A CAMPAIGNER has appeared in court charged with threatening a judge who gave the go-ahead to evict a campsite of independence supporters from outside Holyrood.
Lord Turnbull was allegedly threatened with being hunted down and executed, along with the Queen, in a legal statement issued by a group supporting a second referendum.
It followed the judge’s decision at the Court of Session in July that backed the Scottish Parliament’s Corporate Body’s attempts to evict the group.
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The campers have pledged to remain in the park land despite the objections until the country becomes independent.
Last week, the campaigners went back to the court for the latest stage of an appeal hearing in an attempt to overturn Lord Turnbull’s decision.
Stephen Crielly, 53, of Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, was detained a few yards from St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on October 19 and appeared in private at the city’s sheriff court the following day. He made no plea or declaration to a charge of making criminal threats.
Mr Crielly was a member of a group of the JAH group; the initials signify the name given to God by Rastafarians.
They believe the independence camp and the declaration of an independent Scotland are necessary steps to ensure the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The group submitted an affadavit which was submitted during the case. The legal document was signed “Christ King of Scotland”.
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It claimed the Son of God had given permission for the campers to use his land.
The statement also included claims the judges were “frauds and have no authority to judge anyone” and are “guilty of capital crimes and under the law should all be executed.”
The independence campaigners established the camp, with caravans bedecked with saltire flags, last year.
The parliament’s corporate body instructed lawyers to go to the court and obtain an order to have them removed, with lawyers claiming their presence preventing other people from using the grounds.
Lord Turnbull, during the Court of Session hearing, asked members of the Sovereign Indigenous Peoples of Scotland to make representations to him on whether their human rights were being infringed.
However, some members of the Sovereign Indigenous Peoples of Scotland saw themselves as agents for the second coming of Christ.
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Mr Crielly attempted to join the case as a respondent or lay representative on several occasions, but was not allowed to do so.
A close associate told the court Archangel Michael had said the camp would encourage the Second Coming.
At last week’s private hearing in the sheriff court, Mr Crielly was granted bail on the condition, but must not contact the judge, a named court official or visit certain post offices.
Mr Crielly made no plea or declaration and the case continues.
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