ALEX Salmond has called for a pardon to be given to Thomas Muir, the 18th Century radical who was tried for sedition and transported to Australia.

The former First Minister said it was time "to set the record straight" and quash the convictions of Muir and four fellow radicals, Thomas Palmer, William Skirving, Maurice Margarot and Joseph Gerrald who suffered the same fate.

Admirers of the French Revolution and supporters of political reform in Britain, they were convicted following a series of show trials in 1793 and 1794.

As a leader of the Friends of the People movement, which demanded greater democratic freedoms, Muir has come to be seen as a pioneer of the campaign for Scottish independence.

Mr Salmond made the call as he delivered the inaugural Thomas Muir lecture, commemorating the 250th anniversary of his birth, at St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh.

He said: "The exploits of Muir, a pioneer of democratic political reform and Scottish independence, are recognised in the monument at Old Calton Cemetery.

"However, the trumped up charge by the notorious Lord Braxfield of ‘unconscious sedition’ still stands against the names of Muir, Palmer, Skirving, Margarot and Gerrald.

"It is time to set the record straight."

He added: "This 250th anniversary of Muir’s birth is an opportunity to re-examine the historical record with a view to pointing the way to a better future for Scotland.

"Robert Burns penned Scots Wha Hae on the day that Muir was tried in late August 1793.

"Burns wrote to his publisher George Thomson that he had been inspired by Bruce’s struggle for freedom ‘associated with glowing ideas of some other struggles of the same nature not quite so ancient’.

"That is the clearest possible reference to Muir’s trial and the Friends of the People movement.

"For Burns and for Muir the radical cause of reform and progress was inextricably linked with the national cause in Scotland. So it is for this generation."

Calling for the pardons, Mr Salmond said: "We have the ability to do this in Scotland and we should do it now to reclaim the position of these founders of democracy in Scotland."

Facing Scotland's "hanging judge," Lord Braxfield, from the dock Muir, an advocate, famously defended himself with the rallying cry: "Gentlemen, from infancy to this moment I have devoted myself to the cause of the people.

"It is a good cause – it shall ultimately prevail – it shall finally triumph."

He was transported to Botany Bay but escaped from Australia in 1796 and fled to France, where in 1797 he called on the French Government to "liberate" Scotland.

He died in Paris in 1799 at the age of 33.