[This is the heading over a group of letters published in today's edition of The Herald. The following are excerpts:]
What a contrast there is between the pedantic and mean-minded attack by Brian Fitzpatrick on Cardinal Keith O’Brien (Letters, August 12), and the superb letter you published from Dr Jim Swire (August 10). Mr Fitzpatrick writes of the “silencing of the victims and their families”, yet Dr Swire is himself a family victim, as his daughter was murdered on Pan Am flight 103 – and he has not been silent.
Mr Fitzpatrick assumes that the initial verdict is unassailable, an incredible supposition already effectively demolished by Dr Swire and many of your other correspondents. The idea that one low-grade Libyan official single-handedly masterminded the global plot to blow up the plane is too absurd to be taken seriously – as was the evidence of Tony Gauci, the prosecution’s star witness.
Robert Black QC, an emeritus professor of Scottish law at Edinburgh University, who was one of the architects of the original trial in Holland, has said: “I am still absolutely convinced that I am right. No reasonable tribunal, on the evidence heard at the original trial, should or could have convicted him, and it is an absolute disgrace and outrage what the Scottish court did.” This “absolute disgrace and outrage” is nevertheless defended by Mr Fitzpatrick, whose criticism is revealed as the typical Labourite, anti-SNP, knee-jerk reaction it undoubtedly is.
Brian M Quail
Brian Fitzpatrick comments today on Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s “alarming naivety” about the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi (Letters, August 12). I would rather describe the cardinal as saintly and prophetic. Christ himself was reported as saying that a prophet is never honoured in his own country.
Veronica Gordon Smith
As a former Labour Party MSP, it is not surprising that Mr Fitzpatrick should question Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill’s ministerial competence in authorising the release of Megrahi on compassionate grounds. That is what an opposition is for, and not all Nationalists agreed with the release either.
However, I do wonder what Mr Fitzpatrick would have thought had Megrahi been released as part of Tony Blair’s prisoner transfer agreement, in return for oil-drilling rights in Libya, as was the intention until Mr Blair was reminded that he had no jurisdiction over this particular prisoner. For ministerial incompetence, he should look no further than the previous Labour government.
Richard McHarg
I was surprised at the vigour with which Brian Fitzpatrick took Cardinal Keith O’Brien to task for his public statement regarding the Megrahi affair.
A Catholic myself, it did not occur to me for one moment to regard the cardinal’s statement in any way as an official one made on behalf of the Catholic Church.
It struck me simply as an opinion expressed by a prominent Scot, one that might have been expressed by some other prominent Scot, say an academic, industrialist, trade unionist or Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. (...)
If one wants an example of a bizarre public statement, one might cite the one made by Prime Minister David Cameron that the UK is a junior partner to the US.
Leaving aside Britain’s position during the Second World War, is it in any way reasonable or comprehensible for one country to declare itself publicly to be a junior partner of another? (...)
I think Cardinal O’Brien could reasonably be regarded as a prominent member of the Scottish establishment and I was greatly heartened by the ability of one such member to put his head above the parapet and speak up for his country.
Ian Ross
[Two further letters critical of Mr Fitzpatrick's position are published in The Herald of Saturday, 14 August. They can be read here.]
Friday, 13 August 2010
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Blowing the lid off Lockerbie
"In law there is a credible alternative to the Crown theory about the explosions on Pan Am 103 which must produce doubt about the merits of the Crown case. Mr Megrahi, you deserve the benefit of that doubt and I, along with so many decent people in Scotland, am deeply embarrassed and terribly sorry that you did not receive the benefit of that doubt. I sincerely hope you manage to read this."
This is the concluding paragraph of a long essay published on the Veterans Today website by Robbie the Pict. It sets out the case for questioning the accepted wisdom that Pan Am 103 was destroyed by a bomb (rather than the accidental explosion of -- illegally carried -- munitions by RadHaz).
This is the concluding paragraph of a long essay published on the Veterans Today website by Robbie the Pict. It sets out the case for questioning the accepted wisdom that Pan Am 103 was destroyed by a bomb (rather than the accidental explosion of -- illegally carried -- munitions by RadHaz).
Fringe stages father's quest for Lockerbie justice
[This is the headline over a Reuters news agency report on the US ABC News website. It reads in part:]
The Lockerbie disaster has come to the Edinburgh Fringe stage as a compelling 70-minute monologue which pours fuel onto a blazing dispute about the man convicted of the airliner bombing over Scotland 22 years ago.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was imprisoned in Scotland after his conviction for bombing Pan Am flight 103, which blew apart on a flight from London to New York in December 1988, killing 270 people, most of them American.
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business tells the tale of Doctor Jim Swire, whose 24-year-old daughter Flora died on the plane and who is convinced that Megrahi's conviction was a travesty of justice. The play follows his fight for "truth and justice."
The play has come to the stage in the midst of continuing American fury over the Scottish justice secretary's decision to release Megrahi on compassionate medical grounds last year.
The decision caused outrage among the families of victims in the United States and has set the US Senate on a collision course with Scotland's devolved parliament in Edinburgh.
The production -- written and acted by David Benson in the persona of Swire -- has left packed audiences uncertain of whether a round of applause is an appropriate gesture of appreciation as the curtains close on the hushed final scene.
Benson said the script was drawn from interviews with Swire, documentary sources and the devastated father's own account of his life since December 21, 1988, in an as-yet unpublished book. (...)
Two Libyans were eventually accused of the Lockerbie bombing. One was acquitted but Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 and given a 27-year sentence in a Scottish prison near Glasgow.
Unfinished Business traces Swire's growing fears that the original conviction was wrong and his quest to get to the bottom of what happened. A Scottish review commission said in 2007 there were grounds to believe there may have been a miscarriage of justice and a High Court appeal process opened in 2008.
Swire hoped the appeal would uncover the facts, but Megrahi was diagnosed with terminal cancer and withdrew his appeal as he was released on compassionate grounds to return to Tripoli just a year ago.
Swire and his wife Jane saw a preview of the play in Oxford before it came to Edinburgh. Benson said he was thankful he had not known they were in the audience.
"I didn't fancy going to it really," Swire told Reuters by telephone from his home. "I thought I would find it very difficult to cope with it. But it was unsentimental I thought, accurate I thought...and I didn't find it difficult to cope with at all."
He is now seeking a "properly empowered inquiry" to probe all aspects of the case.
"So it's very useful to have this play on show at the moment."
The Lockerbie disaster has come to the Edinburgh Fringe stage as a compelling 70-minute monologue which pours fuel onto a blazing dispute about the man convicted of the airliner bombing over Scotland 22 years ago.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was imprisoned in Scotland after his conviction for bombing Pan Am flight 103, which blew apart on a flight from London to New York in December 1988, killing 270 people, most of them American.
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business tells the tale of Doctor Jim Swire, whose 24-year-old daughter Flora died on the plane and who is convinced that Megrahi's conviction was a travesty of justice. The play follows his fight for "truth and justice."
The play has come to the stage in the midst of continuing American fury over the Scottish justice secretary's decision to release Megrahi on compassionate medical grounds last year.
The decision caused outrage among the families of victims in the United States and has set the US Senate on a collision course with Scotland's devolved parliament in Edinburgh.
The production -- written and acted by David Benson in the persona of Swire -- has left packed audiences uncertain of whether a round of applause is an appropriate gesture of appreciation as the curtains close on the hushed final scene.
