A day after the death, last Sunday,
of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am 103 that
killed 270 people over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988, The Times of London carried a cartoon showing someone about to
cover the words The Truth painted on the nose of the airliner after the
explosion. The inference is that, with Mr Megrahi’s death, the truth will not
be uncovered now. But this need not be the case, particularly following the
revelation, some time ago, that evidence not disclosed to the defence team at
the time of the trial could have led to a different outcome.
It would be morally unjust to
consider the case closed, not only with regard to Mr Megrahi, who pleaded
innocent of the crime until his death, but also to the relatives of all the
victims and to Malta too.
However much Malta denies the claim
that the luggage containing the bomb started its journey here, the fact is
that, often enough, news reports about Lockerbie carry graphics showing
precisely that the bomb was loaded, in Malta, on an Air Malta flight bound for
Frankfurt. This impression will not be removed until the true facts of the
terrorist act become known. It is, therefore, in Malta’s interest too that the
investigation into the bombing of the airliner is re-opened.
A relentless campaigner for the
truth, Jim Swire, whose daughter was one of the passengers who died in the air
tragedy, had this to say after Mr Megrahi’s death was announced: “At least,
before he died we learnt what he already knew: that the story that a Libyan
bomb using a long-running timer had started its journey from Malta was a myth.
The famed fragment ‘PT35b’ could never have been part of one of the timers
allegedly used. There is now no valid evidence left from the court that either
Malta, its flag carrier airline or Baset’s own country were involved. Baset has
a valid alibi and he died knowing that, in the end, the truth will emerge.”
Will it? Many, including a cross
section of the national press in Britain, think it should.
One newspaper, for example, called
for the Scottish government to agree to the holding of a public inquiry,
arguing that Mr Megrahi’s death was no reason to stop trying to get to the
truth. Another argued that “if ever a crime of this magnitude warranted an
independent review it is this”.
At one time, a former Libyan Justice
Minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, had told a Swedish tabloid that he had proof
that Muammar Gaddafi had personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing. But it seems
that the story ended there.
What fuelled the belief that there
might have been a miscarriage of justice was a report by the Scottish Criminal
Cases Review Commission, which, among other matters, raised the credibility of
the evidence given by a Maltese shopkeeper. The commission confirmed that the
shopkeeper and his brother had been compensated by the US State Department for
their evidence and held that this information should have been disclosed to the
defence team.
Dr Swire feels it is a tragedy “that
we have failed to overturn the verdict while he (Mr Megrahi) was alive”.
There have been various theories over
the release of Mr Megrahi from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2009.
For example, many believed that his release was done out of commercial
interests.
However, irrespective of the reasons
that led to his early release from prison, justice will not be done before the
truth is unearthed.
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