[The following is a press release issued today by SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament, Christine Grahame. An article based on it appears on the BBC News website and can be read here.]
An MSP who is working with relatives of victims of the Lockerbie Pan Am bombing has been refused a visit to the man convicted of the atrocity, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi. Christine Grahame MSP had been offered a private meeting with the terminally ill Mr Megrahi who is currently serving a 27 year sentence at Greenock Prison. Mr Megrahi is currently appealing his conviction and had agreed to meet Ms Grahame, but officials at the Scottish Prison Service blocked the move at the last moment, refusing to give an explanation. Ms Grahame said:
“I believe, as many campaigners and relatives of Lockerbie victims believe, that the conviction against Mr Megrahi is unsafe and, like the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, I think there is evidence that a miscarriage of justice has taken place. If that is the case it is not only an injustice for Mr Megrahi but also for the 270 victims of Pan Am 103.
“I was offered a private visit last week to speak to Mr Megrahi directly and I intended to meet with him on Sunday morning. On Saturday evening however the prison Governor contacted my office to advise that the meeting would not be able to proceed due to unspecified reasons. Despite several attempts to seek clarification from the Scottish Prison Service no satisfactory explanation has been offered.”
Ms Grahame, a former lawyer, has been working closely with the Justice for Megrahi campaign which includes Professor Robert Black QC, the well respected legal expert and Dr Jim Swire whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing. She added:
“From the evidence I have seen I think there is an indication that very senior officials and British Ministers do not want the truth about this case to enter the public arena.
“I believe that is why the British Government has rushed through the Prisoner Transfer Protocol with Libya, in the hope Mr Megrahi will drop his appeal, as he must do under the terms of the protocol arrangement to be eligible to be transferred back to his homeland. That would ensure that the details about the unsafe nature of this conviction and the manner in which the investigation was carried out by both Scottish and US investigators will be covered up.”
Mr Megrahi is understood to be disappointed that the visit is being blocked, despite his entitlement to such visits. Ms Grahame intends to pursue the matter with the relevant officials.
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