View source for Craig Murray

{{Short description|Scottish author, human rights activist and journalist}}{{otherpeople}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Craig Murray
| image               = Craig Murray Demo 2021 08 01 - 08 -- Extract.jpg
| office2             = [[Rector of the University of Dundee]]
| term_start2         = 2007
| term_end2           = 2010
| predecessor2        = [[Lorraine Kelly]]
| successor2          = [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]]
| office              = [[British Ambassador to Uzbekistan]]
| predecessor         = [[Christopher Ingham]]
| successor           = David Moran
| monarch             = [[Elizabeth II]]
| term_start          = August 2002
| term_end            = October 2004
| primeminister       = [[Tony Blair]]
| imagesize           = 
| caption             = 
| party               = [[Workers Party of Britain]] (Since 2024)
| birth_name          = Craig John Murray
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1958|10|17|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[West Runton]], [[Norfolk]], England
| nationality         = Scottish
| spouse              = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Fiona Kennedy|1984|2008|end=div}}|{{marriage|Nadira Alieva|6 May 2009}}}}
| children            = 4<ref name="Oscar's Arrival">{{cite web|url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2021/02/oscars-arrival/|title=Oscar's Arrival|author=Craig Murray|website=Craig Murray|date=18 February 2021}}</ref>
| education           = [[Paston College|Paston School]]
| alma_mater          = [[University of Dundee]]
| occupation          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Author]]
* [[Human rights defender|Human rights campaigner]]
* [[Journalist]]
* Former [[ambassador]]
 }}
| website             = {{url|https://www.craigmurray.org.uk}}
| otherparty          = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] (until 2005, 2010–2011)<br />[[Scottish National Party]] (2011–2016)<br />[[Action for Independence]] (2021)
<br />[[Alba Party]] (2021–2024)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malik |first=Paul |date=29 March 2021 |title=All aboard the Alba Party: Some of the colourful characters joining Salmond's new movement |url= https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/scottish-politics/2082964/alba-party-latest-candidates/ |access-date=11 August 2023 |website=The Courier |location= Dundee}}</ref><br /> [[Your Party (UK)|Your Party]] (2025-present)<ref>{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Craig |date=27 October 2025 |title= I have joined Your Party |url= https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2025/10/i-have-joined-your-party/ |access-date=28 October 2025 |website= Craig Murray}} </ref>
}}

'''Craig John Murray''' (born 17 October 1958)<ref name="Who's Who">{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.41745 |title=Murray, Craig John, (born 17 Oct. 1958), writer and broadcaster |journal=[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]] |year=2007}}</ref><ref name="BIO">{{cite web |url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/about-craig-murray/ |title=About Craig Murray |date=24 November 2012 |publisher=Craig Murray |access-date=22 April 2018}}</ref><ref>''Murder in Samarkand'', p. 293</ref> is a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] author, [[human rights]] campaigner,<ref name="WeavGu09" /><ref name=PelSp21>{{cite news |last1=Peltier |first1=Elian |last2=Specia |first2=Megan |title=U.K. Judge Blocks Assange's Extradition to U.S., Citing Mental Health |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/world/europe/assange-extradition-denied.html |access-date=12 May 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=4 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="Phipps14">{{cite book |last1=Phipps |first1=Alison |title=The Politics of the Body |date=2014 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-745-64888-0 |pages=39–45 |url= https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/The+Politics+of+the+Body%3A+Gender+in+a+Neoliberal+and+Neoconservative+Age-p-9780745648880}}</ref> journalist,<ref>{{cite news |title=Former UK ambassador held in contempt of court for Salmond case publications |url= https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/former-uk-ambassador-held-in-contempt-of-court-for-salmond-case-publications |access-date=12 May 2021 |work=[[Scottish Legal News]] |location=Dundee }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanderson |first1=Daniel |location=London  |title=Ex-diplomat denies publishing 'hints' designed to reveal identity of Salmond accusers |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/01/27/ex-diplomat-denies-publishing-hints-designed-reveal-identity/ |access-date=12 May 2021 |work=The Telegraph |date=27 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=17 July 2020 |title=Attack on Free Speech – Journalist Craig Murray Charged with Contempt of Court in the UK |url= https://www.pressenza.com/2020/07/attack-on-free-speech-journalist-craig-murray-charged-with-contempt-of-court-in-the-uk/ |access-date=13 May 2021 |website=Pressenza}}</ref> and former diplomat.

While he was the [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Uzbekistan|British ambassador to Uzbekistan]] (2002–2004), he exposed the violations of [[human rights in Uzbekistan|human rights in that country]] by the [[Islam Karimov#Human rights and press freedom|Karimov administration]]. This led to conflict with his superiors in the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office|Foreign Office]] until finally he was removed from the post.<ref name="Sullivan">{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Kevin |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013103501.html |title=The Envoy & His Navel Liaison |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1 February 2008 |access-date=17 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="Simpson">{{cite news |url= http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12431676._apos_The_high_is_finding_a_moral_strength__The_low_is_lack_of_money_______and_having_to_do_my_own_washing_up_apos__Life_has_changed_immeasurably_for_Craig_Murray_since_he_exposed_human_rights_abuse__Anne_Simpson_discovers_what_the_informer_did_next/ |title='The high is finding a moral strength. The low is lack of money ... and having to do my own washing-up' |last=Simpson |first=Anne |date=18 July 2006 |newspaper=The Herald  |access-date=17 March 2018 |location= Glasgow}}</ref> Specifically, Murray lodged formal written complaints to his superiors stating that it was morally and legally wrong to obtain intelligence under torture and that intelligence received by the [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (and the US [[Central Intelligence Agency]]) from the Uzbek government was unreliable because it had been obtained through [[torture]].<ref name="MurrayWP2006">{{cite news |last=Murray |first=Craig |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/01/AR2006090101418_pf.html |title=Her Majesty's Man in Tashkent |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=3 September 2006 |access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref>

Subsequently he became a political activist, campaigning for human rights and for transparency in global politics as well as for the [[Scottish independence|independence of Scotland]]. Between 2007 and 2010 he was the elected [[Rector of the University of Dundee]].

His books include two memoirs, first about his time in Central Asia, ''[[Murder in Samarkand]]'' (2006), and then ''The Catholic Orangemen of Togo: and other Conflicts I Have Known'' (2009), about his early career years in West Africa; and a historical biography, ''Sikunder Burnes: Master of the Great Game'' (2016), about [[Alexander Burnes]] and [[Great Game|the rivalry between the 19th century British and Russian Empires]] over influence in Asia.

