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.

his reputation has gone down in my eyes because of the money grubbing and the timing for his case about the process. I reserve judgment on the accusations of course.

salmond could've avoided slurs that he was trying to aid his position by simple sequence - defend yourself from the allegations, when you're victorious, then go after the process as you see fit.

He hasn't done it that way, so I reserve the right to suspect his motives aren't altruistic.

dancingdot I'd be in favour of total anonymity for all parties, but it's a side issue from Salmond's actions in this.

@Motheroffourdragons thanks for that last comment. I am reading up on it all .... as I can't work out the process. Is the Scottish Government investigation (which is the subject of the legal challenge) effectively his employer investigating claims? SG wouldn't investigate you or I .....I don't think??

A police investigation is then separate. Is that right?

on the whole, I'd fancy the chances of one of the wiliest politicians over the person making allegations against him, Alex Salmond is clever man who argues and makes cases for things for a living. Alex Salmond is hardly some delicate flower that'll be crying into his cornflakes right now, he's a tough politician who's had all sorts chucked at him.

Let's keep the main bulk of our sympathy for the women who are too scared to report attacks.

Backintime I believe the legal challenge is because the process does not give the accused the detail of the allegations, access to their archived paperwork or the ability to present witnesses - which makes it difficult if not impossible to present a defence. In that case, how do you think he should have defended himself against the allegations? Plus, it was the Daily Record who brought all of this into the public domain not AS.
This has shown how many people across politics and the media will sacrifice robust process and women's safety/reputations if they think it will advance their own careers.

It is time someone challenged the process for all the reasons Curious sets out.

We believe you is all well and good and maybe people have believed the men too often for too long but a system where there even a small risk of innocent people being treated like this needs change too.

Perhaps a man in his position should fund his personal crusade himself but the crowd funding is an excellent way to draw attention to the issues. No one's being forced to contribute. Even if he's guilty, a challenge to the process is worthwhile (although I won't be funding it and can't stand the man)

How was he supposed to defend himself against allegations when he's not allowed to know what they are or who made them?

It's about the way the Scottish Government / SNP handled allegations once made.

There have been no complaints to the SNP party, so it hasn't handled anything.

The 'Scottish Government' which has handled the complaints, is actually civil servants who are part of the UK civil service.

i'm sure there are many problems with the process, and areas for improvement BUT, let's all keep at the forefront of our minds that still, most women do not come forward, either to the police or to their employers etc because of the massive challenges they face. Under-reporting is a bigger problem than the process about how allegations are handled, the statistics about unreported rapes for example are still shocking.

Alex Salmond is well able to defend himself as this media campaign shows.

As may well be able to defend himself but as has already been said that's not really possible if you don't know the allegations.

In any case the same process would apply if the allegations were against your father or son. AS does seem to believe his purpose in life is to work for the greater good. The process doesn't need challenging just because of allegations against people like him.

In all honesty I think that to view this crowdfunder as anything other than a very powerful and privileged member of the establishment flexing his muscles to show his accusers the might and resources he has at his disposal is very naive - and that’s true whether he’s innocent or guilty.

Back my comments from the beginning have been about how this has failed the women involved.
The Scottish Government needs to restore confidence in the process and they can only do that by investigating the leak and taking steps to ensure such leaks can't happen in the future.
No-one is going to raise a complaint if the details are going to be plastered all over the Daily Record and then rehashed by every politician trying to score political points. The more the allegations are discussed, the more prejudicial it is. That is completely separate to discussing a process that has obviously failed.

Actually I'm disgusted with the Daily Record for continually running leaked details of the harrassment/assaults.

And with the 'confidential process' that has nevertheless allowed the leaks to happen.
AS is completely right to challenge that but I hope that his doing so doesn't halt a proper investigation by police, of the allegations.

Absolutely agree twotailed. I also agree with your point on that Fraying - the most likely impact of this mishandled debacle with Salmond is that women are even less likely to come forward, when AS eventually gets vindicated after slinging a lot of mud about the process. I felt on reading the stuff that was leaked about the allegations that if you'd worked somewhat closely with them at this time, you'd know the identity of the woman involved.

bestseller I read details in the newspaper, i'm pretty sure Salmond has a good idea of what he's accused and very likely by whom. It's also not clear that Salmond won't get the details he needs for his defense before it gets to a courtroom, if indeed it ever does.

In all honesty I think that to view this crowdfunder as anything other than a very powerful and privileged member of the establishment flexing his muscles to show his accusers the might and resources he has at his disposal is very naive - and that’s true whether he’s innocent or guilty.

Given someone in the Scottish government has leaked the story I am not surprised he is fighting fire with fire. That person needs to be identified and fully prosecuted.

If he is guilty what he is doing makes sense, regardless of the crime.

If he is innocent then he is highlighting an area of law that needs to be looked at.

Above all, at this moment, the person who leaked the story needs to be questioned and the newspaper needs to be asked some hard questions, given that what they have done could compromise the investigation and the output, regardless of anyone's innocence or guilt!

History should not be judged by current standards. Women should not judge men on behavior prevalent at a time when they may have been complicit in it,however innocently.

^^

Luckily we can determine from this quote that the person who wrote is on the lower end of the intelligence spectrum.

Just replace the word 'women' for 'men'.

Fun times, eh?

When Salmond admitted to being no “saint”, that raised some doubts for me. People never fail to disappoint. The more powerful they get, the more their sense of entitlement grows.

Or crowd fund for the legal costs of his victims.

Alleged victims. Do we know that they have any legal fees? They won't be party to the judicial review.

When Salmond admitted to being no “saint”, that raised some doubts for me. People never fail to disappoint. The more powerful they get, the more their sense of entitlement grows. I don't know him and have no idea what he is like. I don't subscribe to any of the growing conspiracy theories either e.g.it's the English government [wasn't aware we had one] trying to discredit him, stop Scottish independence [thought that was already decided].

He's a politician, they are all greedy, selfish individuals for reasons long known: power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely!

Two tailed, why do you say false rape allegations are rare, some studies but the rate of false allegations as high as 40 per cent,

His guilt or innocence is not the issue. That is a matter for investigators and due process. The issue here is a very rich man asking others to fund his muddying of the waters via a legal whim of litigating against the system. It's not even for funding a defence against any charges of sexual crimes.

The rest of us poor bastards have to pay for legal assistance if we are accused of a criminal act. Our guilt or innocence in such circumstances is irrelevant, we still have to pay a solicitor etc. Why should this rich man not pay his own way like we have to.

@SaltyPeanut nothing to stop you or me crowdfunding for legal assistance if we are so inclined.

It's not even for funding a defence against any charges of sexual crimes. Which is what most posters, at least initially, seemed to think it was!

Yes, it is muddying the waters, but then so was the leaking story to newspaper! The alleged victims won't get clear justice now, nor will the alleged perpetrator!