[The following is from today's edition of The Guardian. The complete article can be read here.]
The key witness in the Lockerbie bombing trial was coached and steered by Scottish detectives into wrongly identifying a Libyan sanctions buster as the bomber, his appeal lawyers claim.
Lawyers acting for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi will tell an appeal court that Tony Gauci, a Maltese shopkeeper, was interviewed 23 times by Scottish police before giving the evidence that finally led to Megrahi's conviction for the bombing in 1991 (sic; the correct year is 2001). (...)
The first stage of the Libyan's lengthy appeal, which may take until next year to complete, will focus on his claims that the original trial judges were wrong in law to convict him and wrong to discard crucial evidence which undermined their guilty verdict.
Gauci identified Megrahi as the purchaser of clothes at his shop on Malta which were later allegedly packed in the suitcase carrying the Lockerbie bomb. But the Libyan's lawyers will claim there is now substantial evidence undermining the credibility of Gauci's testimony.
Megrahi's lawyers now believe Gauci received a "substantial" reward from the US government after his conviction thought to be as much as $2m - a payment not disclosed at the trial. The case against Megrahi hinges on Gauci's claim that the clothes allegedly packed into the suitcase bomb were bought on 7 December - the only day when Megrahi was in the area. Megrahi's lawyers say they can now prove they were bought up to two weeks before then, when the Libyan was not in the country.
Megrahi's lawyers will claim that in nearly two dozen formal police interviews, Gauci gave contradictory dates of purchase, changed his account of the sale, and on one occasion appeared to identify the Palestinian terrorist leader Abu Talb as the purchaser. Gauci's evidence is made unreliable by "undisputed factors", the appeal court will hear. They include an "extraordinary" delay in Gauci recalling the events of December 1988 and naming Megrahi; the "extraordinary amount of post-event suggestion to which the witness was subjected"; and his exposure to photos of Megrahi.
The appeal, which Megrahi is expected to watch live on a video link from Greenock prison near Glasgow, is being contested by the Scottish prosecution service, and the British government.
[The following are excerpts from today's edition of The Scotsman. The complete article can be read here.]
Megrahi, 57, who was diagnosed with cancer last year, has just completed ten years in custody for the bombing and it could be nearer 11 years before the appeal is fully determined.
It is almost two years since the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission decided there were grounds for believing Megrahi's conviction might be a miscarriage of justice.
Preliminary disputes, over such issues as public interest immunity and the scope of the appeal, have dogged attempts to arrange an early hearing for the case in the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
The first hearing, which is scheduled to last four weeks, will concentrate on an area for which preparatory work has been completed – that the guilty verdict returned against Megrahi at his trial was not supported by the evidence – and, were the plea to succeed, it would be enough for the conviction to be overturned and for Megrahi to be freed.
However, some observers believe this part of the appeal is far from Megrahi's strongest argument, and that other areas will require to be pursued, explaining why work is continuing.
A source said: "Three judges at the trial decided there was enough evidence to convict Megrahi and five judges said the same thing at his first appeal. That's a pretty high hurdle to overcome, and while there's nothing to be lost in having another go, you can't imagine five different judges this time being easily persuaded.
[Note by RB: The five judges in Megrahi's first appeal did not say that there was enough evidence to convict him. Megrahi's then lawyer, Bill Taylor QC, specifically stated to the court that that appeal was not about sufficiency of evidence in law; and the appeal judges made it clear in their written opinion that (a) the issue of whether the evidence was sufficient to convict, as well as (b) the issue of whether any reasonable court could have convicted him on that evidence, were not issues which they had considered in reaching their decision to sustain the conviction.]
"So, in theory, Megrahi could win this first point and be on his way back to Libya by the end of the summer, but it seems much more likely that the other grounds of appeal will have to be heard, and that will take us months further down the line, to have them heard and for the judges to go away and think about them and then announce their decision."
Megrahi will not attend the hearing, but will follow the proceedings by a closed circuit television link between the court and Greenock Prison.
The truth is the winner. Megrahi is free in days without the application for prisoner transfer!
ReplyDeleteEdwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd, Switzerland
The whole question as to the evidence of identification of Megrahi as being the purchaser of certain clothes in Mary's House Shop in Malta has been HIGHLY controversial since 1989!
