[This is the heading over a press release intimating the publication of a new book by Paul Harris. The release reads as follows:]
A book, written by former journalist and intelligence analyst Paul Harris, produces new evidence that the Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was wrongly convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. This information comes as the Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill is poised to intervene in the case.
The author of More Thrills than Skills: Adventures in Journalism, War & Terrorism says that the evidence of the key witness in the 2001 Camp Zeist trial must be regarded as “deeply suspect”. Swiss businessman Edwin Bollier testified that a piece of electronic circuit board found later at the crash site near Lockerbie was made by his company and supplied to the Libyans. Harris reveals that he investigated Bollier for MI6, the British intelligence agency, in the early 1970s, long before the Lockerbie bombing.
Harris regards the circuit board evidence as unreliable. Far more convincing, he says, is other evidence found at the crash site indicating that a Toshiba cassette recorder, planted by the Damascus-based terror group PFLP-GC, was responsible for the explosion aboard Pan Am 103.
Harris’s personal experiences in relation to the case are recounted in More Thrills than Skills, pages 39-47 (published by Kennedy & Boyd, Glasgow/amazon.co.uk).
Bio note: Paul Harris worked as Specialist Contributor Terrorism & Counter Insurgency for Janes Intelligence Review 1993-2003. He was also a contributing foreign correspondent for Sky News, The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, and Colombo correspondent for The Daily Telegraph (2001-2).
The book launch takes place at 10 London Street, Edinburgh, on July 22 at 1830 hours ...
[A short press release cannot be expected to descend into minutiae; but the sentence about Ed Bollier's evidence is hardly an accurate reflection of his testimony at Zeist.]
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Libyan prodigal
There must still be suspicions over Gaddafi’s past involvement with Lockerbie. But it is right to deal with those who renounce terrorism, however distasteful
Nothing can heal the wound left by a child, a parent or a loved one lost to terrorism. And for the relatives of the victims murdered aboard Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, the past 21 years have been especially hard. For a long time they had no idea who had carried out the atrocity. When finally the suspects were named, they suffered the frustration of Libya’s refusal to extradite the men for trial. And even after the conviction in The Hague of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, there are many who believe that the 270 victims were not killed by one man acting alone: that a conspiracy involved many others, not least the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
To see Colonel Gaddafi received with full honours at the United Nations in September will therefore be particularly galling. Lockerbie families have voiced shock and outrage at the news that this former supporter of global terrorism will address the General Assembly on the opening day, immediately after President Obama. To them, he is still a murderer, the man who ordered the outrage; his visit has left the president of the victims’ families group “speechless”.
[From a leader in The Times of 23 July 2009.
The leader writer might also have mentioned that there are many who believe that the 270 victims were not killed by Abdelbaset Megrahi at all; and that his conviction is currently under appeal, on a reference from the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. But expecting accuracy and even-handedness on the part of The Times over Lockerbie is a forlorn hope.
The news story that seemingly prompted the leader can be read here. It is interesting that the newspaper reports comments only from American relatives of Pan Am 103 victims, not from UK relatives, at least some of whom have very different views.]
Nothing can heal the wound left by a child, a parent or a loved one lost to terrorism. And for the relatives of the victims murdered aboard Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, the past 21 years have been especially hard. For a long time they had no idea who had carried out the atrocity. When finally the suspects were named, they suffered the frustration of Libya’s refusal to extradite the men for trial. And even after the conviction in The Hague of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, there are many who believe that the 270 victims were not killed by one man acting alone: that a conspiracy involved many others, not least the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
To see Colonel Gaddafi received with full honours at the United Nations in September will therefore be particularly galling. Lockerbie families have voiced shock and outrage at the news that this former supporter of global terrorism will address the General Assembly on the opening day, immediately after President Obama. To them, he is still a murderer, the man who ordered the outrage; his visit has left the president of the victims’ families group “speechless”.
[From a leader in The Times of 23 July 2009.
The leader writer might also have mentioned that there are many who believe that the 270 victims were not killed by Abdelbaset Megrahi at all; and that his conviction is currently under appeal, on a reference from the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. But expecting accuracy and even-handedness on the part of The Times over Lockerbie is a forlorn hope.
The news story that seemingly prompted the leader can be read here. It is interesting that the newspaper reports comments only from American relatives of Pan Am 103 victims, not from UK relatives, at least some of whom have very different views.]
More from a former student
I watched a documentary on the Lockerbie bombing this evening on you tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnEmsgBzLxw
and found out some more information about the case.
The Libyan man convicted, Abdelbaset Megrahi, is appealing again at the moment, and an MSP, Christine Grahame, is being threatened with legal action for questioning the actions of the Advocate General in securing his imprisonment. This is still a hugely contentious issue even twenty years on from the event, with many in Scotland, including Professor Robert Black, the legal expert who set up the special trial in Holland, feeling that Megrahi's conviction is unsound.
The documentary did not however question his guilt, pointing to CIA evidence which linked a tiny scrap of a bomb timer's motherboard being the same model as that found on some Libyan terrorists caught trying to travel with it through customs somewhere in Africa, years earlier. This, along with the fact that Megrahi had once had contact with the Swiss firm which made the devices, was held against him, seemingly justifiably. In addition was the fact that a Maltese shopkeeper, in whose shop the clothes in the suitacase which contained the bomb wer bought, recalled having sold them to 'a man with a Libyan accent'. It was not however mentioned that this shopkeeper, Tony Gauci, failed to identify Megrahi numerous times before finally doing so. Professor Black, in his scepticism about the conviction, focuses on this as the key weakness in the prosecution case. Absence of any kind of id would make the evidence against Megrahi purely circumstantial: he was stationed in Malta, where the clothes were bought, and worked as an intelligence officer for the country under suspicion. THis does not however mean that he is the man who carried out that horrendous deed of packing the case and putting it on the plane in Frankfurt, bound for New York via Heathrow, on December 21st 1988.
The subsequent compeensation payout of 8 million dollars per victim by Libya to the families seems to be an acknowledgement of guilt. But whose? Does Libya and Colonel Gadaffi implicitly accept responsibility for Megrahi's actions? Or is it simply a grace payment designed to smooth the way for a removal of sanctions. What would happen if, unlikely as it may be, Megrahi wins his appeal? We would be left with the farcical situation of Libya having paid out for a crime none of its agents were ever found responsible for in a court of law. The convenient response would be to say 'end of story': for pragmatic purposes, a country cannot be put on trial, and compensation should be accepted instead. But Saddam Hussein might argue, it's a pity the same rule didn't apply to him.
What if, on the other hand, Libya was not responsible for Lockerbie, but it suited certain international interests to frame them, or rather Megrahi, for the crime? And here we come back to the evidence: the CIA discovery of the match with the timer device previously found in Africa. Can anyone say that this evidence was genuine? Given the CIA's past record, it's hardly implausible that they produced evidence to suit a story they wanted to create. And what about the fact that, 6 months prior to Lockerbie, the US Navy had accidentally shot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing even more people than died in Pan Am 103. For this, Iran declared that it would get revenge, so isn't it strange that Libya should be the ones to down the jet?
The families, the vast majority anyway, seem opposed to the appeal, or the idea that Megrahi should be allowed back to Libya becuase he is dying of cancer. They want to see him die in a Scottish jail, as the man who perpetrated a horrific mass murder, one of the most callous acts it is possible to imagine. But, it seems to me, it would be to the discredit of the Scottish legal system to keep him there, as we cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt, that he was the man responsible for this atrocity. Surely, if ever there was a need for sanctions threat by the US, it is against Gadaffi again, if he doesn not make public the documents which must still exist relating to Libyan security service operations in 1988. If he cannot produce these documents, serious doubts must arise as to whether his country was responsible at all, and Megrahi would have to go free, at least for the last few years before he dies of cancer.
[The above is a post dated 21 July 2009 on the tinoscandle blog. For an earlier related post from the same blog, click here.]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnEmsgBzLxw
and found out some more information about the case.
