The Nether-World

Alisher 'Capone' Usmanov And The Continuing Campaign

2007-09-28T13:40:00.000+01:00

Let's start by linking once again to the post which started this story and remind ourselves that there has been no legal procedure, so Craig Murray's allegations are nothing more than that (just as Alisher Usmanov's allegations that he's been libeled are simply allegations). I don't have much in the way of new information on the Alisher Usmanov affair at the moment. For the latest news the best place to go is Tim Ireland's interim blog which is dedicated to the matter.

Tim and Clive have been trying to get hold of the correspondence between Fasthosts and Schillings which led to the plug being pulled on their stable of websites. Both companies have ignored the requests. Tim is now looking for summaries of this story so if you can reduce this saga to about 200 words, do let him know. The campaign by bloggers to protect freedom of speech from the likes of Usmanov and his shysters has now reached as far as Japan (via Postman Patel). Anyway, while we await further developments, I thought I'd play with Photoshop some more.

Click to enlarge

The resemblance between Alisher Usmanov and Al Capone is striking don't ya think?

My previous posts on this issue can be found here. More and more people are posting and re-posting on this story and the cross-spectrum support really is unprecedented. Let's keep the momentum going. Justin has done an excellent job of collecting the links to the Usmanov affair but now the updated list of supporters has moved over to Bloggerheads so if you do post something on it, let Tim or Aaron Heath (tyger AT tygerland DOT net) know and be added to the list which is now over 300 strong. Don't worry about arriving late for the party, this thing is far from over and the more the merrier.

Tags: Freedom of Speech, Islom Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Blogging, Arsenal

That Tom Wise Speech on Usmanov

2007-09-27T05:29:00.000+01:00

UKIP MEP Tom Wise did what other politicians should have done and didn't. I'm certainly no fan of UKIP but you have to give credit where it's due. By speaking out about the unsavoury Alisher Usmanov and his nefarious past during the Saryusz-Wolski report “Towards a common European foreign policy on energy”, Mr Wise managed to blow yet another gaping hole in the tactics used by Usmanov and his lawyers. This is what Shillings' intentions were:

Laura Tyler, of Schillings, said they did not intend to sue Murray directly because they did not want to give him a platform to express his views.

In other words they didn't want to go to court and risk Craig Murray's allegations being found to be correct so they managed to (temporarily) silence him without any legal process, merely by sending threatening letters to his web hosting company who duly pulled the plug (and in the process, took out numerous other websites, all except one of which had made no mention whatsoever of Usmanov). As we have seen, that tactic (predictably) exploded in their faces.

Tom Wise's short speech means that the allegations he made in the European Parliament can now be reported on (provided the MSM finds the courage to do so) as they are published under Parliamentary privilege. You can hear an MP3 of the speech by clicking on the button below (via Swiss Metablog).

Click To Play

And, courtesy of England Expects (via), we have a transcript:

When the EU talks of a 'Common Foreign Policy' on energy, you need to be aware of exactly who you propose to do business with.
President Putin is on record as saying "The Commission should be under no illusions, if it wants to buy Russian gas; it has to deal with the Russian state".
Gazprom is not a private company; it is a state controlled tool of Russian foreign policy.
It is, moreover, in the hands of Putin's political henchmen, and allegedly organised crime.
Take for example Alisher Usmanov. This gentleman, the son of a Communist apparatchik, is chairman of Gazprom Invest Holdings, the group that handles Gazprom's business activities outside Russia. He is the man you will be dealing with. He is the man who cuts off gas supplies if client states dare to question Gazprom's demands.
Allegedly a gangster and racketeer, he served a 6 year jail sentence in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, his eventual pardon coming at the behest of Uzbek mafia chief and heroin overlord Gafur Rakimov, described as Usmanov's "mentor".
Usmanov bought the newspaper 'Kommersant'. 3 months later, the journalist Ivan Safronov, a critic of the Putin regime who just weeks earlier had been "vigorously interrogated" by the FSB, as the KGB is now called, mysteriously fell to his death from his apartment window still clutching a bag of shopping.
According to Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, it was Usmanov who ordered the cutting off of supplies to Georgia earlier this year. Please take note, Mr President, that the Kremlin has now refused to sanction the construction of a pipeline to the EU over Georgian territory.
These are the people you want to do business with. These are the people you are moulding your 'foreign policy on energy' around.
Mr Commissioner, good luck: You'll need it.

Marvellous stuff! Now what was that again about not wanting to give Craig Murray a platform to express his views Schillings?

More information about this story continues to emerge. Tim Ireland, now back on-line, has published a detailed timeline of the events leading up to, and following on from the closure of the websites which is well worth reading.

Tags: Freedom of Speech, Islom Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Blogging, Arsenal

The Usmanov Affair: A Quick Update

2007-09-25T15:57:00.000+01:00

I'm still updating my original post but I thought this piece of information should have have its own post.

Tim Ireland is back blogging - not yet on his Bloggerheads site but on an interim site (hopefully Schillings-proof) set up to deal with this issue while the technical difficulties of getting Bloggerheads back on-line are resolved. This will obviously be a good source of information on the issue. Please spread the word and add this site to your blogroll: Bloggerheads: The Alisher Usmanov Affair. Thanks.

In other developments, the list of supporters is still growing fast. Among the latest links is a very good piece from Dan Hardie and another from Chris Applegate. Also The Committee To Protect Bloggers has an article. The mainstream media are still very slow on this story but The Register has covered it and Associated Press have too which might speed things up a bit.

I've just noticed that Bob Piper and Boris Johnson's sites have fallen off the net again. I hope this is just a temporary glitch. If anyone has any further information as to what happened or sees these blogs on-line again, please let me know in the comments.

*UPDATE*

I've just heard from Tim that the disappearance of Bob Piper and Boris Johnson's blogs is due to server demand...Phew!

Tags: Freedom of Speech, Islom Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Blogging, Arsenal

Alisher Usmanov Bit Off More Than He Could Chew When He Tried To Censor Bloggers

2007-09-24T09:12:00.000+01:00

Mr Usmanov and his legal team's heavy-handed tactics against bloggers who dare to criticise him (first reported by Chicken Yoghurt) have backfired spectacularly. He must be feeling pretty sick now.

