[Deliberate?] 'Security leak' prompts arrests in suspected al-Qaida plot

Ian Tomlinson - Manslaughtered by Police?

From The Guardian:
Security leak by senior Scotland Yard commander Bob Quick prompts arrests in suspected al-Qaida plot

Apparently . . .

The arrests were triggered after Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, head of Scotland Yard's specialist operations wing, was photographed this morning clutching sensitive documents as he arrived in Downing Street. Clearly visible on top of a large bundle of papers under his arm was a white document marked "secret" that carried an outline for briefing on a current counter-terrorism operation. He was on his way to attend a cabinet security committee.

O'Rly??

Well at least their arses are covered when it later turns out that the alleged "al-Qaida plot" was a complete fabrication.

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that this operation was carried out because Police felt the need to take the heat off of their comrades in the City of London Police Force.

Last week a man named Ian Tomlinson died at a protest outside the Bank of England in the heart of London's financial district, known as the "Square Mile".

Initially a Police spokes-thingy claimed Ian Tomlinson died of a heart attack and that Police Officers had being trying to help Ian Tomlinson but were hindered by missiles thrown by protesters.

It later turned out that the Police statement was totally untrue (ahem) appeared to be at odds with the few known 'facts' - Ian Tomlinson died after being assaulted by Police Officers in Riot gear, and many eye-witnesses claim that there were no missiles being thrown at Police, something confirmed by available video footage.

Interestingly enough, the Police also claim that CCTV-cameras in the area were mysteriously 'out-of-order'. Now, where have I heard that before?

Jean Charles De Menezes - Murdered in Stockwell

A second Post-mortem of Ian Tomlinson's body has now been ordered.

See also:
UK Police killed man to discredit G20 protests?

And
Having a bad day officer?

And:
Terror Raids and Bob Quick — Getting Public Ready for War in Pakistan?

Smurfs capture Gargamel . . . Exclusive photos

Last known picture of Gargamel
a.k.a. Malika El Aroud

6 alleged Islamic extremists charged in Belgium

El Aroud, dressed in black from head to toe, was pushed into a police car during a night raid early Thursday a few miles away from, and a few hours before, a summit of European Union government leaders was scheduled to open.

Authorities said she was too dangerous to walk the streets and even considered calling off the summit.

"It was considered as a possibility," said Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme at summit headquarters. In the end, the gathering went smoothly. Authorities said they cannot say whether an attack was planned in Brussels or elsewhere.

Smurfs out hunting for Gargamel, yesterday

What are the odds on this woman being guilty of nothing? She must be a real terrorist mastermind if

she was too dangerous to walk the streets.

And it must all be true because those brave Smurfs . . .

even considered calling off the summit. . . Shock!!! Horror!!

Gargamel Finally captured:
"was too dangerous to walk the streets"
say brave Smurfs

Still . . . mustn't grumble - after all she got off lighter than Jean Charles De Menezes.

From Stef at Famous for 15 Megapixels:

The only thing that has been proved is that the executioners and their bosses have lied through their fucking teeth about the execution and that the full force of the establishment was used to slander an innocent victim after he was killed

. . . . . .

Rest assured that little nugget is going to be filed away in the same memory hole as the revelation earlier this year that the alleged 7/7 bombers supposedly scattered their ID, personal effects and bombs around the crowded tube carriages before setting their bombs off (?!!)

and conspiracy theorists are supposedly mentally unwell because they're sceptical of official narratives? For fuck's sake...

. . . FFS indeed

Human Rights Watch [sic] still lying

Marc Garlasco: moved over to Human Rights Watch
after working 7 years at Pentagon(?)
Postman (Lord) Patel nails it . . .

