LEADING international cultural and political figures including the Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters, the playwright Sir David Hare and the linguist Noam Chomsky have backed a former diplomat and his ally who have been charged in connection with the Alex Salmond case.

They are among a range of high profile people who have written to the Lord Advocate raising concerns about a decision to charge Craig Murray and Mark Hirst – two supporters of the former First Minister – with contempt of court. Both Murray and Hirst deny the charges.

The open letter to James Wolffe QC – published in the Sunday National today (read in full below) – was also signed by the former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, the human rights campaigner and author Tariq Ali and Kristinn Hrafnsson, the investigative journalist and editor in chief of Wikileaks.

Christine Assange, the mother of the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Clive Ponting, a former Government whistle-blower, along with the former SNP MP George Kerevan and Robert Black QC, Professor Emeritus of Scots Law at Edinburgh University, are among the other signatories. Pro-independence blogger Stuart Campbell also added his name.

They contend the decision to charge the two men was “disproportionate” and suggested there was political “bias” by the police and the Crown Office.

“We are writing to you to express our growing concern over the actions of both the Crown Office and Police Scotland.

“In recent weeks vocal independence supporters and backers of the former First Minister Alex Salmond, specifically the former UK diplomat, human rights campaigner and journalist Craig Murray along with fellow journalist Mark Hirst, have been arrested and charged in relation to comments they made publicly during and following the trial of Mr Salmond,” the letter said.

It went on to question why the cases were pursued against Murray and Hirst, while charges were not brought against others who they said had written articles perceived as being critical of the former First Minister and that they said were the subject of complaints over alleged contempt.

The letter said: “Whilst we appreciate that you cannot be involved in individual cases you will undoubtedly be aware that complaints of alleged contempt of court were made against six other individual journalists widely regarded as being hostile in their reporting of Mr Salmond.

“No action by the Crown Office or Police Scotland has been taken against any of those individuals. This leaves the distinct impression that

Police Scotland, at the direction of the Crown Office, are acting in a manner that is both biased and disproportionate.”

Professor Robert Black QC commented: “Equality before the law is a crucial component of a civilised justice system. Just how important this value is in the mind of the public has been clearly demonstrated this week by the furious reaction to the Dominic Cummings affair.

“My concern is that the conduct of the Scottish police and Crown Office, in the aftermath of the acquittal of Alex Salmond, has failed to respect and promote that value.”

Salmond was acquitted at the High Court in Edinburgh in March of all 13 sexual offence charges brought against him by nine women in a two-week trial. Speaking after the verdict, the former First Minister, who had told the court that some of the charges against him were “political fabrications”, said the trial had “reinforced” his faith in Scotland’s court system.

Salmond made clear he intended to pursue those in the Scottish Government and the SNP that his defence lawyers suggested had orchestrated the allegations against him.

“There was certain evidence I would like to have seen [presented] in this trial but for a variety of reasons we weren’t able to do so,” he said. “At some point that information, that fact and that evidence will see the light of day.” He said the release of any such information would have to wait because of the coronavirus pandemic.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the verdict had to be respected, and that she was currently focused “100%” on the coronavirus crisis.

Salmond had faced 13 charges, including one of attempted rape, in relation to a total of nine women. A further charge of sexual assault was dropped by prosecutors during the trial. The jury found him not guilty on 12 of the charges and decided one charge of sexual assault was “not proven”.

The Scottish Government had previously lost a judicial review brought by Salmond into its handling of an internal review of two misconduct complaints against him in 2018.

Last night the Crown Office said any correspondence would be responded to in due course but said it would not be appropriate to comment as the cases are live matters before a court.

A statement from Police Scotland said: “Following an investigation into reported menacing communication, a 50-year-old man has been arrested and charged and will be the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal. Proceedings are active, therefore it would be inappropriate to comment.”

Murray is a former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, while Hirst has previously worked for SNP MSPs Christine Grahame and Sandra White .

Following his acquittal a number of SNP politicians, including the former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill and Joanna Cherry, the party’s justice and home affairs spokeswoman at Westminster, called for “resignations” and an independent inquiry by the party.