ReplyDeleteIn late 1989, a well-respected US journalist (Scott Malone) interviewed the shopkeeper (Gaucci) for a docuemtnary on PBS. Over 2 days Malone received EIGHT different descriptions from Gaucci and his brother!
Later in 1989, the late (and sadly missed) Pierre Salinger also interviewed Gaucci and was given multiple descriptions as well! (Salinger was even arrested by the Maltese Special Branch for interviewing Gaucci!)
Within months of the bombing, American Reward posters in English and Arabic were distributed throughout Europe and the Middle East offering UP TO FOUR MILLION DOLLARS REWARD to anyone furnishing information 'leading to the conviction of the perpetrators'. (If as several sources havs claimed Gaucii received TWO Million dollars - he was seriously underpaid!)
By 1993, it was known that Gaucci had, indeed, been the subject of multiple interviews.
Serious questions arose at the trial when the Police Officer who conducted the interviews stated he had 'left his notebook' in Glasgow and therefore could NOT produce it in court.
Despite this, alleged excerpts from his notebooks had been quoted (verbatim) in one of the several books that had been published.
INCREDIBLY the defence made no challenge to this, neither for that matter, did their Lordships!
There have been consistent reports that a colour photograph of convicted Palestinian Terroist Mohammed Aby Talb was handed to Gaucci in a magazine by his brother, DAYS prior to a vital identification proceedure!
Gaucci appeared hesitant and uncertain during the adducement of his evidence at Zeist AND in their 82 page written judgement, 'their Lordships' acknowledged the problems surrounding the identification of the first accused (Megrahi) cause by passage of time (12 years) and the frailty of memory. They then went to to conclude ON THE BALANCE OF PROBABILITY, Gaucci HAD identified Megrahi.
Centuries of the basic priciple of proof 'beyond reasonable doubt' appear to have been ignored.
Reliable sources in Malta have assured me that Mary'sShop was closed for several years from before the two accused surrendering for trial...this raises the legitmate question as to how (exactly) has Mr. Gaucci and his brother obtained income in those years?
A question should also be asked as to the level and cost of hospitality afforded to Mr. Gaucci and his brother on at least one visit to Scotland. (Media sources have speculated as to expensive fishing breaks on a prime river in the Scottish Highlands.
The fact that the exact date of the pruchasing of the clothes and the dates that Megrahi could be proved to be in Malta has always been the subject of confusion and controversy - everything froma European Football Match, erecting public Christmas decorations and the weather at Luqa Airport have been used to try and 'fix' exact dates.
It is a fact that even by MID 1989 Gaucci was obviously giving disparate descriptions to TWO respected internationaljournalists should have been raise in court - and yet the defence failed...
So, for that matter did Their Lordships to accord any serous doubt to the benefit of the accused.
The date of the clothing purchase was arrived at long before Libya was a prime suspect (based upon the evidence--MEBO timer) and at least one year before any of us associated with the investigation had heard the name Megrahi. There was no manipulation of the dates to "fit" the evidence.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. David Ben-Aryeah
ReplyDeleteThe difference over the buyer of dresses and the exact date is: we have today examinable respectable facts, not only wrong indications and doubtful statements!
1> On Wednesday, 7th December 1988, between 18-19:15 hours, there was no small rain.
2> On Wednesday, 23th November 1988, between 18-19:15 hours, was small rain.
NB: There was some very light rain on 23th of November 1988 from 18:00-19:15, while there was no rain on 7th of December 1988, from Mark Vella, Managing Director, METEOMALTA, also confirmed at the Trial Kamp van Zeist, from ex witness number 03, Major Joseph Mifsud chief meteorologist at the meterological office at Luqa Airport in Malta.
3> Since August 1990, definitely a wrong date was created (7th of December, 1988) in order to accuse deliberately Abdelbaset al Megrahi as the buyer of the cloths in "Mary's House".
Mr. Abdelbaset al Megrahi was verifiable not in Malta on Wednesday, 23th of November 1988, thus Mr. Megrahi is definetely not the buyer of the dresses !
4> The calculation/delivery note, dated 25th of November 1988 Prod. 477-1.