On the 16th August we posted Russia uses Cluster Bombs on civilian targets in Georgia which was based on a widely reported Human Rights watch report. A friend kindly pointed out what a bunch of lying fuckers they have been .. in fact they have an impressive track record. (of which more soon)

Now it turns out the bombs were M85 bombs of Israeli manufacture, and used by the Georgians. A letter from the Georgian Defence Ministry to HRW said the bombs were used "against Russian military equipment and armament" near the Roki tunnel that links Russia to South Ossetia. The Georgians have admitted using them. The original report was by a helpful chappie called Marc Garlasco, who moved over to Human Rights Watch after working 7 years at Pentagon. HRW has acknowledged cluster bomb use, but has not retracted their now baseless accusations against the Russians and still maintain the Russians used them. Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Clusterfuck on Blog Simple

Pipelines from the Russia, Stupid™


Cool reception for Cheney in Azerbaijan
Russia Today, Sept5, 2008

American Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit to the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, appears to be have been unsuccessful for Washington, unlike his visit to Tbilisi. Cheney received a cool welcome and, according to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev has implied that Baku is going to play a waiting game concerning the Nabucco gas pipeline, which is set to bypass Russia. Neither President Ilkham Aliyev nor the Prime Minister, Artur Rasizade, were there to greet Cheney at Baku airport. Instead, he was met by the country’s First Deputy PM and the Foreign Minister.

The Kommersant newspaper reports that Cheney was very annoyed by the results of the meeting with President Aliyev and even refused to attend a ceremonial supper in his own honour. Aleksandr Pikaev, an analyst from the Institute for World Economy and International Relations, believes Dick Cheney is hardly the right man for diplomacy in the region.

Human Rights Watch [sic] caught lying . . . again!

HRW provided this picture as evidence identifying
the weapon debris shown as a Russian RBK-250 clusterbomb.


Moon Of Alabamha has the scoop:

HRW Continues False Cluster Bomb Accusations against Russians

On August 15 Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Russian Federation of having used cluster bombs in the conflict with Georgia. These accusations were widely repeated in the 'western' media. The Russian Federation consistently denied any use of cluster ammunition. As it now turns out the repeated HRW accusations were wrong. The 'evidence' provided by HRW was based on pictures and misidentified ammunition in those.

The ammunition in question is of Israeli origin and was used by the Georgian military. The Georgian Ministry of Defense has now admitted as much. HRW now also acknowledges this in a new press statement. But it continues to claim Russian use of such weapons. It does so by pointing to its own older reports which clearly misidentified Georgian cluster ammunition as Russian made. HRW has still to show any proof for its continuing accusations against the Russian Federation.

While reviewing the story as documented below, notice the special role of HRW's 'senior military analyst' Marc Garlasco in this propaganda effort.

An August 15 HRW press release claimed:

Human Rights Watch said Russian aircraft dropped RBK-250 cluster bombs, each containing 30 PTAB 2.5M submunitions, on the town of Ruisi in the Kareli district of Georgia on August 12, 2008. On the same day, a cluster strike in the center of the town of Gori killed at least eight civilians and injured dozens, Human Rights Watch said.

A Russian(?) blogger noticed as much [that Human Rights Watch was LYING] yesterday.

See also:
Weapons found in Kodori Gorge, Georgia,
with English Markings
Cache of Georgian arms found in Kodori Gorge

I decided to make sure Vialls was correct

The first place SAS troops were deployed
in the attack on Iraq, March 2003

I quoted Joe Vialls last week so I decided to double check that he was correct when he stated

On the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the British and Australian SAS, in the company of unspecified American special forces, were deployed to the Western Desert of Iraq in order to ‘protect’ two strategic ‘airfields’ code-named H2 and H3, which ‘might’ be used to fire Scud missiles at Israel.

The results of the google jury were . . .

Iraq's western desert a 'special forces playground'

UK Special Air Service units, backed by Royal Marines of 45 Commando, are in the vanguard of a free-wheeling war in the Iraqi western desert - along with a squadron from Australia's Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) and US special operations forces - to neutralise any 'Scud' missile batteries threatening Israel. One officer has called western Iraq a "special forces playground".

Since storming the strategic H2 and H3 airfields near the Jordanian border on 21 March, the allied special forces task force has pushed eastwards across the desert towards Baghdad backed by air support from UK Royal Air Force GR7 Harrier fighters flying from a forward airbase in Jordan.

While UK officers will disclose very little information about UK special forces in western Iraq, the Commander of USCENTCOM, Gen Tommy Franks, has publicly praised them, saying: "They have accomplished some wonderful things out there."