Benson said the script was drawn from interviews with Swire, documentary sources and the devastated father's own account of his life since December 21, 1988, in an as-yet unpublished book. (...)
Two Libyans were eventually accused of the Lockerbie bombing. One was acquitted but Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 and given a 27-year sentence in a Scottish prison near Glasgow.
Unfinished Business traces Swire's growing fears that the original conviction was wrong and his quest to get to the bottom of what happened. A Scottish review commission said in 2007 there were grounds to believe there may have been a miscarriage of justice and a High Court appeal process opened in 2008.
Swire hoped the appeal would uncover the facts, but Megrahi was diagnosed with terminal cancer and withdrew his appeal as he was released on compassionate grounds to return to Tripoli just a year ago.
Swire and his wife Jane saw a preview of the play in Oxford before it came to Edinburgh. Benson said he was thankful he had not known they were in the audience.
"I didn't fancy going to it really," Swire told Reuters by telephone from his home. "I thought I would find it very difficult to cope with it. But it was unsentimental I thought, accurate I thought...and I didn't find it difficult to cope with at all."
He is now seeking a "properly empowered inquiry" to probe all aspects of the case.
"So it's very useful to have this play on show at the moment."
Letter to editors
[What follows is the text of a letter sent on behalf of the Justice for Megrahi campaign to the editors of selected newspapers and broadcast news media in the United Kingdom and abroad.]
In recent weeks the issues surrounding the release and repatriation to Libya of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi have been dominating television newscasts, newspaper front pages, editorials and comment on letter pages of the press throughout the UK, most notably in Scotland.
Whilst there have been demands from a number of quarters to open an inquiry into how and why Mr Al-Megrahi was availed of compassionate release, you will certainly also be aware of the efforts of others to not only investigate this but to establish a full, comprehensive and open public inquiry into the entire Lockerbie affair including:
*The Fatal Accident Inquiry into the downing of Pan Am 103.
*The police investigation of the tragedy.
*The subsequent Kamp van Zeist trial.
*The acquittal of Mr Fhimah and conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi.
*The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission's (SCCRC) referral of Mr Al-Megrahi's case to the Court of Appeal.
*The dropping of this second appeal and the compassionate release of Mr Al-Megrahi.
Ever since Mr Al-Megrahi's conviction in 2001, many of the bereaved and eminent public figures from the fourth estate, legal, political, academic and religious spheres have protested that the trial was a travesty of justice. In the latter months of 2008, a campaign was launched with the express aim of obtaining Justice for Megrahi (JFM). Since its founding, it has petitioned the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation, the Government of Malta, and most recently the Scottish Government and members of the US Senate to support the establishment of a comprehensive, public inquiry, of the type mentioned above, into all matters pertaining to the Pan Am 103/Lockerbie tragedy. At the heart of this campaign from its inception has lain a commitment to see transparency prevail and justice done in a case which from the outset has been afflicted with accusations of buck passing, obfuscation, political interference and a gross miscarriage of justice.
Confusion still continues to reign where this case is concerned, ranging from some believing that Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted by eight Law Lords to his having been released via the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA). Both of these contentions are erroneous. Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted in a court of fact, and it has always been central to this campaign, whether he actually committed the offence he has been convicted of or not, that this conviction was a miscarriage of justice based simply on the evidence laid before the three judges at Zeist by the prosecution. We do not seek to attribute blame for the events of 21st December 1988. We do not seek retribution for investigatory or judicial shortcomings. We seek justice in the name of justice.
Courts of fact can and do get things wrong. This, after all, is precisely why we rely on the institution of the Court of Appeal. Where most convicts would be happy to have their case put before the appeal court on just one ground for appeal, Mr Al-Megrahi’s second appeal was referred to the Court of Appeal by the SCCRC on no fewer than six grounds. Taking this into account, we also fully and deeply identify with those bereaved friends and families who, perfectly understandably, believe the conviction to be safe. Clearly they, more than any other group, would be utterly devastated if it were to be established that the conviction was unsafe. Nevertheless, if Mr Al-Megrahi’s appeal is not to be heard, the only option remaining is an inquiry. Justice should not and must not be viewed as a tool of convenience. It is our belief that all of the bereaved, regardless of their positions, have been done a disservice under Scots Law at Zeist.
For your convenience, you will find included below the letters sent to Mr Salmond and Mr McAskill, and, additionally, to the American senators. Furthermore, you will also find the list of signatories who are endorsing the objective of opening a Lockerbie public inquiry.
It is our belief that the fourth estate owes a moral obligation, not only to its readers and viewers but to the bereaved of Lockerbie especially, to commit its voice firmly behind demands for an inquiry into Lockerbie/Zeist. MSPs have already come out in support of such an inquiry, and although both Mr Salmond and Mr MacAskill have endorsed such in principle, they seem hesitant to grasp the nettle where it comes to setting one up in Scotland. Moreover, the media have a vital and powerful role to play in ensuring that our Scottish justice system, which is currently regarded internationally as an embarrassment, and is seen as demonstrably malleable by political hands, is reinstated to its rightful former position as an institution which can be looked up to, respected and trusted by the people.
With this in mind, we wish to extend to you an invitation to place your name alongside those of the other signatories on the letter to the Scottish Government. We feel that support of this nature from yourself, given the prominent stature of your institution, would add considerable weight to promoting the aims of this campaign.
The Scottish Government should not be allowed to expect other authorities to pick up the gauntlet.
*The case was investigated by a Scottish police force.
*The trial was conducted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was imprisoned in a Scottish gaol.
*The SCCRC referred the second appeal to the Scottish Court of Appeal.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was given compassionate release by the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice.
This is undeniably a Scottish issue.
The time to act is now. The once good name of Scottish justice can be redeemed. It must not be seen to die with Mr Al-Megrahi and finally sink into a mire of disrepute. Media pressure is a vital tool in achieving this in a case where the judiciary and politicians seem thus far to be failing. We hope that you will find the arguments presented here and in the letters below convincing enough for you to add your name to the list of signatories.
This letter is being sent to multiple press and media outlets.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Forrester (Justice for Megrahi committee member).
THE CURRENT LIST OF SIGNATORIES.
Mr John Ashton
(Co-author of ‘Cover-up of Convenience: The Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie’).
Mrs Jean Berkley
(Co-ordinator UK Families Flight 103 and mother of Alistair Berkley: PA103 victim).
Professor Robert Black QC
(Commonly referred to as the Architect of the Camp van Zeist Trial).
Professor Noam Chomsky
(Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Mr Tam Dalyell
(Member of Parliament: 1962 – 2005, Father of the House: 2001 – 2005).
Mr Ian Ferguson
(Co-author of ‘Cover-up of Convenience: The Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie’).
Mr Robert Forrester
(Justice for Megrahi campaign committee member).
Ms Christine Grahame
(Member of the Scottish Parliament and justice campaigner).
Mr Ian Hislop
(Editor of Private Eye: one of the UK’s most highly regarded journals of political comment).
Father Pat Keegans
(Lockerbie Parish Priest at the time of the bombing of Pan Am 103).
Mr Iain McKie
(Retired Police Superintendent and justice campaigner).
Ms Heather Mills
(Reporter for Private Eye specialising in matters relating to Pan Am flight 103).
Mr Denis Phipps
(Aviation security expert).
Mr Steven Raeburn
(Editor of The Firm, one of Scotland’s foremost legal journals).
Doctor Jim Swire
(Justice campaigner. Dr Swire’s daughter, Flora, was killed in the Pan Am 103 incident).