The Libyan man convicted, Abdelbaset Megrahi, is appealing again at the moment, and an MSP, Christine Grahame, is being threatened with legal action for questioning the actions of the Advocate General in securing his imprisonment. This is still a hugely contentious issue even twenty years on from the event, with many in Scotland, including Professor Robert Black, the legal expert who set up the special trial in Holland, feeling that Megrahi's conviction is unsound.
The documentary did not however question his guilt, pointing to CIA evidence which linked a tiny scrap of a bomb timer's motherboard being the same model as that found on some Libyan terrorists caught trying to travel with it through customs somewhere in Africa, years earlier. This, along with the fact that Megrahi had once had contact with the Swiss firm which made the devices, was held against him, seemingly justifiably. In addition was the fact that a Maltese shopkeeper, in whose shop the clothes in the suitacase which contained the bomb wer bought, recalled having sold them to 'a man with a Libyan accent'. It was not however mentioned that this shopkeeper, Tony Gauci, failed to identify Megrahi numerous times before finally doing so. Professor Black, in his scepticism about the conviction, focuses on this as the key weakness in the prosecution case. Absence of any kind of id would make the evidence against Megrahi purely circumstantial: he was stationed in Malta, where the clothes were bought, and worked as an intelligence officer for the country under suspicion. THis does not however mean that he is the man who carried out that horrendous deed of packing the case and putting it on the plane in Frankfurt, bound for New York via Heathrow, on December 21st 1988.
The subsequent compeensation payout of 8 million dollars per victim by Libya to the families seems to be an acknowledgement of guilt. But whose? Does Libya and Colonel Gadaffi implicitly accept responsibility for Megrahi's actions? Or is it simply a grace payment designed to smooth the way for a removal of sanctions. What would happen if, unlikely as it may be, Megrahi wins his appeal? We would be left with the farcical situation of Libya having paid out for a crime none of its agents were ever found responsible for in a court of law. The convenient response would be to say 'end of story': for pragmatic purposes, a country cannot be put on trial, and compensation should be accepted instead. But Saddam Hussein might argue, it's a pity the same rule didn't apply to him.
What if, on the other hand, Libya was not responsible for Lockerbie, but it suited certain international interests to frame them, or rather Megrahi, for the crime? And here we come back to the evidence: the CIA discovery of the match with the timer device previously found in Africa. Can anyone say that this evidence was genuine? Given the CIA's past record, it's hardly implausible that they produced evidence to suit a story they wanted to create. And what about the fact that, 6 months prior to Lockerbie, the US Navy had accidentally shot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing even more people than died in Pan Am 103. For this, Iran declared that it would get revenge, so isn't it strange that Libya should be the ones to down the jet?
The families, the vast majority anyway, seem opposed to the appeal, or the idea that Megrahi should be allowed back to Libya becuase he is dying of cancer. They want to see him die in a Scottish jail, as the man who perpetrated a horrific mass murder, one of the most callous acts it is possible to imagine. But, it seems to me, it would be to the discredit of the Scottish legal system to keep him there, as we cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt, that he was the man responsible for this atrocity. Surely, if ever there was a need for sanctions threat by the US, it is against Gadaffi again, if he doesn not make public the documents which must still exist relating to Libyan security service operations in 1988. If he cannot produce these documents, serious doubts must arise as to whether his country was responsible at all, and Megrahi would have to go free, at least for the last few years before he dies of cancer.
[The above is a post dated 21 July 2009 on the tinoscandle blog. For an earlier related post from the same blog, click here.]
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
MSP asks police to investigate Crown Agent
[The Scottish edition of the Sunday Express ran the following story by Meg Milne on 19 July. It does not seem to feature on the newspaper's website. A number of other Scottish Sunday newspapers apparently decided to spike the story because of the Crown Office statement mentioned below.]
Police will decide this week if one of Scotland's most senior prosecutors is to be investigated over allegations about the Lockerbie trial.
The move comes after SNP backbencher Christine Grahame raised serious concerns in a letter to Lothian and Borders Chief Constable David Strang.
Ms Grahame wants to investigate Crown Agent Norman McFadyen, who led the 2000 prosecution of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who is appealing his conviction.
Ms Grahame, who said she has concerns about Mr McFadyen's role, said y esterday: "After considerable deliberation I have decided to report this matter to Lothian and Borders Police.
"It is becoming increasingly apparent that the case against Mr Megrahi, w ho is terminally ill, does not, in my view, stand up to thorough examination."
However, in an unprecedented step, the Crown Office issued a statement rebuking Ms Grahame for making "defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations".
A spokesman said: "We have been made aware of serious allegations made by Christine Grahame.
"These are defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind. Norman McFadyen is a man of utmost integrity who is held in the highest regard by the Law Officers."
A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said:
"If there is a statement from the Chief Constable, it will be on Monday".
Details of the allegations made by Ms Grahame - which have been seen by the Scottish Sunday Express - cannot be repeated for legal reasons.
However, the South of Scotland MSP also claims to have copies of secret US intelligence documents that show Iran may have been responsible for the terrorist outrage.
One document, dated September 24, 1989, states:
"The bombing of the Pan Am flight was conceived, authorised and financed by Ali-Akbar [Montashemi], the former Iranian Minister of Interior.
"The execution of the operation was contracted to Ahmad Jabril, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command leader, for a sum of 1,000,000 US dollars.
"One hundred thousand dollars of this money was given to Jabril up front in Damascus, by the Iranian Ambassador to Sy (Syria) Muhammad Hussan for initial expenses.
"The remainder of the money was to be paid after successful completion of the mission."
As the Sunday Express first revealed in 2004, it also states that analysis of materials confiscated in a raid of a PFLP-GC cell in Germany in October 1988 provided strong circumstantial evidence linking the cell to the bombing and that Iran had reportedly made a large payment to the PFLP-GC following the bombing.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is currently considering a prisoner transfer request from Libya for Megrahi, 57, who is terminally ill with prostrate cancer in Greenock Prison.
Yesterday, it emerged that some of the families of the American victims are planning to block his repatriation, if it is approved, by applying for a judicial review of the decision.
Ms Grahame claims that such a move would ensure that Megrahi dies in prison and she repeated her calls for the former Libyan agent to be released on compassionate grounds.
Police will decide this week if one of Scotland's most senior prosecutors is to be investigated over allegations about the Lockerbie trial.
The move comes after SNP backbencher Christine Grahame raised serious concerns in a letter to Lothian and Borders Chief Constable David Strang.
Ms Grahame wants to investigate Crown Agent Norman McFadyen, who led the 2000 prosecution of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who is appealing his conviction.
Ms Grahame, who said she has concerns about Mr McFadyen's role, said y esterday: "After considerable deliberation I have decided to report this matter to Lothian and Borders Police.
"It is becoming increasingly apparent that the case against Mr Megrahi, w ho is terminally ill, does not, in my view, stand up to thorough examination."
However, in an unprecedented step, the Crown Office issued a statement rebuking Ms Grahame for making "defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations".
A spokesman said: "We have been made aware of serious allegations made by Christine Grahame.
"These are defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind. Norman McFadyen is a man of utmost integrity who is held in the highest regard by the Law Officers."
A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said:
"If there is a statement from the Chief Constable, it will be on Monday".
Details of the allegations made by Ms Grahame - which have been seen by the Scottish Sunday Express - cannot be repeated for legal reasons.
However, the South of Scotland MSP also claims to have copies of secret US intelligence documents that show Iran may have been responsible for the terrorist outrage.
One document, dated September 24, 1989, states:
"The bombing of the Pan Am flight was conceived, authorised and financed by Ali-Akbar [Montashemi], the former Iranian Minister of Interior.
"The execution of the operation was contracted to Ahmad Jabril, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command leader, for a sum of 1,000,000 US dollars.
"One hundred thousand dollars of this money was given to Jabril up front in Damascus, by the Iranian Ambassador to Sy (Syria) Muhammad Hussan for initial expenses.
"The remainder of the money was to be paid after successful completion of the mission."
As the Sunday Express first revealed in 2004, it also states that analysis of materials confiscated in a raid of a PFLP-GC cell in Germany in October 1988 provided strong circumstantial evidence linking the cell to the bombing and that Iran had reportedly made a large payment to the PFLP-GC following the bombing.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is currently considering a prisoner transfer request from Libya for Megrahi, 57, who is terminally ill with prostrate cancer in Greenock Prison.