Military sources say that from the second day of Operation 'Iraqi Freedom' onwards the special forces began using the two captured airfields as bases for long-range reconnaissance patrols. US Air Force Predator unmanned aerial vehicles are flying ahead of the special forces patrols, scouting for targets to be attacked.

and


Strike on Iraq: 30 Oil Wells on Fire in Southern Iraq
CNN AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN
Aired March 21, 2003 - 09:30 ET

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, that had been one of the goals for U.S. military forces. Of course, a key port for the Iraqi oil industry. Something the U.S. very much wanted to get a hold of. Southern Iraq, the city of Basra, this whole area.

But there were other important developments overnight at the other end of the country. In far western Iraq, U.S. Special Forces are now said to be in control of two key airfields known as H2 and H3, you see here on the map.

Now, these are very strategic locations, of course, because they are so close to Israel just on the other side of Jordan. Those airfields have been of concern for some time because it was believed that the regime of President Saddam Hussein might have been hiding scud missiles, the Scud-B missile, and launchers at that airfield. It had always been a goal of U.S. military forces to take those airfields in the opening hours of the campaign to ensure that there could be no scud activity and that Israel would not be threatened.

No mention there of the words "pumping", "station" or "pipline", I see.

Mosul to Haifa pipeline

I'm filing this under my 'Hilarious Headlines' section

Hilarious headline #1

U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan


'Checking possibility', haaahaaahaaaahaaaa . . . . too Funny. As if they only just thought of it a few minutes ago.

The first place SAS troops were deployed
in the attack on Iraq, March 2003

The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.


The Prime Minister’s Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a “bonus” the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram.
The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area, where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced, and transport it via Mosul, and then across Jordan to Israel. The U.S. telegram included a request for a cost estimate for repairing the Mosul-Haifa pipeline that was in use prior to 1948. During the War of Independence, the Iraqis stopped the flow of oil to Haifa and the pipeline fell into disrepair over the years.

The National Infrastructure Ministry has recently conducted research indicating that construction of a 42-inch diameter pipeline between Kirkuk and Haifa would cost about $400,000 per kilometer. The old Mosul-Haifa pipeline was only 8 inches in diameter.

'H2' and 'H3' were the first places UK SAS forces attacked when the War began. Funny that, ain’t it?

Joe Vialls

On the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the British and Australian SAS, in the company of unspecified American special forces, were deployed to the Western Desert of Iraq in order to ‘protect’ two strategic ‘airfields’ code-named H2 and H3, which ‘might’ be used to fire Scud missiles at Israel. This despite the fact that everyone from the UN Secretary General down to the most humble of weapons inspectors, knew the claim was pathetic rubbish. The last of Iraq’s scuds were destroyed many years ago. . . . .

The short answer is that ‘airfields’ H2 and H3 are actually ‘Haifa 2’ and ‘Haifa 3’, critical pumping stations on the oil pipeline that originally ran all the way from Mosul in the north of Iraq to Haifa in Palestine, and pumped oil until 1948. During that year Palestine was invaded by the ‘Jewish State’, at which time Iraq blocked the pipeline near its western end. But recent Israeli claims that this Mosul to Haifa pipeline is nowadays ‘dilapidated’, ‘out of action’ and ‘runs through Syria’ are intentional disinformation.

Rob Newman also had an interesting show that revealed the well hidden information that Iraq was the first place British troops were deployed to in the First World War

Part 3 of 9

Related:

No One Expects . . The Scott-Lee Inquisition!

Pic Stolen here
Does anyone need this spelled out for them? Oh, well I'll do it anyway . . .

S. M. E. A. R. . . . . J. O. B.

Michael Todd inquiry to focus on 'affairs'
Courtesy of Lord Patel (once again!)

