Editor of The Firm asks for clarification

[What follows is an e-mail sent today by Steven Raeburn, the editor of the Scottish lawyers' magazine The Firm, to various officials of the Scottish Government and the Crown Office.]

The Scottish Government advise that the news release below was sent by Crown Office.

As an editor, I am concerned at the covert nature of this, which does appear to constitute something of an off record whispering campaign, or a conscious effort to traduce Ms Grahame, who is an elected member of Parliament. Whilst not every editor may be familiar with the specific point Ms Grahame has made, which you claim is defamatory, I can advise you that the same point was made to me directly by Lhamin Khalifa Fhimah's former defence team in 2004, in terms far from less circumspect and a good deal more critical than the published claims of Ms Grahame. If her claims are true, which we must accept is a possibility, they cannot be defamatory, and accordingly Mr McFadyen may potentially have some legitimate questions to answer. The full picture may not prove to be as definitive as the release presently claims.

Hence, it is appropriate that we tread carefully. Therefore, would you be able to advise:

- Is this release attributable, and if so, to whom?

- Is this for publication?

- If the comments made my Ms Grahame are defamatory as claimed, is an action for defamation being pursued?

- If the "defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind" have been published, is any action being taken against the publication(s) in question?

- And do you have any additional statement to make in respect of this?

I do await hearing from you.

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From: THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

NOTE TO EDITORS

We have been made aware of serious allegations made by Christine Grahame against the Crown Agent, Norman McFadyen, in relation to the Lockerbie trial.

These are defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind. Norman McFadyen is a man of the utmost integrity who is held in the highest regard by the Law Officers.

Not only is the allegation false in itself but Mrs Grahame appears to have misunderstood the process because the documents which she has referred to were not part of and had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The whole process was fully considered by the trial court which thanked the then Lord Advocate for the Crown s efforts to bring as much information as possible before the Court.

By the end of the process information made available to the Crown by the US authorities was made available to the defence, the trial court and also the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in the form in which it was received from the US authorities.

The Commission extensively and fully investigated the process. The Commission concluded that there was no basis to refer the issue to the appeal court.

[According to a report dated 21 July on The Firm's website, the Crown Office is refusing to answer Mr Raeburn's queries.]