A private screening of a new Dutch television documentary, focusing particularly on the provenance of the fragment of circuit board alleged to have come from the timer attached to the bomb that destroyed Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, was held earlier this evening in a committee room at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The documentary will be broadcast soon in the Netherlands and Germany. The following is the text of the background note supplied to those invited to attend the Edinburgh screening:
'Dutch Public TV network VPRO, in conjunction with German TV, ZDF and Arte, commissioned a documentary investigation into aspects of the bombing of Pan Am 103 in December 1988.
'The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, following a three year investigation has stated there may have been a miscarriage of justice and that Mr Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of this atrocity should have a fresh appeal. This appeal is scheduled to start on April 28th 2009. If there has been, as many believe, a miscarriage of justice, the implications for the Scottish Judicial system will be immense and could result in charges of perverting the course of justice.
'The film focuses mainly on a crucial piece of circuit board fragment alleged to have been found at Lockerbie. Investigations carried out by Scottish police and the United Sates of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded that this fragment came from a timer mechanism sold only to Libya.
'Statements made on camera to the documentary film makers by some of the most senior personnel involved in the investigation in Scotland and the USA cast even more doubt specifically on this piece of circuit board. The FBI agent who headed the USA’s part of the investigation has stated that without this fragment of circuit board there would not have been an indictment let alone a trial. Clearly, from filmed interviews, it can be seen that the FBI and Scottish police tell completely different stories about this fragment. They cannot both be correct.
'The shocking new evidence gathered in this film will, it is believed, impact greatly on the forthcoming appeal and the producers intend to make this material available to the Crown Office and to Mr Megrahi’s defence team.
'The screening will be by invitation only and it is hoped that a wide ranging audience will attend from elected representatives to relatives of those died on Pan Am 103.'
Sadly, it's very unlikely there will be an appeal.
ReplyDeleteClearly, Ruth knows something that the rest of us do not!
ReplyDeleteMr. Abdelbaset al Megrahi and Libya are intitled to get their honour back by a clear decision of the appeal court due to start on the 27th of April 2009 !
ReplyDeleteMr. Megrahi said: "This is the real way to clear my name before I go back to my homeland Libya." Mr. Al-Megrahi has consistently maintained his innocence and has vowed to stay in Scotland and win his freedom through the appeal courts.
MEBO has already disposed of all the needed exonerating evidence to the Defence Team and the High Court.
More details on: www.lockerbie.ch
by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd, Telecommunication Switzerland
3news present:
ReplyDeleteThere are fresh doubts over who brought down a Pan Am flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie more than 20 years ago.
It has been discovered that a key piece of evidence - which the FBI says was analysed in the US - may never have left Britain!!!
watch video:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/tabid/534/Default.aspx
by ebol
correction, watch the video on 3news, URL:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.3news.co.nz/Video/World/tabid/313/articleID/101056/cat/61/Default.aspx#video
by ebol
Interesting video on 3news.
ReplyDeleteAppears to be a dispute between former Lord Advocate Lord Fraser and retired FBI agent Richard Marquise over whether the timer fragment (PT35b) was taken to the USA for identification (by the FBI Lab's Thomas Thurman) or whether the identification was done at Fort Halstead by RARDE's Alan Feraday (see Wikipedia article "Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 - Timer fragment").
The issue is important because Feraday was called to give timer fragment evidence at the Lockerbie trial, but Thurman was prevented from doing so. In 1997, US Inspector-General, Michael Bromwich, had prohibited Thurman from giving forensic evidence in criminal cases.
Seems to me to be a last-minute spoiler operation by the Crown (to confuse the timer fragment issue) just days away from the start of Mr Megrahi's second appeal. I hope Maggie Scott QC is not taken in by it.