==Early life and career==
===Family and education===
Murray was born in [[West Runton]], [[Norfolk]], to Robert Cameron Brunton Murray and Poppy Katherine Murray ({{nee|Grice}})<ref name="Who's Who"/>{{bsn|date=July 2023}} and was raised in neighbouring [[Sheringham]]. His father, one of 13 children, had worked in the docks in [[Leith]], Scotland, before joining the [[Royal Air Force]].<ref name="Simpson"/> Murray was educated at Sheringham Primary and then at [[Paston College|Paston School]], an all-boys state [[grammar school]] in [[North Walsham]] in Norfolk, which he greatly disliked.<ref name="Sale">{{cite news |last=Sale |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-craig-murray-former-ambassador-426322.html |title=Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Craig Murray, former ambassador |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=30 November 2006 |access-date=8 February 2016}}</ref> He told [[John Crace (writer)|John Crace]] in 2007 that pupils were obliged each week to don "military uniform and become cadets. Either I skipped school or refused to take part, so I was frequently suspended". His A-levels suffered as a result.<ref name="Crace">{{cite news |last=Crace |first=John |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/feb/13/highereducationprofile.highereducation |title=Craig Murray: Our man in Dundee |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=13 February 2007 |access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref>

Murray became President of the [[East Anglia]]n Federation of Young Liberals. Aged 16 he was elected to the National Council of the Liberal Party to represent the Eastern Region of England. At the [[University of Dundee]], to which, Murray said, he barely gained admission to read Modern History, he "made a policy decision not to attend any lectures". Instead he "read voraciously" to teach himself, and graduated in 1982 with an [[Master of Arts (Scotland)|MA (Hons)]] [[British undergraduate degree classification|first class]].<ref name="Sale"/> He remained active in Liberal then Liberal Democrat politics, serving on the Students' Representative Council as an avowed liberal. Murray became President of [[Dundee University Students' Association]], elected to this [[Sabbatical officer|sabbatical office]] twice (1982–1983 and 1983–1984), an occurrence so unusual that [[University Court (Dundee)|the university court]] (the highest body) changed the rules to prevent him running a third time.<ref name="Sale" /> He spent seven years in total at the university (he had to re-sit one year for not attending tutorials), compared with the four years for a Scottish first (honours) degree.<ref name="Sale" /><!-- Independent article reference applies to the whole paragraph -->

===Early years in HM Diplomatic Service===
Murray sat the 1984 [[Civil Service (United Kingdom)|Civil Service Open Competition]] exams in his second year as the Students' Association President because a woman he was interested in was also sitting them, although he had no interest in entering the civil service.<ref name="Herald190305">{{cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Eamonn |date=19 March 2005 |title=Sex. Scandal. Human rights abuse and a touring folk band. As ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray learned quite a lot about diplomacy. Now he wants to topple the foreign secretary |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12397991.Sex___Scandal__Human_rights_abuse_and_a_touring_folk_band__As_ambassador_to_Uzbekistan__Craig_Murray_learned_quite_a_lot_about_diplomacy__Now_he_wants_to_topple_the_foreign_secretary/ |newspaper=The Herald |location=Glasgow |access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref> Later, after he was told he was in the top three of his year, he chose the [[HM Diplomatic Service]] because "it seemed marginally more glamorous than anything else on offer".<ref name="Crace"/><ref name="Herald190305"/>

Murray had a number of overseas postings with the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] (FCO) to Nigeria, Poland (in the 1990s, where he was first secretary heading the embassy's political and economic section)<ref name="Murray20050225">{{cite web|last=Murray|first=Craig|url=http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2005/02/the_pathologist.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20061012215514/http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2005/02/the_pathologist.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 October 2006|title=The pathologist also found that his fingernails had been pulled out. That clearly took me a back|work=Craig Murray|date=24 February 2005}}</ref> and Ghana.<ref name="Simpson"/> In London, he was appointed to the FCO's Southern European Department, as Cyprus desk officer, and later became head of the Maritime Section. In August 1991 he worked in the Embargo Surveillance Centre as the head of the FCO section. This job entailed monitoring the Iraqi government's attempts at smuggling weapons and circumventing sanctions. His group gave daily reports to [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[John Major]]. In ''[[Murder in Samarkand]]'', he describes how this experience led him to disbelieve the claims of the UK and US governments in 2002 about Iraqi [[Weapon of mass destruction|WMD]]s.<ref name="Scotsman-20051231">{{cite news|last=Hainey|first=Raymond|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/memos-prove-evidence-used-from-uzbek-secret-police-1-686011|title=Memos 'Prove Evidence used from Uzbek Secret Police'|work=The Scotsman|date=31 December 2005|access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref><ref>''Dirty Diplomacy'', p. 170</ref>

===Ambassador to Uzbekistan===
Murray was appointed ambassador to Uzbekistan, at the age of 43, where he was formally in office from August 2002 to October 2004, when he was dismissed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Elliot |first=Iain |date=6 October 2006 |title=Nice friends |url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/nice-friends/ |newspaper=The Times Literary Supplement |access-date=17 March 2018 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He told [[Nick Paton Walsh]], then with ''[[The Guardian]]'', in July 2004 that "there is no point in having cocktail-party relationships with a [[fascist]] regime".<ref name="Paton Walsh">{{cite news|last=Paton Walsh|first=Nick|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/15/foreignpolicy.uk|title=The Envoy Who Said Too Much|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512005541/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/15/foreignpolicy.uk|archive-date=12 May 2016|url-status=dead|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=15 July 2004|access-date=10 February 2016}}</ref> In a 2005 [[University of York]] speech, Murray recounted that, about a fortnight after his arrival, he observed a court trial at which an elderly defendant said that his earlier statement about two of the other accused, his nephews, had been made as he watched his children being tortured, and the claim the two men were associates of [[Osama bin Laden]] was entirely false.<ref name="Murray20050225"/>

====Human rights====
In October 2002, according to [[Nick Cohen]] in ''[[The Observer]]'', Murray "delivered a speech which broke with all the established principles of Foreign Office diplomacy".<ref name="Cohen2002">{{cite news|last=Cohen|first=Nick|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/dec/15/politicalcolumnists.worldview|title=Trouble in Tashkent|work=The Observer|date=15 December 2002|access-date=10 February 2016}}</ref> "The brave and honest ambassador", Cohen commented,<ref name="Cohen2002"/> spoke at a [[human rights]] conference hosted by [[Freedom House]] in [[Tashkent]], although David Stern reported in January 2003 for [[EurasiaNet]] that other western officials had made similar comments.<ref name="Stern">{{cite web|last=Stern|first=David|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav011403.shtml|title=British Envoy's Speech Reverberates in Uzbekistan|date=14 January 2003|work=Civil Society|publisher=EurasiaNet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904031404/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav011403.shtml|archive-date=4 September 2008}}</ref> In the speech, Murray said that:<ref name="Cohen2002"/><ref name="Stern"/>
{{blockquote|Uzbekistan is not a functioning democracy, nor does it appear to be moving in the direction of democracy. The major political parties are banned; Parliament is not subject to democratic election and checks and balances on the authority of the electorate are lacking. There is worse: we believe there to be between 7,000 and 10,000 people in detention whom we would consider as political and/or religious prisoners. In many cases they have been falsely convicted of crimes with which there appears to be no credible evidence they had any connection.}} Nick Paton Walsh wrote in ''The Guardian'' that "[t]he Foreign Office cleared the speech, but not without an acrimonious struggle over its content".<ref name="Paton Walsh"/> Murray also said in his speech that the [[Death by boiling|boiling to death]] of two men (reportedly members of [[Hizb ut-Tahrir]]<ref name="Murray20050225"/>) was "not an isolated incident".<ref name="Paton Walsh"/> A photograph of one of the men showed that his fingernails had been pulled out.<ref name="MurrayWP2006"/> The US ambassador [[John E. Herbst|John Herbst]] was present at the event and reportedly "livid" at Murray's speech. According to a report in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', Murray was advised by Whitehall not to antagonise the government in Tashkent any further.<ref name="Ungoed-Thomas">{{cite news|last1=Ungoed-Thomas|first1=Jonathan|last2=Franchetti|first2=Mark|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/advice/focus-the-british-ambassador-says-his-hosts-are-boiling-people-to-death-meet-craig-murray-our-man-in-uzbekistan-and-probably-the-worlds-most-undiplomatic-diplomat-djx2pts6zxj|title=Focus: The British ambassador says his hosts are boiling people to death|newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]]|date=26 October 2003|access-date=17 March 2018 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The Americans were said to have put pressure on the British government for Murray to tone down his comments.<ref name="Gedye071103">{{cite news|last=Gedye|first=Robin|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/uzbekistan/1446171/FO-backs-down-over-envoys-sacking.html|title=FO backs down over envoy's sacking
|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 November 2003|access-date=16 March 2018}}</ref> The then [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]], [[Kofi Annan]], confronted [[Uzbek President]] [[Islam Karimov]] with what Murray had said.<ref name="Leigh181003">{{cite news|last1=Leigh|first1=David|last2=Paton Walsh|first2=Nick|last3=MacAskill|first3=Ewen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/oct/18/uk.foreignpolicy|title=Ambassador accused after criticising US|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 October 2003|access-date=16 March 2018}}</ref>

