The author of the book Megrahi: You are my Jury which disclosed
major revelations in the ongoing Pan Am 103 debacle has lodged a formal
complaint to David Harvie, Director of the Serious Casework Division at the
Crown Office over a "misleading statement" issued by functionaries in
the communications department.
The
complaint by John Ashton alleges that a misleading
statement was issued on 25 March in response to newspaper coverage of the
book's revelations, which led to the publication of the Scottish Criminal Cases
Review Commission's report concluding that a miscarriage of justice may have
occurred.
Ashton adds that the communications
unit failed to correct the statement.
The statement in question said: "...allegations of serious misconduct have been made in the media against a number of individuals for which the commission found no evidence. This is also to be deplored. In fact the commission found no basis for concluding that evidence in the case was fabricated by the police, the Crown, forensic scientists or any other representatives of official bodies or government agencies …"
Ashton said in his letter to Harvie: "This gave the impression that 'Megrahi: You are my jury' and the previous reports in the Herald and Sunday Herald made unsubstantiated allegations against certain individuals and failed to report that the commission found no evidence that evidence was fabricated. In fact they did no such thing and were careful to report the commission’s findings on these matters."
The statement in question said: "...allegations of serious misconduct have been made in the media against a number of individuals for which the commission found no evidence. This is also to be deplored. In fact the commission found no basis for concluding that evidence in the case was fabricated by the police, the Crown, forensic scientists or any other representatives of official bodies or government agencies …"
Ashton said in his letter to Harvie: "This gave the impression that 'Megrahi: You are my jury' and the previous reports in the Herald and Sunday Herald made unsubstantiated allegations against certain individuals and failed to report that the commission found no evidence that evidence was fabricated. In fact they did no such thing and were careful to report the commission’s findings on these matters."
Ashton
states that he subsequently asked the Crown Office’s communications
department to correct its statement, "making clear that neither the
book, nor the Herald articles, made the claims apparently attributed to
them."
The
response from the Crown Office said that it did not consider that any
correction was required.
"The Crown Office’s failure to correct the
statement means that a distorted and misleading picture remains before the
public," Ashton says in his letter to Harvie.
Institutional liars
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