The inquiry into the tangled love life of Chief Constable Michael Todd will focus on alleged affairs with five of his staff at Greater Manchester Police, it has emerged.
Michael Todd had a three-year affair with Angie Robinson
Investigators will trawl through hundreds of his text messages and emails, as well as examining the finances of the former police chief, who was found dead on a Welsh mountainside earlier this month in a suspected suicide.
The formal inquiry into his conduct has been launched to see whether Mr Todd's private life had any impact on his duties.
The Chief Constable had affairs with three civilian staff and two officers at Greater Manchester, it is claimed.
Two women with whom he allegedly had a relationship were said to have been promoted ahead of others who were said to be better qualified.

blah deblahdeblahblah . . . . smoke and mirrors . . . . more blah blah blah

The 50-year-old, who was nicknamed "Hot Toddy", is believed to have committed suicide in a mountain range at Snowdon.

eehhhhmmm, 'believed' by whom exactly?

Meanwhile, an inquest has opened and adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.

The North Wales coroner, Dewi Pritchard Jones, revealed that Mr Todd was twice the drink-drive limit in the hours before his death and his body showed signs of hypothermia.

Now that's a complete lie.

See what they did there?

There is absolutely NO evidence that Todd's blood/alcohol level was 'twice the drink-drive limit in the hours before his death'

There is, however, evidence that Todd was

"found to have 105 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system, Caslin said. The legal limit for driving is 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres."
http://hubriticanomaly.blogspot.com/2008/03/third-policeman.html

Sooo, let's 'do the math(s)' . . . . 80 multipled by 2 = 160

. . . . NOT 105.

and as I said in an earlier post:

I mention the difference in reporting on the blood alcohol level because I find it hard to understand how someone with less than one and a half times the legal blood/alcohol limit for driving could be described as having a 'high blood-alcohol level' especially when one considers the fact that he was on foot and in Britain a blood/alcohol level of 105 mil per 100 could not possibly be considered above average given the high level of alcohol consumption prevalent amongst the population at large.

Nor was he driving at the time, so how the level of alcohol in his blood has any relevance to the legal blood/alcohol limit whilst driving a motor vehicle is beyond me.

That said, the level of blood/alcohol in his blood was, as I said less than one and a half times the legal driving limit.

As many are no doubt aware, the legal limit is purposely set at a very low level so as to ensure that any one driving a vehicle could not legally do so if their alcohol intake was sufficient to impair their driving ability.

Hence, to say that Mr Todd had a high blood-alcohol level, when the level was a mere 105 mil per 100, is quite misleading. Why The Guardian sub-editor that wrote the headline wished to mislead us is a question open to debate...

So the Telegraph's defence for this outright lie would be that they extrapolated backwards, using as a base the low level found in his blood, to arrive at the much larger figure of a higher level which they would claim must have earlier been in his system, since we are suppossed to believe that the dead policeman drank half a bottle of spirits before he died.

All complete poppycock of course.

I wonder if any of the 'journalists' or editors working at the Telegraph are members of any apron wearing rather secretive fraternities ubiqutious throughout the British establishment?

See also:
Rescue Services ask: 'Why didn't they call us earlier?'

• Mountain rescue chief says they could have saved top policeman on Snowdon
  
• Mystery of dark suited 'spooks' waiting at bottom of mountain
  
• Chinook helicopter appeared above body - but could not land
  
• 'Champagne was in police chief's rucksack'
  

The police chief who died on a blizzard-swept mountain might have survived if rescue services had been alerted earlier, according to the expert who masterminded the recovery of his body.
Peter Walker has provided the first detailed account of the hunt on Snowdon for Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Michael Todd.
His claims raise a series of disturbing questions about the death of Mr Todd, who was tipped as a future Scotland Yard Commissioner.
Mr Walker, 52, a veteran of hundreds of rescue operations, alleges that mountain rescue services were not called in to search for the police chief, who had been linked with a number of women, until hours after he was first reported missing.

See what they did there, once again? They made sure we knew that the dead policeman

. . . had been linked with a number of women , . .(Shock, Horror!!!)

Just in case you didn't get it the other 100 times they made sure to mention it. We should at least be grateful they're not accusing him of kiddy fiddling. . . . yet


No One expects the Spanish Inquisition!!

Hola, Hola, Hola . . . 3 Top Cops, 3 Suicides(?) in 3 Days!