Murray was summoned to the FCO in London and, on 8 March 2003, was reprimanded for writing to his employers, in response to a speech by President of the United States [[George W. Bush]] criticising human rights violations by Saddam Hussein, that "when it comes to the Karimov regime, systematic torture and rape appear to be treated as [[misdemeanor|peccadilloes]], not to affect the relationship and to be downplayed in the international fora. Double standards? Yes".<ref>{{cite report |title=Temporary Committee on the Alleged use of European Countries by the CIA for the Transport and Illegal Detention of Prisoners|section=The US-UK Agreement, the Uzbek Security Services, the Intelligence under Torture |publisher=[[European Parliament]]|location=Strasbourg|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dt/617/617730/617730en.pdf|date=2006|id=PE 374.341v01-01}}</ref><ref name="Paton Walsh"/><ref name=Swe05>{{cite news |last1=Sweeney |first1=John |title=I've Seen the Blood on Labour's Hands |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/advice/ive-seen-the-blood-on-labours-hands-3mphbzmvcv2 |work=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=18 September 2005 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211025055847/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ive-seen-the-blood-on-labours-hands-3mphbzmvcv2|archive-date=25 October 2021|url-status=live|language=en}}</ref> Murray believed the human rights abuses in Uzbekistan were worse than in Iraq in the run up to the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]], but that the latter was being invaded while the government of the former was being supported.<ref name="Leigh181003"/> In an internal document by Murray, later leaked to the ''[[Financial Times]]'', he commented that [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (MI6) used intelligence provided by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) from the Uzbek authorities gained through torture. Murray wrote that "[t]orture dupes are forced to sign up to confessions showing what the Uzbek government wants the US and UK to believe".<ref name="BBC111004">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3732488.stm|title='Torture Intelligence' Criticised|work=BBC News|date=11 October 2004|access-date=16 March 2018}}</ref> "It is morally, legally and practically wrong to continue to receive this material. It is hypocritical and fatally undermines our moral standing", he wrote in a July 2004 dispatch.<ref name="Sullivan"/> Murray denied being responsible for the leaks.<ref name="MacAskill241004">{{cite news|last=MacAskill|first=Ewen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/22/politics.foreignpolicy|title=Ex-Envoy to Face Discipline Charges, says FO|newspaper=The Guardian|date=24 October 2004|access-date=18 July 2008}}</ref>

According to Murray, the Uzbek government overstated the activities of local militants and their connections to [[Al-Qaeda]].<ref name="BBC111004"/> He later wrote in ''The Washington Post'' that the material from the CIA "revealed the same pattern of information" as the "forced confessions" of which he had become aware.<ref name="MurrayWP2006"/> In October 2004 the British government said neither it, nor the intelligence agencies, had ever used torture or encouraged others to so on its behalf.<ref name="BBC111004"/> A later enquiry by ''[[The Washington Post]]'', in connection with an interview with Murray, did not indicate the British had instituted an "absolute ban" on using information gained via torture. According to Murray, in March 2003 the Foreign Office legal team told him there was nothing to prevent their use of information gained by the Uzbeks using these methods.<ref name="Sullivan"/>

====Disciplinary charges====
Some of the embassy staff were sacked in July 2003 while Murray was away on holiday. They were reinstated after he expressed his outrage to the FCO. Later during the same holiday he was recalled to London for disciplinary reasons. He was confronted with 18 charges on 21 August 2003. These included "hiring dolly birds [pretty young women] for above the usual rate" for the [[travel visa|visa]] department, although Murray said that the department had an all-male staff, and Murray was accused of granting British visas to Uzbek women in exchange for sex in his office.<ref name="Paton Walsh"/> The FCO gave him a week to resign and told him that discussing the charges would be a violation of the [[Official Secrets Act 1989]].<ref name="Paton Walsh"/> Representatives of the US embassy in Tashkent and the British Foreign Office later denied the US government had any involvement in Murray being recalled to London.<ref name="Leigh181003"/> However, a "local analyst" in Tashkent told Nick Paton Walsh that Murray and the US ambassador [[John E. Herbst|John Herbst]] (who left his Uzbekistan post in 2003) were regularly in heated disagreement.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Paton Walsh|first1=Nick|last2=Leigh|first2=David|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/25/politics.foreignpolicy|title=Diplomat quits at strife-ridden embassy|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 October 2003|access-date=16 March 2018}}</ref>

Murray collapsed during a medical check in Tashkent on 2 September 2003 and was [[Medical evacuation|airlifted]] to [[St Thomas' Hospital]] in London. He was treated in hospital for [[Major depressive disorder|depression]] having seriously considered [[Suicide|taking his own life]].<ref name="Paton Walsh"/><ref name="Sullivan"/> After an FCO internal inquiry conducted by Tony Crombie, Head of the FCO's [[British Overseas Territories|Overseas Territories]] Department, all but two of the charges (being drunk at work and misusing the embassy's [[Land Rover]]) were dropped. The charges were leaked to the press in October 2003.<ref name="Leigh181003"/> Murray returned to work in mid-November 2003.<ref>{{cite news|last=Whitlock|first=Monica|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3272523.stm|title=UK envoy back at work in Tashkent|work=BBC News|date=15 November 2003|access-date=17 March 2018}}</ref> Only a few days after his return to Uzbekistan, Murray suffered another health crisis and was again flown back to London for medical treatment<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3286323.stm|title=Uzbekistan ambassador back in UK|work=BBC News|date=20 November 2003|access-date=17 March 2018}}</ref> for what turned out to have been a near-fatal [[pulmonary embolism]] on a lung.<ref>{{cite news|last=Devereux|first=Charlie|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/07/spiritof.diplomacy/|title=The Spirit of Diplomacy: The envoy who spoke out|work=CNN|date=18 December 2008|access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref>