A further proof from MEBO that the sale of dresses in Anhony Gauci "Mary's House" took undoubtedly place on Wednesday, 23th of November 1988 by a supposedly Libyan buyer:
Gauci told Bollier, that the 2 pieces of pyjamas, label "John Mallia", were the last two pyjamas he had sold to a Libyan in his shop. On the other day, the 24th of November 1988, he ordered at the company "John Mallia" additionally 8 pieces of the same pyjamas. The 8 pyjamas were delivered on the 25th of November 1988 with the calculation/delivery note, dated 25th of November 1988 to Gauci' s Mary' s House at Sliema Malta. Prod. 477-1.
5>The contrary statement from the managing director of the company PCV Plastics Limited, Mr. Satariano, against Paul Gauci (ex Witness no. 598).
Ex Witness, Mr. Dennis Satariano, sworn, number 607, at Kamp van Zeist. Excerpts:
Q-Did you supply 'BIG BEN' with Babygros? A-We did not supply it,
The day after Wednesday, December 7, December 8, 1988 was an official public holiday (Immaculate Conception Day) and the "John Mallia" company was closed.
But the day after November 23, November 24, 1988 was not an official public holiday, the company "John Mallia" was open.
more information on URL: www.lockerbie.ch
by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd, Switzerland
Retired FBI agent Richard Marquise said: "The date of the clothing purchase was arrived at long before Libya was a prime suspect (based upon the evidence--MEBO timer) and at least one year before any of us associated with the investigation had heard the name Megrahi. There was no manipulation of the dates to "fit" the evidence."
ReplyDeleteMr Marquise is being economical with the truth. Here is the chronology:
January 13, 1989 - The date on which two Scottish detectives, DC Gilchrist and DC McColm, say they found and labelled a piece of "cloth (charred)". On the label, "cloth" is later overwritten by the word "debris".
May 12, 1989 - The date that the piece of "debris (charred)" is examined by RARDE's Dr Thomas Hayes, who teases out fragments of white paper, black plastic, metal and wire mesh together with a half-inch "fragment of green circuit board."
August 1989 - Scottish Police officers visit Malta and interview Tony Gauci.
September 15, 1989 - RARDE's HNC-qualified technician, Alan Feraday, sends a polaroid photo of the "fragment of green circuit board" for identification purposes to DCI William Williamson with a note saying 'This is the best I can do in the time available'.
June 1990 - Feraday and Williamson travel to the USA to see the FBI lab's political science graduate, Thomas Thurman, who announces that he was the one who actually made the MST-13 timer fragment identification.
Edwin Bollier has stated elsewhere on this blog that Western intelligence sought to 'fit him up' by trying to get Bollier to travel on the same flight as Abdelbaset Megrahi from Tripoli to Valletta on December 20, 1988. MI5/MI6 must therefore have had Megrahi's name in the frame even before the Lockerbie bombing had happened.
It follows that the incredible MEBO timer evidence (fragment of the imagination?) was something cooked up by the CIA and British intelligence, and was needed for the incrimination of Libya.
However, I remain baffled as to why Edwin Bollier was not included along with Fhimah and Megrahi in the 'conspiracy to murder' charge. Perhaps the CIA document (that Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, does not want published) will help to resolve this mystery.
Dear Patrick,
ReplyDeleteI agreed wholeheartedly with you...
1: In an earlier comment I stated that it was less than secret in 1991 when the two warrants for Megrahi and Fimah were 'proclaimed' in Edinburgh that there was a THIRD warrant.In 1993 an ultra-reliable source informed me that it had been in Bollier's name
2: At the trial, Mr. Bollier stated on oath, that 'Days' after the bombing a 'mysterious American' approached him outside his office in a hotel and suborned him into keeping in touch with another 'unidentified American' using a 'Spanish keyboard' typewriter!
3: I urge you to get hold of a copy of the transcript and read Mr. Richard Kean QC's cross-examination of Mr. Bollier -not only was it devastating - it was also incredibly funny!
4: On the basis of his (Bollier's)evidence and other sources it would appear that there can be little doubt that Mr. Bollier's warrant was withdrawn, according to one reliable source due to pressure from the US and Swiss authorities!
For the attention of Mr. Richard Marquise:
(1)For information, your previous statements and comments have indeed displayed a strangely selective lack of knowledge...