Yesterday, it emerged that some of the families of the American victims are planning to block his repatriation, if it is approved, by applying for a judicial review of the decision.
Ms Grahame claims that such a move would ensure that Megrahi dies in prison and she repeated her calls for the former Libyan agent to be released on compassionate grounds.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Editor of The Firm asks for clarification
[What follows is an e-mail sent today by Steven Raeburn, the editor of the Scottish lawyers' magazine The Firm, to various officials of the Scottish Government and the Crown Office.]
The Scottish Government advise that the news release below was sent by Crown Office.
As an editor, I am concerned at the covert nature of this, which does appear to constitute something of an off record whispering campaign, or a conscious effort to traduce Ms Grahame, who is an elected member of Parliament. Whilst not every editor may be familiar with the specific point Ms Grahame has made, which you claim is defamatory, I can advise you that the same point was made to me directly by Lhamin Khalifa Fhimah's former defence team in 2004, in terms far from less circumspect and a good deal more critical than the published claims of Ms Grahame. If her claims are true, which we must accept is a possibility, they cannot be defamatory, and accordingly Mr McFadyen may potentially have some legitimate questions to answer. The full picture may not prove to be as definitive as the release presently claims.
Hence, it is appropriate that we tread carefully. Therefore, would you be able to advise:
- Is this release attributable, and if so, to whom?
- Is this for publication?
- If the comments made my Ms Grahame are defamatory as claimed, is an action for defamation being pursued?
- If the "defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind" have been published, is any action being taken against the publication(s) in question?
- And do you have any additional statement to make in respect of this?
I do await hearing from you.
---------
From: THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
NOTE TO EDITORS
We have been made aware of serious allegations made by Christine Grahame against the Crown Agent, Norman McFadyen, in relation to the Lockerbie trial.
These are defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind. Norman McFadyen is a man of the utmost integrity who is held in the highest regard by the Law Officers.
Not only is the allegation false in itself but Mrs Grahame appears to have misunderstood the process because the documents which she has referred to were not part of and had absolutely nothing to do with it.
The whole process was fully considered by the trial court which thanked the then Lord Advocate for the Crown s efforts to bring as much information as possible before the Court.
By the end of the process information made available to the Crown by the US authorities was made available to the defence, the trial court and also the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in the form in which it was received from the US authorities.
The Commission extensively and fully investigated the process. The Commission concluded that there was no basis to refer the issue to the appeal court.
[According to a report dated 21 July on The Firm's website, the Crown Office is refusing to answer Mr Raeburn's queries.]
The Scottish Government advise that the news release below was sent by Crown Office.
As an editor, I am concerned at the covert nature of this, which does appear to constitute something of an off record whispering campaign, or a conscious effort to traduce Ms Grahame, who is an elected member of Parliament. Whilst not every editor may be familiar with the specific point Ms Grahame has made, which you claim is defamatory, I can advise you that the same point was made to me directly by Lhamin Khalifa Fhimah's former defence team in 2004, in terms far from less circumspect and a good deal more critical than the published claims of Ms Grahame. If her claims are true, which we must accept is a possibility, they cannot be defamatory, and accordingly Mr McFadyen may potentially have some legitimate questions to answer. The full picture may not prove to be as definitive as the release presently claims.
Hence, it is appropriate that we tread carefully. Therefore, would you be able to advise:
- Is this release attributable, and if so, to whom?
- Is this for publication?
- If the comments made my Ms Grahame are defamatory as claimed, is an action for defamation being pursued?
- If the "defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind" have been published, is any action being taken against the publication(s) in question?
- And do you have any additional statement to make in respect of this?
I do await hearing from you.
---------
From: THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
NOTE TO EDITORS
We have been made aware of serious allegations made by Christine Grahame against the Crown Agent, Norman McFadyen, in relation to the Lockerbie trial.
These are defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind. Norman McFadyen is a man of the utmost integrity who is held in the highest regard by the Law Officers.
Not only is the allegation false in itself but Mrs Grahame appears to have misunderstood the process because the documents which she has referred to were not part of and had absolutely nothing to do with it.
The whole process was fully considered by the trial court which thanked the then Lord Advocate for the Crown s efforts to bring as much information as possible before the Court.
By the end of the process information made available to the Crown by the US authorities was made available to the defence, the trial court and also the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in the form in which it was received from the US authorities.
The Commission extensively and fully investigated the process. The Commission concluded that there was no basis to refer the issue to the appeal court.
[According to a report dated 21 July on The Firm's website, the Crown Office is refusing to answer Mr Raeburn's queries.]
Cancer care expert voices concern for al Megrahi
An eminent psychologist and expert in cancer support who assessed the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has spoken for the first time about his fears for the Libyan.
Dr James Brennan, consultant clinical psychologist at the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, warned that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi is so culturally isolated that it is almost impossible for him to come to terms with his terminal illness.
In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Dr Brennan, who is also a senior lecturer in palliative medicine at Bristol University, said that Megrahi was "desperate", partly because he cannot spend his remaining time with his family. (...)
Dr Brennan said: "Physically he is deteriorating, and emotionally he will deteriorate further without suitable support. It would seem to me that the best form of support would be from his family in his own country.
"Human beings can only cope and conceptualise the end of life through language and it is impossible to imagine how to do this in isolation or through occasional telephone calls with family."
In May, the Libyan government applied for prisoner transfer of Megrahi and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has 90 days to make a decision. The transfer cannot go ahead while legal proceedings are live.
Megrahi has signed a document saying he would drop proceedings, but the move has led to an international political impasse as Mr MacAskill says he cannot complete the transfer until Megrahi has dropped the appeal.
Supporters, including Christine Graham MSP, are pushing for his "compassionate release" as a preferable alternative. Others, including many of the relatives in the US, are furious that the transfer is even under consideration.
"What struck me is just how isolated he is," said Dr Brennan. "He has got so few people he can talk to or relate to. He is cut off from natural systems of support and there is no-one there of a similar cultural background.
"The most important thing when we are facing our mortality is the opportunity to talk about it with friends and family. I have worked in cancer for 17 years and have worked with a lot of people facing the end of their lives and the way they prepare themselves for death is through talking.
"As someone who works in the NHS, it seems inhumane to tell someone they have a fatal illness and then just take them back to their cell. He cannot attend to the things that most people would want to - including preparing their children for the fact he is going to die."
Dr Brennan added: "He seemed very motivated to get his appeal heard. Nonetheless, he seemed desperate and I felt he was very much heading for a major depression.
"He has not made friends in prison. There was someone who worked in the kitchen from India that he got to know, but he has left. This is an educated man and he is pretty offended by the language and blasphemy he hears there.
"To me, he felt very genuine and open. Even though he knows I have no power, he wanted me to know that he is not the monster he has been portrayed as, but a father and husband.
[From an article by Lucy Adams in today's edition of The Herald. The full text can be read here.]
Dr James Brennan, consultant clinical psychologist at the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, warned that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi is so culturally isolated that it is almost impossible for him to come to terms with his terminal illness.
In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Dr Brennan, who is also a senior lecturer in palliative medicine at Bristol University, said that Megrahi was "desperate", partly because he cannot spend his remaining time with his family. (...)
Dr Brennan said: "Physically he is deteriorating, and emotionally he will deteriorate further without suitable support. It would seem to me that the best form of support would be from his family in his own country.
"Human beings can only cope and conceptualise the end of life through language and it is impossible to imagine how to do this in isolation or through occasional telephone calls with family."
In May, the Libyan government applied for prisoner transfer of Megrahi and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has 90 days to make a decision. The transfer cannot go ahead while legal proceedings are live.
Megrahi has signed a document saying he would drop proceedings, but the move has led to an international political impasse as Mr MacAskill says he cannot complete the transfer until Megrahi has dropped the appeal.
Supporters, including Christine Graham MSP, are pushing for his "compassionate release" as a preferable alternative. Others, including many of the relatives in the US, are furious that the transfer is even under consideration.