Around the same time, a group of more than a dozen British expatriates in Tashkent, including businessmen, wrote to the [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]] [[Jack Straw]] defending Murray as an advocate for inward British trade. One of the co-signers of the letter said there was a "common belief that Mr Murray is being sacrificed to the Americans".<ref name="Gedye071103"/> Members of Ozod Ovoz (Free Voice), an Uzbeki free speech group, pleaded with Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] and US President Bush for Murray to remain in his post as he was "an example for other ambassadors".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12527439.Human_rights_group_in_plea_for_Scots_envoy_Blair_is_asked_to_return_ambassador_to_Tashkent/|title=Human rights group in plea for Scots envoy Blair is asked to return ambassador to Tashkent|newspaper=The Herald|location=Glasgow|date=25 October 2003|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref> Murray's stance was also supported by [[Clare Short]],  [[Secretary of State for International Development]] until her resignation in May 2003, and [[Daniel Hannan]], the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP).<ref>{{cite news|last=Bright|first=Martin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/oct/19/uk.foreignpolicy|title=Short backs envoy who criticised US|work=The Observer|date=19 October 2003|access-date=16 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hannan |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Hannan |date=29 November 2003 |title=Our son of a bitch |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/2003/11/our-son-of-a-bitch/ |newspaper=[[The Spectator]] |access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref>

The FCO exonerated Murray of all 18 charges in January 2004 after a four-month investigation but reprimanded him for speaking about them. Speaking in the  [[House of Commons (UK)|House of Commons]], the Foreign Office Minister [[Bill Rammell]] said the government "endorse his comments about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Leigh|first1=David|last2=Evans|first2=Rob|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/jan/24/politics.foreignpolicy|title=UK envoy to Uzbeks cleared of charges|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=24 January 2004|access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref>

====Removal from post====
Murray was removed from his post in October 2004,<ref>{{cite news |last=Marozzi |first=Justin |date=27 July 2006 |title=Plain speaking and hard drinking |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/2006/07/plain-speaking-and-hard-drinking/ |newspaper=The Spectator |access-date=16 March 2016}}</ref> shortly after the ''Financial Times'' leak which, Murray later told [[Amy Goodman]], he thought had been leaked by the British government to incriminate him.<ref name="BBC111004"/><ref name="Goodman2006">{{cite web|last1=Goodman|first1=Amy|last2=Murray|first2=Craig|url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F01%2F19%2F1452237|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314174944/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F01%2F19%2F1452237|title=Craig Murray on why he posted classified memos|work=[[Democracy Now]]|date=19 January 2006|archive-date=14 March 2007}}</ref>

The FCO denied any direct connection and stated that Murray had been suspended for disciplinary reasons after he gave a series of  media interviews criticising the FCO.<ref name="MacAskill241004"/> He was suspended, ostensibly on the basis that he had lost the confidence of senior officials and colleagues. The following day, in an interview on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'' programme, Murray countered that he was a "victim of conscience", although he did not then believe the Americans were involved.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/politics/craigmurray_20041015.shtml|title=Ambassador Speaks Out|last=Berg|first=Sanchia|date=15 October 2004|work=Today Programme|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=19 March 2018|quote=Craig Murray says he has no evidence the Americans influenced the Foreign Office}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3750370.stm|title=Former British envoy is suspended|work=BBC News|date=17 October 2004|access-date=8 February 2016}}</ref> A week later he was accused of "gross misconduct" by the FCO. A spokesman said "He is suspended on full pay pending an investigation into his conduct. I think it is more what he said than giving interviews" to the media.<ref name="MacAskill241004"/> In February 2005 Murray took a severance package from the FCO, most of which was used to pay tax and fund his divorce.<ref name="Sullivan" /><ref name="Simpson"/>

A later report by European investigators found that Uzbekistan was used as a base in the US programme of [[extraordinary rendition]] during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]] (the neighbouring country) and Iraq, which remained secret during Murray's time in the country, because such countries were tolerant of the use of torture. Speaking to [[Kevin Sullivan (journalist)|Kevin Sullivan]] of ''The Washington Post'' in January 2008 Murray gave this as a reason why the response to his revelations was so "ferocious".<ref name="Sullivan"/>

==Subsequent career==

=== Alisher Usmanov affair ===

In September 2007, shortly after [[Alisher Usmanov]]'s investment in [[Arsenal Football Club]], Murray blogged about the character of Usmanov, an Uzbek multi-billionaire whom ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine had identified as the 142nd wealthiest person in the world.<ref name="Weiss">{{cite news|last=Weiss|first=Michael|date=10 October 2007|title=Civil Disobedience on the Web|work=Slate|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2007/10/civil_disobedience_on_the_web.html|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> Murray had written two "quite highly classified" telegrams about Usmanov's influence and commercial dealings to the Foreign Office in 2002 and 2004 while he was ambassador in Uzbekistan.<ref name="Conn">{{cite news|last=Conn|first=David|date=31 October 2007|title=Government denies access to Usmanov reports|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/oct/31/newsstory.sport11|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> Usmanov's [[solicitor]]s, [[Schillings]], requested that the hosting company [[Fasthosts]] delete the material from Murray's blog. As a result, the server that hosted Murray's blog was permanently closed by the hosting company Fasthosts on 20 September 2007, an action which resulted in unintended deletion of other sites, including the blog by [[Boris Johnson]].<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Dominic|date=22 September 2007|title=Boris Johnson becomes a victim of crossfire in internet war|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/boris-johnson-becomes-a-victim-of-crossfire-in-internet-war-hf8h0h3v3zr|url-access=subscription|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Tryhorn|first=Chris|date=21 September 2007|title=Boris website down after legal row|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/sep/21/digitalmedia.politicsandthemedia|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>

An attempt to release the Foreign Office documents, including Murray's telegrams, was made by [[Jeremy Corbyn]], then a backbench [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP, in whose constituency Arsenal is based. In late October 2007 [[Jim Murphy]], then [[Minister of State for Europe|minister for Europe]], refused to release the documents on data protection grounds.<ref name="Conn" />

=== University career ===
Murray was elected to the position of [[Rector of the University of Dundee]], his ''[[alma mater]]'', on 16 February 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://app.dundee.ac.uk/pressreleases/2007/prfeb07/newrector.html|title=New Rector elected|publisher=University of Dundee|date=16 February 2007|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref> The other nominee was former [[British and Irish Lions|British Lion]] and [[Scotland national rugby union team|Scotland rugby]] captain [[Andy Nicol]]. Murray opposed the cuts to University departments and services which were proposed.<ref name="Crace" /> He remained in the post until 2010.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

=== Entrepreneurial activities ===
{{Update section|date=April 2021}}
As of 2009 Murray was executive chairman of Atholl Energy Ltd<ref>{{cite news|date=20 December 2007|title=Siemens, Atholl Build 75 MW Power|publisher=Modern Ghana|url=http://www.modernghana.com/news/150593/1/siemens-atholl-build-75-mw-power.html|access-date=7 July 2009}}</ref> and chairman of Westminster Development Ltd, a gold mining company, both operating in [[Accra]], Ghana.<ref name="putanhonestman.org">{{cite web|title=About Craig Murray|url=http://www.putanhonestman.org/abour-craig-murray|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710175728/http://www.putanhonestman.org/abour-craig-murray|archive-date=10 July 2009|access-date=7 July 2009|publisher=Craig Murray}}</ref>

===Political activities===

Murray remained a member of the Liberal Democrats until 2005. He continued to oppose the [[war on terror]].

