Proceeds of Megrahi book to go to charity

[The following are excerpts from an article by Ben Borland in today’s edition of the Sunday Express:]

The publishers of Libyan bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s book are to donate all profits to charity, starting with victim support groups on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mrs [Susan] Cohen, who refused £3.1million compensation from the Gaddafi regime, calling it “blood money”, said: “If a charity accepts money it implies they are accepting the verdict of the book and it’s a kind of validation on Megrahi’s actions, so that would be deplorable.”

The book, Megrahi – You Are My Jury: The Lockerbie Evidence, promises to present “conclusive new evidence” to prove Megrahi was “an innocent victim of dirty politics and judicial folly”. He has been working on it with British author John Ashton after release back to Libya from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds just eight years into a 27-year sentence.

Suffering from prostate cancer, he had been given three months to live. Two-and-a-half years on, the 59-year-old has promised to reveal “the truth” about the atrocity.

Mrs Cohen, at home in New Jersey, said the book “is just another part of the campaign to pretend Megrahi didn’t do it. Why should we believe anything that he says? If he is so damn sick how is he able to help with writing a book?”

Hugh Andrew, managing director of the publishers, Birlinn, said: “I understand some charities may not wish to receive money. It is entirely their call. A great deal more information has come to light since the trial.”

[Another article in the same newspaper contains the following:]

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi has been working on the autobiographical book with English author John Ashton ever since his controversial release from prison in August 2009. Edinburgh-based publisher Birlinn is to unveil Megrahi – You Are My Jury: The Lockerbie Evidence on February 28 and is planning to donate all the profits to charity.

But last night Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora was among the 270 victims of the 1988 PanAm bombing, urged charities to turn down any offer of cash from Megrahi.

“I don’t think that anyone should accept money from that man,” she said. “I don’t think any charity should take a dime, they should not be encouraging this kind of thing.

“I think it would be despicable and an insult to the people who died if a charity took money from this.”

Birlinn’s managing director Hugh Andrew confirmed that no charities had been approached so far, although victim support organisations in Britain and the United States may be given first refusal.

Mrs Cohen, who sent back £3.1million in compensation from the Gaddafi regime, describing it as “blood money”, said the plan was an attempt to “validate Megrahi’s actions”.

Speaking from her home in New Jersey, she said: “It is a whitewash. If a charity accepts money then it implies they are accepting the verdict of the book and it puts a kind of validation on Megrahi’s actions, so that would be deplorable.

“I don’t want to come out against publishers and people have a right to decide what they want to read. But if any charity is offered money from this I would urge them to turn it down.”

The new book promises to present “conclusive new evidence” to prove Megrahi was “an innocent victim of dirty politics, a flawed investigation and judicial folly”.

In it, Megrahi will claim to reveal for the first time “how I came to be blamed for Britain’s worst mass murder, my nightmare decade in prison and the truth about my controversial release”.

However, Mrs Cohen dismissed the claims as “self-serving” and also criticised Mr Ashton, who worked for Megrahi’s defence team and has written extensively about the Libyan’s innocence.

She said: “I don’t think he can be in any way an objective person, given his very close ties to the former Libyan regime. It is just another part of the campaign to pretend that Megrahi didn’t do it.

“Why should we believe anything that Megrahi says? If he had anything to reveal, he should have revealed it at the trial.

“It won’t bring my daughter back but it would help if there were no more of these things which are self-serving and only cause confusion. And also, if he is so damn sick how is he able to help write a book?”

Megrahi was reckoned to be just three months away from dying of  prostate cancer when he was freed by Justice Secretary Kenny Mac-Askill 30 months ago. At the time, eight years into a 27-year sentence, he was part-way through an appeal granted after the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission ruled that his conviction may have been unsafe.

Hugh Andrew, Birlinn’s managing director, yesterday defended his decision to publish the 59-year-old father of five’s memoirs.

He said: “We will make the offer to various charities and I understand perfectly well that some may not wish to receive money, it is entirely their call.

“It would be inappropriate for us to make any profit out of this book and we are not seeking to make any. Megrahi himself will receive no money at all.

“I absolutely defend our right to publish this book. It is not a statement on his innocence or guilt but he has the right to have his case in the public domain.

“A great deal more information has come to light since the trial.”

[John Ashton's response to the Sunday Express articles has now been posted on the Megrahi: You are my Jury website. It can be read here. What follows is one brief extract:]

“Why should we believe anything that Megrahi says? If he had anything to reveal, he should have revealed it at the trial.”

It’s a fair point: on the advice of his lawyers, Abdelbaset opted not to give evidence at trial (a decision he regretted, although it’s debatable that the outcome would have been any different if he had decided differently). The book presents the account that he would have given at trial and leaves it to the readers to judge. Moreover, it presents a great deal of evidence that the court never heard, much of which was concealed from the defence by the Crown.