"What struck me is just how isolated he is," said Dr Brennan. "He has got so few people he can talk to or relate to. He is cut off from natural systems of support and there is no-one there of a similar cultural background.
"The most important thing when we are facing our mortality is the opportunity to talk about it with friends and family. I have worked in cancer for 17 years and have worked with a lot of people facing the end of their lives and the way they prepare themselves for death is through talking.
"As someone who works in the NHS, it seems inhumane to tell someone they have a fatal illness and then just take them back to their cell. He cannot attend to the things that most people would want to - including preparing their children for the fact he is going to die."
Dr Brennan added: "He seemed very motivated to get his appeal heard. Nonetheless, he seemed desperate and I felt he was very much heading for a major depression.
"He has not made friends in prison. There was someone who worked in the kitchen from India that he got to know, but he has left. This is an educated man and he is pretty offended by the language and blasphemy he hears there.
"To me, he felt very genuine and open. Even though he knows I have no power, he wanted me to know that he is not the monster he has been portrayed as, but a father and husband.
[From an article by Lucy Adams in today's edition of The Herald. The full text can be read here.]
Stretched to the limit
In the courts, the second appeal by the man convicted of planting the bomb on Pan Am 103, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, appeared to stumble earlier this month. A decision was expected on grounds 1 and 2 of Megrahi's appeal on 7 July. Instead the Lord President, Lord Hamilton, stunned everyone present when he announced that one of the five judges, Lord Wheatley, had undergone heart surgery and would not be able to participate further until September.
Lord Hamilton was asked by defence counsel Maggie Scott, QC, to consider appointing a "shadow" judge to the bench in consideration of Megrahi's deteriorating health. It is understood he will nominate a "shadow" shortly.
The problem has been that even with 36 Senators of the College of Justice, its highest-ever membership, it is difficult to find another judge who has not been "cup tied" by participation in a previous Lockerbie-related case – the original Camp Zeist trial, the five-judge bench that rejected Megrahi's first appeal, a role in the original prosecution or involvement in the 1990-91 fatal accident inquiry.
Professor Robert Black says there is an alternative solution available to the Lord President founded in normal Scots law: "The statutory quorum of judges for hearing criminal appeals is normally three. There was never any technical reason why Megrahi's new appeal had to be heard before five judges. They obviously chose to do so because the original trial was before three judges and the first appeal before a bench of five. That was in itself unusual because the number was specified in terms of a special Order in Council. But that Order in Council no longer applies. It expired at the end of the first appeal."
Prof Black's solution is to nominate the junior of the remaining four judges on the bench as the "shadow" in case of further misfortune, allowing the original schedule to be resumed. In parallel to the appeal, there is a separate process initiated by the application lodged by the government of Libya under the prisoner transfer agreement signed with the UK government in November 2008.
Scottish ministers are bound by the agreement and required to consider transfer applications made under it. Megrahi is the only known Libyan presently in jail in the UK. The Scottish Government received an application from the Libyan government in respect of Megrahi on 5 May. Responsibility for considering the application has fallen to justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, who has to carry out a quasi-judicial role in assessing the merits of the competing arguments.
As part of the exercise, MacAskill invited families of the US victims to take part in a video link consultation last week. The president of US Victims of Pan Am 103, retired lawyer Frank Duggan, says about eight family representatives were present in Washington and a similar number in New York. (...)
[Mr Duggan said] "It was very, very difficult and we were all blubbering. I got the impression Mr MacAskill was listening very carefully. Of course, he couldn't make comments, as that would compromise his role, but he was clearly going about his job properly."
Stephanie Bernstein, a recently-ordained Rabbi in Washington, says: "This decision for Mr MacAskill is very difficult, but very important."
Mr Duggan dismisses stories that said the US families had taken legal advice that would underpin an application for immediate judicial review should Mr MacAskill decided to grant the Libyan government application. "That is completely wrong," he says. "We haven't sought such legal opinion, nor do we intend to. There's no suggestion of us raising judicial review – as a group we don't have standing in the Scots jurisdiction. It's not an option.
"Don't get me wrong: if Megrahi is sent back, we will raise hell. It was clear in all the correspondence between the US, UK and the United Nations, if anyone was convicted (at Camp Zeist], they would serve the whole sentence in Scotland. That was the deal."
In terms of the prisoner transfer agreement, Mr MacAskill has 90 days from the date of the Libyan application, 5 May, to reach a decision. The application cannot proceed while legal proceedings continue; Megrahi would have to abandon his appeal to activate the transfer.
The key decision might not be a legal one, however. Megrahi's medical condition might cut across both the appeal and prisoner transfer agreement. If medical opinion were to establish that he is seriously ill and close to death, Mr MacAskill could order his release on compassionate grounds. On that basis, Megrahi would be deemed to have served his sentence in terms of Scots law.
Mr Duggan says: "There are thousands of prisoners in US jails with cancer who serve many years with it. We don't want a horrible death in jail for anyone, but at his bail hearing, it was said he could live for another five years. I think we have more faith in the Scottish legal system than you appear to over there."
[From an article by John Forsyth in today's edition of The Scotsman. The full text can be read here.]
Lord Hamilton was asked by defence counsel Maggie Scott, QC, to consider appointing a "shadow" judge to the bench in consideration of Megrahi's deteriorating health. It is understood he will nominate a "shadow" shortly.
The problem has been that even with 36 Senators of the College of Justice, its highest-ever membership, it is difficult to find another judge who has not been "cup tied" by participation in a previous Lockerbie-related case – the original Camp Zeist trial, the five-judge bench that rejected Megrahi's first appeal, a role in the original prosecution or involvement in the 1990-91 fatal accident inquiry.
Professor Robert Black says there is an alternative solution available to the Lord President founded in normal Scots law: "The statutory quorum of judges for hearing criminal appeals is normally three. There was never any technical reason why Megrahi's new appeal had to be heard before five judges. They obviously chose to do so because the original trial was before three judges and the first appeal before a bench of five. That was in itself unusual because the number was specified in terms of a special Order in Council. But that Order in Council no longer applies. It expired at the end of the first appeal."
Prof Black's solution is to nominate the junior of the remaining four judges on the bench as the "shadow" in case of further misfortune, allowing the original schedule to be resumed. In parallel to the appeal, there is a separate process initiated by the application lodged by the government of Libya under the prisoner transfer agreement signed with the UK government in November 2008.
Scottish ministers are bound by the agreement and required to consider transfer applications made under it. Megrahi is the only known Libyan presently in jail in the UK. The Scottish Government received an application from the Libyan government in respect of Megrahi on 5 May. Responsibility for considering the application has fallen to justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, who has to carry out a quasi-judicial role in assessing the merits of the competing arguments.
As part of the exercise, MacAskill invited families of the US victims to take part in a video link consultation last week. The president of US Victims of Pan Am 103, retired lawyer Frank Duggan, says about eight family representatives were present in Washington and a similar number in New York. (...)
[Mr Duggan said] "It was very, very difficult and we were all blubbering. I got the impression Mr MacAskill was listening very carefully. Of course, he couldn't make comments, as that would compromise his role, but he was clearly going about his job properly."
Stephanie Bernstein, a recently-ordained Rabbi in Washington, says: "This decision for Mr MacAskill is very difficult, but very important."
Mr Duggan dismisses stories that said the US families had taken legal advice that would underpin an application for immediate judicial review should Mr MacAskill decided to grant the Libyan government application. "That is completely wrong," he says. "We haven't sought such legal opinion, nor do we intend to. There's no suggestion of us raising judicial review – as a group we don't have standing in the Scots jurisdiction. It's not an option.
"Don't get me wrong: if Megrahi is sent back, we will raise hell. It was clear in all the correspondence between the US, UK and the United Nations, if anyone was convicted (at Camp Zeist], they would serve the whole sentence in Scotland. That was the deal."
In terms of the prisoner transfer agreement, Mr MacAskill has 90 days from the date of the Libyan application, 5 May, to reach a decision. The application cannot proceed while legal proceedings continue; Megrahi would have to abandon his appeal to activate the transfer.