He stood for election to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] three times. At the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|May 2005 general election]] he stood as an [[Independent politician|independent]], in [[Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackburn]], Lancashire, against his former boss, Jack Straw, then the MP for the constituency. He polled 2,082 votes (5.0%) and came fifth out of seven candidates.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/65.stm|title=Result: Blackburn|work=BBC News: Election 2005|date=6 May 2005|access-date=16 March 2018}}</ref>

Following the [[United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal]], Murray stood for election in the [[2009 Norwich North by-election|July 2009 Norwich North by-election]] under the slogan "Put an honest man into Parliament".<ref name=WeavGu09>{{cite news |last1=Weaver |first1=Matthew |title=Former ambassador Craig Murray to stand in North Norwich byelection |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/09/craig-murray-candidate-norwich-mps-expenses |location=London|access-date=3 June 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=9 June 2009 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.putanhonestman.org|title=Craig Murray 2009 by-election for Norwich North|work=Put an Honest Man|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709072710/http://www.putanhonestman.org/|date=9 July 2009|archive-date=9 July 2009}}</ref> He polled 953 votes (2.77%), which placed him sixth out of the twelve candidates.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2009/jul/24/byelections-norwich-north-byelection | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Norwich North byelection results – live | first=Andrew | last=Sparrow | date=24 July 2009 | access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref>

Murray rejoined the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], according to his blog entry on 22 March 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last=Murray|first=Craig|url=http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/03/on_being_a_libe/|title=On Being A Liberal Democrat|work=Craig Murray|date=22 March 2010}}</ref>  By September 2011 he had left the Liberal Democrats again, as he objected to policies pursued by the coalition government, and joined the [[Scottish National Party]].<ref name="Murray180911">{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Craig |url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/09/the-lonely-liberal/ |title=The Lonely Liberal |publisher=Craig Murray |date=18 September 2011 |access-date=8 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Murray050511">{{cite news|url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/03/nick-clegg-the-death-of-voting-reform/|title=Nick Clegg The Death of Voting Reform|last=Murray|first=Craig|date=5 May 2011|access-date=11 August 2017|website=Craig Murray}}</ref><ref name=scotsman-20141228/>

Murray supported the "Yes" campaign in the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]]. Following his failed bid for SNP nomination, Murray resigned from the SNP in March 2016 "to campaign for Scottish Independence" in the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 parliamentary election]].<ref name=scotsman-20141228>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/snp-block-craig-murray-general-election-candidacy-1516977 |title=SNP block Craig Murray general election candidacy |last=Whitaker |first=Andrew |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=28 December 2014 |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Murray|first=Craig|url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/03/standing-for-independence/|title=Standing for Independence|work=Craig Murray|date=2 March 2016 |access-date=6 March 2016 }}</ref>

In the [[2021 Scottish Parliament election]], Murray was chosen as the main candidate for [[Action for Independence]] in the [[Lothian]] region.<ref name="scot250321">{{cite news|last1=Russell|first1=Greg|date=25 March 2021|title=Former diplomat Craig Murray formally told he's being held in contempt of court|language=en|work=The National|url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19186641.craig-murray-formally-told-held-contempt-court-salmond-trial-reports/|access-date=29 March 2021}}</ref> However, Murray and the other Action for Independence candidates stood down to support [[Alex Salmond]], who launched the [[Alba Party]].<ref name="wsws290321">{{cite news |last1=James |first1=Steve |title=British journalist Craig Murray found guilty of contempt of court |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/29/murr-m29.html |access-date=29 March 2021 |work=World Socialist Web Site |date=29 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref>{{unreliable inline|date=May 2023}}

In an April 2023 blog post titled "So Now Who Do We Vote For?", Murray advocated supporting the Alba Party in Scotland, the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] in England, [[Plaid Cymru]] in Wales and [[Sinn Féin]] in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2023/04/so-now-who-do-we-vote-for/|title=So Now Who Do We Vote For?|date=10 April 2023|website=Craig Murray}}</ref>

In March 2024 Murray was selected as the [[Workers Party of Britain]] candidate for the [[Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Blackburn constituency]] at the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Workers Party names Blackburn candidate for General Election |url=https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/24228187.former-ambassador-craig-murray-returns-contest-blackburn/ |website=[[Lancashire Telegraph]] |access-date=5 April 2024 |date=3 April 2024}}</ref><ref name="Jacobs 2024 n239">{{cite web | last=Jacobs | first=Bill | title=Craig Murray to stand as candidate for George Galloway's Workers Party | website=The National | date=1 May 2024 | url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/24290645.craig-murray-stand-candidate-george-galloways-workers-party/ | access-date=7 May 2024}}</ref> He came third with 7,105 votes, or 18.3%.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001102 | title=Blackburn - General election results 2024 | work=BBC News }}</ref>

In June 2025 Murray revealed that he had been stopped from standing as an Alba candidate at the [[2026 Scottish Parliament election]], writing that he had been told by the party that it was due to his prison sentence, as well as running for the Worker's Party in the general election.<ref>{{cite news|title = Craig Murray: Alba blocked Holyrood bid because of jail time|url = https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25265754.craig-murray-alba-blocked-bid-salmond-trial-sentence/|work = The Herald|date = 25 June 2025|access-date = 2 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Craig Murray: Alba blocked my Scottish Parliament 2026 bid|url = https://www.thenational.scot/news/25266285.craig-murray-claims-alba-blocked-holyrood-2026-bid/|work = The National|date = 25 June 2025|access-date = 2 July 2025}}</ref>
In a post on [[Twitter|X]], he said that he would fight the decision, and also urged party members to ask their local association to challenge the leadership over blocking his candidacy.<ref>{{cite web|title = Craig Murray on X|url = https://x.com/CraigMurrayOrg/status/1937770374122316172|website = X|date = 25 June 2025|access-date = 2 July 2025}}</ref>

===Investigative reporting===
In 2011–2012 Murray exposed four undisclosed meetings that took place from September 2009 between Britain's then defence minister [[Liam Fox]], Fox’s friend [[Adam Werritty]] and the UK Ambassador to Israel [[Matthew Gould]] in [[Tel Aviv]], possibly to promote a pro-Israel or anti-Iran foreign policy outside the control of the [[UK Foreign Office]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Brian Brady |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liam-fox-adam-werritty-and-the-curious-case-of-our-man-in-tel-aviv-6268640.html|title=Liam Fox, Adam Werritty, and the curious case of Our Man in Tel Aviv|work=The Independent|date=27 November 2011|access-date=2 September 2013}}</ref>