Sir Teddy Taylor
(Former Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and Member of Parliament from 1964 to 2005).
His Grace, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu
(Defender of human rights worldwide, Nobel Peace Prize winner and headed South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission).
LETTER TO FIRST MINISTER MR SALMOND (THE IDENTICAL CONTENT WAS ALSO SENT TO THE CABINET SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE MR MACASKILL), 22ND JULY 2010.
Dear First Minister,
I write on behalf of the current signatories to the petition to the United Nations Organisation General Assembly (published in September 2009) requesting the institution of a full, open and public inquiry into the investigation of the Pan Am flight 103 tragedy at Lockerbie in 1988 and the subsequent trial of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi at Kamp van Zeist, which resulted in his conviction in 2001 for the murder of 270 people. (...)
In August of 2009, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill MSP, sanctioned the compassionate release of Mr Al-Megrahi on medical grounds. No matter which side of the fence one is on, Mr MacAskill took a sensitive and challenging decision on an issue that was always going to be contentious and fraught; his conclusion was based on medical advice suggesting that Mr Al-Megrahi's life expectancy might not exceed a total of three months. Medical judgments, much like legal ones, are based on practice and precedent. Medicine, however much we may wish it to be, is not an exact science, hence it is referred to by the term practice; no case is identical to any other in all respects and there must, therefore, always be an element of guesswork involved. Nevertheless, no sooner had the three month period elapsed than protests were emanating from predictable quarters in debating chambers and the press questioning why a Greater Power had neglected to avail Mr Al-Megrahi of an audience.
In light of the recent difficulties being encountered by BP in the USA, these voices have been encouraged to become increasingly shrill: with ill-informed aspersions being cast on an almost daily basis in the direction of the Scottish Government. Mr MacAskill employed due process under Scots law in acting as he did. He did not resort to the device of the PTA but instead applied a facility that is enshrined in Scots law, namely, compassionate release. All Scots have just cause to be proud of their system in this regard insofar as, combined with the fact that we have no death sentence available to us, we can demonstrate that we do not bring our system down to the level of the murderer to resolve our problems, and that we are compassionate. In response to the current attacks from both the USA and within the UK, it is now being suggested that an inquiry might be opened under the auspices of the Scottish Government into the circumstances of Mr Al-Megrahi's release.
In our view, it is vital that the scope of any such inquiry ought also to encompass all aspects of the Lockerbie affair from December 1988 to the present day, including the investigation of the disaster and the Zeist trial itself (as laid out in the UN petition). Clearly, it is our belief that Mr Al-Megrahi may have been a victim of a gross miscarriage of justice, and in that regard, simply to focus on the questions arising from his release is of secondary import. It goes without saying, therefore, that we would be fully supportive of a full, public inquiry of this type should Edinburgh wish to open one.
From a political standpoint, such a course of action might succeed in fanning the existing flames, however, we feel that to institute a more wide-ranging inquiry could well serve to silence some of the critics, or at least make them more circumspect before going public. A step of this nature may also go some way towards restoring faith in Scotland's once justifiably envied system of criminal justice, which is now internationally derided as a result of our continuing failure to tackle the problems created and sustained by the Lockerbie affair.
Finally, we should point out that the reason the petition was originally directed to the United Nations was because we considered that although the General Assembly does not have within its gift the power to subpoena witnesses to testify before it (unlike the Security Council), given the international nature of the incident and the fact that there seemed to be little appetite to open an inquiry in the either Westminster or Holyrood at the time, it was the appropriate route to follow. We hope that Holyrood will now take up the gauntlet and attempt to lift the fog that many feel has obscured aspects of this case from the very start.
Thank you kindly for your time and attention.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Forrester (Committee member of Justice for Megrahi).
LETTER TO SENATORS GILLIBRAND, KERRY, LAUTENBERG, MENENDEZ AND SCHUMER, 29TH JULY 2010.
Dear Senators Gillibrand, Kerry, Lautenberg, Menendez and Schumer,
You may be aware that a group of signatories, many of international repute, have lobbied both the United Nations Organisation General Assembly (September 2009) and more recently the Scottish Government (July 2010) in an effort to establish a thorough, all encompassing and open, public inquiry which would cover all matters relating to: the investigation into the downing of Pan Am flight 103 (1988), the Kamp van Zeist trail of Mr Al-Megrahi and Mr Fhimah, the acquittal of Mr Fhimah and the conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi (2001), and the eventual release of Mr Al-Megrahi (2009). The petition to the Scottish Government received the endorsement of seventeen signatories (see at the end: the list of signatories to the letter sent to the Scottish Government last week followed by a copy of the UN petition).
For your convenience, this link will provide you with a report on the Scottish letter and a link to the letter itself. The letter was sent both to First Minister, Alex Salmond, and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill:
http://www.firmmagazine.com/news/2045/Exclusive%3A_Salmond_pressed_to_instigate_inquiry_into_Pan_Am_103_by_international_coalition_including_Tutu%2C_Chomsky%2C_Dalyell%2C_Black_and_Swire.html
In light of recent developments taking place in Washington, signatories to the Scottish Government letter wish to extend an invitation to members of the Senate of the United States of America to add their support to lobbying the Scottish Government for an inquiry by becoming signatories to the letter themselves. We all deeply sympathise with the position of those bereaved families and friends resultant from the 103 tragedy who are satisfied that the Zeist conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi was safe. Given their position, it is hardly surprising that they are outraged by his release and return to Libya. Nevertheless, on the basis of the evidence laid before their Lordships at Kamp van Zeist, it has always been our contention that Mr Al-Megrahi may have been a victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. This view is clearly supported by the fact that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred the case to the Court of Appeal. This appeal was in progress up to a point immediately prior to Mr Al-Megrahi's release. We feel that the current focus on the circumstances surrounding Mr Al-Megrahi's release, whilst engaging in their own right, pale into insignificance if indeed there was a miscarriage of justice.
With regard to the release, we too have questions. The Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) reached by Prime Minister Blair and Colonel Gaddafi appears to be in direct contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 1192. It, moreover, seems to be rendered invalid by an existing agreement between the UK and US governments, which states that the prisoner was required to serve out his sentence in Scotland. If the PTA was in violation of the aforementioned, why was outrage not expressed on both sides of the Atlantic at the time of its being signed? See this link for details: http://i-p-o.org/Megrahi-statement-Koechler-IPO-nr-21Aug2009.htm
As it happens, and as you will be cognisant of, the PTA was not utilised in the release of Mr Al-Megrahi. He was released via due process under Scots Law by the device of Compassionate Release available the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Mr MacAskill, resulting from consideration of the prisoner’s medical condition. However, the following sequence of events may be worthy of investigation: Mr Al-Megrahi's appeal commences, Mr MacAskill visits Mr Al-Megrahi in Greenock gaol for a private interview, Mr Al-Megrahi drops his appeal, Mr Al-Megrahi is released and repatriated to Libya. Given that under Scots Law there is no requirement to drop an appeal to be granted Compassionate Release, many of us would like to know why this was done and what transpired during the meeting between Mr MacAskill and Mr Al-Megrahi at Greenock. See also:
http://i-p-o.org/IPO-nr-Megrahi-release-investigation-21July2010.htm
Dr Swire, in his capacity as one of those many bereaved by the tragedy over twenty-one years ago now, has already made an impassioned plea for support in his quest for justice to Senator Kerry recently. It is essential, even after the passing of so many years, to address the question marks which continue to hang over the entire Lockerbie affair. The bereaved rightfully deserved justice from Zeist in the same way that Mr Al-Megrahi rightfully expected it. However, the verdict produced such controversy that it is simply not sustainable to continue to claim that it was safe because it was the one preferred by the three judges at the time. This is why we have courts of appeal and why the SCCRC referred the case to the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh. Now that this legal avenue is no longer open, it appears that the only possible recourse to addressing the doubts surrounding the issue is by means of an inquiry.