The key decision might not be a legal one, however. Megrahi's medical condition might cut across both the appeal and prisoner transfer agreement. If medical opinion were to establish that he is seriously ill and close to death, Mr MacAskill could order his release on compassionate grounds. On that basis, Megrahi would be deemed to have served his sentence in terms of Scots law.
Mr Duggan says: "There are thousands of prisoners in US jails with cancer who serve many years with it. We don't want a horrible death in jail for anyone, but at his bail hearing, it was said he could live for another five years. I think we have more faith in the Scottish legal system than you appear to over there."
[From an article by John Forsyth in today's edition of The Scotsman. The full text can be read here.]
Saturday, 18 July 2009
US relatives push for review that could keep Megrahi in jail
[This is the headline over a story by Lucy Adams in today's edition of The Herald. It reads in part:]
American relatives of the victims of Pan Am 103 are expected to push for a judicial review if Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill agrees to transfer the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
The families have taken legal advice in both London and Scotland and will seek the move if Mr MacAskill agrees to a request already submitted by the Libyan government made under a Prisoner Transfer Agreement signed by Tony Blair in 2007.
It could significantly delay the return to Libya of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, 57, who is currently serving 27 years in HMP Greenock for the bombing and is receiving treatment for advanced stage prostate cancer.
SNP MSP Christine Grahame, who has visited Megrahi twice in prison recently, said this could effectively seal his fate, ensuring he dies here in prison. (...)
She is also to contact Mr MacAskill with concerns about the Crown Office signing a non-disclosure agreement with the US government in June 2000.
Frank Mulholland, the solicitor-general, recently wrote to Ms Grahame to explain that Norman McFadyen, the Crown Agent and now chief executive of the Crown Office, signed the document that allowed him to see certain documents but not share them with the defence. (...)
Ms Grahame believes that this failure to pass on the information poses very serious questions about the manner in which Crown officials conducted themselves.
Some redacted parts of the documents were later released to the court and subsequently discredited a Crown witness.
Senior Scottish Prison Service officials have said that there is nowhere within the prison estate properly suited to managing Megrahi's condition.
Ms Grahame said: "This makes the case for compassionate release absolutely imperative.
"That option is not subject to judicial review and is the only sensible compromise position in light of the fresh evidence and Mr Megrahi's deteriorating health.
"The weight of evidence which has emerged combined with the serious doubts raised over the original evidence that was led at the trial have left me in no doubt of Mr Megrahi's innocence.
"The likelihood of a drawn-out process resulting from a judicial review launched by US relatives would effectively condemn Mr Megrahi to die in prison. There has already been considerable delay which means he will not live to see the end of the appeal he has ongoing against his conviction.
"Senior officials in the Scottish Prison Service have already told me that there is nowhere within the prison estate suitable for Mr Megrahi as he undergoes his treatment.
"If he is allowed to die in prison and it is subsequently established he was innocent then many people will be looking at the reasons why the Scottish justice system failed so dramatically."
[An article by Tom Peterkin in today's edition of The Scotsman contains the following:]
Families of Lockerbie victims in the United States might apply for a judicial review if the Scottish Government decides Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi should be sent home to Libya.
The possibility will be raised by the US-based organisation Victims of Pan Am 103 Group when its board meets next week in New Jersey.
Its president, Frank Duggan, a Washington lawyer, said there would be "uproar" if justice secretary Kenny MacAskill let Megrahi return home under a prisoner transfer agreement between the UK and Libya. (...)
Mr Duggan confirmed that a judicial review would be on the agenda when the group's board meets on Monday.
He said families of the US victims were assuming that MacAskill would "do the right thing" and decide that Megrahi should serve out his life sentence in a Scottish jail.
But he added: "The board is going to meet next Monday in New Jersey, and we could take a vote at the board on this issue." (...)
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it "would not be appropriate to comment" while Mr MacAskill was considering representations on the prisoner transfer agreement.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: "The decision in relation to prison transfer application from the Libyan authorities is wholly a matter for the Scottish ministers. The Crown has no role in this process."
[The Times publishes an article focusing on the furious reaction by the Crown Office to Christine Grahame MSP's
criticism of the Crown's having accepted access to evidence in the course of the Lockerbie trial under conditions that disabled it from passing that material on to the defence without the consent of the United States authorities. The article reads in part:]
The Crown Office last night took the unprecedented step of issuing a statement slapping down a Nationalist politician for making “defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind”.
The rebuke came in a strongly worded statement after Christine Grahame, the SNP MSP, made serious allegations against Crown Office agent Norman McFadyen in relation to the handling of evidence in the Lockerbie trial.
A Crown Office spokesman said: “Norman McFadyen is a man of the utmost integrity who is held in the highest regard by the law officers. Not only is the allegation false in itself but Ms Grahame appears to have misunderstood the process because she has referred to documents which were not part of it.” The Crown Office made it clear that it had made all the material it held available to the trial court and also the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.
[Note by RB: Whether the Crown Office made available to the defence and to the court all the material that it held is a highly contentious issue and is a matter that will be explored in some depth in future tranches of the current appeal by Abdelbaset Megrahi, assuming that his state of health does not compel him to abandon that appeal in order to benefit from prisoner transfer. It is also noteworthy that, as reported by The Times, the Crown Office statement refers only to "material that it held" and does not address the issue of material which it did not hold, but to which it was given access under terms that prevented the Crown from disclosing it to the defence.]
American relatives of the victims of Pan Am 103 are expected to push for a judicial review if Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill agrees to transfer the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
The families have taken legal advice in both London and Scotland and will seek the move if Mr MacAskill agrees to a request already submitted by the Libyan government made under a Prisoner Transfer Agreement signed by Tony Blair in 2007.
It could significantly delay the return to Libya of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, 57, who is currently serving 27 years in HMP Greenock for the bombing and is receiving treatment for advanced stage prostate cancer.
SNP MSP Christine Grahame, who has visited Megrahi twice in prison recently, said this could effectively seal his fate, ensuring he dies here in prison. (...)
She is also to contact Mr MacAskill with concerns about the Crown Office signing a non-disclosure agreement with the US government in June 2000.
Frank Mulholland, the solicitor-general, recently wrote to Ms Grahame to explain that Norman McFadyen, the Crown Agent and now chief executive of the Crown Office, signed the document that allowed him to see certain documents but not share them with the defence. (...)
Ms Grahame believes that this failure to pass on the information poses very serious questions about the manner in which Crown officials conducted themselves.
Some redacted parts of the documents were later released to the court and subsequently discredited a Crown witness.
Senior Scottish Prison Service officials have said that there is nowhere within the prison estate properly suited to managing Megrahi's condition.
Ms Grahame said: "This makes the case for compassionate release absolutely imperative.
"That option is not subject to judicial review and is the only sensible compromise position in light of the fresh evidence and Mr Megrahi's deteriorating health.
"The weight of evidence which has emerged combined with the serious doubts raised over the original evidence that was led at the trial have left me in no doubt of Mr Megrahi's innocence.
"The likelihood of a drawn-out process resulting from a judicial review launched by US relatives would effectively condemn Mr Megrahi to die in prison. There has already been considerable delay which means he will not live to see the end of the appeal he has ongoing against his conviction.
"Senior officials in the Scottish Prison Service have already told me that there is nowhere within the prison estate suitable for Mr Megrahi as he undergoes his treatment.
"If he is allowed to die in prison and it is subsequently established he was innocent then many people will be looking at the reasons why the Scottish justice system failed so dramatically."
[An article by Tom Peterkin in today's edition of The Scotsman contains the following:]
Families of Lockerbie victims in the United States might apply for a judicial review if the Scottish Government decides Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi should be sent home to Libya.
The possibility will be raised by the US-based organisation Victims of Pan Am 103 Group when its board meets next week in New Jersey.
Its president, Frank Duggan, a Washington lawyer, said there would be "uproar" if justice secretary Kenny MacAskill let Megrahi return home under a prisoner transfer agreement between the UK and Libya. (...)
Mr Duggan confirmed that a judicial review would be on the agenda when the group's board meets on Monday.
He said families of the US victims were assuming that MacAskill would "do the right thing" and decide that Megrahi should serve out his life sentence in a Scottish jail.