With sincere apologies to Monty Python

Meanwhile, with the absence of proper reporting by much of the Mainstream media (with a few exceptions), the blogging community is carrying the torch for the struggle to preserve freedom of speech in the UK.

Curious Hamster, Pickled Politics, Harry’s Place, Tim Worstall, Dizzy, Iain Dale, Ten Percent, Blairwatch, Earthquake Cove, Turbulent Cleric (who suggests dropping a line to the FA about Mr Usmanov), Mike Power, Jailhouse Lawyer, Suesam, Devil’s Kitchen, The Cartoonist, Falco, Casualty Monitor, Forever Expat, Arseblog, Drink-soaked Trots (and another), Pitch Invasion, Wonko’s World, Roll A Monkey, Caroline Hunt, Westminster Wisdom, Chris K, Anorak, Mediawatchwatch, Norfolk Blogger, Chris Paul, Indymedia (with a list of Craig Murray’s articles that are currently unavailable), Obsolete, Tom Watson, Cynical Chatter, Reactionary Snob, Mr Eugenides, Matthew Sinclair, The Select Society, Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graeme’s, Random Thoughts, Nosemonkey, Matt Wardman, Politics in the Zeros, Love and Garbage, The Huntsman, Conservative Party Reptile, Ellee Seymour, Sabretache, Not A Sheep, Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, The People’s Republic Of Newport, Life, the Universe & Everything, Arsenal Transfer Rumour Mill, The Green Ribbon, Blood & Treasure, The Last Ditch, Areopagitica, Football in Finland, An Englishman’s Castle, Freeborn John, Eursoc, The Back Four, Rebellion Suck!, Ministry of Truth, ModernityBlog, Beau Bo D’Or, Scots and Independent, The Splund, Bill Cameron, Podnosh, Dodgeblogium, Moving Target, Serious Golmal, Goonerholic, The Spine, Zero Point Nine, Lenin’s Tomb, The Durruti Column, The Bristol Blogger, ArseNews, David Lindsay, Quaequam Blog!, On A Quiet Day…, Kathz’s Blog, England Expects, Theo Spark, Duncan Borrowman, Senn’s Blog, Katykins, Jewcy, Kevin Maguire, Stumbling and Mumbling, Famous for 15 megapixels, Ordovicius, Tom Morris, AOL Fanhouse, Doctor Vee, The Curmudgeonly, The Poor Mouth, 1820, Hangbitch, Crooked Timber, ArseNole, Identity Unknown, Liberty Alone, Amused Cynicism, Clairwil, The Lone Voice, Tampon Teabag, Unoriginalname38, Special/Blown It, The Remittance Man, 18 Doughty Street, Laban Tall, Martin Bright, Spy Blog The Exile, poons, Jangliss, Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From?, Imagined Community, A Pint of Unionist Lite, Poldraw, Disillusioned And Bored, Error Gorilla, Indigo Jo, Swiss Metablog, Kate Garnwen Truemors, Asn14, D-Notice, The Judge, Political Penguin, Miserable Old Fart, Jottings, fridgemagnet, Blah Blah Flowers, J. Arthur MacNumpty, Tony Hatfield, Grendel, Charlie Whitaker, Matt Buck, The Waendel Journal, Marginalized Action Dinosaur, SoccerLens, Toblog, John Brissenden East Lower, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Peter Black AM, Boing Boing, BLTP, Gunnerblog, LFB UK, Liberal Revolution, Wombles, Focus on Sodbury…, Follow The Money, Freedom and Whisky, Melting Man, PoliticalHackUK, Simon Says…, Daily EM, From The Barrel of a Gun, The Fourth Place, The Armchair News Blog, Journalist und Optimist, Bristol Indymedia, Dave Weeden, Up North John, Gizmonaut, Spin and Spinners, Marginalia, Arnique, Heather Yaxley, The Whiskey Priest, On The Beat, Paul Canning, Martin Stabe, Mat Bowles, Pigdogfucker, Rachel North, B3TA board, Naqniq, Yorkshire Ranter, The Home Of Football, UFO Breakfast Recipients, Moninski , Kerching, e-clectig, Mediocracy, Sicily Scene, Samizdata, I blog, they blog, weblog, Colcam, Some Random Thoughts, Bel is thinking, Vino S, Simply Jews, Atlantic Free Press, Registan, Filasteen, Britblog Roundup #136, Scientific Misconduct Blog, Adam Bowie, Duncan at Abcol, Camera Anguish, A Very British Dude, Whatever, Central News, Green Gathering, Leighton Cooke, Skuds’ Sister’s Brother, Contrast News, Poliblog Perspective, Parish Pump, El Gales, Noodle, Curly’s Corner Shop, Freunde der offenen Gesellschaft, otromundoesposible, Richard Stacy, Looking For A Voice, News Dissector, Kateshomeblog, Writes Like She Talks, Extra! Extra!, Committee To Protect Bloggers, Liberty’s Requiem, American Samizdat, The Thunder Dragon, Cybersoc, Achievable Life, Paperholic, Creative-i, Raedwald, Nobody’s Friend, Lobster Blogster, Panchromatica, Boriswatch, Bloggerheads: The Alisher Usmanov Affair, Dan Hardie, Chris Applegate, Committee To Protect Bloggers, William Bowles, Christopher Glamorgan, Spreeblick, Krusenstern, Skuds' Sister's Brother, Contrast News, Moon of Alabama, Back off, man…, Brendadada, Freace, Fork Handles, West Virginia Rebel’s Blog, Instapundit, Powerpymes, iDiligence Forum, Gizmotastic, Demos, Gary Andrews, Neweurasia , Never Trust a Hippy, sub specie aeternitatis, Bananas in the Falklands, The Sharpener, Virtual Light, Stu News, Scraps of Moscow, Danivon, As A Dodo, La Russophobe, PJC Journal, Mick Fealty’s Brassneck, dead brains don’t dance, A Comfortable Place, Bamblog, Robert Amsterdam, The Customer, No Longer at Ease, Rachel-Catherine, Humaniform, Mike Rouse, Chesus Yuste, anticapitalista (more than 292).