The letter can be read in full below.

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DEAR Mr Wolffe, We are writing to you to express our growing concern over the actions of both the Crown Office and Police Scotland.

In recent weeks vocal independence supporters and backers of the former First Minister Alex Salmond, specifically the former UK diplomat, human rights campaigner and journalist Craig Murray along with fellow journalist Mark Hirst, have been arrested and charged in relation to comments they made publicly during and following the trial of Mr Salmond. Other supporters of Mr Salmond have also been contacted by police and warned over online comments they made in the wake of the trial.

We are particularly concerned to note that the investigating police officers are the same detectives who led the investigation against Mr Salmond over a period of two years and at considerable cost to the public purse.

As you know, the prosecution following from that investigation, pursued again at considerable cost to the public purse, resulted in the acquittal of Mr Salmond on all charges and now raises the most serious questions about why that investigation and that prosecution were pursued.

Whilst we appreciate that you cannot be involved in individual cases you will undoubtedly be aware that complaints of alleged Contempt of Court were made against six other individual journalists widely regarded as being hostile in their reporting of Mr Salmond. No action by the Crown Office or Police Scotland has been taken against any of those individuals. This leaves the distinct impression that Police Scotland, at the direction of the Crown Office, is acting in a manner that is both biased and disproportionate.

As you will be aware, for public confidence to be maintained in our independent legal system the law must be able to both demonstrate it is acting impartially and be seen to be doing so.

The actions taken so far risk establishing a public perception that both Police Scotland and the Crown Office are conducting themselves in a manner which is biased and is indeed political in nature.

Such perceptions risk seriously damaging confidence in the Scottish legal system.

We would welcome your fullest public response to the concerns raised in this letter and any meaningful public assurances you can offer that both Police Scotland and the Crown Office are complying with their obligations to act with complete impartiality and to apply the law fairly.

Professor Noam Chomsky (linguist and political scientist), Yanis Varoufakis (Author, former Greek MP and Finance Minister, philosopher, economist), Professor Robert Black QC (Professor Emeritus of Scots Law, Edinburgh University), Sir David Hare (Playwright, screenwriter and film director), Kristinn Hrnaffson (Investigative journalist and Editor in Chief of Wikileaks), Tariq Ali (human rights campaigner, journalist and historian), Roger Waters (co-founder Pink Floyd, political activist), Lawrence B. Wilkerson, (US Colonel, Ret, former Chief of Staff, US Department of State), Paul Kavanagh (Columnist, The National newspaper), George Kerevan (Journalist, Former SNP MP, former Associate Editor of The Scotsman), Tommy Sheridan (Convenor, Solidarity and former MSP), Ann Wright (US Colonel, Ret, and former US Ambassador who resigned in 2003 in opposition to President Bush’s war in Iraq), Christine Assange (human rights campaigner and mother of Julian), Gordon Dangerfield (Solicitor Advocate), Hugh Kerr (Former Labour MEP, author and journalist), John Kiriakou (CIA whistle-blower), Coleen Rowley (Retired FBI Agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel, 2002 Time Magazine Person of the Year), Ray McGovern (Former CIA Officer, Founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity), Robert Tibbo (lawyer to Edward Snowden), Annie Machon (former MI5 officer, author and journalist), Katherine Gun (former GCHQ whistle-blower), Clive Ponting (former Government whistle-blower), Stuart Campbell (Editor, Wings over Scotland), James Kelly (Editor of SCOT goes POP! and columnist with The National), Neil MacKay (Singer-songwriter, Scottish independence activist), Liz Dangerfield (solicitor), Campbell Martin (Broadcast journalist and former SNP MSP), Elizabeth Murray (former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East & CIA political analyst), Robin McAlpine (Political strategist), Bogdan Dzakovic (9/11 aviation security whistle-blower, FAA Security, Ret.), Robert Wing (former US Foreign Service Officer), Marshall Carter-Tripp (Political science professor and Foreign Service Officer (retired) and Division Director, State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research)