(2)I suggest you consult with Mr. Vincent Cannistraro and ask how many people and when did the CIA identify and open files on both Megrahi AND Bollier.
(3) Mr.Bollier MUST have been known to the FBI...he was considered 'high profile' by at least three European Intelligence agencies...both in respect of supplying equipment to the East German Intelligence Services that later turned up in terrorist hands and, quite bizarrely, for the sale of the former radio ship MEBO II to Colonel Ghadaffi who moored in the Gulf of Sirte broadcasting readings from the Holy Quhran all over the Middle East!
(4) Impeccable sources from Malta law enforcement circles have some extremely interesting reports of the activities of several 'FBI officers'. I was told in 1993 of the fact that several were cautioned as to their activites. Expulsion from the island was seriously considered as senior law officials were of the opinion that their (the 'FBI personnel') had been preparing or had actually committed illegal acts regarding premises associated with Mr. Megrahi.
(6) Given your long and senior position in the FBI activities in this case.I am stunned that seem unaware of these facts.
(7) Would you care to comment on the number and identity of 'mysterious Americans' who were mentioned in the trial (on oath) in places such as Lockerbie, Senegal, Malta, Switzerland and Germany? (Astonishingly the defence failed totally to develop their possible identities or activities).
In the case of the incident(s) on Malta could they have been CIA Agents - if so what were the FBI doing...the Bureau HAD a presence on the island?
The only truth facts in the Lockerbie-Affair with discharge Libyen and Mr. Abdelbaset al Megrahi, you can find on URL: www.lockerbie.ch
ReplyDeleteCan you find one untrue fact ?…
by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd, Switzerland
Dear Edwin,
ReplyDeleteI would respectfully bring to your attention the words of the Queen to Hamlet in Shakspeares play of the same name, Act III, scene II - Hamlet's question to the Queen " How you like this play?"
Patrick Haseldine states in his comment that "MI5/MI6 must therefore have had Megrahi's name in the frame even before the Lockerbie bombing had happened."
ReplyDeleteHalllelujah! After twenty years he is starting to get a handle on this!
HAMLET
ReplyDeleteDo you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?
LORD POLONIUS
By the mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed.
HAMLET
Methinks it is like a weasel.
You might be interested in this.
ReplyDeleteLet me welcome all of you this morning to the Department of State, and let me start by saying it's a pleasure to be here to boost our Rewards for Terrorism Information Program. This array of distinguished guests form the private sector and from the executive and legislative branches of government testifies to our strong nationwide commitment to counter-terrorism.
At the outset of this administration, we made a solemn pledge to integrate counter-terrorism into our global foreign policy efforts, and I want to reaffirm that pledge today. We will do all that we can to ensure that everyone, everywhere, understands that terrorists are criminals - international criminals. Their targets are mankind's most fundamental values: a respect for human life, for legitimate processes of government, and for peaceful international relations. In short, terrorism is a crime really against civilization itself.
Most Recent
Government Articles
Ted Kennedy Will Be Missed By Defense Contractors (Sort of)
How Many Jobs Will Defense Lose?
Australian Health Care System Awards IBM Contract
President Signs Defense Budget
US Government takes a step to allow DRS purchase by Finmeccanica
More »
The United States will accept no rationalization for terrorism. We will not make deals with terrorists. We and the rest of the civilized world must give no outlet nor quarter to terrorists. Acts of terror are meant to brutalize and to bully and to demoralize and to destroy.
Pan Am 103 and the assassination last week of the speaker of the Egyptian parliament, all are meant to seize us with horror, to bring daily life to a standstill, and to hold entire nations hostage. Even as we recoil in horror at the carnage, there are ways that governments and citizens can work together to ensure that the warped psychology of the terrorist does not dominate our lives or distort our policies.
Every government and every citizen has a stake in bringing terrorists to justice. Every government and every citizen can take a stand. Programs such as the Rewards for Terrorism Information play a key role. Role-playing comes naturally to Charlie Sheen, Charles Bronson, and Charleton Heston, all of whom have volunteered their time and talent to make public service announcements for radio and television about the Rewards for Terrorism Information Program. As concerned citizens, they are doing their part, and that matters very much.