Tags: Freedom of Speech, Islom Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Blogging, Arsenal

Bloggerheads And Other Top Blogs (Temporarily) Off-Line

2007-09-20T19:14:00.000+01:00

Note: This post is continually being updated. Please check back for updates.Image courtesy of Matt Buck under CC license

I am just returning from a blogging hiatus to help pass on this important message. The following is lifted from Chicken Yoghurt:

Public Service Announcement
Tim Ireland’s Bloggerheads site is currently down after his webhost pulled the plug. You can thank the latest Russian (that should be Uzbek) billionaire to reach the UK.
Read on

This doesn't just affect Tim but also a family of websites that he and Clive look after including:

This action has left Tim without email so Justin is offering to pass on any messages by phone (you can find his email on his website). Hopefully some of these sites will be back on-line soon (about 48 hours inshallah). Tim and Clive are searching for a new web host for their blogs. Please pass this message on if you have a blog. With the access these bloggers have to the mainstream media, I can't help thinking that the possible future owner of Arsenal football club has scored an own goal.

For some background into this episode check out Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek oligarch who's trying to take control of Arsenal football club (warning: he and his team of shysters edit the Wikipedia entry). In the absence of the the aforementioned blogs, only Obsolete is left to give a clear picture of the slimeball behind this attack on freedom of speech. His posts on the subject can be found here, here and here. Suffice to say that Alisher Usmanov is close to Islom Karimov, the president of Uzbekistan (ally of the UK and USA) who gets his kicks from having his subjects raped with broken bottles or boiled to death. Given Alisher Usmanov and his legal team's enthusiasm for bullying anyone who has anything less than flattering to say about this wonderful person, I won't go into the allegations of criminality reported by sources far more reliable than Schillings. For now I'll just lament the apparent introduction of Uzbekistan's interpretation of the concept of freedom of speech here in the UK and wonder how this will affect a great British institution like Arsenal football club.

More bloggage on this from: Blairwatch, Curious Hamster, Ten Percent, Iain Dale, Pickled Politics, Arseblog, Devil's Kitchen, Pitch Invasion, Tim Worstall, Obsolete, Mediawatchwatch, Wonko's World, Mr Eugenides, Harry's Place, Dizzy Thinks, Cynical Chatter From The Underworld, Earthquake Cove, Turbulent Cleric, Mike Power, Jailhouse Lawyer, The Cartoonist, Falco, LFCM: Casualty Monitor (also here), Forever Expat, Drink-soaked Trots, Roll A Monkey, Caroline Hunt, Westminster Wisdom, Chris K, Anorak, Norfolk Blogger, Chris Paul, Indymedia, Tom Watson, Reactionary Snob, Daily Mail Watch, Our Kingdom-Open Democracy, The Crossed Pond, Tygerland, Lunartalks, Marginalized Action Dinosaur, Modernity Blog, Rebellion Sucks, All About Nothing, Adelaide Green Porridge Cafe, An Englishman's Castle, Samantha Gordon & Me, Ordovicius, England Expects, Serious Golmal, The Perfect Pitch, Dave Cole, Lenin's Tomb, Politics In The Zeros, Nosemonkey, Blood & Treasure, PJC Journal, The Lone Voice, Identity Unknown, Beau Bo D'Or, Sinclair's Musings, The Select Society, Liberal England, Davblog, Peter Gasston, Graeme’s, Sim-O's Random Thoughts, Matt Wardman, Love and Garbage, The Huntsman, Conservative Party Reptile, Ellee Seymour, Sabretache, Not A Sheep, Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, The People’s Republic Of Newport, Life, the Universe & Everything, Arsenal Transfer Rumour Mill, The Green Ribbon, The Last Ditch, Areopagitica, Football in Finland, Freeborn John, Eursoc, The Back Four, Scots and Independent, The Splund, Bill Cameron, Podnosh, Dodgeblogium, Moving Target, Goonerholic, The Spine, Zero Point Nine, The Durruti Column, The Bristol Blogger, ArseNews, David Lindsay, Quaequam Blog!, On A Quiet Day…, Kathz’s Blog, Theo Spark, Duncan Borrowman, Senn’s Blog, Katykins, Jewcy, Kevin Maguire, Stumbling and Mumbling, Famous for 15 megapixels, AOL Fanhouse, Doctor Vee, The Curmudgeonly, The Poor Mouth, 1820, Hangbitch, Crooked Timber, ArseNole, Liberty Alone, Amused Cynicism, Clairwil, Tampon Teabag, Special/Blown It, The Remittance Man, 18 Doughty Street, D-Notice, Kate's Blog, Tim Worstall (on his shiny new site), more from Ten Percent, more from Ordovicius, The Judge, Indigo Jones Blogs, Disillusioned And Bored, Poldraw, more from Drink-soaked Trots, The Exile, another great post from Obsolete, Spy Blog (recommended), Postman Patel, Political Penguin, Laban Tall, Martin Bright, poons, Jangliss, Who Knows Where Thoughts Come From?, Imagined Community, A Pint of Unionist Lite, Error Gorilla, Swiss Metablog, Kate Garnwen Truemors, Asn14, Miserable Old Fart, Jottings, fridgemagnet, Blah Blah Flowers, J. Arthur MacNumpty, Tony Hatfield, Grendel, Charlie Whitaker, Matt Buck, The Waendel Journal, SoccerLens, Toblog, John Brissenden East Lower, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Peter Black AM, Boing Boing, BLTP, Gunnerblog, LFB UK, Liberal Revolution, Wombles, Focus on Sodbury…, Follow The Money, Freedom and Whisky, Melting Man, PoliticalHackUK, Simon Says…, From The Barrel Of A Gun, Up North John, Nourishing Obscurity, Gizmonaut, more from Chris Paul, Dave Weeden, more from The Cartoonist, Journalist Und Optimist, The Armchair News Blog, The Fourth Place, Daily EM, Francis Sedgemore, Naqniq, Bristol Indymedia, Spin and Spinners, Marginalia, Arnique, Heather Yaxley, The Whiskey Priest, On The Beat, Paul Canning, Martin Stabe, Mat Bowles, Pigdogfucker, Rachel North, El Galés, Liberal Democrat Voice, e-clectig, Vino, more from Podnosh, Moninski, Freunde der offenen Gesellschaft, Samizdata, more from Swiss Metablog, Noodle, Kerching, more from Daily EM, Sicily Scene, I Blog, You Blog, They Blog Weblog, Colcam (also here), more from Random Thoughts, Can't Silence Us All, Alisher Usmanov, Rossinisbird, Bel Is Thinking, Transfattyacid, Atlantic Free Press (also here), Tailrank, UFO Breakfast Recipients, Registan.net, A Very British Dude, Slate, The Home Of Football, Lobster Blogster (also here, here, here and here),Boriswatch, Bloggerheads: The Alisher Usmanov Affair, Dan Hardie, Chris Applegate, Committee To Protect Bloggers, William Bowles, Christopher Glamorgan, Spreeblick, Krusenstern, Skuds' Sister's Brother, Contrast News, Moon of Alabama,... More links as I find them. This is ~~beginning to look like~~ an 'I am Spartacus' moment and the list of Spartaci (is that the right plural?) is still growing- and rightly so because this affects us all.