I was following the reddit comments discussing an (apparently non-Shakespearian :) earlier post I made here, and it occurred to me that to get some people to accept that conspiracies exist would take something akin to superhuman powers of persuasion.

The Reddit comment thread is named "3 Top Cops, 3 Suicides? and 3 Days" so I would have thought that contained all the info one might need to see the significance. It then occurred to me that even if these 3 dead Policemen were not 'Top Cops,' it would still be quite an interesting phenomenon, though one much more easily explained-away by the incurious as 'mere coincidence'. But if you note that, as one reddit-commenter did,

"you must admit that the most high profile one on the mountain is definitely strange. 2-3 weeks later and still no cause of death",

AND:

If you further note that there was a veritable media frenzy to try and deceive all-and-sundry into believing that not only was Shagger Todd very drunk he was also sending 'troubling texts' to many people which apparently put some of them in fear for their own safety.

Then consider that at the coroner's inquest it was found that: Shagger Todd had a mere 105 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters which by any standard could not be considered a high level, and certainly did not merit the Guardian headline description of a 'high level'.

See: Police chief had high blood-alcohol level, inquest confirm

Consider also that much was made in the media of the fact that a half empty bottle of Spirits was found nearby. Todd was certainly not the one that drank the missing half, not with a mere 105 per 100 in his blood stream, unless it was a very small bottle of spirits. Since no one mentioned the size of the bottle it is intended that the reader assume that the bottle was normal sized i.e a 75 cl bottle. It is highly unlikely that Todd drank half of a 75cl bottle and was found with a mere 105 per 100 unless one arrived on the mountain top with a bottle that had been opened on a previous occasion, which, though possible, appears unlikely to me.

Consider also that apparently we are to believe that Todd went up this mountain in the middle of one of the worst storms to have hit the area in a number of years.

Consider also that much was also made in the media of the 'fact' that personal papers of Mr Todd were found 'scattered nearby'. Apparently these 'personal papers' were printed on a new-fangled superduper papertype that does not get blown away in the worst storm to hit the area in recent years. I'm off out tomorrow to buy shares in the company that makes it - I'm gonna be rich I tell ya!

Consider also the copious references to Shagger Todds shagging exploits as an apparent explaination as to why he might 'suicide' himself. For a male such as Shagger Todd I very much doubt that revealing such shenanigans would lead him to contemplate commiting suicide, but I may be wrong. It has been my experience that men who act as he did, for as long as he did, rarely have much of a bad conscience about it.

Consider also that Sgt. Fuller was reported to have been in good spirits in the time before his 'suicide', but admittedly that was sourced to 'friends' and who know, maybe the journalist in question just made it up.

Consider also that Inspector Munro was initially reported to have suffered a head wound. But later statements by the police specified no head wound.

Consider also that Inspector Munro had recently become the father of a child,

Consider also the unsourced reporting of Inspector Munro's apparent depressed state of mind

The court was told he was known to be suffering from chronic depression. No press reports give the author of this information, it's source, or if any evidence , or witness was provided to substantiate the claim. (UPDATE Thursday The Daily Echo Monday 17th said Headline "Inquest hears of inspector’s stress" - (Coroner's officer ) Mr Jeneson said: "The inspector was known to be suffering from chronic depression and was last seen at lunchtime. The PA report used the phrase "chronic depression".) Evidently someone supplied Mr Jeneson with that information.

Consider also the preponderance of Freemasons in powerful (and useful) positions throughout the British Establishment:

The inquiry into freemasonry was first suggested by a Labour member of the committee, Chris Mullin, who was disturbed at the number of freemasons who appeared to be involved in the Birmingham Six case.
Masons told to reveal themselves

Consider also that in a speech MP Chris Mullen gave to the House of Commons regarding the framing of the Birmingham Six he said that

of the 160 professional people connected with the case (by this he meant Police, Lawyers, Doctors and Journalists) over one hundred of them were found to be members of the Freemasons.
(That quote comes from Hansards originally, and may be slightly misquoted, but only slightly. You'll have to search pretty hard to find it there now, I couldn't)

Lastly, consider also that at present there have been numereous investigations into sexual abuse of children in British care homes, which were widely considered to be little more than coverups, and consider that in the case of Byyn Estyn, many of the abusers were reliably reported to be members of the Judiciary, local Politicians and Police Officers. British Freemasony gains much of it's notoriety from the fact that it draws many of it's members from the Police, the Judiciary, Politicians, Doctors and Journalists.