It is inappropriate in this letter to list the litany of shortcomings in both the investigation of the disaster itself and the prosecution evidence laid before the court at the subsequent trial. The criticism is copious and has long been in the public domain. Professor Robert Black (oft referred to as the ‘architect’ of Zeist) and Dr Hans Köchler (International Observer at Zeist – appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan) have both variously and very publicly stated views ranging from the verdict’s being a clear miscarriage of justice to one which seemed more concerned with political expediency than justice. If protestations of this calibre alone are not enough to generate an inquiry, one feels obliged to ask: what is? If ever a case were crying out for an inquiry, it is this one. Not only for the bereaved, not only for Mr Al-Megrahi but for justice itself.
High above courthouses worldwide stands a statue of Justice holding scales in her left hand and in her right a sword. She is a symbol of the glue that binds together the very fabric of society. We depend on justice and its instrument, the law, to provide cohesion in our relationships. If justice loses its lustre or becomes tarnished, we degenerate into a world of cynicism and chaos. Surely it is a sign of a great society if that society can reflect on its deeds and not be afraid to revisit perceived mistakes to seek redress and right wrongs where they have been committed. To have the resolve to take such action is not an admission of weakness but a sign of supreme strength.
An inquiry will no doubt bring with it embarrassment for some as it calls into question their reputations. However, if justice is regarded as a tool with which to achieve expedient results and defend human frailties by obscuring the truth, we are all in a very sorry state indeed. We do not seek retribution, we seek the truth. The ghosts of Lockerbie must be laid to rest.
We hope, therefore, that you will feel able to identify with the sentiments expressed in this letter and join with us in lobbying the Scottish Government by adding your names to the list of signatories.
We all thank you for your time and attention, and look forward to hearing your response.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Forrester.
In recent weeks the issues surrounding the release and repatriation to Libya of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi have been dominating television newscasts, newspaper front pages, editorials and comment on letter pages of the press throughout the UK, most notably in Scotland.
Whilst there have been demands from a number of quarters to open an inquiry into how and why Mr Al-Megrahi was availed of compassionate release, you will certainly also be aware of the efforts of others to not only investigate this but to establish a full, comprehensive and open public inquiry into the entire Lockerbie affair including:
*The Fatal Accident Inquiry into the downing of Pan Am 103.
*The police investigation of the tragedy.
*The subsequent Kamp van Zeist trial.
*The acquittal of Mr Fhimah and conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi.
*The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission's (SCCRC) referral of Mr Al-Megrahi's case to the Court of Appeal.
*The dropping of this second appeal and the compassionate release of Mr Al-Megrahi.
Ever since Mr Al-Megrahi's conviction in 2001, many of the bereaved and eminent public figures from the fourth estate, legal, political, academic and religious spheres have protested that the trial was a travesty of justice. In the latter months of 2008, a campaign was launched with the express aim of obtaining Justice for Megrahi (JFM). Since its founding, it has petitioned the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation, the Government of Malta, and most recently the Scottish Government and members of the US Senate to support the establishment of a comprehensive, public inquiry, of the type mentioned above, into all matters pertaining to the Pan Am 103/Lockerbie tragedy. At the heart of this campaign from its inception has lain a commitment to see transparency prevail and justice done in a case which from the outset has been afflicted with accusations of buck passing, obfuscation, political interference and a gross miscarriage of justice.
Confusion still continues to reign where this case is concerned, ranging from some believing that Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted by eight Law Lords to his having been released via the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA). Both of these contentions are erroneous. Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted in a court of fact, and it has always been central to this campaign, whether he actually committed the offence he has been convicted of or not, that this conviction was a miscarriage of justice based simply on the evidence laid before the three judges at Zeist by the prosecution. We do not seek to attribute blame for the events of 21st December 1988. We do not seek retribution for investigatory or judicial shortcomings. We seek justice in the name of justice.
Courts of fact can and do get things wrong. This, after all, is precisely why we rely on the institution of the Court of Appeal. Where most convicts would be happy to have their case put before the appeal court on just one ground for appeal, Mr Al-Megrahi’s second appeal was referred to the Court of Appeal by the SCCRC on no fewer than six grounds. Taking this into account, we also fully and deeply identify with those bereaved friends and families who, perfectly understandably, believe the conviction to be safe. Clearly they, more than any other group, would be utterly devastated if it were to be established that the conviction was unsafe. Nevertheless, if Mr Al-Megrahi’s appeal is not to be heard, the only option remaining is an inquiry. Justice should not and must not be viewed as a tool of convenience. It is our belief that all of the bereaved, regardless of their positions, have been done a disservice under Scots Law at Zeist.
For your convenience, you will find included below the letters sent to Mr Salmond and Mr McAskill, and, additionally, to the American senators. Furthermore, you will also find the list of signatories who are endorsing the objective of opening a Lockerbie public inquiry.
It is our belief that the fourth estate owes a moral obligation, not only to its readers and viewers but to the bereaved of Lockerbie especially, to commit its voice firmly behind demands for an inquiry into Lockerbie/Zeist. MSPs have already come out in support of such an inquiry, and although both Mr Salmond and Mr MacAskill have endorsed such in principle, they seem hesitant to grasp the nettle where it comes to setting one up in Scotland. Moreover, the media have a vital and powerful role to play in ensuring that our Scottish justice system, which is currently regarded internationally as an embarrassment, and is seen as demonstrably malleable by political hands, is reinstated to its rightful former position as an institution which can be looked up to, respected and trusted by the people.
With this in mind, we wish to extend to you an invitation to place your name alongside those of the other signatories on the letter to the Scottish Government. We feel that support of this nature from yourself, given the prominent stature of your institution, would add considerable weight to promoting the aims of this campaign.
The Scottish Government should not be allowed to expect other authorities to pick up the gauntlet.
*The case was investigated by a Scottish police force.
*The trial was conducted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was imprisoned in a Scottish gaol.
*The SCCRC referred the second appeal to the Scottish Court of Appeal.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was given compassionate release by the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice.
This is undeniably a Scottish issue.
The time to act is now. The once good name of Scottish justice can be redeemed. It must not be seen to die with Mr Al-Megrahi and finally sink into a mire of disrepute. Media pressure is a vital tool in achieving this in a case where the judiciary and politicians seem thus far to be failing. We hope that you will find the arguments presented here and in the letters below convincing enough for you to add your name to the list of signatories.
This letter is being sent to multiple press and media outlets.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Forrester (Justice for Megrahi committee member).
THE CURRENT LIST OF SIGNATORIES.
Mr John Ashton
(Co-author of ‘Cover-up of Convenience: The Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie’).
Mrs Jean Berkley
(Co-ordinator UK Families Flight 103 and mother of Alistair Berkley: PA103 victim).
Professor Robert Black QC
(Commonly referred to as the Architect of the Camp van Zeist Trial).
Professor Noam Chomsky
(Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Mr Tam Dalyell
(Member of Parliament: 1962 – 2005, Father of the House: 2001 – 2005).