But he added: "The board is going to meet next Monday in New Jersey, and we could take a vote at the board on this issue." (...)
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it "would not be appropriate to comment" while Mr MacAskill was considering representations on the prisoner transfer agreement.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: "The decision in relation to prison transfer application from the Libyan authorities is wholly a matter for the Scottish ministers. The Crown has no role in this process."
[The Times publishes an article focusing on the furious reaction by the Crown Office to Christine Grahame MSP's
criticism of the Crown's having accepted access to evidence in the course of the Lockerbie trial under conditions that disabled it from passing that material on to the defence without the consent of the United States authorities. The article reads in part:]
The Crown Office last night took the unprecedented step of issuing a statement slapping down a Nationalist politician for making “defamatory and entirely unfounded allegations of the most serious kind”.
The rebuke came in a strongly worded statement after Christine Grahame, the SNP MSP, made serious allegations against Crown Office agent Norman McFadyen in relation to the handling of evidence in the Lockerbie trial.
A Crown Office spokesman said: “Norman McFadyen is a man of the utmost integrity who is held in the highest regard by the law officers. Not only is the allegation false in itself but Ms Grahame appears to have misunderstood the process because she has referred to documents which were not part of it.” The Crown Office made it clear that it had made all the material it held available to the trial court and also the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.
[Note by RB: Whether the Crown Office made available to the defence and to the court all the material that it held is a highly contentious issue and is a matter that will be explored in some depth in future tranches of the current appeal by Abdelbaset Megrahi, assuming that his state of health does not compel him to abandon that appeal in order to benefit from prisoner transfer. It is also noteworthy that, as reported by The Times, the Crown Office statement refers only to "material that it held" and does not address the issue of material which it did not hold, but to which it was given access under terms that prevented the Crown from disclosing it to the defence.]
Friday, 17 July 2009
Lockerbie judicial review claim
[This is the headline over a report on the BBC News website. It reads in part:]
Relatives of the Lockerbie bombing victims could demand a judicial review to stop Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi being returned to Libya, it has been claimed.
SNP MSP Christine Grahame said the possibility would prevent the terminally ill Megrahi returning to Libya in the short term.
It would effectively ensure Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing, died in Greenock prison, she said. (...)
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said earlier this week that no decision on the prisoner transfer could be made while Megrahi pursued a second appeal against his conviction for the bombing. (...)
South of Scotland MSP Ms Grahame said she understood US relatives of the victims had taken legal advice in both London and Scotland, and would seek an immediate judicial review if Mr MacAskill agreed to the Libyan Government request.
The request was made under a prisoner transfer agreement signed by then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2007. (...)
Megrahi is currently being held in Greenock prison where he is receiving treatment for advanced stage prostate cancer.
Ms Grahame, who has met Megrahi twice in recent months, said Scottish Prison Service officials had already informed her there was nowhere within the prison estate properly suited to managing Megrahi's condition.
"This makes the case for compassionate release absolutely imperative. That option is not subject to judicial review and is the only sensible compromise position in light of the fresh evidence and Mr Megrahi's deteriorating health," she said.
"The weight of evidence which has emerged combined with the serious doubts raised over the original evidence that was led at the trial have left me in no doubt of Mr Megrahi's innocence.
"The likelihood of a drawn-out process resulting from a judicial review launched by US relatives would effectively condemn Mr Megrahi to die in prison. There has already been considerable delay which means that Mr Megrahi will not live to see the end of the appeal he has ongoing against his conviction.
Ms Grahame said that if Megrahi was allowed to die in prison but it was later established he was innocent, people would question why the Scottish justice system "failed so dramatically".
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The justice secretary is still considering the application and it would be wrong to comment on any hypothetical situation which may arise from any decision still to be made."
She added that any judicial review would be a matter for the courts.
Relatives of the Lockerbie bombing victims could demand a judicial review to stop Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi being returned to Libya, it has been claimed.
SNP MSP Christine Grahame said the possibility would prevent the terminally ill Megrahi returning to Libya in the short term.
It would effectively ensure Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing, died in Greenock prison, she said. (...)
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said earlier this week that no decision on the prisoner transfer could be made while Megrahi pursued a second appeal against his conviction for the bombing. (...)
South of Scotland MSP Ms Grahame said she understood US relatives of the victims had taken legal advice in both London and Scotland, and would seek an immediate judicial review if Mr MacAskill agreed to the Libyan Government request.
The request was made under a prisoner transfer agreement signed by then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2007. (...)
Megrahi is currently being held in Greenock prison where he is receiving treatment for advanced stage prostate cancer.
Ms Grahame, who has met Megrahi twice in recent months, said Scottish Prison Service officials had already informed her there was nowhere within the prison estate properly suited to managing Megrahi's condition.
"This makes the case for compassionate release absolutely imperative. That option is not subject to judicial review and is the only sensible compromise position in light of the fresh evidence and Mr Megrahi's deteriorating health," she said.
"The weight of evidence which has emerged combined with the serious doubts raised over the original evidence that was led at the trial have left me in no doubt of Mr Megrahi's innocence.
"The likelihood of a drawn-out process resulting from a judicial review launched by US relatives would effectively condemn Mr Megrahi to die in prison. There has already been considerable delay which means that Mr Megrahi will not live to see the end of the appeal he has ongoing against his conviction.
Ms Grahame said that if Megrahi was allowed to die in prison but it was later established he was innocent, people would question why the Scottish justice system "failed so dramatically".
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The justice secretary is still considering the application and it would be wrong to comment on any hypothetical situation which may arise from any decision still to be made."
She added that any judicial review would be a matter for the courts.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Release al-Megrahi
[This is the heading over a letter by John Dobbins published today in The Scotsman. It reads as follows:]
The integrity and human decency shown by Jim Swire and John Mosey (your report, 8 July) are truly remarkable, given the ongoing trauma they face in the aftermath of the Lockerbie atrocity and ensuing legal fiasco.
Disappointing, though understandable, is the blinkered position taken by some of the American relatives, whose vain search for justice has, sadly, led them to settle for revenge as mitigation for their loss through the continued punishment of an innocent man.
Their personal tragedy is compounded by the betrayal of their unquestioning belief in their country's professed moral principles and their inability to accept they have been lied to by the US and UK governments
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill now has the opportunity to repair the damage done to the Scottish legal system's international reputation, by agreeing to Jim Swire's proposal that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi be immediately released and returned home to Libya. It is imperative he does not hide behind jargon and shows the moral courage needed to see off pressure from "friendly" foreign or home-grown powers to drop the appeal.
The integrity and human decency shown by Jim Swire and John Mosey (your report, 8 July) are truly remarkable, given the ongoing trauma they face in the aftermath of the Lockerbie atrocity and ensuing legal fiasco.
Disappointing, though understandable, is the blinkered position taken by some of the American relatives, whose vain search for justice has, sadly, led them to settle for revenge as mitigation for their loss through the continued punishment of an innocent man.
Their personal tragedy is compounded by the betrayal of their unquestioning belief in their country's professed moral principles and their inability to accept they have been lied to by the US and UK governments
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill now has the opportunity to repair the damage done to the Scottish legal system's international reputation, by agreeing to Jim Swire's proposal that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi be immediately released and returned home to Libya. It is imperative he does not hide behind jargon and shows the moral courage needed to see off pressure from "friendly" foreign or home-grown powers to drop the appeal.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Editor of The Firm writes to Kenny MacAskill
[What follows is the text of a letter sent today to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice by Steven Raeburn, editor of the Scottish lawyers' magazine The Firm. The full account on the magazine's website can be read here.]
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.
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.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
MacAskill to meet Lockerbie bomber
[This is the headline over a report published today on the website of the Aberdeen-based newspaper The Press and Journal. It reads in part:]
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is to meet Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi.
Libyan authorities have applied for 57-year-old al Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, to be moved to Libya under a prisoner-transfer treaty between Libya and the UK. Ministers received “formal notification” last Friday that al Megrahi wants to meet Mr MacAskill, a Scottish Government spokesman confirmed yesterday.
The spokesman added: “As part of the process the justice secretary has met UK relatives, he has linked up by video conference to Eric Holder, the US attorney general and the US relatives.