Admittedly my original post on the subject was badly wriiten so I hope that this one helps clarify things somewhat for the terminally incurious :)

A fine example of non-Mainstream Media Investigative Journalism

With all due respect: If you were looking for Mainstream media 'fair and balanced' investigative journalism, then you're probably at the wrong blog :)

A finer example of Hubris' style of 'Journalism'

Update: No One Expects . . The Scott-Lee Inquisition!

'allo, 'allo, 'allo . . . woz all this then?

Been watching ‘Der News’ . . .

A lot the footage of violent protest being ‘violently quelled’ by the Chinese in Tibet, is of protests taking place in Nepal and India, neither of which are controlled by the Chinese authorities. It appears Der Sheep-Herders™® don’t have the required footage of what they like to call ‘violent suppression of dissent’, to back up their claims. I’m not saying it’s not happening just that there doesn’t appear to be much evidence that it is happening to the extent Der Sheep-Herders™® would have us believe.



See: German news television regrets 'error' in covering Tibet riots

In fact, the picture shows security forces in Nepal, a neighboring country of China, RTL said in an online statement.

"The image was taken on March 17 in the capital city of Kathmandu, where Nepalese security forces were confronting demonstrators with batons," it said.

"We have accidentally created the impression that it is a scene of the unrest in Tibet with Chinese security forces involved. We regret this error," the statement added.

In a world where many phones now have cameras (even in Tibet they have mobile phones, definitely in the urban areas, which is where the rioting is taking place apparently) I’m astonished that Der Sheep-herders™®have not managed to obtain much footage of what they assure us is widespread.





But then these are the same people that deliberately lied to us about Saddam’s non-existent ‘Weapons of Mass Distraction’ so I don’t hold out much hope that what they are reporting reflects the reality of what is happening in Tibet. Constantly telling me about violence in Tibet while showing video of violence in Nepal and India (ie: violence in NOT-Tibet), makes me a little suspicious.



All in all this seems suspiciously similar to the various 'colour revolutions' the EU and the US are soooooo fond of, so long as they happen in countries whose governments are hostile to western Corporate interests. Were Europeans or US citizens to try the same tactics in their own countries I think the Western 'leaders' might take a very dim view of such 'democracy in action' at home.

A few days ago I blogged about these 'colour revolutions' and Globalisation, and their support from some decidedly murky proponents in an organisation known as The Albert Einstein Institute, See:Golden Straitjacket ? . . . more like Golden Steak-knife . . . . through the ribs

Absent from Friedman’s advertisement [of Globalisation] was any in-depth discussion of military action in order to cause ‘regime change’ in favour of ‘the herd’. Of Course military action is not the only weapon in the Pentagon/Globalists arsenal these days. Due to the work of one Gene Sharp, who is partly responsible for the so-called 'colour revolutions' we've heard so much of over the last few years, non-compliant governments can by removed by a combination of repetition of phrases such as 'The current Gov't are a bunch of election thieves' and organising student riots in favour of whatever political party offers the best deal for the predatory corporations.

A useful media-ownership resource from The Columbia Journalism Review:
http://www.cjr.org/resources/

British Ambassador Demands Russians Break the Law

The Washington Post, spinning for the British:
UK Challenges Russia on Litvinenko Suspect

Russia has refused to turn over Lugovoi on the grounds that the constitution forbids extradition of Russian citizens.

Britain's ambassador to Russia has directly challenged that argument. In an interview published Monday, Sir Anthony Brenton said Russia could get around the ban if it wanted to cooperate on the case.