*UPDATE*

Unity at Ministry of Truth has some interesting thoughts on how to deal with Britain's pernicious libel laws.

*UPDATE 2*

It seems that the mighty Schillings aren't mighty enough to deal with Google Cache. Here is Tim's post on the firm. Oh, and Craig Murray's post on Alisher Usmanov is all over the internet. It will be interesting to read what Boris Johnson, a member of Parliament and London Mayoral candidate, has to say when his blog comes back on-line.

*UPDATE 3*

The Mainstream media have not yet covered this story but there is some recent background coverage which suggests that they may well pick up on this. The Independent, The Times and The Guardian have articles.

*UPDATE 4*

The Mainstream media is starting to take an interest. The Guardian has mentioned it and Sunny from Pickled Politics will be on More 4 News tonight (21 September) at 8pm speaking about this and freedom of speech on the web. Boris Johnson MP is not amused:

Mr Johnson hit out at the closure of his website, calling it "a serious erosion of free speech".

"This is London, not Uzbekistan," the former Spectator editor and MP for Henley-on-Thames said.

"It is unbelievable that a website can be wiped out on the say-so of some tycoon.

"We live in a world where internet communication is increasingly vital, and this is a serious erosion of free speech."

*UPDATE 5*

More thoughts from Unity, this time on the methods used by Schillings.

*UPDATE 6*

The list of bloggers expressing their disgust at the antics of Alisher Usmanov and his pack of Rotweillers is growing at a fantastic rate with many of the posts including Craig Murray's original comments about this (alleged) Uzbek gangster. Now, bearing this in mind, how successful does this intimidation campaign against bloggers look? Has it protected the reputation of Alisher Usmanov or confirmed it? Here's another question: Do Schillings look like the "Leading Law Firm" they say they are, or do they more closely resemble a bunch of second rate ambulance chasers? If I was Alisher Usmanov I'd sack them.

*UPDATE 7*

There is now a Facebook group which you can join called 'Craig Murray's blog should return' Do feel free to join it. Let's see if Alisher Usmanov and his legal bullies manage to silence that.

*UPDATE 8*

I think now is a good time to reproduce the original post by Craig Murray which started this storm:

Alisher Usmanov, potential Arsenal chairman, is a Vicious Thug, Criminal, Racketeer, Heroin Trafficker and Accused Rapist
I thought I should make my views on Alisher Usmanov quite plain to you. You are unlikely to see much plain talking on Usmanov elsewhere in the media becuase he has already used his billions and his lawyers in a pre-emptive strike. They have written to all major UK newspapers, including the latter:
“Mr Usmanov was imprisoned for various offences under the old Soviet regime. We wish to make it clear our client did not commit any of the offences with which he was charged. He was fully pardoned after President Mikhail Gorbachev took office. All references to these matters have now been expunged from police records . . . Mr Usmanov does not have any criminal record.”
Let me make it quite clear that Alisher Usmanov is a criminal. He was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail. The lawyers cunningly evoke “Gorbachev”, a name respected in the West, to make us think that justice prevailed. That is completely untrue.
Usmanov’s pardon was nothing to do with Gorbachev. It was achieved through the growing autonomy of another thug, President Karimov, at first President of the Uzbek Soviet Socilist Republic and from 1991 President of Uzbekistan. Karimov ordered the “Pardon” because of his alliance with Usmanov’s mentor, Uzbek mafia boss and major international heroin overlord Gafur Rakimov. Far from being on Gorbachev’s side, Karimov was one of the Politburo hardliners who had Gorbachev arrested in the attempted coup that was thwarted by Yeltsin standing on the tanks outside the White House.
Usmanov is just a criminal whose gangster connections with one of the World’s most corrupt regimes got him out of jail. He then plunged into the “privatisation” process at a time when gangster muscle was used to secure physical control of assets, and the alliance between the Russian Mafia and Russian security services was being formed.
Usmanov has two key alliances. he is very close indeed to President Karimov, and especially to his daughter Gulnara. It was Usmanov who engineered the 2005 diplomatic reversal in which the United States was kicked out of its airbase in Uzbekistan and Gazprom took over the country’s natural gas assets. Usmanov, as chairman of Gazprom Investholdings paid a bribe of $88 million to Gulnara Karimova to secure this. This is set out on page 366 of Murder in Samarkand [hyperlink added].
Alisher Usmanov had risen to chair of Gazprom Investholdings because of his close personal friendship with Putin, He had accessed Putin through Putin’s long time secretary and now chef de cabinet, Piotr Jastrzebski. Usmanov and Jastrzebski were roommates at college. Gazprominvestholdings is the group that handles Gazproms interests outside Russia, Usmanov’s role is, in effect, to handle Gazprom’s bribery and sleaze on the international arena, and the use of gas supply cuts as a threat to uncooperative satellite states.
Gazprom has also been the tool which Putin has used to attack internal democracy and close down the independent media in Russia. Gazprom has bought out - with the owners having no choice - the only independent national TV station and numerous rgional TV stations, several radio stations and two formerly independent national newspapers. These have been changed into slavish adulation of Putin. Usmanov helped accomplish this through Gazprom. The major financial newspaper, Kommersant, he bought personally. He immediately replaced the editor-in-chief with a pro-Putin hack, and three months later the long-serving campaigning defence correspondent, Ivan Safronov, mysteriously fell to his death from a window.
All this, both on Gazprom and the journalist’s death, is set out in great detail here [hyperlink added]
Usmanov is also dogged by the widespread belief in Uzbekistan that he was guilty of a particularly atrocious rape, which was covered up and the victim and others in the know disappeared. The sad thing is that this is not particularly remarkable. Rape by the powerful is an everyday hazard in Uzbekistan, again as outlined in Murder in Samarkand page 120. If anyone has more detail on the specific case involving Usmanov please add a comment.
I reported back in 2002 or 2003 in an Ambassadorial top secret telegram to the Foreign Office that Usmanov was the most likely favoured successor of President Karimov as totalitarian leader of Uzbekistan. I also outlined the Gazprom deal (before it happened) and the present by Usmanov to Putin (though in Jastrzebski’s name) of half of Mapobank, a Russian commercial bank owned by Usmanov. I will never forget the priceless reply from our Embassy in Moscow. They said that they had never even heard of Alisher Usmanov, and that Jastrzebski was a jolly nice friend of the Ambassador who would never do anything crooked.
Sadly, I expect the football authorities will be as purblind. Football now is about nothing but money, and even Arsenal supporters - as tight-knit and homespun a football community as any - can be heard saying they don’t care where the money comes from as long as they can compete with Chelsea.
I fear that is very wrong. Letting as diseased a figure as Alisher Usmanov into your club can only do harm in the long term.

