November 23, 2008
The Noble Lord Black Writes From Prison
I have always been fond of Lord Black and an admirer of his. Never more so than today upon reading his article written from prison as he awaits the result of his appeal of what I regard as a meritless conviction:
Given the putrefaction of the US justice system, it is an unsought but distinct honour to fight this out and already to have won 85% of the case and 99% of the financial case. The initial allegation against me of a “$500m corporate kleptocracy” has shrunk to a false finding against me -- that even some of the jurors have already fled from in post-trial comments -- of the underdocumented receipt of $2.9m. There is no evidence to support this charge.It has been a grim pleasure to expose the hypocrisy of the corporate governance establishment, who have bankrupted our Canadian company and reduced the share price of the American one from $21, when I left, to a miraculous two cents (yes, two cents). They have vaporised $2 billion of public shareholder value; fine titles in several countries have deteriorated; and for their infamies, the protectors of the public interest have cheerfully trousered more than $200m. (snip)
I would be distinctly consolable if the United States really was in decline and I have more legitimate grievances against that country than do The Guardian or the BBC, but it is still a country of incomparable vitality even as its moral, judicial soul atrophies and reeks.