“He has also received a delegation from the Libyan government and will now meet Mr al Megrahi.”
No decision on the prisoner transfer can be made by Mr McAskill while al Megrahi pursues a second appeal against his conviction for the 1988 bombing.
The government is also to seek medical advice as to whether al Megrahi is fit to leave Greenock Prison where he is being held. His lawyer, Tony Kelly, said yesterday: “My client would welcome a meeting so that he can have the opportunity to put his case to Mr MacAskill.”
Although the meeting might not need to be staged in the prison, the lawyer said his client is “ill and in some considerable discomfort”.
Mr Kelly also declined to comment on weekend reports that al Megrahi has handed over a signed document to the Libyan Government agreeing to drop the appeal against his conviction if Mr MacAskill allows him home to Libya. (...)
Lib Dem justice spokesman Robert Brown said the move was unprecedented.
He said: “Nothing like this seems to have happened in the case of the Great Train Robber or the Moors Murders, for example. I fail to see what possible purpose this visit will serve.”
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is to meet Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi.
Libyan authorities have applied for 57-year-old al Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, to be moved to Libya under a prisoner-transfer treaty between Libya and the UK. Ministers received “formal notification” last Friday that al Megrahi wants to meet Mr MacAskill, a Scottish Government spokesman confirmed yesterday.
The spokesman added: “As part of the process the justice secretary has met UK relatives, he has linked up by video conference to Eric Holder, the US attorney general and the US relatives.
“He has also received a delegation from the Libyan government and will now meet Mr al Megrahi.”
No decision on the prisoner transfer can be made by Mr McAskill while al Megrahi pursues a second appeal against his conviction for the 1988 bombing.
The government is also to seek medical advice as to whether al Megrahi is fit to leave Greenock Prison where he is being held. His lawyer, Tony Kelly, said yesterday: “My client would welcome a meeting so that he can have the opportunity to put his case to Mr MacAskill.”
Although the meeting might not need to be staged in the prison, the lawyer said his client is “ill and in some considerable discomfort”.
Mr Kelly also declined to comment on weekend reports that al Megrahi has handed over a signed document to the Libyan Government agreeing to drop the appeal against his conviction if Mr MacAskill allows him home to Libya. (...)
Lib Dem justice spokesman Robert Brown said the move was unprecedented.
He said: “Nothing like this seems to have happened in the case of the Great Train Robber or the Moors Murders, for example. I fail to see what possible purpose this visit will serve.”
Monday, 13 July 2009
Justice, compassion, integrity
[What follows is the text of an article by Christine Grahame MSP in the Scottish edition of yesterday's Sunday Express. As far as I can discover, the article does not appear on the newspaper's website.]
He is the face of an atrocity which remains the worst act of terrorism ever perpetrated on UK soil, but soon, within a few months, the man convicted of the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 bombing will be dead. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has advanced stage terminal prostate cancer. On the two occasions when I visited him at Greenock Prison his constant discomfort was clearly evident. For almost 10 years since his conviction he has fought relentlessly to clear his name, but his degenerative terminal illness has changed his focus. Now he is a man desperate to see his family before he dies.
When the UK Government learned of Megrahi’s imminent second appeal following a lengthy four year investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission which concluded there may have been a miscarriage of justice, Tony Blair hastily put in place a Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Libyan Government. It was two years before that appeal began.
Many in the UK Government and elsewhere who do not want this second appeal by Mr Megrahi to go ahead. Why?
The reputation of the Scottish legal system would be on the line if Mr Megrahi were successful, yet with every week that goes by another significant piece of new evidence undermines the Crown’s case. There are professional reputations in the Scottish legal establishment and in the US that are being challenged here.
Robert Black, the highly respected Professor Emeritus of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh who knows this case inside out has concluded: “I am satisfied that not only was there a wrongful conviction, but the victim of it was an innocent man. Lawyers, and I hope others, will appreciate this distinction.” That in itself is a serious indictment of the Scottish legal system.
Megrahi’s appeal has been plagued by delay and takes no account whatsoever of his terminal condition. Last Tuesday the Court of Appeal announced a further delay due to the ill health of one of the Appeal Judges, Lord Wheatley. This additional delay puts the process back a further four months at least. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” Megrahi’s defence lawyer said when the Court announcement was made. The latest hold-up ensures, beyond reasonable doubt that Megrahi will not live to see the end of the appeal process, regardless of what legal choices he makes in the next few weeks.
He has a very stark decision to make either continue with the appeal and at the point of his death a family member can take it forward to its conclusion on his behalf. This option means Megrahi will die in prison in an environment that senior prison officials have already told me are not suitable for a terminally ill man. Or alternatively he can abandon his appeal and hope that he is granted a Prisoner Transfer back to Libya, but this is by no means guaranteed.
There is however a third way; compassionate release to Libya which would allow him to die near to his close knit family, including his elderly parents and allow the appeal to proceed to a determination.
This can be granted unilaterally by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and would reflect the principles of Scots law based on justice and compassion. This option is supported by legal experts and relatives of victims such as the redoubtable Dr Jim Swire who has campaigned tirelessly to expose the truth behind the bombing which claimed the life of his daughter Flora. Many are opposed to such a compromise of course, including a significant number, but not all, of the US relatives of Pan Am 103 as are senior officials in the Scottish Justice Department, some of whom built their careers on the Lockerbie case.
A Prisoner Transfer may be seen as conveniently ending the matter. That would be naïve. Such is the weight of fresh evidence indicating Megrahi’s innocence combined with significant doubt over the original material used to convict in the first place, that calls for a public inquiry are likely to increase and denying one, indefensible. It is vital that the truth is exposed, for all involved, and most particularly victims families. Compassionate release offers the only compromise which would exhaust due legal process, demonstrate compassion and prove the integrity of the Scottish judicial system. Justice, compassion, integrity, three words engraved on the Scottish Parliament’s Mace. Let’s hope and trust this nation lives up to them.
He is the face of an atrocity which remains the worst act of terrorism ever perpetrated on UK soil, but soon, within a few months, the man convicted of the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 bombing will be dead. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has advanced stage terminal prostate cancer. On the two occasions when I visited him at Greenock Prison his constant discomfort was clearly evident. For almost 10 years since his conviction he has fought relentlessly to clear his name, but his degenerative terminal illness has changed his focus. Now he is a man desperate to see his family before he dies.
When the UK Government learned of Megrahi’s imminent second appeal following a lengthy four year investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission which concluded there may have been a miscarriage of justice, Tony Blair hastily put in place a Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Libyan Government. It was two years before that appeal began.
Many in the UK Government and elsewhere who do not want this second appeal by Mr Megrahi to go ahead. Why?
The reputation of the Scottish legal system would be on the line if Mr Megrahi were successful, yet with every week that goes by another significant piece of new evidence undermines the Crown’s case. There are professional reputations in the Scottish legal establishment and in the US that are being challenged here.
Robert Black, the highly respected Professor Emeritus of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh who knows this case inside out has concluded: “I am satisfied that not only was there a wrongful conviction, but the victim of it was an innocent man. Lawyers, and I hope others, will appreciate this distinction.” That in itself is a serious indictment of the Scottish legal system.
Megrahi’s appeal has been plagued by delay and takes no account whatsoever of his terminal condition. Last Tuesday the Court of Appeal announced a further delay due to the ill health of one of the Appeal Judges, Lord Wheatley. This additional delay puts the process back a further four months at least. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” Megrahi’s defence lawyer said when the Court announcement was made. The latest hold-up ensures, beyond reasonable doubt that Megrahi will not live to see the end of the appeal process, regardless of what legal choices he makes in the next few weeks.
He has a very stark decision to make either continue with the appeal and at the point of his death a family member can take it forward to its conclusion on his behalf. This option means Megrahi will die in prison in an environment that senior prison officials have already told me are not suitable for a terminally ill man. Or alternatively he can abandon his appeal and hope that he is granted a Prisoner Transfer back to Libya, but this is by no means guaranteed.
There is however a third way; compassionate release to Libya which would allow him to die near to his close knit family, including his elderly parents and allow the appeal to proceed to a determination.
