Craig Murray is having more problems getting his views published, this time on various important African issues.

He complains at great length that various concerns expressed by his lawyers and publishers about passages in his new book amount to ‘censorship’ and a massive suppression of free speech:

… under this country’s crazy libel laws you cannot even retell things you did yourself unless you have other objective evidence that you did it. And you may not express opinions that are not mainstream, or which may upset the government or the rich and powerful.

I think the position in fact is that if Craig wants to publish his views and run a risk of a heavy libel suit, no-one is stopping him.

It’s just that the publishers he has chosen have taken legal advice and (it seems) would prefer not to risk getting entangled in all that with the text as it stands.

Not obviously unreasonable. They are in business to make money, and the fun (and profit) of doing that with a new Craig Murray book may be diminished by a volley of expensive litigation.

If no other publisher is willing to take it on, Craig has the route of publishing and distributing a pamphlet to get his views out, as in the infamous Count Nikolai Tolstoy case.

Or there’s the Internet. And some good ideas from people commenting on Craig’s own site.

Lots of choices, in fact.

Some potentially more lucrative – but potentially more costly – than others.

Isn’t having a wide and subtle range of choices a good part of what Freedom is all about, for writers – and publishers – alike?