Wednesday 15 July 2015

FIRM acts on call for Pan Am 103 public inquiry

[This is the headline over an article published on this date in 2009 on the website of Scottish lawyers’ magazine The Firm. It reads as follows:]

The letter below was sent to Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill today, following the FIRM’s online poll in which 86% of respondents called for a public inquiry into the Lockerbie airliner event:
15 July 2009
Kenny MacAskill
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh EH99 1SP
Dear Mr MacAskill,
FIRM magazine
The Firm magazine recently ran a poll of its readers, which found that 86% of respondents supported a public inquiry into the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie.
A copy of the news story which ran in the July issue of the Magazine is appended below for your reference, and a copy of the magazine is enclosed.
I can add that solicitors and advocates, in addition to the general public, have frequently and consistently expressed to me their despair at the damage that has been inflicted upon the law of Scotland by this case. No doubt you are already aware that the Scots legal system was once rightly regarded as among the best and most effective in the world. Regardless of its present efficacy, it is now regarded both domestically and (especially) internationally as an embarrassment, principally because of the damning reflection cast upon it by the passage of the Lockerbie case through it.
On behalf of the readers of The Firm -- including over 10,000 solicitors and 500 or so advocates who wish to see the reputation of Scots law restored and be certain the legal system they work for and within is a source of pride to them, and not of shame -- I am duty bound to ask for you to address their wishes for a public inquiry. Like them, it is my fervent wish that the legal system of Scotland, and those who work within it, can be certain that the law which is applied in their name is done so honourably and with full accountability, devoid of the stains and shadows that this case has thrown upon it.
The reason this case refuses to go away is simply because the answers provided by the judicial process have failed to satisfy the public interest on one hand, and those directly affected by these events on the other. Whilst one bad case cannot be fairly described as representative of all that goes on in Scots law, that one bad case is nevertheless a valid reflection of what our legal system is capable of achieving, and there is a large constituency of the public who are not satisfied with that conclusion.
For my own part, I will simply state that the first step to repairing any damage is to understand how it was caused. A full inquiry may begin to shed the necessary light that will allow repairs to be effected. In the interests of accountability, and on behalf of the readers of The Firm, I ask you to let me have your response and proposals for action.
As a journalist, I constantly remind myself of the words of the great Edward R Murrow, who noted that just because my voice is amplified to the degree that it reaches from one end of the country to the other, it does not confer upon me greater wisdom or understanding than I possessed when it reached only from one end of the bar to the other. What my journalistic reach does impose upon me however, is a correspondingly amplified duty to use my free speech responsibly, and I therefore cannot in good conscience offer any voice to the readers of The Firm if I do not take forward their legitimate concerns and, where necessary, act upon them. If I felt otherwise, I should simply publish cartoons instead. Justice must be done, even tho’ the heavens may fall. If you and I cannot do our best to achieve that, then both of us are in the wrong jobs.
I, and those 86%, look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
STEVEN RAEBURN
Editor
-----------------
A poll of solicitors in Scotland calling for a full public inquiry into the Lockerbie incident has received Parliamentary backing and international support.
86% of respondents to the poll which ran during Abdelbaset Ali Mohmad al-Megrahi’s appeal called for the inquiry, which has been blocked since Labour took office in 1997, despite their pledge to hold one whilst in opposition.
Christine Grahame MSP, who has met Mr Megrahi several times in jail said there were many unanswered questions.
“I have said that if the appeal by Mr Megrahi is dropped then I would want to see a full public inquiry. That remains my position. I believe that Mr Megrahi should not have been convicted on the evidence that was led against him and that there appears to have been a miscarriage of justice. A public inquiry would go a considerable way towards resolving that if Mr Megrahi drops his appeal to make himself eligible for transfer back to Libya under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement signed by the UK Government.”
The UN appointed special observer Hans Kochler said the poll result was “encouraging,” and accused authorities of a scandalous cover up.
“A full public inquiry is long overdue. Since April 2002 I have repeatedly called for such a measure,” he said.
“So far, neither the British nor Scottish political and judicial establishment has shown any genuine interest in finding out the real causes of the Lockerbie tragedy. To the contrary, the course of justice has been obstructed in numerous instances. It is high time that the public demands its right to full and uncensored disclosure of all the evidence of the Lockerbie case and all facts of the scandalous cover-up and delaying tactics we have seen since the first appeal decision.”
Professor Robert Black, instrumental in brokering the Zeist trial said he “wholeheartedly supports the call for a public enquiry into the Lockerbie case.”
“There are so many grave concerns about the trial and the verdict that it is difficult to see how the Scottish criminal justice system can have its legitimacy restored without one,” he added.

