Wednesday 18 September 2013

Lockerbie bombing: late claim for compensation

[This is the headline over Google Translate’s English version of a report published yesterday on the Swiss Italian-language news website Tio. The following are extracts (revised slightly by me) from the translation:]

The Federal Administrative Court (FAC) has rejected a claim by a contractor in Zurich asking more than six million dollars from the federal government. His company was accused by investigators of manufacturing the electronic timer used by the perpetrators of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.

The FAC has judged that the claim of the entrepreneur was made too late. (...)

In 2009, the Zurich-based entrepreneur had filed a complaint against the federal government, claiming that an employee of the federal police had asked an employee of his firm, a few months after the attack, to provide a specimen timer.

The device was then improperly used as evidence in the trial. Because of articles that appeared in the media, which attacked the name of his business, he lost a significant part of his clientele.

The Federal Department of Finance (FDF) had rejected his claim for compensation in January. The FAC, to which he then resorted, has upheld this decision.

According to the Court the absolute prescriptive period of ten years after the acts charged to the employee of the federal police had been exceeded before the claim was made. The limitation period of one year, which is calculated from the date of knowledge of the facts, had also expired.

The Lockerbie bombing has left many gray areas. In 2001, a Scottish court had condemned the Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died in May 2012.

The file is not closed. Investigation initiated by the Ministry of the Attorney General is pending, as well as an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. 

[A somewhat longer German language version of this story can be found here on the website of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.]

4 comments:

  1. MISSION LOCKERBIE, 2013:

    The file is not closed. Investigation Initiated still by the Ministry of the Attorney General is pending.

    The lawsuit against the Swiss Police ex (BUPO) is time-barred, but the criminal offense led to the financial claim-action of CHF 6 million and CHF 47.7 million, which was because of legal delay (denied access to criminal offense records); after 12 November 2011, could be delivered the financial claim to the Swiss Federal Department of Finance (FDF).

    Under Swiss law, the statute of limitations expires 10 years after entering the financial claim action, thus first on 2021st.

    Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Telecommunication, Switzerland. URL: www.lockerbie.ch

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mr. Bollier
    - maybe it was the best that they said "too late", and you did not need to spend more money on legal matters.

    I am no lawyer, but winning that case appears to be nearly impossible.

    Would it e.g. include convincing the court that Lumpert had the habit of marking samples with a tiny "m" (I'd estimate 3mm high), scratched with a needle, and looking like a fibre?

    And how about this Sn-only matter? The whole issue around that is, that MEBO did not use this technology, right? Then, if they only used the sample to make a copy, well, CIA had two timers already. How would you prove that your sample was used?

    Then there's some statements made by MEBO people over time (in court, under oath, too) that didn't help anyone sorting it out right.

    So maybe the court would have said "You share a responsibility for bringing the verdict upon yourself". This happens frequently when compensation for wrongly convicted people is discussed.

    I'm just saying that I think the news is not actually good news for you, and if you are as smart as I think you are, it's not really a surprise either ;-)

    Please correct me if I am wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes,I agree.

    The problem with this tin/lead thing is..... mr. Bolier himself, who proved to be an unreliable witness.

    The only thing we know for sure is that PT/35b is not from one of the the Thuring boards. This leaves a couple of options,for example:

    -PT/35b is from another MEBO (prototype?) board.
    -PT/35b is from a copy made by the CIA.
    -etc

    Believing PT/35b is fake is one thing; proving it another.

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  4. MISSION LOCKERBIE, 2013.
    Attn. Xiaoya Ta:

    I, Edwin Bollier (MEBO Ltd.) was depict as unreliable witness from the Scottish Justice intentional, so that the FRAUD could be covered !
    My testimony was the TRUTH and only the TRUTH !
    Anyone disagree, then please enter accurate facts ?

    by Edwin Bollier, MEBO Ltd. Telecommunication Switzerland. URL: www.lockerbie.ch

    ReplyDelete