Many people will surely conclude, it is Judge Johnson who should be in jail."
Former UK ambassador Craig Murray assesses the manifold ways Judge Johnson hearing the case against the Palestine Action activists rigged their two trials to secure a convictions of violence to justify the government's proscription of the group – and yet still the jury saw through his various ruses:
"Judge Johnson ruled that the defendants were not permitted to refer to their motives.
He ruled that the jury may not be informed of their absolute right to acquit.
He attempted to have the leading defence barrister, Rajiv Menon KC, prosecuted for contempt of court for informing the jury of their rights.
He ruled that terms including 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing' may not be used in court.
He ordered that the notebooks and other writings of the accused be redacted to withhold from the jury any information related to Elbit’s supply of weapons to Israel.
He enforced the concealment from the jury of the nature of the weapons and equipment that had been damaged.
He granted anonymity to senior Elbit staff and admitted their evidence without the defence being able to cross-examine.
He ruled that the trial had *not* been prejudiced by the Secretary of State [Yvette Cooper] and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police [Sir Mark Rowley] stating the offences as fact throughout national media.
He allowed the release to the media of highly edited and selective prosecution video footage during the trial which gave a false impression of events.
He permitted the admission of Metropolitan Police video evidence which they had given over to Elbit’s sole custody for an entire year.
He ruled that the jury must not be told of his stated intention to consider adding terrorist aggravation to any convictions – which adds 150% to time served in jail."
Murray rightly concludes: "That is an astonishing list of nefarious actions by Judge Johnson. Read it again. Many people will surely conclude, it is Judge Johnson who should be in jail."
The Achilles' heel in this establishment stitch-up – apart from the independence of juries – is the separate jurisdictions of Scotland and England. Murray has been allowed to bring a judicial review in the Scottish courts of the government's proscription of Palestine Action. The hearing begins tomorrow.
If he wins, he can make the government's efforts to crush our rights to speech and protest – to protect Elbit and Israel's genocide – untenable. You can find ways to support the legal challenge at the end of his post.
posted by Satish Sharma at
02:13
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