[This is the headline over a report published today (behind the paywall) on the website of The Times. It reads in part:]
Scottish prosecutors are seeking a copy of an interview with the
Lockerbie bomber, in which he appeared to admit that he had played a
role in the atrocity.
A spokesman said last night: “We are aware
of the interview with [Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi] which was partly
broadcast on yesterday’s news. We are also aware that Megrahi is
reported as having said in that interview that his role in the Lockerbie
bombing was exaggerated.
“Dumfries and Galloway police have been
instructed to obtain the whole interview. Once available the translation
will be checked for accuracy.”
However, supporters of al-Megrahi claimed yesterday that his apparent admission was a mistranslation.
After
the interview, conducted with Reuters news agency from his sickbed in
Tripoli, al-Megrahi was widely quoted as saying that his role in the
bombing had been “exaggerated”, a word that seemed to suggest that he
had been involved in the atrocity. Hitherto he had always protested his
innocence.
Robert Black, QC, Professor of Scots Law at the University of
Edinburgh, maintained that the interview had not been translated
correctly and that the Arabic word used by al-Megrahi was a different
one, which meant to “invent or fabricate” rather than “exaggerate”. [RB: I myself speak no Arabic. I was informed by an Arabic speaker that the word used was "echtera" ( اخترع ) which means "invent, concoct, fabricate".]
Professor Black said: “Far from being a confession, this was actually a vehement denial of any involvement.”
The Reuters news agency, which carried out the interview at al-Megrahi’s home this week, stood by its translation.
The Times,
which has studied the original Arabic quoted by Reuters, has
established that al-Megrahi used the word “kabbirni” which literally
means “made my name bigger” — that is, he meant that the West had made
his role seem bigger than it was. Al-Megrahi’s Scottish-based lawyer,
Tony Kelly, intervened to warn against interpreting the comments made in
the interview as a confession. “He was clearly in some distress and he
is on medication, therefore subjecting these comments to any great
scrutiny is unfair,” Mr Kelly said.
Al-Megrahi used his first
interview in two years to criticise his trial in The Hague, which ended
with his conviction for the 1988 terrorist act. He described the
proceedings held in the Dutch court under Scots law as a farce and
branded prosecutors “liars”.
“The facts will become clear one day, and hopefully in the near
future. In a few months from now, you will see new facts that will be
announced. The West exaggerated my name. Please leave me alone. I only
have a few more days, weeks or months. All my work was administrative. I
never harmed Libyans. I didn’t harm anyone. I’ve never harmed anyone in
my life,” he said. [RB: Even if "exaggerated" is an accurate translation of the Arabic, this passage does not, on any fair reading, amount to a confession of involvement in the destruction of Pan Am 103.]
Al-Megrahi’s lawyer said that the revelations
that al-Megrahi referred to in the interview would be contained in the
Libyan’s memoirs, which are due to be published in the near future. The
Lockerbie bomber’s autobiography will contain details of the appeal he
was planning to make against his conviction. (...)
Al-Megrahi also revealed that one of the relatives of a Lockerbie
victim is helping him to secure powerful new drugs that could help
prolong his life.
Jim Swire, who lost his daughter, Flora, in the
bombing, believes that al-Megrahi is innocent and has offered to help
him locate medicine that could help his condition. Dr Swire said: “I
don’t believe this man murdered my daughter so I’m happy to help, and as
a doctor I can’t discriminate — if someone needs help I must give it.”
[A letter headed The truth must be fearlessly pursued from Dr John Cameron in today's edition of The Scotsman contains the following:]
The performance of the Italian forensic team [in the Amanda Knox case] was deplorable and on a par with that seen in the prosecutions of Detective Constable Shirley McKie and Megrahi. Yet Italy can be proud that its system is self-righting while our judiciary still struggles to admit culpability in the manifestly unsafe verdicts on McKie and Megrahi.
[A letter from David Flett in the same newspaper reads as follows:]
Mr Megrahi promises us fresh new facts in the coming months that will add to his claim of innocence.
Could he perhaps be referring to publication of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) report?
It's ironic that while we lambast Westminster, Libya and the USA for not revealing all information in their possession we here in Scotland keep hidden the findings of a four-year independent investigation into the case.
It's obvious to me that all our politicians and our own justice system lack the stomach to pursue the Lockerbie truth.
So it was therefore further disappointing to see our very own Scotsman newspaper appear to misquote Megrahi and suggest a "confession" had taken place, adding yet another untruth to the mountain of untruths.
[A letter headed The truth must be fearlessly pursued from Dr John Cameron in today's edition of The Scotsman contains the following:]
The performance of the Italian forensic team [in the Amanda Knox case] was deplorable and on a par with that seen in the prosecutions of Detective Constable Shirley McKie and Megrahi. Yet Italy can be proud that its system is self-righting while our judiciary still struggles to admit culpability in the manifestly unsafe verdicts on McKie and Megrahi.
[A letter from David Flett in the same newspaper reads as follows:]
Mr Megrahi promises us fresh new facts in the coming months that will add to his claim of innocence.
Could he perhaps be referring to publication of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) report?
It's ironic that while we lambast Westminster, Libya and the USA for not revealing all information in their possession we here in Scotland keep hidden the findings of a four-year independent investigation into the case.
It's obvious to me that all our politicians and our own justice system lack the stomach to pursue the Lockerbie truth.
So it was therefore further disappointing to see our very own Scotsman newspaper appear to misquote Megrahi and suggest a "confession" had taken place, adding yet another untruth to the mountain of untruths.
MISSION LOCKERBIE, 2011: Clearing up the "Lockerbie Affair":
ReplyDeleteThe exculpatory evidence that Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi can have nothing to do with the real bombing of PanAm 103 and can be read after opening the SCCRC-files.
There is now an opportunity that Libya's "NTC" can demand from the Crown Office reciprocal rights (International Legal Assistance) -- in order to open the secret files of the Scotish Criminal Cases Reappeal Commission and the statement of police-officer, witness (alias) "GOLFER".
by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Switzerland. URL: www.lockerbie.ch