===Scepticism about Salisbury poisoning ===
Murray questioned the official UK government account of the [[poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal|Skripal poisoning]] in [[Salisbury]], March 2018, writing on his blog that Israeli security services were more likely to be behind the poisoning than Russia and that, while Russia lacked a motive, "Israel has a clear motivation for damaging the Russian reputation".  This contributed to ''[[The Times]]'' and others writing that he had promoted conspiracy theories.<ref name="Worrall 2018">{{cite web | last=Worrall | first=Patrick | title=FactCheck: Russia is spreading discredited theories about the Salisbury attack | website=Channel 4 News | date=7 September 2018 | url=https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-russia-is-spreading-discredited-theories-about-the-salisbury-attack | access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Andrews 2020">{{cite news | last=Andrews | first=Kieran | title=Israel conspiracy peddler Craig Murray to address SNP activists - Scotland | website=The Times | date=21 January 2020 | url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/israel-conspiracy-peddler-craig-murray-to-address-snp-activists-tfnb7jxp9 | access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Danny Stone 2018">{{cite web | author=Danny Stone | title=How conspiracy theories about the Salisbury attack tap into antisemitic tropes | website=Global Current Affairs, Politics & Culture | date=23 March 2018 | url=https://www.newstatesman.com/2018/03/how-conspiracy-theories-about-salisbury-attack-tap-antisemitic-tropes | access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="Duffy 2018">{{cite web | last=Duffy | first=Nick | title=Russia really wants to convince you the Salisbury spies are gay lovers | website=PinkNews | date=14 September 2018 | url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/09/14/russia-salisbury-spies-gay-couple/ | access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="bellingcat 2018">{{cite web | title="God-level Trolling" - Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Maria Zakharova Promotes Debunked Internet Conspiracy Theories on The Skripal Nerve Agent Attack | website=bellingcat | date=6 September 2018 | url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2018/09/06/god-level-trolling-russian-ministry-foreign-affairs-spokesperson-maria-zakharova-promotes-debunked-internet-conspiracy-theories-skripal-nerve-agent-attack/ | access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref><ref name="The Telegraph 2019">{{cite news | title=Kremlin accused of laying false trail linking Sergei Skripal to ex-MI6 officer behind Trump dossier | website=The Telegraph | date=20 January 2019 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/20/kremlin-accused-laying-false-trail-linking-sergei-skripal-ex/ | access-date=19 February 2021| last1=Mendick | first1=Robert }}</ref> Murray, who had visited the former chemical site at [[Nukus]], Uzbekistan, where novichok was manufactured,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Barry |first1=Ellen |last2=Yeginsu |first2=Ceylan |date=13 March 2018 |title=The Nerve Agent Too Deadly to Use, Until Someone Did (Published 2018) |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/world/europe/uk-russia-spy-poisoning.html |access-date=6 February 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> stated that Russia's stocks had been dismantled with US assistance. He said "anyone who expresses scepticism" about Russian involvement in the poisoning "is seen as an [[enemy of the state]]".<ref name="novi">{{cite news |last=MacAskill |first=Ewen |date=15 March 2018 |title=UK's claims questioned: doubts voiced about source of Salisbury novichok |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/15/uks-claims-questioned-doubts-emerge-about-source-of-salisburys-novichok |work=The Guardian |access-date=13 September 2018 }}</ref><ref name="cfr-20030319">{{cite web |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108shrg87824/html/CHRG-108shrg87824.htm |title=Hearing, First Session |author=John S. Wolf |work=Committee on Foreign Relations |publisher=United States Senate |date=19 March 2003 |access-date=13 March 2018 |quote=Hon. John S. Wolf, Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation: ... DOD completed a project to dismantle the former Soviet CW research facility at Nukus, Uzbekistan in FY 2002}}</ref> In September 2018 Murray wrote in a blog post that the photos issued by the [[Metropolitan Police]] of the suspects in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal were "impossible" because they depicted the two suspects at the same place at the same time. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed that the photographs "of two suspects at Gatwick are taken from two different cameras covering separate lanes at the point passengers exit from international arrivals".<ref name="Times" /> Murray subsequently retracted this and corrected his post and added a note that "it is good to acknowledge mistakes".<ref name="Times">{{cite news |last=Holdsworth |first=Nick |date=6 September 2018 |title=Kremlin dismisses photos of Salisbury suspects as fake news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/kremlin-dismisses-salisbury-suspects-as-fake-news-6t226z5t8 |work=The Times |access-date=13 September 2018 }}</ref>

=== Relationship with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks ===
In December 2016 Murray said that the leak of [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC) and [[Hillary Clinton]] campaign emails before the [[2016 United States presidential election|US 2016 presidential election]] was the work of a DNC insider, and said that he had met the leaker. Murray said that the US intelligence claims about the source of the leaks were "bullshit".<ref>{{cite news |last=Gayle |first=Damien |date=10 December 2016 |title=CIA concludes Russia interfered to help Trump win election, say reports |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/10/cia-concludes-russia-interfered-to-help-trump-win-election-report |access-date=15 December 2016}}</ref> Murray contradicted the conclusion of American intelligence services that the Russian authorities had hacked the DNC and Clinton servers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Palma |first=Bethania |date=19 December 2016 |title=Former British Ambassador Says He, Not Russia, Is the DNC Leak |work=Snopes |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/former-british-ambassador-says-he-not-russia-is-the-dnc-leaker/ |access-date=30 April 2018}}</ref> Assange responded by saying that "Craig Murray is not authorized to talk on behalf of WikiLeaks."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Uchill |first=Joe |date=2016-12-15 |title=Assange: Some leaks may have been Russian |url=https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/310654-assange-some-leaks-may-have-been-russian/ |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref>

Murray was one of few people granted access to [[Julian Assange]]'s extradition hearing which started in the [[Old Bailey]] on 7 September 2020. He published detailed reports of each day's proceedings on his website.<ref name="at190920">{{cite web |last1=Escobar |first1=Pepe |title=Empire's mask slips at Julian Assange trial |url=https://asiatimes.com/2020/09/empires-mask-slips-at-julian-assange-trial/ |website=Asia Times |access-date=19 September 2020 |date=18 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="PelSp21" /> He was invited to Assange and Stella Moris' wedding at [[Belmarsh Prison]] in March 2022. The [[UK Ministry of Justice]] said it had barred Murray from attending due to security concerns. It had initially said that Murray had not been invited. Murray said his ban was aimed at isolating Assange.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morrison |first1=Hamish |title=UK Government told press 'a lie in intent' about Julian Assange's wedding |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/20019536.julian-assanges-wedding-uk-government-told-press-a-lie-intent-ceremony/ |access-date=25 March 2022 |work=The National |date=25 March 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220325112350/https://www.thenational.scot/news/20019536.julian-assanges-wedding-uk-government-told-press-a-lie-intent-ceremony/ |archive-date=25 March 2022|language=en}}</ref>

