To be disgusted by this crowdfunder

[Spinderelle]

Alex Salmond has launched a crowdfunder to fund his judicial review as he stands accused of sexual crimes against two women.

The man is a millionaire.

In 24 hours his cult like followers have given him £50,000. I don’t know what’s worse. People who can’t afford it donating money to a millionaire celebrity, or to an accused sex offender.

There were so many donations in the first 24 hours that Crowdfunder crashed.

No words.

You might well believe him to be guilty but the process in this country still starts from being innocent till proven guilty. He could well be innocent of these charges. Let’s wait and see.

As to the crowd funder, no one is forced to donate and its obvious that a lot of people admire him and believe he might be innocent.

If you don’t like the crowd funding then you don’t have to donate personally.

I’m looking at some counter donations to women’s organisations based in Scotland who help support and educate women and girls facing harrasment. Women’s aid seem an obvious choice - there’s also women’s fund I don’t know much about them. (I left Scotland a few years ago now)
I think it would be nice to collectively support a deserving women’s charity in Scotland as a massive eye-roll to Alex

I agree - I’ll start with Glasgow Women’s Aid who are chronically underfunded and could achieve a lot for abused women with £50,000.

What happened to "innocent until proved guilty"?

I have just looked at the comments on his crowdfunder. Jesus wept.

If these comments do not send out a message to women who accuse powerful men that they will be disbelieved then I don’t know what will.

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/alexsalmond/comments/?

I don’t think anyone has said he is guilty.

He is a total misogynistic prick

I have no problem with him setting up a crowd funding site for his defence. As others have said innocent till proven guilty. I can understand (if innocent) him not wanting to be out of pocket as a result. Still seems a little cheeky, but I guess that's just the guy he is.

What does suprise me is that people are actually contributing in this volume. It seems bizarre that people should find money for his crowd funding but not for arguably far more important things. For me it's the people who are crowd funding him I find a disappointment. I don't like it personally and find it a bit sick, but it is their choice.

If these comments do not send out a message to women who accuse powerful men that they will be disbelieved then I don’t know what will.

I'm not sure if taking comments from the Alex crowd funding site is good evidence of public opinion? Clearly its bound to be an echo chamber of pro Alex support and not representative of society as a whole.

I always thought there was something smarmy about him, and that's politics aside
However, people in power with their psycophants never appear guilty do they?
The rot usually comes out in the end though.
By which time the accused has negotiated a fat check in order to not bring their party into disrepute and has resigned. And you know the rest.

It’s the fact that if you accuse any powerful man his supporters will be ready to call you a liar and shriek that he’s innocent without knowing a single fact about the case that would and does act as a deterrent.

Well he has made it clear price ting his own money is top priority.

To take care of yourself and your problems are exactly why people want to be rich. But he wants be rich and have other people foot the bill.

Twat. Never liked him.

It’s outrageous, isn’t it? Regardless of any belief you have about his guilt or innocent, nobody can really believe that £50,000 is better off in the hands of a millionaire more than capable of funding his own legal battle than in the hands of any charity or organisation?

And remember - these legal proceedings are not to determine whether he is is innocent or guilty of sexual misconduct. This is a legal challenge he is choosing to bring against the government, because he thinks the procedure used to investigate the claims made against him is unfair.

This is a man using the immense wealth and privilege available to him to muddy the waters around accusations of sexual assault and frighten off those who have raised concerns and investigated those concerns. And now he’s managed to persuade other people to pay for it.

It makes my skin crawl.

@Twotailed - I agree, he’s doing a fantastic job of turning the whole debate into an idea that he’s been unfairly victimised by the procedures, and ignoring the original allegations.

twotailed I didn’t realise that’s what it was for, but my comment still basically stands, I feel it’s about enabling people to show their support, (obvious not about his innonce but) about what he’s saying.

I don’t know what the procedure is in Scotland, so I’ve no idea if he’s right or wrong, but surely everyone is allowed an opinion, (ex) politician or not?

I’m a supporter of Scottish independence. I’m also a feminist. I don’t know if Alex Salmond is innocent or guilty but it doesn’t in any way affect whether Scotland should be independent.

More importantly, if he has done this there are 2 victims who deserve justice.

I won’t be donating and my views are similar to Nicola Sturgeon’s statement on the matter:

“However, this focus on process cannot deflect from the fact that complaints were made that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet.

“I have been clear on many occasions that all organisations and workplaces must make it possible for people to come forward to report concerns and have confidence that they will be treated seriously.

“For that principle to mean anything it cannot be applied selectively. It must be applied without fear or favour, regardless of the identity, seniority or political allegiance of the person involved.“

Why should he pay for his own legal advice because of allegations.

It seems the hard of thinking we believe you are all over this.

Just because you dislike or find someone "smarmy" doesn't mean they're guilty of "sexual crimes".

I loathe and detest Alex Salmond as much as anyone else who was put through the hell of the Independence Referendum.

But - innocent until proved guilty.

There is a hardcore SNP supporter who will not hear one word against Salmond or Sturgeon. It is very cult-like, so this crowdfunding thing doesn't surprise me. And is he really a millionaire? He's not from a wealthy background, and has done nothing apart from politics and a shitty chat show for Russian telly.

He has not been charged with anything. He hasn't been arrested by the Police. He hasn't been questioned. We're a VERY long way from a trial.

Better than finding a way of dragging the money out of the public purse, like most politicians seem to manage to.

Also there appears to be a lot of people confused about the Court of Session case - this isn't about proving or disproving the allegations. It's about the way the Scottish Government / SNP handled allegations once made.

He absolutely has the right to a fair trial but the man can surely pay his own legal fees