Mr Ian Ferguson
(Co-author of ‘Cover-up of Convenience: The Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie’).
Mr Robert Forrester
(Justice for Megrahi campaign committee member).
Ms Christine Grahame
(Member of the Scottish Parliament and justice campaigner).
Mr Ian Hislop
(Editor of Private Eye: one of the UK’s most highly regarded journals of political comment).
Father Pat Keegans
(Lockerbie Parish Priest at the time of the bombing of Pan Am 103).
Mr Iain McKie
(Retired Police Superintendent and justice campaigner).
Ms Heather Mills
(Reporter for Private Eye specialising in matters relating to Pan Am flight 103).
Mr Denis Phipps
(Aviation security expert).
Mr Steven Raeburn
(Editor of The Firm, one of Scotland’s foremost legal journals).
Doctor Jim Swire
(Justice campaigner. Dr Swire’s daughter, Flora, was killed in the Pan Am 103 incident).
Sir Teddy Taylor
(Former Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and Member of Parliament from 1964 to 2005).
His Grace, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu
(Defender of human rights worldwide, Nobel Peace Prize winner and headed South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission).
LETTER TO FIRST MINISTER MR SALMOND (THE IDENTICAL CONTENT WAS ALSO SENT TO THE CABINET SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE MR MACASKILL), 22ND JULY 2010.
Dear First Minister,
I write on behalf of the current signatories to the petition to the United Nations Organisation General Assembly (published in September 2009) requesting the institution of a full, open and public inquiry into the investigation of the Pan Am flight 103 tragedy at Lockerbie in 1988 and the subsequent trial of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi at Kamp van Zeist, which resulted in his conviction in 2001 for the murder of 270 people. (...)
In August of 2009, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill MSP, sanctioned the compassionate release of Mr Al-Megrahi on medical grounds. No matter which side of the fence one is on, Mr MacAskill took a sensitive and challenging decision on an issue that was always going to be contentious and fraught; his conclusion was based on medical advice suggesting that Mr Al-Megrahi's life expectancy might not exceed a total of three months. Medical judgments, much like legal ones, are based on practice and precedent. Medicine, however much we may wish it to be, is not an exact science, hence it is referred to by the term practice; no case is identical to any other in all respects and there must, therefore, always be an element of guesswork involved. Nevertheless, no sooner had the three month period elapsed than protests were emanating from predictable quarters in debating chambers and the press questioning why a Greater Power had neglected to avail Mr Al-Megrahi of an audience.
In light of the recent difficulties being encountered by BP in the USA, these voices have been encouraged to become increasingly shrill: with ill-informed aspersions being cast on an almost daily basis in the direction of the Scottish Government. Mr MacAskill employed due process under Scots law in acting as he did. He did not resort to the device of the PTA but instead applied a facility that is enshrined in Scots law, namely, compassionate release. All Scots have just cause to be proud of their system in this regard insofar as, combined with the fact that we have no death sentence available to us, we can demonstrate that we do not bring our system down to the level of the murderer to resolve our problems, and that we are compassionate. In response to the current attacks from both the USA and within the UK, it is now being suggested that an inquiry might be opened under the auspices of the Scottish Government into the circumstances of Mr Al-Megrahi's release.
In our view, it is vital that the scope of any such inquiry ought also to encompass all aspects of the Lockerbie affair from December 1988 to the present day, including the investigation of the disaster and the Zeist trial itself (as laid out in the UN petition). Clearly, it is our belief that Mr Al-Megrahi may have been a victim of a gross miscarriage of justice, and in that regard, simply to focus on the questions arising from his release is of secondary import. It goes without saying, therefore, that we would be fully supportive of a full, public inquiry of this type should Edinburgh wish to open one.
From a political standpoint, such a course of action might succeed in fanning the existing flames, however, we feel that to institute a more wide-ranging inquiry could well serve to silence some of the critics, or at least make them more circumspect before going public. A step of this nature may also go some way towards restoring faith in Scotland's once justifiably envied system of criminal justice, which is now internationally derided as a result of our continuing failure to tackle the problems created and sustained by the Lockerbie affair.
Finally, we should point out that the reason the petition was originally directed to the United Nations was because we considered that although the General Assembly does not have within its gift the power to subpoena witnesses to testify before it (unlike the Security Council), given the international nature of the incident and the fact that there seemed to be little appetite to open an inquiry in the either Westminster or Holyrood at the time, it was the appropriate route to follow. We hope that Holyrood will now take up the gauntlet and attempt to lift the fog that many feel has obscured aspects of this case from the very start.
Thank you kindly for your time and attention.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Forrester (Committee member of Justice for Megrahi).
LETTER TO SENATORS GILLIBRAND, KERRY, LAUTENBERG, MENENDEZ AND SCHUMER, 29TH JULY 2010.
Dear Senators Gillibrand, Kerry, Lautenberg, Menendez and Schumer,
You may be aware that a group of signatories, many of international repute, have lobbied both the United Nations Organisation General Assembly (September 2009) and more recently the Scottish Government (July 2010) in an effort to establish a thorough, all encompassing and open, public inquiry which would cover all matters relating to: the investigation into the downing of Pan Am flight 103 (1988), the Kamp van Zeist trail of Mr Al-Megrahi and Mr Fhimah, the acquittal of Mr Fhimah and the conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi (2001), and the eventual release of Mr Al-Megrahi (2009). The petition to the Scottish Government received the endorsement of seventeen signatories (see at the end: the list of signatories to the letter sent to the Scottish Government last week followed by a copy of the UN petition).
For your convenience, this link will provide you with a report on the Scottish letter and a link to the letter itself. The letter was sent both to First Minister, Alex Salmond, and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill:
http://www.firmmagazine.com/news/2045/Exclusive%3A_Salmond_pressed_to_instigate_inquiry_into_Pan_Am_103_by_international_coalition_including_Tutu%2C_Chomsky%2C_Dalyell%2C_Black_and_Swire.html
In light of recent developments taking place in Washington, signatories to the Scottish Government letter wish to extend an invitation to members of the Senate of the United States of America to add their support to lobbying the Scottish Government for an inquiry by becoming signatories to the letter themselves. We all deeply sympathise with the position of those bereaved families and friends resultant from the 103 tragedy who are satisfied that the Zeist conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi was safe. Given their position, it is hardly surprising that they are outraged by his release and return to Libya. Nevertheless, on the basis of the evidence laid before their Lordships at Kamp van Zeist, it has always been our contention that Mr Al-Megrahi may have been a victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. This view is clearly supported by the fact that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred the case to the Court of Appeal. This appeal was in progress up to a point immediately prior to Mr Al-Megrahi's release. We feel that the current focus on the circumstances surrounding Mr Al-Megrahi's release, whilst engaging in their own right, pale into insignificance if indeed there was a miscarriage of justice.
