Thursday 4 February 2016

Architect of Lockerbie trial attacks guilty verdict

[This is the headline over a report by Jenny Booth that was published in The Sunday Telegraph on this date in 2001. It reads as follows:]

The Scots law professor who masterminded the Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands has launched a scathing attack on the judges for finding the defendant guilty on "very, very weak" evidence.

Professor Robert Black described the decision by three Scottish judges to convict Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, a Libyan secret serviceman, of the murder of 270 people when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie as "astonishing". He warned that the bomber stands a better-than-average chance of being acquitted on appeal.

Professor Black, a former judge with 13 years' experience and Scotland's leading expert on criminal procedure and evidence, said that in his view the Crown case had failed to comply with strict Scottish legal rules - tougher than English law - that evidence be corroborated.

Professor Black said: "I thought this was a very, very weak circumstantial case. I am absolutely astounded, astonished. I was extremely reluctant to believe that any Scottish judge would convict anyone, even a Libyan, on the basis of such evidence." Professor Black's reservations will fuel the concerns of bereaved families that, despite the criminal trial, the truth is yet to emerge about the
Lockerbie bombing.

At a hushed press conference in London the day after the verdict, Martin Cadman, whose son Bill died in the bombing, said: "We have our doubts about the guilt of Megrahi and that will have to remain the subject of any appeal to come. The appeal will hold uup for another year or so before we can have an inquiry into the truth of who was responsible and what the motive was."

The chief spokesman for the families, Dr Jim Swire, a former army explosives expert, produced a bomb timer to illustrate why he found it hard to believe the Crown's version of events. He said that the timing of the explosion, 38 minutes after the aircraft took off from Heathrow and while the jet was still over land, made the bomb more likely to have been detonated by a crude pressure-activated timer, such as those used by the Palestinian terror group operating
in Germany under the command of Ahmed Jibril, than by a sophisticated 999-hour electronic timer of the type bought by Libyan secret services from MeBo, a Swiss arms firm.

Professor Black's concerns are likely to be seized upon by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to back claims of Libya's innocence of the bombing.  Professor Black devised the unique format of the Lockerbie trial, which was held in a neutral country without a jury, and campaigned alongside the bereaved families for its acceptance by Libya, America and Britain.

Megrahi has a further 11 days to lodge an appeal, which would probably be heard in the same courtroom in Camp Zeist, in front of a bench of five judges, over about two weeks in late summer. The appeal bench is expected to be chaired by Lord Cullen, Scotland's second most senior judge. Under ordinary circumstances, barely a handful of appeals against conviction ever succeed in the Scottish courts, but Professor Black said that the unique circumstances of
the trial meant that Megrahi stood a better chance.

2 comments:

  1. DOSSIER LOCKERBIE, 2016
    Lead the way for truth in the "Lockerbie complex", over the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona Switzerland ? Excerpt: only in German language:

    Schweizerisches Bundesstrafgericht
    Postfach 2720
    6501 Bellinzona
    Zürich, 29. Januar 2016

    In Sachen
    MEBO AG, Badenerstrasse 414, 8004 Zürich
    Beschwerdeführerin,
    Edwin Bollier, von Eglisau/ZH,
    wohnhaft 8047 Zürich
    Beschwerdeführer,
    beide vertreten durch Marcel Bosonnet, Anwalt,
    Gartenhofstrasse 7, Postfach 9656, 8036 Zürich
    gegen

    Schweizerische Bundesanwaltschaft, vertreten durch Chr. Bächle,
    a.o. Staatsanwalt des Bundes, Untersuchungsamt Gossau,
    Sonnenstrasse 14a, 9201 Gossau+
    Beschwerdegegnerin

    Auszug:
    B. Sachverhalt,
    1.
    Am 10. November 2011 reichte die MEBO AG, vertreten durch Edwin Bollier, und Edwin Bollier persönlich bei der Bundesanwaltschaft Strafanzeige gegen unbekannte Bundesbedienstete ein. Es ging dabei um Verstrickungen der Bundespolizei in Manipulationen bei den Ermittlungen zum Attentat von Lockerbie, welchem im Jahre 1988, 270 Menschen zum Opfer gefallen waren, und um das Strafverfahren gegen den Beschwerdeführer.

    In diesem Zusammenhang beschuldigten die Beschwerdeführer einen Mitarbeiter der Bundespolizei, P. F. (und Unbekannt), er habe eine Printplatte eines MST-13 Timerfragementes unerlaubterweise bei der MEBO AG behändigt und ein Teil dieses Timerfragmentes sei dann im Prozess in Schottland gegen die mutmasslichen Attentäter zur Prozessmanipulation betrügerisch verwendet worden. Ein angeblich manipuliertes MST-13 Timerfragment habe dann im Wesentlichen dazu geführt, dass Libyen in Verbindung zum Flugzeugabsturz in Lockerbie gebracht werden konnte und letztlich der Libyer Abdel Basset al-Meghari zu lebenslanger Haft verurteilt worden sei.

    Bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt sei die palästinensische Extremistengruppe PFLP-GC verdächtigt worden im Auftrage des Irans diesen Anschlag ausgeführt zu haben (vergl. auch Aussagen des früheren CIA-Beamten Robert Baer in „Der Beobachter“ 25/2013, Die Schweiz schweigt seit 25 Jahren, S.15).

    1.) Link: http://www.beobachter.ch/…/lockerbie-anschlag_geheimakte-w…/

    2.) Video Link: http://www.lockerbie.ch/mp4/dispatches.html

    Rest wird demnächst veröffentlicht....
    by Edwin Bollier & MEBO AG, Webpage: www.lockerbie.ch

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  2. New BEOBACHTER URL: http://www.beobachter.ch/justiz-behoerde/buerger-verwaltung/artikel/lockerbie-anschlag_geheimakte-wuerenlingen/

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