"Russia's constitution, like those of other states, is clearly capable of interpretation in the light of circumstances," he said in an interview with the Interfax news agency and Kommersant newspaper. The ambassador noted specific sections of the constitution that are routinely violated in Russia

I wonder what the British response would be were some foreign Potentate to demand that Britain break it's own laws in order to satisfy the aforesaid Potentate. Oh, wait - we don't have to wonder, we already know:

UK tries to sabotage BAE bribes inquiry

The UK is covertly trying to oust the head of the world's main anti-bribery watchdog to prevent criticism of ministers and Britain's biggest arms company, BAE, the Guardian has learned.

The effort to remove Mark Pieth comes as his organisation has stepped up its investigation into the British government's decision to kill off a major inquiry into allegations that BAE paid massive bribes to land Saudi arms deals.

British diplomats are seeking to remove Professor Pieth, a Swiss legal expert who chairs the anti-corruption watchdog of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), claiming he is too outspoken.

The Washington Post report goes on to quote a Russian Prosecutor:

"There is no evidence in the materials provided by Britain that there was an objective investigation of the Litvinenko case by Scotland Yard," deputy prosecutor general Alexander Zvyagintsev said at a news conference. "The Russian side has more grounds to doubt the objectivity of the British justice system."

If one wanted to gauge the level of objectivity of the British Justice system one need only look at the case of Libyan national Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi jailed for life after he was 'found guilty' of carrying out the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which crashed out of the sky onto the small Scottish village of Lockerbie.


Concerning British Legal 'objectivity', who better than a renowned Scottish legal expert to pass judgement? Check out Prof. Robert Black's opinion of British Judicial 'objectivity' in relation to the Lockerbie Trials held at Camp Zeist in The Netherlands

The fairy story of the Crown's 'independence'

On evidence as weak as this, how was it possible for the trial court to find him guilty? And how was it possible for the appeal court to fail to overturn the conviction? The Criminal Appeal Court dismissed Megrahi's appeal on the most technical of technical legal grounds: it did not consider the justifiability of the trial court's factual findings at all (though it is clear from their interventions during the Crown submissions in the appeal that at least some of the judges were only too well aware of how shaky certain crucial findings were and how contrary to the weight of the evidence).

I contend that at least part of the answer lies in the history of the Scottish legal and judicial system. For centuries courts have accorded a specially privileged status to the Lord Advocate. It has been unquestioningly accepted that, though a political appointee and the government's (now the Executive's) chief legal adviser, he (now she) would at all times, in his capacity as head of the prosecution system, act independently, without concern for political considerations, and would always place the public interest in a fair trial above the narrow interest of the prosecution in gaining a conviction. This vision of the role of the Lord Advocate was reinforced by the fact that, until the Scottish Judicial Appointments Board commenced operations in 2002, all Scottish High Court Judges (and sheriffs) were nominated for appointment to the Bench by the Lord Advocate of the day. This meant that, in all criminal proceedings, the presiding judge owed his position to the person (or one of his predecessors in office) who was ultimately responsible for bringing the case before him, and for its conduct while in his court.

After such a damning indicment of one of the most widely publiscised terror-trials of the 20th Century, why should the Russians expect fair treatment for Alexander Lugovoi?

In the end the Libyan Gov't. accepted responsibility for the crime and agreed to pay the victims families $2.7 billion. It appears the Libyans are now having their revenge on the Europeans:

Libya makes new demand in Aids case

The government has made a new demand from an EU diplomat seeking the release of six medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with the HIV virus, a diplomatic source said on Monday.

European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner had arrived in the Libyan capital on Sunday bidding to end the eight-year ordeal of the medics.

But, in overnight talks, Libyan officials presented her with conditions for the release of the five Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor, according to the diplomatic source.

Libya's foreign ministry had sought EU guarantees for the "complete standardisation of Libya's relations with the countries of the European Union at all levels", said the source.

It seems the Libyans are demonstrating that the British Gov't are not the only ones that can interfere in legal prosecutions

Speaking of Lockerbie: there was a link to the Island of Malta, the main prosecution ‘witness’, Tony Gauci, a Malteser :), in a phone call to his brother (in-law?) claimed to have been promised some form of payment ($4 million?) for his testimony.

Our good friend Aangirfan has some interesting connections concerning Malta laid out in a recent posting