How nice. [UPDATED – This smear is definitely the work of Glen Jenvey]

This entry was posted on
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
at
10:08 am and is filed
under The Political Weblog Movement.

Somebody based in the UK has been targeting Thai weblogs listed on this site, and leaving the following anonymous comment:

How very nice.

I deny it all, of course. As if I need to.

Please keep in mind that this may not be the work of Glen Jenvey, but instead someone (with admirable attention to detail) wishing to implicate him.

Thank you to The Bangkok Bugle for bringing this to my attention.

Unrelated link found on my travels: Amazing wire spaghetti pictures

UPDATE (2:20pm) – A much-appreciated summary of events to date from Richard Bartholomew. I’m not sure what I make of the wild conspiracy theories about the involvement of Glen Jenvey, but I am in the process of investigation, so I’ll keep you posted.

For those who are wondering, yes, this IMO is the moment when any blogger should feel justified in calling the police. The accusation of sex offences against young children is an accusation typically designed to harm more than reputation(s). I’ve witnessed and documented the tactic before, and there’s little grey area on it in a country where mobs form outside the home of paediatricians.

To overtly accuse someone of paedophilia, especially to do so while knowing that what you claim is false, is to undertake an act designed to prompt others to do the target harm.

IANAL: If this ever happens to you, my advice is to find and preserve evidence, stick to the facts (i.e. what you can prove) and get the event on record, at least.

UPDATE (5:40pm) – If this is a set-up, it’s a very thorough one, conducted by a very patient person who is either well-informed or quite possibly psychic.

Oh, who am I kidding? While Mr Jenvey Was feigning illness to buy time, he was also working on a story that he fed to the media via Patrick Mercer, and… well, let me run you though a timeline:

5 March – Jenvey, having been advised that he is ‘on the record’, signs off feigning illness, pleading with me not to mention specifics (I haven’t) and promising me a statement to the PCC to which I would be privy. In time, he will fail to deliver on this promise, citing legal reasons (mainly, his intention to sue the Guardian newspaper for linking to my website).

7 March – At about midday on this lovely sunny Saturday, someone using the IP address 84.13.23.48 makes this addition to the Wikipedia entry for Anjem Choudary. Note the spacing error:

How very charming.

The undoubtedly false claim is quickly removed by another user, and then added again, this time by registered user ‘ToryBlue’:

How very revealing.

And so on as part of a series of revert battles involving the account ‘ToryBlue’ that reactivated this Wikipedia investigation linking it to the accusations that the PCC are in league with terrorists that can only be the work of Glen Jenvey or an associate who’s so extraordinarily close to him that it doesn’t make much difference either way.

15 March – An article appears in The Times with a quote/endorsement from Patrick Mercer (Con.) MP. The subject of what is clearly Glen Jenvey’s own special brand of investigation is Anjem Choudary:

The Times – Hate cleric leads jihad cash appeal: A recording has emerged of Anjem Choudary, a self-styled sharia judge and former leader of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun, telling his followers to stop spending their money on their families and divert it to Muslim soldiers waging jihad, or holy war. There were demands for Choudary to be investigated by police…. Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons subcommittee on counterterrorism, said: “It is crucial that Choudary is investigated by the police and if the evidence stacks up he must be charged.” Geoffrey Bindman, a leading lawyer, said: “There’s an element of ambiguity in the term ‘mujaheddin’ but in the context it’s possible he would be held to be seeking to raise money for terrorist purposes.” Choudary supporters taped a meeting last year at which he was preaching to disciples. A copy of the recording has been passed to The Sunday Times.

15 March – An article appears in the Daily Star with a quote from Patrick Mercer (Con.) MP and a response from Anjem Choudary:

Daily Star – MUSLIM NUTS SET UP ‘SUICIDE BOMB FIND’: HATE preacher Anjem Choudary is being investigated for allegedly urging supporters to send money to the Taliban. A tape emerged at the weekend of the Brit lawyer – whose supporters demonstrated against returning UK troops last week – allegedly telling a crowd to send cash to Muslim soldiers… Last night Patrick Mercer, the chairman of the Commons sub-committee on counter-terrorism, said: “It is crucial that Choudary is investigated by the police and if the evidence stacks up he must be charged.” But Choudary hit back saying calls for him to be investigated breached his human rights… Dad-of-three Choudary, 41, yesterday denied directly urging people to send cash to terrorists. “I don’t think I’ve ever said to people ‘raise money and send it to al-Qaida and the Taliban’,” he said. Choudary admitted he was worried he could be arrested but also hit back at critics, saying he had consulted his lawyer over ex-soldier Mr Mercer’s comments. He also accused journalists of “fabricating information and twisting facts to try to secure at least a prosecution against me”. He added: “All the police have to do is present the facts in a distorted way, and for MPs to put pressure on the Crown Prosecution Service and I could be arrested. What about my human rights?”

17 March – I blow the whole Jenvey/Mercer relationship wide open and name names at 9am. Jenvey claims I am delusional and promises to return “from work” at 9pm. He fails to live up to this promise, and instead decides to post a series of false claims about my being a “sex beast” and paedophile on Thai-based websites, weblogs and forums.

18 March – I know it is Jenvey for sure because the next day it is reported by the recipient of one of these paedo-smear comments that the IP address used to submit it was…. 84.13.23.48, the same IP address used in the incredibly similar attack on Anjem Choudary.

The ‘terror expert’ Glen Jenvey was definitely and unmistakably the man responsible for these attempts to damage my reputation, prompt others to spread his lies and perhaps do me an injury, and implicate The Daily Mail in the process.

And whether he likes it or not Patrick Mercer MP is now visibly tied to it and needs to make a statement. ASAP.

What does Patrick Mercer have to say about some of the things that Glen Jenvey gets up to while collecting evidence that he later endorses in the press? Oh, and does he really plan on standing by while Glen Jenvey smears me (and the Daily Mail), just to save his own sorry arse?

UPDATE – Please read the statement from Patrick Mercer.








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