2 comments:

  1. DOSSIER LOCKERBIE: only in German language, doc. nr. 21327.rtf::

    Wird die schweizer 'Lockerbie Affäre' ein Vorkommnis von grosser politischer Tragweite ? für (PUK)?

    Schande für die Schweiz - dass ein ehemals stellvertretender "Generalbundesanwalt" (Felix Bänziger) von Carla Del Ponte, für die gesamte Schweiz ernannt (1. Aug. 1996 bis 2000) - vom Bundesstrafgericht Bellinzona, wegen BEFANGENHEIT im "Komplex Lockerbie" - in den Ausstand treten muss !

    Nach der Eröffnung einer Ermächtigungsverfügung des Eid. Justiz- und Polizeidepartements, 'EJPD', am 17. März 2014, im Rahmen von Vorabklärungen im Kontext einer Staatshaftungsklage - im Zusammenhang mit dem "Lockerbie Attentat" (PanAm 103 im Jahre 1988) - hat das 'EJPD' gegen einen Mitarbeiter des Nachrichtendienst des Bundes (NDB) - die Ermächtigung zur Durchführung eines Strafverfahrens erteilt.
    Der ausserordentliche Staatsanwalt Bänziger erliess am 17. November 2014 eine Nichtanhandnahmeverfügung (act. 1.2) gegen die Strafuntersuchung...
    Aufgrund von Akten, die dem Beschwerdeführer MEBO AG & Edwin Bollier, nach einer Beschwerde, erst (2014) in Bern zu Gesicht gekommen sind, wurde gegen Felix Bänziger u.a. ein Ausstandsverfahren beantragt.
    Das Ausstandsbegehren gegen den a.o. Staatsanwalt Felix Bänziger (AB-BA) wurde damit begründet, dass Bänziger selbst in der Sache, die Gegenstand seiner Strafanzeige war, involviert war.

    Zudem war Felix Bänziger in der gegenseitigen Rechtshilfe im "Fall Lockerbie" beschäftigt gewesen und sei zu Sitzungen mit ausländischen Geheimdiensten z.B. mit (CIA) resp. Sitzungen mit ausländischen Behörden eingeladen worden.
    (Nicht alle Akten aller Sitzungen liegen vor, da sie dem Beschwerdeführer MEBO AG & Bollier, nicht offen gelegt wurden; 35 Bundesordner des Nachrichtendienstes des Bundes (NDB) im "Sachkomplex Lockerbie" bleiben für den Beschwerdeführer MEBO AG & Bollier, weiterhin gesperrt).

    Im Zusammenhang mit der Rechtshilfe, im Fall Lockerbire, an dem mehrere Geheimdienste und verschiedene Polizeistellen in verschiedenen Ländern tätig waren, und durch die Mitwirkung eines Mitarbeiters der Bundespolizei (BUPO) und allenfalls weiteren Personen, ist es zum eingeklagten "Prozessbetrug" im schottischen "Lockerbie Prozess" 2000/2009 gekommen.
    Subtile, gerichtsnotorische Akten werden in den nächsten Wochen auf MEBO's Webseite freigelegt.

    by Edwin Bollier & MEBO AG Switzerland, Webpage: www.lockerbie.ch

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  2. The poll result was of course great, and maybe that is how far as it realistically can go.

    The price for voicing your opinion can be high. Everybody has an income to make.
    If it was 'only' Lockerbie, well, that was at the time 20 years ago, how much are you going to ruin your career prospects for that?
    But it is not only Lockerbie, and it is not only Scotland.




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