Books: Craig Murray
Craig Murray is no stranger to literary suppression.
The outspoken former British amabassador to Uzbekistan was forced to un-publish certain documents which he claimed exposed “Britain and the CIA’s use of intelligence obtained by torture abroad” (which had been legally obtained by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection acts) from his website after legal threats were aimed at his web host. Murray’s publishers are now pulling a section from his forthcoming book after similar threats were made. The episode highlights the un-democratic nature of libel in Britain, where vast amounts of money can be used in court to sweep unwanted material under the carpet.
Helene Guldberg wrote a piece in Spiked Magazine recently which explored the theme:
England’s libel courts are still the playground of the rich and famous who wish to censor their critics, accusers or slanderers. This anachronistic law grew out of dissatisfaction with the old aristocratic ways of dealing with defamation through duels. And the basic principles of the law – the uncompromising support for the right to reputation over the right to speak freely – have survived most attempts at reform ever since. In 1774, Lord Mansfield stated that ‘whatever a man publishes he publishes at his peril’, a statement that can still be applied to English libel law today, which hangs over the head of every writer, editor and publisher in England, making publication a potentially perilous activity indeed.
Here is a portion of the text which is being suppressed from Murray’s book:
Then, suddenly, Tony Blair intervened. On 11 May 1998, without consulting the FCO, he gave a statement to journalists. Penfold, Blair declared, was “a hero”. A dictatorship had been successfully overthrown and democracy restored. Penfold had “Done a superb job in trying to deal with the consequences of the military coup.” All this stuff about Security Council Resolutions and sanctions was “an overblown hoo-ha”.
Read the full text of Craig Murray’s book here
Posted in Books & Culture by Martin Skivington on October 2, 2008.
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