===Alex Salmond trial and contempt of court charge===
[[File:Craig Murray Demo 2021 08 01 - 23.jpg|thumb|right|250px|alt=Craig Murray and his family outside St Leonard's police station Edinburgh on the day of his incarceration for contempt of court.|Craig Murray and his family outside St Leonard's police station Edinburgh on the day of his incarceration for contempt of court.|upright=1]]
Murray attended two days of [[HM Advocate v Salmond|Alex Salmond's trial]] in 2020 and wrote about the court proceedings on his blog and on [[Twitter]].<ref name="BBC appeal bid"/> He alleged that the Scottish National Party leadership, the [[Scottish government]], the [[Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service|Crown Office]] and police conspired to convict Salmond on charges of sexual harassment and attempted rape.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/08/04/pers-a04.html|title=Craig Murray joins Julian Assange behind bars|website=World Socialist Web Site|date=4 August 2021 }}</ref>{{unreliable inline|date=May 2023}}

The judge in the case, [[Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian|Lady Dorrian]], had issued an order forbidding the publication of the names of the women who testified against Salmond, or other information that might identify them.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mulholland |first1=James |title=Alex Salmond inquiry: Former diplomat Craig Murray guilty of breaching court order |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/alex-salmond-inquiry-former-diplomat-craig-murray-guilty-of-breaching-court-order-jv7tblj7g |access-date=29 March 2021 |work=[[The Times]]|date=25 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> In March 2021 she found Murray to be in [[contempt of court]] after he published information that in her view could potentially lead to identifying some of the complainants,<ref name="scot250321" /> and sentenced him to eight months' imprisonment.<ref name="abhorrent">{{cite news|last=Forrest|first=Adam|date=11 May 2021|title=Former UK ambassador jailed for eight months over 'abhorrent' blogs about Alex Salmond trial|work=The Independent|location=|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/alex-salmond-trial-diplomat-jailed-b1845550.html|access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref> In June 2021 she refused Murray's application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, saying that there were "no arguable points of law arising" in his appeal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Martyn|first=McLaughlin|date=8 June 2021|title=Former diplomat Craig Murray refused leave to appeal contempt of court conviction|work=[[The Scotsman]]|publisher=|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/former-diplomat-craig-murray-refused-leave-to-appeal-contempt-of-court-conviction-3265527|access-date=8 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="BBC appeal bid">{{Cite news|date=8 June 2021|title=Appeal bid by Alex Salmond trial blogger refused|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-57400244|access-date=2 August 2021}}</ref>

Murray appealed directly to the Supreme Court but his application was refused on 29 July 2021.<ref name="bbc-2021">{{cite news |title=Craig Murray's appeal bid fails over Alex Salmond trial blogs |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-58018127 |access-date=31 July 2021 |work=BBC News |date=29 July 2021}}</ref> Murray announced that he would appeal to the [[European Court of Human Rights]]<ref name="scotsman-2021">{{cite news |last1=Matchett |first1=Conor |title=Craig Murray to begin jail sentence after appeal fails |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/crime/craig-murray-to-begin-jail-sentence-after-appeal-fails-3328454 |access-date=31 July 2021 |work=[[The Scotsman]] |date=29 July 2021}}</ref> and surrendered himself to the police on 1 August 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/craig-murray-jigsaw-id-prison-b1894684.html|title=Former diplomat Craig Murray hands himself in to police to begin sentence for 'jigsaw ID' of Salmond accusers|date=1 August 2021|work=The Independent}}</ref> Alba Party MP [[Kenny MacAskill]] called Murray's sentencing "vindictive and a sad day for Scottish justice".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/craig-murrays-eight-month-prison-sentence-is-vindictive-and-a-sad-day-for-scottish-justice-kenny-macaskill-3332548|title=Craig Murray's eight-month prison sentence is vindictive and a sad day for Scottish justice|date=5 August 2021|first=Kenny|last=MacAskill|work=The Scotsman}}</ref>

Murray was released on 30 November 2021, after serving half of his eight month sentence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-independence-campaigner-craig-murray-criticises-nicola-sturgeon-after-leaving-prison-in-edinburgh-3476713|title=Scottish independence campaigner Craig Murray criticises Nicola Sturgeon after leaving prison in Edinburgh|date=30 November 2021|first=Dan|last=Barker|work=The Scotsman}}</ref> In March 2022 the Appeal Court of the [[High Court of Justiciary]] refused his [[Motion to quash|petition to quash]] the finding of contempt along with the prison sentence.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/20022568.craig-murray-loses-contempt-challenge-blog-written-alex-salmond-trial/ |title=Craig Murray loses contempt challenge over blog written on Alex Salmond trial |publisher=The National |date=25 March 2022 |last=Wilson |first=Ninian |accessdate=11 February 2023}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Murray married his first wife, Fiona Ann Kennedy, in 1984.<ref name="Who's Who" /> They had two children before separating in 2004.<ref name="Paton Walsh" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Hemming|first=Sarah|date=14 January 2008|title=The British Ambassador's Belly Dancer|url=https://www.ft.com/content/f6790bf8-c2c2-11dc-b617-0000779fd2ac|newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=16 March 2016}}</ref> Murray married Nadira Alieva, an Uzbek woman, on 6 May 2009. They have two sons.<ref name="Wade">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/we-ve-lived-parallel-lives-sex-war-and-central-asia-rpcs67gd7|title='We've lived parallel lives: sex, war and central Asia'|last=Wade|first=Mike|date=21 October 2016|work=The Times|access-date=6 October 2017|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Oscar's Arrival"/>

He is a friend of [[Peter Oborne]], who described him as "one of the greatest truth-tellers of our time" and said that "Apart from Julian Assange, no one has done more to expose coalition crimes during the [[War on Terror]]."<ref name="blt130921">{{cite web |last1=Oborne |first1=Peter |title=Peter Oborne's Diary August 2021: Channel 4 Privatisation, the Clermont Set and Craig Murray |url=https://bylinetimes.com/2021/09/13/peter-obornes-diary-august-2021-channel-4-privatisation-the-clermont-set-and-craig-murray/ |website=Byline Times |access-date=15 September 2021 |date=13 September 2021}}</ref>

==Works==
===''Murder in Samarkand''===
Murray's book ''[[Murder in Samarkand|Murder in Samarkand – A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror]]'' (2006) is a memoir about his time as an ambassador.<ref name="Hastings">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/advice/our-man-in-trouble-kmx06gkcxks|title=Our man in trouble|last=Hastings|first=Max|date=16 July 2006|newspaper=The Sunday Times|access-date=14 February 2016|url-access=subscription|author-link=Max Hastings}}</ref>

In December 2005 Murray published confidential memos on his website, which had been officially removed from the text when ''Murder in Samarkand'' was submitted for checking.<ref name="Leigh110706">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jul/11/freedomofinformation.politics|title=Former ambassador posts censored passages from memoir on website|last=Leigh|first=David|date=11 July 2006|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=17 March 2018}}</ref> He had initially acceded to these cuts.<ref name="MurrayWP2006"/> According to Murray, the British government "refused to clear it" uncut. The Foreign Office, after publication was announced, "said that they wouldn't seek to prevent publication but that they may act against it later".<ref name="Simpson"/>