*UPDATE 9*

Did I mention that you can buy 'Murder In Samarkand' here or by clicking the button in the left sidebar?

*UPDATE 10*

From a comment by arsenews.com over at Chicken Yogurt:

If you find any IP addresses from the range
217.33.207.160 - 217.33.207.191
in your logs, they’re Schillings. Just thought you’d like to know that.
http://www.zoneedit.com/whois.html?zone=217.33.207.164

*UPDATE 11*

This story is no longer confined to the UK, it has now gone international. Here is a post from Switzerland and here is one from China, a country well acquainted with internet censorship. Way to go Schillings!

*UPDATE 12*

The Channel 4 News report (with video):

If Usmanov thought that was the end of it, it wasn't.

Over the last 24 hours it's become an internet cause celebre. Craig Murray has found some highly unlikely allies from across the political spectrum.

Over 100 high-profile bloggers have now posted on it and, as we found, some are brazenly posting the original Craig Murray article that started this all off.

Ahahahahahahahaha!!!!

More coverage from the Times.

*UPDATE 13*

Here are some of Craig Murray's last posts before his site vanished (via Google Cache). Scroll down a bit to find this...

Yet More Schillings Bollocks
On my article about Alisher Usmanov which so incensed his lawyers Schillings, let me ask this question. Has anybody seen an argument posted or published from any credible source to argue that what I say about Usmanov is untrue?

I ask the question because one of the edits to this log my webhost made at Schillings' behest was to say that my claim was "regarded as false by many people". I have altered that edit, because there is no justification for such a claim. I have yet to see evidence of anybody, not one solitary person, arguing that I am wrong about Usmanov, other than his lawyers. Who are these "Many people", and why are they peculiarly silent?

I am very sympathetic to my webhost having to change things for Schillings, but not to the extent of altering things to become defamatory of me!!!

...and a bit further down for this (unfortunately out of date and proved wrong - I'm referring to Fasthosts obviously)

September 13, 2007

Censorship
Just to make plain that I have great webhosts who have been extremely supportive in all kinds of circumstances, 24 hours a day. They have wider responsibilities and I have no problem with their taking down or amending my stuff when they get their umpteenth bullying letter from ultra well paid bluffers and extortionists Schillings.

In case it too vanishes, it's saved as a pdf file you can get from here.

*UPDATE 14*

You can now get some lovely blog buttons to decorate your sidebars. From Matt Wardman we have these (please go over there to get the code):

Mike Power has created these buttons (see the left sidebar under "Action Stations"):

Unity at Ministry Of Truth has created these:

Hmmm, decisions decisions. I'm spoiled for choice.

*UPDATE 15*

Unsurprisingly, it seems that Schillings are snooping around the blogs. I found this update on Francis Sedgemore's blog:

Update

Schillings is trawling the blogs via IP 217.33.207.164. Learned friends looking for more bloggers to bully?

That was pretty predictable, but more disturbing was this comment from Septicisle:

Thanks for the IP, added it to my stats labelling. They came to me via the Nether-World.

So the shysters have been snooping around this blog. Again, hardly surprising but sobering nonetheless. After checking my stats I found out that Schillings came to this blog via Cynical Chatter From The Underworld and hung around for a whopping 5 hours 41 mins 14 secs before pissing off to snoop on others. They did this at 9:56am on September 21st and they also checked out Politics In The Zeros (who blogs from the USA and is presumably safe from their bullying).

Well I'm still on-line so far. It certainly isn't inconceivable that this blog could get shut down but Google are big and Schillings will have a job doing it, not least because I haven't violated their Terms of Service. Of course if a large number of blogs get pulled then this story will become big news very quickly indeed, something even an incompetent law firm like ~~Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel~~ Schillings ought to realise. I'll make a back up of this post and put it on the mirror site I have reserved for such emergencies if it does mysteriously vanish. As we know, the last thing Usmanov wants is a court case where Craig Murray could get called as a witness.

