But that's far from the point. If you can be silenced for calling a businessman a crook, then you can be silenced for calling a politician a crook, too. Then it's everyone's problem.
Linkage: Thanks to one and all, I think we can safely say the genie is out of
the bottle:Curious Hamster, Pickled Politics, Harrys Place, Tim Worstall, Dizzy, Iain
Dale, Ten Percent, Blairwatch, Davide Simonetti, Earthquake Cove, Turbulent Cleric (who suggests dropping a line to the FA about Mr Usmanov), Mike Power, Jailhouse
Lawyer, Suesam, Devils Kitchen, The Cartoonist, Falco, Casualty Monitor, Forever
Expat, Arseblog, Drink-soaked Trots, Pitch Invasion, Wonkos World, Roll A Monkey, Caroline Hunt, Westminster Wissdom, Chris K, Anorak, Mediawatchwatch, Norfolk Blogger, Chris Paul, Indymedia (with a list of Craig Murrays articles that are currently unavailable), Obsolete, Tom Watson, Cynical Chatter, ReactionarySnob, Mr Eugenides, Matthew Sinclair, The Select Society, Liberal England, Davblog, Peter
Gasston Pitch Perfect, Adelaide, Green Porridge Cafe, Lunartalks, Tygerland, The Crossed Pond, Our Kingdom, Big Daddy Merk, Daily Mail Watch, Graemes, Random
Thoughts, Nosemonkey, Matt Wardman, Politics in the Zeros, Love and Garbage, The Huntsman, Conservative Party Reptile, Ellee Seymour, Sabretache, Not
A Sheep, Bartholomews Notes on Religion, The Peoples Republic Of Newport, Life, the Universe & Everything, Arsenal Transfer Rumour Mill, The Green Ribbon, Blood & Treasure, The Last Ditch, Areopagitica, Football in Finland, An Englishmans
Castle, Freeborn John, Eursoc, The Back Four, Rebellion uck!, Ministry of Truth, ModernityBlog, Beau Bo DOr, Scots and Independent, The Splund, Bill Cameron, Podnosh, Dodgeblogium, Moving Target, Serious Golmal (85).
and to the person who was quick off the mark with Usmanovs Wikipedia
entry.
It was particularly stupid of Schillings to try to censor political blogging pioneer and online campaigner Tim Ireland, who has probably forgotten more about the internet campaigning and things like Search Engine Optimisation etc. than Schillings have ever known. No doubt Bloggerheads will soon re-appear online and will excoriate Schillings and their shady client.
Instead of a couple of obscure postings on Craig Murray's blog, Schillings have now vastly increased the number of people who are asking questions about the criminal past of their rich Uzbek client, and his attempts to control Arsenal football club., and his corrupt relationships with Islam Karimov the brutal dictator of Uzbekistan and with Putin's regime in Moscow.
Questions should also now be asked about the other business associates of Alisher Usmanov here in the UK, such as those involved in the Red and White Holdings Limited company which is being used as the investment vehicle to try to control Arsenal plc.
Hopefully the Serious Organised Crime Agency will be taking an interest in the true sources of the money behind Red and White Holdings Limited and will investigate. Alisher Usmanov and his business partners such as David Dein (who sold his block of Aresnal shares and is acting as chairman of Red & White), the other Iranian born investor in Red & White, former Deloitte accountant Farhad Moshiri and the firm of Field Fischer Waterhouse who have "advised" on the original deal.