The British government claimed copyright over the documents in July 2006, saying they were "damaging to the national interest" and demanding they be removed. In response, Murray deleted some of the material.
* {{cite book|title=[[Murder in Samarkand]]|last=Murray|first=Craig|year=2006|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|location=Edinburgh|isbn=1-84596-194-3}}
* {{cite book|title=Murder in Samarkand|edition=paperback|last=Murray|first=Craig|year=2007a|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-1-84596-221-0}}
* {{cite book|title=Dirty Diplomacy|url=https://archive.org/details/dirtydiplomacyro0000murr|url-access=registration|last=Murray|first=Craig|year=2007b|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4165-4801-0}} {{small|(US edition of ''Murder in Samarkand'')}}

Murray's biography of [[Alexander Burnes]], first published in 2016, was reviewed favourably in a number of academic journals, including the historical and [[area studies]] journals ''[[Asian Affairs]]'' and ''[[Central Asian Survey]]''.<ref name=Omrani17>{{cite journal |last1=Omrani |first1=Bijan|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]/[[Routledge]]|location=London |title=Craig Murray. Sikunder Burnes: Master of the Great Game |journal=[[Asian Affairs]] |date=3 July 2017 |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=553–555 |doi=10.1080/03068374.2017.1362876|s2cid=165788117}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morrison |first1=Alexander |title=Sikunder Burnes: Master of the Great Game |journal=[[Central Asian Survey]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=London|date=2 January 2018 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=185–187 |doi=10.1080/02634937.2017.1366469|s2cid=148749126 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:be113da7-8f8e-4a98-9f0a-ee2e1ad6f869 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Damer |first1=Seán |title=The Great Game|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|location=Edinburgh |journal=[[Scottish Affairs]] |date=November 2017 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=513–516 |doi=10.3366/scot.2017.0214}}</ref>

=== Other books ===
* {{cite book| title = The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and Other Conflicts I Have Known
 | url = https://craigmurray.org.uk/book-documents/togo/book.pdf
 | last = Murray | first = Craig
 | year = 2009
 | publisher = Atholl Publishing | location = London
 | isbn = 978-0956129901

}}
* {{cite book| title = Sikunder Burnes: Master of the Great Game
 | last = Murray | first = Craig
 | year = 2016
 | publisher = Birlinn | location = Edinburgh
 | isbn = 978-1910900079

}}
* {{cite book
|title = Zionism is Bullshit (2005–2007)
 | last = Murray 
| first = Craig
 | editor-last = MacDonald 
| editor-first = Kirsten
 | year = 2017
 | volume = I  
| series = Selected Speeches, Interviews and Writings
 | publisher = Atholl Publishing | location = London
 | isbn = 978-1548026370

}}

== Awards ==
* January 2006: the [[Sam Adams Award]] for Integrity in Intelligence, in recognition of his campaigning work on torture and human rights<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3617&Itemid=69 |title=Craig Murray on Receiving the Samuel Adams Award |date=15 February 2006 |publisher=World Can't Wait |access-date=18 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117183714/http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3617&Itemid=69|archive-date=17 January 2008 }}</ref>
* November 2006: the Premio Alta Qualità della Città di [[Bologna]]<ref name="PREMIO">{{cite web|url=http://www.premioaltaqualita.org/index.php?idarea=1&lang=en |title=Premio Alta Qualità delle Città of Bologna|publisher=Premio Alta Qualità |access-date=18 July 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117135444/http://www.premioaltaqualita.org/index.php?idarea=1&lang=en |archive-date=17 January 2008 }}</ref>

Murray has [[List of people who have declined a British honour|turned down]] three [[Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom|honours]] from [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth]], saying letters after his name are "not his thing".<ref name="Paton Walsh" />

== Portrayals in fiction ==
Murray's life featured in a show by Nadira Alieva, ''The British Ambassador's Bellydancer'', initially presented in 2007 at the [[Arcola Theatre]] in Hackney, later moving to London's [[West End theatre|West End]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/ambassadors-belly-dancer-stages-her-life-j9s9zmzb2p5|title=Ambassador's belly dancer stages her life|last=Lamb|first=Christina|date=9 December 2007|work=The Times|access-date=5 November 2009|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Logan">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/jan/07/theatre|title=Sex, scandal and sequins|last=Logan|first=Brian|date=7 January 2008|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=5 November 2009}}</ref>

[[Robin Soans]] used an interview with Murray and Alieva as a character for his verbatim-style play ''Talking to Terrorists'' which had a successful run at the [[Royal Court Theatre]] and has since been produced worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |last1=J|first1=Trudence |title=Talking to Terrorists at King Street Theatre - Review |url=https://www.weekendnotes.com/talking-to-terrorists-king-street-theatre-review/ |website=Weekend NOTES |access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Paul |title=Talking To Terrorists, Playhouse, Oxford |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/talking-to-terrorists-playhouse-oxford-222420.html |access-date=22 March 2019 |work=The Independent |date=5 May 2005}}</ref> Soans used Murray again as a verbatim character in his later play ''Life After Scandal'' in which Murray speaks of how a narrative of scandal was created as the government wanted to undermine his statements about humanitarian disasters.<ref>{{cite web |title=Life After Scandal |url=https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/life-after-scandal-72221/ |website=OfficialLondonTheatre.com |access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>

On 20 February 2010 [[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast a radio play ''Murder in Samarkand'', written by [[David Hare (playwright)|Sir David Hare]] and directed by Clive Brill, based on Murray's book.<ref name="auto"/> The play, with [[David Tennant]] portraying Craig Murray, was nominated for best drama at the [[Sony Radio Academy Awards]] 2011<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/31734/neil-mckays-rip-boy-receives-nomination-for |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120914150117/http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/31734/neil-mckays-rip-boy-receives-nomination-for |url-status= dead |archive-date= 14 September 2012 |title=Nominations for Sony Radio Awards |first=Matthew |last=Hemley |work=The Stage |date=31 March 2011 |access-date=1 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qs5x7|title=Saturday Play, Murder in Samarkand|work=BBC Radio Drama|publisher=BBC|access-date=20 February 2010}}</ref> and had positive reviews.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-saturday-play-murder-in-samarkand-radio-4brthe-archers-radio-4-1905623.html|title=The Saturday Play: Murder in Samarkand|last=Maume|first=Chris|date=21 February 2010|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=22 February 2010|location=London}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of peace activists]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons cat}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Official website}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box|title=[[Rector of the University of Dundee]]|years=2007–2010|before=[[Lorraine Kelly]]|after=[[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Laureates of the Sam Adams Award}}
{{Rectors of the University of Dundee}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Craig}}
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:20th-century British diplomats]]
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[[Category:Alumni of the University of Dundee]]
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[[Category:British human rights activists]]
[[Category:British non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:British political commentators]]
[[Category:British bloggers]]
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[[Category:English people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:People associated with WikiLeaks]]
[[Category:People educated at Paston College]]
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[[Category:Workers Party of Britain parliamentary candidates]]
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