For people worried about unwanted attention, it is possible to block a number of IP addresses so that the unwelcome visitor is redirected to a webpage of your choice when a blocked IP address is used (I'm thinking of using this one). Schillings IP addresses range from 217.33.207.160 - 217.33.207.191. Blocking them won't stop determined Rotweillers but it will cause inconvenience (time is money after all) and it's worth it just for that.

*UPDATE 16*

Bob Piper is back! Well sort of anyway. I read his post on Google Reader but when I tried to get to his page from there, I got a screen saying "Internal Server Error". I did manage to get to his site from my blogroll but I got the same error message when I tried to leave a comment welcoming him back. So if you're reading this Bob, welcome back to blogland. I'm sure these errors are just glitches that will disappear soon. Anyway, this is of what he has to say:

Well, I'm back! At the moment it would appear Boris, Tim, Craig and Clive are still down, but I know Clive has been working like a trooper since Thursday to back up all the blog files and move them to another server. If anyone is looking for a webhost then I would heartily recommend Clive at UK Today (Although you cannot get there at the minute). Anyway, it makes a change to be attracting attention for something I hadn't said.... although the Leader of Sandwell Council will probably have blown a gasket when he saw my name caught up in all of this.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the campaign for Tim and Craig, particularly Justin who kicked it all off. The list below is from Justin's site. Also many thanks to those who offered me webspace or to be a guest poster, the good folks at Blairwatch, Cassilis and John Hirst were particularly encouraging. As Tom Watson said, this Usamov creature must be one hell of a unifier if he can get Iain Dale writing in support of Tim Ireland's free speech.... perhaps now Iain will allow Tim back on his own comments in the new spirit of glastnost.

Let's hope Tim, Clive, Craig and Boris return soon.

*UPDATE 17*

No prizes for guessing what's the "Story of the Week" on the latest BritBlog Roundup (hosted by Liberal England).

*UPDATE 18*

Isn't it interesting how little coverage there has been in the mainstream media of this issue? Apart from More 4 News, The Times and The Guardian there has been silence while this controversy has raged across the internet. I hope this changes soon. By increasing the coverage in the blogosphere we can hopefully force the MSM to do its job despite the bluffing by Schillings. The BBC have been useless on this. It can produce a lengthly piece about Usmanov increasing his stake in Arsenal without even obliquely referring to the controversy surrounding him.

*UPDATE 19*

Boris Johnson is now back on-line. Welcome back Boris! I hope the prominent MP and London Mayoral candidate will have something to say soon about Mr Creosote, his pack of shysters and the cowardly Fasthosts. Until he does decide to comment, we have the statement he made at the start of this saga:

"This is London, not Uzbekistan. It is unbelievable that a website can be wiped out on the say-so of some tycoon. We live in a world where internet communication is increasingly vital, and this is a serious erosion of free speech."

Tim Ireland still isn't on-line just yet but his Bloggerheads site is displaying a test message which is encouraging. No sign of Craig Murray and Clive Summerfield yet.

*UPDATE 20*

I meant to blog this earlier today but didn't.

Interim Statement from Clive Summerfield and Tim Ireland:
We’d like to thank you all for your support and let you all know just what the hell has been going on, but we beg your patience as we continue with the practical measures required before we can fully and confidently speak our minds about this matter.

Our immediate priority is the restoration of the websites involved; this has been greatly complicated by the sudden closure of the entire account (as opposed to, say, the suspension or closure of the two websites directly involved in the Usmanov dispute). This total - and totally unexpected - withdrawal of service requires us to restore many websites with differing individual circumstances and formats. The removal of email used for the majority of these accounts has also further complicated matters, as the most immediate form of communication between many of the parties involved is no longer available.

Bob Piper is already back on deck, and we expect Boris Johnson’s weblog to be up and running shortly. Special arrangements are being made for Craig Murray as we speak.

A full statement is likely to follow the restoration of Bloggerheads and/or The UK Today, as it is at one of these websites that we would wish to host a full statement and manage the expected response.

*UPDATE 21*

Some more media coverage to add to these: More 4 News, The Times and The Guardian. The Register has produced a couple of articles, this one and a much more in-depth one here with some glorious fighting talk from Craig Murray (via):

Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray has vowed to carry on making allegations against billionaire Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov, despite attempts to silence him and his supporters.

Murray told The Reg: "If the man believes he was libelled then he should take me to court."

Well, quite! The article ends with:

The new hosting has been arranged separately from the rest of Summerfield's sites - Murray believes that Usmanov's lawyers are trying to make him back down by attacking others.

We asked Murray if he intends to stay on Usmanov's back. He replied: "There is room on Usmanov's back for an awful lot of people. You could get even more on his stomach, and possibly lose some under the overlap of his chins."

We think that's a "yes".

Fantastic! Associated Press has also covered the story which means it's now found its way into the Moscow Times. I wonder if that publication has received threatening letters from the shysters. Now it looks like Mr Creosote and his clumsy law firm have another problem. From PJC Journal and England Expects, I'm hearing that the allegations against this (alleged) gangster will be heard in the European Parliament.

Tonight, during the Saryusz-Wolski report "Towards a common European foreign policy on energy" the Euro realist MEP Tom Wise will use parliamentary privilege to spell out the allegations against Alisher Usmanov. He has been talking to Craig Murray to ensure that the allegations are accurate and to the point.

The purpose of the debate is to discuss the creation of a single energy policy for Europe controlled by an European Energy Minister (or in Eurocratese a "High Official").

As Mr Usmanov is in the words of Murray who "who ordered the cutting off of supplies to Georgia earlier this year" this is extremely relevant to the debate.

Under the rules governing parliamentary privilege, any news organisation can repeat what has been said in the Parliament chamber, allowing the MSM to circumvent the legal threats being thrown about by Usmanov's lawyers Schillings.

Is that the sound of toys being thrown out of prams that I'm hearing?