This can be granted unilaterally by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and would reflect the principles of Scots law based on justice and compassion. This option is supported by legal experts and relatives of victims such as the redoubtable Dr Jim Swire who has campaigned tirelessly to expose the truth behind the bombing which claimed the life of his daughter Flora. Many are opposed to such a compromise of course, including a significant number, but not all, of the US relatives of Pan Am 103 as are senior officials in the Scottish Justice Department, some of whom built their careers on the Lockerbie case.
A Prisoner Transfer may be seen as conveniently ending the matter. That would be naïve. Such is the weight of fresh evidence indicating Megrahi’s innocence combined with significant doubt over the original material used to convict in the first place, that calls for a public inquiry are likely to increase and denying one, indefensible. It is vital that the truth is exposed, for all involved, and most particularly victims families. Compassionate release offers the only compromise which would exhaust due legal process, demonstrate compassion and prove the integrity of the Scottish judicial system. Justice, compassion, integrity, three words engraved on the Scottish Parliament’s Mace. Let’s hope and trust this nation lives up to them.
MacAskill to meet Lockerbie bomber over jail transfer
Sunday, 12 July 2009
MacAskill in offer to meet Megrahi
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has offered to meet the Lockerbie bomber in prison as he decides if the convicted mass murderer ought to be allowed home to Libya.
The Justice Minister has indicated he is willing to visit Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi in HMP Greenock, where he is serving life for murdering 270 people killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie 20 years ago.
The invitation has been extended by MacAskill at a time Libya is trying to exert diplomatic pressure on Britain to have the bomber repatriated.
The visit has been suggested by MacAskill as he carries out a consultation exercise with those involved in the case. He has met American and British relatives as well as Libyan Government officials.
A Scottish Justice Department spokeswoman said: "Mr MacAskill has offered to hear representations from Mr Megrahi. That offer only went this week, but it could be by letter or in person."
Megrahi's solicitor Tony Kelly said his client had not decided whether to take up the offer.
Yesterday it was reported Megrahi has signed a document agreeing to drop the appeal against his conviction if MacAskill allows him home to Libya. Megrahi was said to have handed the document to the Libyan Government, telling them not to hand it over until Scottish ministers have agreed to his transfer back home.
Kelly said: "I'm not going to say [anything] about the document at all. All I can say is that there is no impasse and I don't think that if the document exists, it would create an impasse." He claimed the correct chronology was for Scottish ministers to decide if the transfer should go ahead in principle before dealing with the conditions of the transfer.
Under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement between Britain and Libya, a move would only happen if Megrahi dropped his appeal. MacAskill is expected to decide in August if Megrahi should be returned.
If Megrahi leaves Scotland, there would be an outcry in the United States, where the overwhelming majority of the families of the 189 US victims believe he is guilty of the atrocity and should serve his sentence in a Scottish prison.
But the prospect of a MacAskill visit was welcomed by those who believe Megrahi has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
[From a report by Tom Peterkin in today's edition of Scotland on Sunday. The full text can be read here. The Sunday Times runs a similar report. It reads in part:
'[Kenny MacAskill's] decision to meet a convicted terrorist has provoked a backlash among American relatives of those who died in the 1988 bombing which killed 270 people. The justice secretary has said he wants to talk to all parties affected by the tragedy before deciding Megrahi’s fate.
'Bob Monetti, from New Jersey, whose 20-year-old son Rick was among the victims, accused MacAskill of giving the convicted murderer preferential treatment. “I don’t understand why they would treat this man as special compared to everyone else who has been convicted of murder,” he said.
'“Everyone seems to be bending over backwards to give him everything. The things that have been done for Megrahi treat him as though he were a person. I have a problem with that because, if he did the things he has been convicted of, he is not much of a person.”
'However, Jim Swire, the former GP whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the bombing, said the meeting was “an important and sensible step”, which he hopes will lead to Megrahi’s transfer or release. “As far as I’m concerned he is an innocent man dying in considerable pain,” he said. “It seems an unchristian and brutal punishment to keep him in prison away from his family.” (...)
'MacAskill’s meeting with Megrahi, agreed last week, is expected to take place at Greenock prison as early as this week.
'The Scottish government said: “We have received confirmation that Mr Megrahi does want to make representations to the cabinet secretary so we will take that forward. If we are asking anyone who can make relevant representations to do so, Mr MacAskill feels it would seem unfair if we didn’t hear representations from the man who this is all about.”
'Tony Kelly, Megrahi’s lawyer, said: “He has expressed a willingness to meet Mr MacAskill to make his position known.”
'A Cello MRUK poll for The Sunday Times last month inidicated that while 49% of Scots wanted Megrahi to remain in Scotland, 40% thought he should serve the rest of his sentence in Libya and 11% said he should be freed.' ]
The Justice Minister has indicated he is willing to visit Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi in HMP Greenock, where he is serving life for murdering 270 people killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie 20 years ago.
The invitation has been extended by MacAskill at a time Libya is trying to exert diplomatic pressure on Britain to have the bomber repatriated.
The visit has been suggested by MacAskill as he carries out a consultation exercise with those involved in the case. He has met American and British relatives as well as Libyan Government officials.
A Scottish Justice Department spokeswoman said: "Mr MacAskill has offered to hear representations from Mr Megrahi. That offer only went this week, but it could be by letter or in person."
Megrahi's solicitor Tony Kelly said his client had not decided whether to take up the offer.
Yesterday it was reported Megrahi has signed a document agreeing to drop the appeal against his conviction if MacAskill allows him home to Libya. Megrahi was said to have handed the document to the Libyan Government, telling them not to hand it over until Scottish ministers have agreed to his transfer back home.
Kelly said: "I'm not going to say [anything] about the document at all. All I can say is that there is no impasse and I don't think that if the document exists, it would create an impasse." He claimed the correct chronology was for Scottish ministers to decide if the transfer should go ahead in principle before dealing with the conditions of the transfer.
Under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement between Britain and Libya, a move would only happen if Megrahi dropped his appeal. MacAskill is expected to decide in August if Megrahi should be returned.
If Megrahi leaves Scotland, there would be an outcry in the United States, where the overwhelming majority of the families of the 189 US victims believe he is guilty of the atrocity and should serve his sentence in a Scottish prison.
But the prospect of a MacAskill visit was welcomed by those who believe Megrahi has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
[From a report by Tom Peterkin in today's edition of Scotland on Sunday. The full text can be read here. The Sunday Times runs a similar report. It reads in part:
'[Kenny MacAskill's] decision to meet a convicted terrorist has provoked a backlash among American relatives of those who died in the 1988 bombing which killed 270 people. The justice secretary has said he wants to talk to all parties affected by the tragedy before deciding Megrahi’s fate.
'Bob Monetti, from New Jersey, whose 20-year-old son Rick was among the victims, accused MacAskill of giving the convicted murderer preferential treatment. “I don’t understand why they would treat this man as special compared to everyone else who has been convicted of murder,” he said.
'“Everyone seems to be bending over backwards to give him everything. The things that have been done for Megrahi treat him as though he were a person. I have a problem with that because, if he did the things he has been convicted of, he is not much of a person.”
'However, Jim Swire, the former GP whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the bombing, said the meeting was “an important and sensible step”, which he hopes will lead to Megrahi’s transfer or release. “As far as I’m concerned he is an innocent man dying in considerable pain,” he said. “It seems an unchristian and brutal punishment to keep him in prison away from his family.” (...)
'MacAskill’s meeting with Megrahi, agreed last week, is expected to take place at Greenock prison as early as this week.
'The Scottish government said: “We have received confirmation that Mr Megrahi does want to make representations to the cabinet secretary so we will take that forward. If we are asking anyone who can make relevant representations to do so, Mr MacAskill feels it would seem unfair if we didn’t hear representations from the man who this is all about.”
'Tony Kelly, Megrahi’s lawyer, said: “He has expressed a willingness to meet Mr MacAskill to make his position known.”
'A Cello MRUK poll for The Sunday Times last month inidicated that while 49% of Scots wanted Megrahi to remain in Scotland, 40% thought he should serve the rest of his sentence in Libya and 11% said he should be freed.' ]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)