I'd recommend people actually look at the ruling, becuase it goes straight against some of the talking points from Murray and his friends, and in some cases is pretty funny.[1] For example on page 17, the judge concludes that Murray didn't breach the rules about reporting on a jurors dismissal because what Murray wrote was "bizarre" and "unfounded". Ie, he completely lied about it and that actually meant he didn't breach the law. It also notes that not only did his articles reveal the accusers details, but the commenters on his articles literally named the accusers.<p>He also literally states in his own testimony to the court that he intended to attempt to reveal the identities without being in contempt of court.<p>The whole thing is just pretty funny - he's basically saying "Oh well I didn't say their names" and the court is saying "Yeah that's not the standard of the court order, you made it easy to identify them". I mean honestly, he literally told people what on the accusers job was, and when she did that job, meaning that there was only 1 possible person he could've been talking about.<p>[1]<a href="https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/docs/default-source/cos-general-docs/pdf-docs-for-opinions/2021hcj002.pdf?sfvrsn=4c39efdd_0" rel="nofollow">https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/docs/default-source/cos-genera...</a>
A subtle point that might be missed is that Murray's reports of the Alex Salmond trial and Salmond's innocence lend weight to the theory that Salmond's accusers may have been part of a coordinated political attack. The big government machine is striking back.
I've enjoyed some of Murray's writing, in particular he did some quite good court reporting related to Assange. I have also been intrigued by his non-orthodox interpretations of that chemical weapons incident in Salisbury, though some might call these pieces outrageous conspiracy writing. I did not really follow the stuff around Salmond so I can't comment on what happened there. In any case, it seems a bit severe to me to jail this guy for hinting at information that major press apparently also made easy to find. At least, this is what is claimed. He is quite old and apparently his health isn't the best either, so I would have expected something like house arrest or a suspended sentence at worst.