Tags: Freedom of Speech, Islom Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Blogging, Arsenal

Craig Murray forced to remove documents from his website

2006-07-12T20:06:00.000+01:00

Craig Murray has head to remove the some of the documents he put on his website to support the claims he made in his book ‘Murder in Samarkand’. From Craig’s Website:

"We need another Dickens"
New Labour are not as stupid as they seem. I have now had a chance to take legal advice, and that advice is as follows. To defend this case would cost the price of a London house. I don't have a house, in London or anywhere else. I am therefore obliged to give in to force majeure and remove some of the documents from my own site. This reeking government is therefore able to mask its stink on this particular miniscule corner of the internet.

Here is another piece of legal advice I received. Copyright cases cover one instance of publication in one place. Anyone else who has published any government documents that might be Crown Copyright, or not, (and I believe there are hundreds of thousands of documents on the web on which the government could, by the argument in Mr Buttrill's letter, claim copyright), is an individual case and can wait to hear from Mr Buttrill.Force Majeure wields a two-edged sword.

Craig

But never mind, these documents are spread so far and wide over the internet now that Mr Buttrill will never be able to stop people seeing them. If you haven’t seen the documents yet, they’re available from here here, here, here, here, here, here, and as a bittorrent here. Also as an Edonkey File and here is a Magnet link for the Bittorent share. There is also a .torrent of the documents on mininova.

Hat-Tip to Chicken Yoghurt

Tags: Craig Murray, Murder in Samarkand, Torture, Rendition, Freedom of Information

Murder in Samarkand - Documents:

2006-07-08T07:25:00.000+01:00

The former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, has finally managed to publish his book Murder in Samarkand in which he describes the appalling human rights abuses by the US-funded regime of President Islam Karimov, and what happened when Craig tried to expose those abuses and the British and US complicity with the Karimov regime over torture.

The UK Government has tried to prevent the book being published and in order to get around the censorship Craig has put the supporting documents on his website.

In publishing "Murder in Samarkand" I had wanted to publish the supporting documentation in the book to cooroborate my story, especially as the FCO is claiming that the story is essentially untrue. In that sense, perhaps the most interesting link in the documents below is the very first document, which is a table of detailed amendments the FCO insisted be made to the text. This is fascinating if you consider just how much it confirms was true, particularly in the conversations it refers to between officials. - More and suppporting documents

The Government is now trying to silence Craig using the Crown Copyright Laws because he is not contravening the Official Secret's Act by publishing the documents on-line. They are threatening legal action and it is uncertain how much longer the documents will be available on his site.

Click on image for larger version or download pdf here

Blairwatch is mirroring the site here in the UK and several sites in the USA are also mirroring the documents and they should be unreachable by the UK Government. However the more bloggers who publish these documents, the less likely it is that the Government can succeed in stopping them spreading, so I am publishing them here. If this site does get shut down, then Dahr Jamail in the USA has a torrent file to share, and a zip to download of all the documents directly. You can also download a zip file from Polizeros.

An introduction to the documents, by Craig Murray:
In publishing "Murder in Samarkand" I had wanted to publish the supporting Documentation in the book to cooroborate my story, especially as the FCO is claiming that the story is essentially untrue. In that sense, perhaps the most interesting link in the Documents below is the very first Document, which is a table of detailed amendments the FCO insisted be made to the text. This is fascinating if you consider just how much it confirms was true, particularly in the conversations it refers to between officials.

Many of the other Documents I managed to have released under the Freedom of Information Act or Data Protection Act. I was astonished when the FCO announced that they would still take legal action against me if I published them. They argue that, and this astonished me, even if a Document is released under the DPA or FoIA, it is still copyright of the Crown and so cannot be published. I was even more amazed when the lawyers of the publisher said that this was probably true, and certainly could not be fought without potentially a million pound legal case.

It appears that, among so many attacks on civil liberties in recent years, the Blair government has managed to administratively negate its own Freedom of Information Act. Robin Cook must be spinning in his grave.

So we have made Murder in Samarkand an interactive bookthe Documents are published here, and referenced by URL in the text. Net posting is not breaching copyright because there is no charge to access the Documents. This site may, of course, be subject to technical attack, so I would be grateful if those who can mirror these documents on their own sites, do so.

These are contemporary Documents from my time as Ambassador in Uzbekistan. They do I believe include the real smoking gun on Britain's, and the CIA's, use of intelligence obtained by torture abroad. They also show the FCO getting increasingly angry with me over my being "over-focussed on human rights", rahter than building good relationships with Karimov, our ally in the War on Terror.

They do not give a smoking gun that proves that the allegations brought against me, of which I was eventually cleared, were trumped-up and motivated by a desire to get rid of me for policy reasons. Being internal FCO Documents, they are written to maintain the facade of a proper disciplinary investigation. You need to be prepared to read between the lines - and read the book!

Craig

Here are the Documents:

FCO Comment

IMF Telegram

Declaration

Speech

Hill Negotiation

Michael Wood memo of 13 March

Telegram of 18 March ‘2003 US Foreign Policy’

Letter from Simon Butt dated 16 April 2003

Exchange of emails with Linda Duffield

Colin Reynolds Report of 26 June 2003

Minute of my meeting with Howard Drake

Letter from British Businessmen in Tashkent

Email to Kate Smith

Minute of 26 September 2003

Tags: Torture, Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, Nu Labour

More from Craig Murray

2005-12-31T04:53:00.000Z

Craig Murray’s website is now back on-line (we still don’t know why it crashed). The story about the leaked documents has now reached many news sources around the world and is starting to reach the mainstream media including The Times, The Independent, Al Jazeera and UPI. Blairwatch grabbed some of an interview with Craig Murray on Radio 4’s PM Show. You can download the MP3 here or, if you have Real Player, go to Radio 4 to hear the interview.

Mr Murray has also passed on this message to all the bloggers who distributed the documents.

"Can I pass on my thanks to everyone who is posting the documents and making them public. You are striking a real blow for humanity and against the appalling decline in our civil liberties and standards.

We have also proved that, as long as we have good people out there, technology now makes it impossible for Western governments and political establishments to bury the truth, no matter how much they control the mainstream media."

Interestingly, he attaches another document. Nothing forbidden this time, the document is old news and already in the public domain. However, reading it in the light of recent events sheds more light on the sordid relationships between Uzbekistan, United States and the United Kingdom.

