Former UK Ambassador Murray Arrested After Palestine Peace Rally in Reykjavik

Activist Craig Murray had previously been jailed for eight months on charges of contempt of court for his reporting of the failed prosecution of former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond on charges of sexual assault and harassment.

A British peace campaigner, blogger and former diplomat has been arrested after returning from a pro-Palestine rally in Iceland.

Craig Murray, who served as ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004, was visiting the capital Reykjavik to meet fellow supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, still held in Britain's highest-security prison awaiting extradition to the US.

While there he attended a thousand-strong protest on Sunday outside the Allthing, Iceland's parliament, against Israel's onslaught against the besieged Gaza Strip.

British former diplomat and peace campaigner Craig Murray tweets about his attendance of a Palestine solidarity rally in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik

© Craig Murray/X

Fellow independent journalist Mark Hirst tweeted on Monday evening that Murray had been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism act on his return to the UK.

"His phone and other electronics have been seized by British authorities," Hirst wrote, adding that the UK "should not be acting as an adjunct of the apartheid colony of Israel and the rule of law should be upheld."

Independent journalist Mark Hirst tweets that his colleague Craig Murray has been arrested on returning from Iceland on Monday October 16, 2023

© Mark Hirst/X

Hirst posted later in the evening that Murray had been released.

Mainstream media ignored the arrest of the prominent activist, who was previously jailed in his native Scotland for contempt of court for reporting facts in the trial of former Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond — who was acquitted of all charges of sexual misconduct.

But alternative media websites speculated that Murray had been arrested for a tweet in the small hours of Sunday, expressing his support for "resistance" to Israel's "genocide" in Gaza by Palestine's Hamas party and Lebanon's Hezbollah — both banned in the UK as terrorist organisations.

If prosecuted, Murray could potentially find himself jailed alongside Assange in Belmarsh prison in South London, where convicted terrorists are held.

Former British diplomat Craig Murray tweets his support for Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel

© Craig Murray/X