abuse


The blogger and former diplomat had previously posted on his blog in an attempt to solicit funds to pay for his defence.

He wrote: 'With enormous diffidence and frankly embarrassment, I find myself yet again obliged to ask people to contribute towards my defence fund before my hearing.'

In his earlier mitigation submission, Mr Dunlop said Murray was a man of 'impeccable character' and previously 'untarnished reputation', and said it is no exaggeration to say the retired diplomat is already suffering 'significant punishment' from the impact of the case.

Mr Dunlop said sending Murray to prison would be 'harsh to the point of being disproportionate', and he urged judges to deal with the matter by way of a fine.

He said: '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.


The blogger and former diplomat has since taken to Twitter to share his reaction


'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.

'If anyone out there thinks that playing with fire in the field of jigsaw identification is a zero sum game, their views have been disabused by the ruling this court has already made.'

Murray has since taken to Twitter to share his reaction to today's sentencing as he wrote: '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.'

He has since also received support from others including journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger who 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.'

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×