Herald letter: Justice For Alex Salmond!

ALASDAIR Galloway (Letters, August 20) should look at the letters above his own when he seeks to trivialise the accusations of conspiracy which arise from the documentary on the Alex Salmond trial. If he does so, he will see that Jim Sillars repeats the allegations made by Kenny MacAskill in that programme – he is specific about a conspiracy from within the Nationalist movement.

Mr Galloway appears not to take into account that the proceedings in question were not the AGM of an obscure branch of a membership organisation, but a criminal trial in the highest court in the land.

I have no liking at all for Mr Salmond or his politics – I have rejected them for as long as the likes of Mr Galloway and indeed Nicola Sturgeon supported him. However, the allegation stands from Messrs Sillars and MacAskill that there was a plot to convict him and to have him thrown in jail for crimes which a jury has concluded he did not commit. This was allegedly a conspiracy to deprive an innocent man of his liberty for political ends.

In Scotland, I believe – and I am sure that others might correct me if I am wrong – that the name of the crime in question is “conspiring to defeat the ends of justice”, in this case by colluding to accuse Mr Salmond of crimes he did not commit.

Such a conspiracy and its associated allegations of perjury are very serious indeed and can quite rightly lead to long custodial sentences. This case is in no way comparable with the tawdry machinations that occur within a political party. It is quite right to demand justice be done, for Mr Salmond’s sake and – more importantly – for that of Scotland’s criminal justice system.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow G13.

Herald letter – SNP Conspiracy Should Be Investigated.

MUCH of the Kirsty Wark programme about the Alex Salmond trial was taken up with material which was already in the public domain and was therefore fairly unremarkable. However, there is one part that cannot go uncommented upon.

Kenny MacAskill made unambiguous accusations that a conspiracy had taken place involving the women witnesses and senior members of their own party, the SNP. Mr MacAskill’s statement was especially noteworthy as he is both a sitting SNP MP and more importantly, a former Scottish Government Justice Secretary. As such he is fully aware of the gravity of the allegations that he is making: that the witnesses and the SNP leadership conspired to incriminate Mr Salmond on charges which would have deprived him of his liberty, and that the women perjured themselves to bring about that same aim. Mr MacAskill assured Ms Wark that he had evidence of these allegations from a number of sources.

It is essential that these allegations are investigated as a matter of urgency by the Crown authorities, and if they are found to be of substance, the alleged perpetrators must be charged and put on trial accordingly. Conversely, if Mr MacAskill is found to have made serious allegations for which there are no grounds, then it is he who should face the consequences.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow G13.

Herald letter – How Useless The SNP actually is.

JOHN Findlay is of course correct that the cult of Nicola Sturgeon, the self-appointed Chief Mammy of the Scottish Nation, is no basis for Scottish independence. Moreover, even if her followers are correct, if she were to be hit by the proverbial bus, who would Scotland be left with?

The hopeless Humza Yousaf, with a conviction that makes him uniquely unfit to be either Transport or Justice Secretary? Or John Swinney, a husk of a man whose judgment is so poor on schools reopening that it had to be over-ruled within days? Likewise, Jeane Freeman, who shares the blame for Scotland’s care home deaths and is apparently deemed incapable of representing her own policies at the daily televised NicolaFest? Or do we go back to sleazy Derek Mackay, the disgraced ex-heir apparent?

Or do we fall back on Alex Salmond, the man promoted and supported for decades by the very same Ms Sturgeon, whose conduct around women led to him being described in court by his own defence counsel as “not a good man”?

The First Minister’s dominance is in fact a mark of how devolution has diminished Scottish politics – there is no doubt that she would have been reduced to a figure of ridicule by John Smith, or that Robin Cook would have torn her playhouse down, room by room by room (as the song would have it.) Furthermore, her threadbare party – the SNP – is symptomatic of the shallow talent pool that is Holyrood. She and they have no blueprint for a better future outside the UK, and we can have no confidence whatsoever that they could or would make an independent Scotland a better place.

Peter A Russell, Glasgow G13.