With regard to the release, we too have questions. The Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) reached by Prime Minister Blair and Colonel Gaddafi appears to be in direct contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 1192. It, moreover, seems to be rendered invalid by an existing agreement between the UK and US governments, which states that the prisoner was required to serve out his sentence in Scotland. If the PTA was in violation of the aforementioned, why was outrage not expressed on both sides of the Atlantic at the time of its being signed? See this link for details: http://i-p-o.org/Megrahi-statement-Koechler-IPO-nr-21Aug2009.htm
As it happens, and as you will be cognisant of, the PTA was not utilised in the release of Mr Al-Megrahi. He was released via due process under Scots Law by the device of Compassionate Release available the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Mr MacAskill, resulting from consideration of the prisoner’s medical condition. However, the following sequence of events may be worthy of investigation: Mr Al-Megrahi's appeal commences, Mr MacAskill visits Mr Al-Megrahi in Greenock gaol for a private interview, Mr Al-Megrahi drops his appeal, Mr Al-Megrahi is released and repatriated to Libya. Given that under Scots Law there is no requirement to drop an appeal to be granted Compassionate Release, many of us would like to know why this was done and what transpired during the meeting between Mr MacAskill and Mr Al-Megrahi at Greenock. See also:
http://i-p-o.org/IPO-nr-Megrahi-release-investigation-21July2010.htm
Dr Swire, in his capacity as one of those many bereaved by the tragedy over twenty-one years ago now, has already made an impassioned plea for support in his quest for justice to Senator Kerry recently. It is essential, even after the passing of so many years, to address the question marks which continue to hang over the entire Lockerbie affair. The bereaved rightfully deserved justice from Zeist in the same way that Mr Al-Megrahi rightfully expected it. However, the verdict produced such controversy that it is simply not sustainable to continue to claim that it was safe because it was the one preferred by the three judges at the time. This is why we have courts of appeal and why the SCCRC referred the case to the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh. Now that this legal avenue is no longer open, it appears that the only possible recourse to addressing the doubts surrounding the issue is by means of an inquiry.
It is inappropriate in this letter to list the litany of shortcomings in both the investigation of the disaster itself and the prosecution evidence laid before the court at the subsequent trial. The criticism is copious and has long been in the public domain. Professor Robert Black (oft referred to as the ‘architect’ of Zeist) and Dr Hans Köchler (International Observer at Zeist – appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan) have both variously and very publicly stated views ranging from the verdict’s being a clear miscarriage of justice to one which seemed more concerned with political expediency than justice. If protestations of this calibre alone are not enough to generate an inquiry, one feels obliged to ask: what is? If ever a case were crying out for an inquiry, it is this one. Not only for the bereaved, not only for Mr Al-Megrahi but for justice itself.
High above courthouses worldwide stands a statue of Justice holding scales in her left hand and in her right a sword. She is a symbol of the glue that binds together the very fabric of society. We depend on justice and its instrument, the law, to provide cohesion in our relationships. If justice loses its lustre or becomes tarnished, we degenerate into a world of cynicism and chaos. Surely it is a sign of a great society if that society can reflect on its deeds and not be afraid to revisit perceived mistakes to seek redress and right wrongs where they have been committed. To have the resolve to take such action is not an admission of weakness but a sign of supreme strength.
An inquiry will no doubt bring with it embarrassment for some as it calls into question their reputations. However, if justice is regarded as a tool with which to achieve expedient results and defend human frailties by obscuring the truth, we are all in a very sorry state indeed. We do not seek retribution, we seek the truth. The ghosts of Lockerbie must be laid to rest.
We hope, therefore, that you will feel able to identify with the sentiments expressed in this letter and join with us in lobbying the Scottish Government by adding your names to the list of signatories.
We all thank you for your time and attention, and look forward to hearing your response.
Yours sincerely,
Robert Forrester.
Megrahi's role
[This is the heading over a letter from Tam Dalyell in today's edition of The Scotsman. It reads as follows:]
In his lead letter under the heading "Megrahi was no innocent bystander" Robert [Durward] writes accusingly: "What is known is that al-Megrahi was a Libyan secret service agent who spent a lot of time overseas and who had access to bank accounts stuffed with cash. Perhaps he was buying fine art for Mr Gaddafi. We may never know but the inference that he was an innocent bystander is not credible."
Yes. But Mr Megrahi, in Barlinnie jail, told me that he was a buyer (ie sanctions buster) for spare parts for Libyan Arab Airlines and the Libyan oil industry, including material for Brown and Root, and scoured Europe and Africa to find equipment forbidden to Libya by American-inspired sanctions. I believed him.
The activities of a sanction buster are totally different from those of a mass murderer.
[I had deliberately ignored the Durward letter. Anyone interested in reading it can find it on The Scotsman website.]
In his lead letter under the heading "Megrahi was no innocent bystander" Robert [Durward] writes accusingly: "What is known is that al-Megrahi was a Libyan secret service agent who spent a lot of time overseas and who had access to bank accounts stuffed with cash. Perhaps he was buying fine art for Mr Gaddafi. We may never know but the inference that he was an innocent bystander is not credible."
Yes. But Mr Megrahi, in Barlinnie jail, told me that he was a buyer (ie sanctions buster) for spare parts for Libyan Arab Airlines and the Libyan oil industry, including material for Brown and Root, and scoured Europe and Africa to find equipment forbidden to Libya by American-inspired sanctions. I believed him.
The activities of a sanction buster are totally different from those of a mass murderer.
[I had deliberately ignored the Durward letter. Anyone interested in reading it can find it on The Scotsman website.]
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
A small step forward in the US?
[The following are excerpts from an article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal.]
Mr MacAskill, in granting compassionate release to Mr Megrahi, relied on a report from the head administrator for Scotland's prison health service saying that it was reasonable to estimate that Mr. Megrahi would die from prostate cancer within three months—though the report didn't present medical evidence directly supporting that prognosis.
At the time, Scotland's legal system was weeks away from facing a potentially embarrassing appeal over Mr Megrahi's still hotly-debated conviction for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. Mr Megrahi dropped his appeal two days before Mr MacAskill's decision to release him.
The evidence that led to Mr Megrahi's conviction has long been questioned by some legal experts.
"On absolutely crucial factual points, without which they could not have convicted [Mr Megrahi], their decision was simply contrary to the evidence," said Robert Black, a senior lawyer and former professor of Scots law at the University of Edinburgh. Mr Black helped design the special trial for Mr Megrahi held in the Netherlands under Scottish law. (...)
Scotland first fended off a legal appeal by Mr Megrahi in 2002. But in 2007, a review by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission identified six grounds on which it concluded that there "may have been a miscarriage of justice" in the case. That triggered a second appeal for Mr Megrahi, which was due to be heard in the fall of 2009.
The appeal was set to focus on issues that had been challenged, such as the validity of statements by a key witness.
With his compassionate-release application hanging in the balance, Mr Megrahi met on Aug 6, 2009, with Mr MacAskill.
On Aug 18, Mr Megrahi dropped his appeal. Two days after that, Mr MacAskill agreed to release Mr Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
Some politicians and critics have said Mr MacAskill was influenced by the pending appeal.
"Kenny would want to do what he would genuinely think is the right thing, and would try and protect the Scottish justice system," said Margo MacDonald, an independent member of the Scottish Parliament. Scotland defends the conviction, and denies Mr MacAskill traded Mr Megrahi his freedom in exchange for the dropped appeal.
"Megrahi was convicted by a Scottish Court, and Scottish Ministers do not doubt the safety of the conviction," said a spokesman for Mr MacAskill.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish prosecution service said the service "has supported the conviction vigorously and stood ready, willing and able to do so throughout the appeal process which Mr Megrahi abandoned."
Mr Megrahi wasn't legally required to drop his appeal to win compassionate release. He would have been obligated to do so under a separate petition he had filed to be returned to Libya under a prisoner-transfer agreement, but Scotland rejected that in favor of compassionate release.