More old news

From the chatter on the web, it's clear that there are still a few diehard Bush/Blair supporters out there who believe this is about democracy and security.

I hate to disillusion such people, but everyone should be aware of this document:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushlay12.html

(This was released with other Enron court documents. To anyone covering
the Enron story, it meant very little. Now, however....)"

For more on this, have a look at Lenin’s Tomb where this story is handled very well and is worth reading. Also these documents help put things in context.

Secretary Rumsfeld Press Conference with President of Uzbekistan

Secretary Rumsfeld and Ambassador Jon Purnell Press Conference in Uzbekistan

The Government Strikes Back (or does it?)

2005-12-30T02:59:00.000Z

Since my last post, the website of Craig Murray (former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan) has mysteriously vanished from the internet. At this stage we do not know the cause. It’s unlikely to be just heavy traffic as the site is completely gone, but we will have more information soon. It is, of course, a huge coincidence that this happened within hours of the leaking of documents that the Government does not want anyone to see.

UPDATE (11:37pm) - Craig Murray's site is currently down. This is almost certainly a server issue, and it will be dealt with in the morning.

UPDATE(00:48) - Well, shut my mouth. Something fishy *is* going on. Details in the morning. Meantime, my advice to those who are hosting this data is as follows;
Back-up your websites... just to avoid any possible hassles. Boy, it's a good thing we hosted this in multiple locations, isn't it?
source

If it is the case that the British Government has taken out Mr Murray’s website then it would be an act stupendous futility as the story has now circled the planet several times and can be found as far away as America and New Zealand, and it is gaining momentum as it travels (it has now found its way into The Independent). Of course it could just be the case that the website crashed spectacularly after getting too many hits. But this government’s capacity for vindictiveness is legendary and it would be entirely in character for Blair to throw his dolly out of the pram. In the meantime, just to highlight the futility of trying to silence the internet, I am going to publish here some bits from Craig Murray’s website:

Here is a mirror of his post on the leaked documents:
Damning documentary evidence unveiled. Dissident bloggers in coordinated expose of UK government lies over torture. Help us beat the British government's gagging order by mirroring this information on your own site or blog!

Constituent: "This question is for Mr Straw; Have you ever read any documents where the intelligence has been procured through torturous means?"

Jack Straw: "Not to the best of my knowledge... let me make this clear... the British government does not support torture in any circumstances. Full stop. We do not support the obtaining of intelligence by torture, or its use." - Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, election hustings, Blackburn, April
2005
I was summoned to the UK for a meeting on 8 March 2003. Michael Wood gave his legal opinion that it was not illegal to obtain and to use intelligence acquired by torture... On behalf of the intelligence services, Matthew Kydd said that they found some of the material very useful indeed with a direct bearing on the war on terror. Linda Duffield said that she had been asked to assure me that my qualms of conscience were respected and understood. - Ambassador Craig Murray, memo to the Foreign Office, July 2004
In March 2003 I was summoned back to London from Tashkent specifically for a meeting at which I was told to stop protesting. I was told specifically that it was perfectly legal for us to obtain and to use intelligence from the Uzbek torture chambers.

After this meeting Sir Michael Wood, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's legal adviser, wrote to confirm this position. This minute from Michael Wood is perhaps the most important document that has become public about extraordinary rendition. It is irrefutable evidence of the government's use of torture material, and that I was attempting to stop it. It is no wonder that the government is trying to suppress this.
The two documents in question can be viewed here and here.They can, and should be downloaded here and here.

British Government and Torture

2005-12-29T18:53:00.000Z

The British Government continuously denies that it condones torture or relies on evidence obtained by torture. Despite these denials evidence continues to accumulate that this is not the case and the British Government does indeed condone torture. This is hardly surprising considering the close relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom and their close co-operation in “The War on Terror”.

On December 8th 2005 the Law Lords ruled that secret evidence that might have been obtained by torture cannot be used against terror suspects in UK courts. This overturns last year’s Court of Appeal ruling that such evidence could be used if UK authorities had no involvement. This new ruling has an effect on the case of eight of the 10 foreign terror suspects held without charge in British detention centres, including Belmarsh, or under house arrest pending deportation (to countries where they may well be tortured).

There have been numerous reports that MI5 and MI6 have been present at the American prison at Guantánamo, Cuba where stories of torture are rife and this week we have heard allegations that MI6 was involved with the abduction and torture of Pakistani terror suspects in Greece. Craig Murray, the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, lost his job when he reported and protested about the use of intelligence gained by torture. Add to this the reluctance of the British Government to fully investigate CIA rendition flights in the UK and a very different picture emerges from the one the Government wants us to see.

The Government certainly does not want you to see these telegrams relating to Mr Murray’s growing concern over our use of intelligence passed to the UK by the Uzbek security services, or this legal advice sought by the Foreign Office, to see if they were operating within the Law in accepting torture intelligence, (according to Michael Wood the FCO legal adviser; it is fine, as long as it is not used as evidence). Please download these and circulate them.

telgrams.pdf

npaper.jpg

In yet another attempt to silence Craig Murray, The Government told him just before Christmas, that these two documents cannot be published, and that he was to return or destroy all copies immediately. At risk of being prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act, and in support of Craig Murray, I have posted them here in the hope that if enough people see these then the many bloggers who have also done this will be safe from prosecution. This is how I interpret “Freedom of Information”. You can read Craig Murray’s response to this heavy-handed censorship here.

Once again, special thanks to Blairwatch for bringing this to my attention.

The Nether-World

Alisher 'Capone' Usmanov And The Continuing Campaign

That Tom Wise Speech on Usmanov

The Usmanov Affair: A Quick Update

Alisher Usmanov Bit Off More Than He Could Chew When He Tried To Censor Bloggers

Bloggerheads And Other Top Blogs (Temporarily) Off-Line

September 13, 2007

Craig Murray forced to remove documents from *his* website

Murder in Samarkand - Documents:

More from Craig Murray

The Government Strikes Back (or does it?)

British Government and Torture

Craig Murray forced to remove documents from his website