The announcements will be aired at home, and they will be announced as home, and they will be announced as well abroad. They will help spread the message that the US government can now pay rewards of up to $4 million for information that prevents or resolves an act of terrorism or brings terrorists to justice.
Our program also involves a unique public-private partnership. The government can pay up to $2 million for each reward. The Air Transport Association and the Air Line Pilots' Association, represented today by Mr. Robert Aaronson and Capt. Henry Duffy, each pledge up to $1 million in matching funds for terrorism against US civil aviation.
You might be interested in this.
ReplyDeleteLet me welcome all of you this morning to the Department of State, and let me start by saying it's a pleasure to be here to boost our Rewards for Terrorism Information Program. This array of distinguished guests form the private sector and from the executive and legislative branches of government testifies to our strong nationwide commitment to counter-terrorism.
At the outset of this administration, we made a solemn pledge to integrate counter-terrorism into our global foreign policy efforts, and I want to reaffirm that pledge today. We will do all that we can to ensure that everyone, everywhere, understands that terrorists are criminals - international criminals. Their targets are mankind's most fundamental values: a respect for human life, for legitimate processes of government, and for peaceful international relations. In short, terrorism is a crime really against civilization itself.
Most Recent
Government Articles
Ted Kennedy Will Be Missed By Defense Contractors (Sort of)
How Many Jobs Will Defense Lose?
Australian Health Care System Awards IBM Contract
President Signs Defense Budget
US Government takes a step to allow DRS purchase by Finmeccanica
More »
The United States will accept no rationalization for terrorism. We will not make deals with terrorists. We and the rest of the civilized world must give no outlet nor quarter to terrorists. Acts of terror are meant to brutalize and to bully and to demoralize and to destroy.
Pan Am 103 and the assassination last week of the speaker of the Egyptian parliament, all are meant to seize us with horror, to bring daily life to a standstill, and to hold entire nations hostage. Even as we recoil in horror at the carnage, there are ways that governments and citizens can work together to ensure that the warped psychology of the terrorist does not dominate our lives or distort our policies.
Every government and every citizen has a stake in bringing terrorists to justice. Every government and every citizen can take a stand. Programs such as the Rewards for Terrorism Information play a key role. Role-playing comes naturally to Charlie Sheen, Charles Bronson, and Charleton Heston, all of whom have volunteered their time and talent to make public service announcements for radio and television about the Rewards for Terrorism Information Program. As concerned citizens, they are doing their part, and that matters very much.
The announcements will be aired at home, and they will be announced as home, and they will be announced as well abroad. They will help spread the message that the US government can now pay rewards of up to $4 million for information that prevents or resolves an act of terrorism or brings terrorists to justice.
Our program also involves a unique public-private partnership. The government can pay up to $2 million for each reward. The Air Transport Association and the Air Line Pilots' Association, represented today by Mr. Robert Aaronson and Capt. Henry Duffy, each pledge up to $1 million in matching funds for terrorism against US civil aviation.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteRewards for Terrorism Information Program
PART 2
I also want to, particularly this morning, acknowledge the vital work done by Bruce Smith. Bruce is a Pan Am pilot whose wife was murdered in the Pan Am 103 bombing. Bruce has successfully lobbied the Congress to raise the fund ceiling for our rewards program. As you can see, we have posters advertising the program.
Mr. George Hughes, President of the George King Company, printed 7,000 of these posters for free. The posters will be distributed to airports, to airline offices, to US embassies, and to other government facilities worldwide.
The rewards program itself, which has INTERPOL's unqualified endorsement, has been working very effectively. So we've scored some important victories.
Recently, the largest rewards to date were paid to people who provided information that facilitated the successful prosecution of an international terrorist.
In the past year, we have paid $500,000 in rewards, and more are under consideration. We can also relocate people who provide helpful information, and this has been done as well.
Moreover, the US government continues to expand its intelligence exchanges with other governments, its police-to-police liaison work, and its training of foreign law enforcement personnel in anti-terrorism techniques.
Our gathering today and the launching of our public campaign marks another step forward in our ongoing counter-terrorism effort. Advertising the Rewards for Terrorism Information Program can help save lives. It can help put terrorists behind bars, increase public awareness, and show the world where we stand.
Would it be possible to demand information from the US regarding payments under the Program?
G