Mr Megrahi was convicted based on a mix of physical and circumstantial evidence. Police traced fragments of clothes from the suitcase in which the bomb was detonated to a shop in Malta, whose owner, Antony Gauci, identified Mr Megrahi as looking "a lot" like the purchaser. Based on the evidence, the court concluded that the clothes were bought on Dec 7, 1988, a date when Mr Megrahi was staying in a nearby hotel.
The court also heard evidence that Mr Megrahi was at a Malta airport at a time when baggage was loaded onto a flight to Frankfurt, where it would be transferred to a flight to London and onto Pan Am Flight 103.
Other key parts of the prosecutor's case involved fragments of the bomb's timer, traced to a Swiss firm that admitted to dealings with Mr Megrahi and the Libyan military.
But when the Scottish commission reviewed the conviction, it said there was new evidence that raised questions about the identification by Mr Gauci. Though the commission declined to disclose this material, Mr Megrahi has since released documents claiming fresh evidence, including inconsistencies in what Mr Gauci had told prosecutors.
Mr Gauci's testimony about the date varied, according to these documents, and at one point he said the clothes were bought on Nov 29, 1988 — not Dec 7. The shopkeeper had also said Mr Megrahi bought the clothes before the switching on of local Christmas lights, while evidence submitted by Mr Megrahi's defense claims to show the lights were turned on earlier.
There also was previously undisclosed evidence that suggested that Mr Gauci had expressed interest in a financial reward prior to testifying, which Mr Megrahi's lawyers said raises questions about the reliability of the witness.
The documents quote extracts from a British police officer's diary that said the Department of Justice offered Mr Gauci $2 million if he gave evidence. The Department of Justice denies the offering such a payment. Mr Gauci couldn't be reached for comment.
Mr MacAskill, in granting compassionate release to Mr Megrahi, relied on a report from the head administrator for Scotland's prison health service saying that it was reasonable to estimate that Mr. Megrahi would die from prostate cancer within three months—though the report didn't present medical evidence directly supporting that prognosis.
At the time, Scotland's legal system was weeks away from facing a potentially embarrassing appeal over Mr Megrahi's still hotly-debated conviction for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. Mr Megrahi dropped his appeal two days before Mr MacAskill's decision to release him.
The evidence that led to Mr Megrahi's conviction has long been questioned by some legal experts.
"On absolutely crucial factual points, without which they could not have convicted [Mr Megrahi], their decision was simply contrary to the evidence," said Robert Black, a senior lawyer and former professor of Scots law at the University of Edinburgh. Mr Black helped design the special trial for Mr Megrahi held in the Netherlands under Scottish law. (...)
Scotland first fended off a legal appeal by Mr Megrahi in 2002. But in 2007, a review by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission identified six grounds on which it concluded that there "may have been a miscarriage of justice" in the case. That triggered a second appeal for Mr Megrahi, which was due to be heard in the fall of 2009.
The appeal was set to focus on issues that had been challenged, such as the validity of statements by a key witness.
With his compassionate-release application hanging in the balance, Mr Megrahi met on Aug 6, 2009, with Mr MacAskill.
On Aug 18, Mr Megrahi dropped his appeal. Two days after that, Mr MacAskill agreed to release Mr Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
Some politicians and critics have said Mr MacAskill was influenced by the pending appeal.
"Kenny would want to do what he would genuinely think is the right thing, and would try and protect the Scottish justice system," said Margo MacDonald, an independent member of the Scottish Parliament. Scotland defends the conviction, and denies Mr MacAskill traded Mr Megrahi his freedom in exchange for the dropped appeal.
"Megrahi was convicted by a Scottish Court, and Scottish Ministers do not doubt the safety of the conviction," said a spokesman for Mr MacAskill.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish prosecution service said the service "has supported the conviction vigorously and stood ready, willing and able to do so throughout the appeal process which Mr Megrahi abandoned."
Mr Megrahi wasn't legally required to drop his appeal to win compassionate release. He would have been obligated to do so under a separate petition he had filed to be returned to Libya under a prisoner-transfer agreement, but Scotland rejected that in favor of compassionate release.
Mr Megrahi was convicted based on a mix of physical and circumstantial evidence. Police traced fragments of clothes from the suitcase in which the bomb was detonated to a shop in Malta, whose owner, Antony Gauci, identified Mr Megrahi as looking "a lot" like the purchaser. Based on the evidence, the court concluded that the clothes were bought on Dec 7, 1988, a date when Mr Megrahi was staying in a nearby hotel.
The court also heard evidence that Mr Megrahi was at a Malta airport at a time when baggage was loaded onto a flight to Frankfurt, where it would be transferred to a flight to London and onto Pan Am Flight 103.
Other key parts of the prosecutor's case involved fragments of the bomb's timer, traced to a Swiss firm that admitted to dealings with Mr Megrahi and the Libyan military.
But when the Scottish commission reviewed the conviction, it said there was new evidence that raised questions about the identification by Mr Gauci. Though the commission declined to disclose this material, Mr Megrahi has since released documents claiming fresh evidence, including inconsistencies in what Mr Gauci had told prosecutors.
Mr Gauci's testimony about the date varied, according to these documents, and at one point he said the clothes were bought on Nov 29, 1988 — not Dec 7. The shopkeeper had also said Mr Megrahi bought the clothes before the switching on of local Christmas lights, while evidence submitted by Mr Megrahi's defense claims to show the lights were turned on earlier.
There also was previously undisclosed evidence that suggested that Mr Gauci had expressed interest in a financial reward prior to testifying, which Mr Megrahi's lawyers said raises questions about the reliability of the witness.
The documents quote extracts from a British police officer's diary that said the Department of Justice offered Mr Gauci $2 million if he gave evidence. The Department of Justice denies the offering such a payment. Mr Gauci couldn't be reached for comment.
Alex Salmond will not publish Lockerbie bomber medical records
[This is the headline over a report just published on The Guardian website. The following are extracts:]
Alex Salmond is to reject renewed calls from a group of US senators to publish the full medical records of the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
The first minister's officials are writing a "courteous" letter to the four Democrat senators turning down their requests to disclose Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's private medical reports, with the names and expertise of his doctors, and to ask the Libyan for permission to release the papers. (...)
Salmond officials will tell the four senators that the only published statement on al-Megrahi's illness, written by Andrew Fraser, director of health with the Scottish prison service and released last year, is the definitive medical report.
They believe medical notes written by his doctors and specialists should remain private as they belong to him as the patient. It is understood that al-Megrahi would also refuse that request.
Scottish government officials privately believe the four senators are exploiting the issue for domestic political reasons: Gillibrand and Schumer are fighting for reelection in November.
Sources in Edinburgh point out their demands have not been supported by the Senate's foreign relations committee, which first began an inquiry into allegations that BP influenced al-Megrahi's release. Of the four, only Menendez and Gillibrand are committee members.
But the senator's demands were supported by the Scottish Labour party and Scottish Tories, who repeated their requests for the full disclosure of all the medical evidence.
James Kelly, Labour's community safety spokesman and the brother of al-Megrahi's Scottish lawyer, Tony Kelly, said MacAskill should have nothing to hide. "The Scottish government keep talking about the array of doctors that were spoken to but no one knows what they actually said," Kelly said.
"It's time for full transparency and anything less that full disclosure smacks of cover-up."
Tony Kelly would not comment on his client's views.
Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader, said: "Every day that the SNP refuses to publish their evidence, suspicions only grow that the prison doctor's opinion was not supported by the cancer experts. Until we see that evidence, we do not know."
