[This is the headline over a report in the Dumfries & Galloway Standard, one of the local newspapers circulating in Lockerbie. It reads in part:]
The region’s top cop has rubbished claims that a new investigation into the Lockerbie bombing will take place.
Chief Constable Patrick Shearer said that there will only be a review of the evidence to see if any further lines of inquiry can be explored.
He stressed it was not a re-launch of the police investigation.
National newspaper reports at the weekend suggested that a fresh investigation would concentrate on identifying the accomplices of convicted bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
However, Chief Constable Shearer said: “The case remains open and Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary continues to work closely with the Crown Office. (...)
“Reports of the police investigation being re-launched are inaccurate.
“The work that is being undertaken is the latest in a series of reviews which have formed part of an investigative strategy in keeping with our determination to pursue every possible lead.
“We also take cognisance of the trial court’s acceptance of the Crown’s position that Mr al-Megrahi acted in furtherance of the Libyan Intelligence Service and did not act alone.
“It has been reported that new lines of inquiry are being pursued by my officers.
“I am concerned that the work that is being carried out in conjunction with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service could be misunderstood.
“As is the case in all major police investigations that remain open, good practice dictates that the evidence is reviewed at regular intervals.
“Recent events in the case simply bring about an appropriate time to take stock of all of the evidence gathered to establish if any new investigative opportunities exist.
“It would not be appropriate for me to discuss the review in any further detail but I would like to emphasise this is not a re-launch of the police investigation.”
Local man John Gair has welcomed the review because he believes there was a lot of other people involved in the bombing.
“Other people were named at the time but Gaddafi wouldn’t release them. The one thing a review won’t sort out is whether Megrahi was involved. (...)
“I’ve spoken to various senior policemen involved with the case over the years who are convinced they got the right man; but there are others like Dr Jim Swire who believe Megrahi is innocent.
“There is a complete range of opinions from people in the town, but I would love to know what the answer is.”
[So now we have it from the horse's mouth: the minds of the police and the Crown Office are utterly closed, notwithstanding the findings of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.]
It is interesting that the Scottish police still considers the case open after Mr. Megrahi has abandoned his appeal. In other words: the only way to close the case would have been the appeal and the inevitable conclusion by the judges that Mr. Megrahi was not proven guilty.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that it was no good idea to persuade Mr. Megrahi to abandon his appeal.
Now the only way to close the case would be an public inquiry.
Yeah. From the content of the SCCRC report, I thought it might be about "let's just admit the Gauci identification was unreliable and uphold the appeal without having to admit any evidence about anything more embarrassing." And hope it all goes away.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with that was, of course, that with nobody convicted, there would have been huge pressure to reopen the case and look at Jibril and all the other stuff.
Megrahi's illness was a very handy excuse to pressurise him to abandon the appeal, so as to be able to point to him forever afterwards as "the Lockerbie bomber".
I think they'll quash the conviction in 20 years or so once the people with the vested interests in maintaining the Libya theory are out of the picture.
Mind you, what would have been the consequences if they'd upheld the appeal, even just on the Gauci evidence? Libya suffered ten years of sanctions and paid out billions of dollars on the basis of Megrahi being guilty. I can see the diplomats and the spooks being a bit unkeen on a declaration that he wasn't.
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