[James Kelly and Annabel Goldie should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. But they are, of course, respectively, Labour and Tory politicians so perhaps no better can be expected. It is to be hoped that the First Minister in his letter to the senators does not overdo the courtesy.]
Alex Salmond is to reject renewed calls from a group of US senators to publish the full medical records of the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
The first minister's officials are writing a "courteous" letter to the four Democrat senators turning down their requests to disclose Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's private medical reports, with the names and expertise of his doctors, and to ask the Libyan for permission to release the papers. (...)
Salmond officials will tell the four senators that the only published statement on al-Megrahi's illness, written by Andrew Fraser, director of health with the Scottish prison service and released last year, is the definitive medical report.
They believe medical notes written by his doctors and specialists should remain private as they belong to him as the patient. It is understood that al-Megrahi would also refuse that request.
Scottish government officials privately believe the four senators are exploiting the issue for domestic political reasons: Gillibrand and Schumer are fighting for reelection in November.
Sources in Edinburgh point out their demands have not been supported by the Senate's foreign relations committee, which first began an inquiry into allegations that BP influenced al-Megrahi's release. Of the four, only Menendez and Gillibrand are committee members.
But the senator's demands were supported by the Scottish Labour party and Scottish Tories, who repeated their requests for the full disclosure of all the medical evidence.
James Kelly, Labour's community safety spokesman and the brother of al-Megrahi's Scottish lawyer, Tony Kelly, said MacAskill should have nothing to hide. "The Scottish government keep talking about the array of doctors that were spoken to but no one knows what they actually said," Kelly said.
"It's time for full transparency and anything less that full disclosure smacks of cover-up."
Tony Kelly would not comment on his client's views.
Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader, said: "Every day that the SNP refuses to publish their evidence, suspicions only grow that the prison doctor's opinion was not supported by the cancer experts. Until we see that evidence, we do not know."
[James Kelly and Annabel Goldie should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. But they are, of course, respectively, Labour and Tory politicians so perhaps no better can be expected. It is to be hoped that the First Minister in his letter to the senators does not overdo the courtesy.]
Victim’s father seeks correction over luggage allegation on TV
[This is the headline over a report in today's edition of the Maltese newspaper The Times. It reads in part:]
Air Malta “is following developments” after Scottish Television on Monday reiterated the allegation that the Lockerbie bomb was loaded in Malta in an unaccompanied luggage.
“Air Malta is following the story as it develops and we will be in a better position to comment further at a later stage,” a spokesman for the national carrier said when asked whether the company was going to protest its innocence.
The airline had threatened court action some years ago when Granada TV had broadcast a similar allegation and the station had to reach an out of court settlement.
The airline has always denied it transported unaccompanied luggage. (...)
The father of one of the victims, Jim Swire, yesterday wrote to STV asking them to correct the wrong impression given by the programme that the fatal bomb was loaded in an unaccompanied luggage on an Air Malta flight in Luqa.
According to the prosecution, the luggage containing the bomb was transferred in Frankfurt to a London-bound flight where it was again transferred to Pan-Am flight 103.
Dr Swire has long maintained that Mr al-Megrahi is innocent and has challenged the prosecution’s case implicating Malta. (...)
In comments to STV, Dr Swire talked of his “unshakeable belief” that the circumstances of his daughter’s murder “have become wrapped up in a tissue of lies”.
The prosecution’s main plank during the trial was Sliema merchant Tony Gauci who identified Mr al-Megrahi as the one who bought clothes from his shop days before the Lockerbie bombing.
Fragments of clothes from the Lockerbie crash site were traced back to Malta and Mr Gauci’s Sliema shop.
However, serious doubts were cast on Mr Gauci’s testimony because the identification of Mr al-Megrahi came only years later after the witness had seen him pictured in a magazine as a Lockerbie suspect. In fact, over the past years, the credibility of the main thesis that saw Mr al-Megrahi being convicted was seriously called into question.
Mr al-Megrahi was a Libyan secret service officer stationed in Malta with Libyan Arab airlines but Malta has always denied the bomb was loaded at Luqa airport.
[A similar story appears in Malta Today.
Amongst the many Lockerbie-related things that I wish for is that journalists would stop blithely referring to Abdelbaset Megrahi as "a secret service officer" or as an intelligence officer. Here is what I have said about this elsewhere when enumerating the evidential factors that the Zeist judges used to justify their decision to convict:]
3. Megrahi was a member of the Libyan intelligence service.
Commentary. The only evidence to this effect came from a Libyan defector and CIA asset, Abdul Majid Giaka, now living in the United States under a witness protection programme. He gave evidence highly incriminating of both Megrahi and the co-accused Fhima. However, the trial judges rejected his evidence as wholly and utterly unworthy of credit, with the sole exception of his evidence regarding the Libyan intelligence service and Megrahi’s position therein. The court provides no reasons for accepting Giaka’s evidence on this issue while comprehensively rejecting it on every other matter.
Air Malta “is following developments” after Scottish Television on Monday reiterated the allegation that the Lockerbie bomb was loaded in Malta in an unaccompanied luggage.
“Air Malta is following the story as it develops and we will be in a better position to comment further at a later stage,” a spokesman for the national carrier said when asked whether the company was going to protest its innocence.
The airline had threatened court action some years ago when Granada TV had broadcast a similar allegation and the station had to reach an out of court settlement.
The airline has always denied it transported unaccompanied luggage. (...)
The father of one of the victims, Jim Swire, yesterday wrote to STV asking them to correct the wrong impression given by the programme that the fatal bomb was loaded in an unaccompanied luggage on an Air Malta flight in Luqa.
According to the prosecution, the luggage containing the bomb was transferred in Frankfurt to a London-bound flight where it was again transferred to Pan-Am flight 103.
Dr Swire has long maintained that Mr al-Megrahi is innocent and has challenged the prosecution’s case implicating Malta. (...)
In comments to STV, Dr Swire talked of his “unshakeable belief” that the circumstances of his daughter’s murder “have become wrapped up in a tissue of lies”.
The prosecution’s main plank during the trial was Sliema merchant Tony Gauci who identified Mr al-Megrahi as the one who bought clothes from his shop days before the Lockerbie bombing.
Fragments of clothes from the Lockerbie crash site were traced back to Malta and Mr Gauci’s Sliema shop.
However, serious doubts were cast on Mr Gauci’s testimony because the identification of Mr al-Megrahi came only years later after the witness had seen him pictured in a magazine as a Lockerbie suspect. In fact, over the past years, the credibility of the main thesis that saw Mr al-Megrahi being convicted was seriously called into question.
Mr al-Megrahi was a Libyan secret service officer stationed in Malta with Libyan Arab airlines but Malta has always denied the bomb was loaded at Luqa airport.
[A similar story appears in Malta Today.
Amongst the many Lockerbie-related things that I wish for is that journalists would stop blithely referring to Abdelbaset Megrahi as "a secret service officer" or as an intelligence officer. Here is what I have said about this elsewhere when enumerating the evidential factors that the Zeist judges used to justify their decision to convict:]
3. Megrahi was a member of the Libyan intelligence service.
Commentary. The only evidence to this effect came from a Libyan defector and CIA asset, Abdul Majid Giaka, now living in the United States under a witness protection programme. He gave evidence highly incriminating of both Megrahi and the co-accused Fhima. However, the trial judges rejected his evidence as wholly and utterly unworthy of credit, with the sole exception of his evidence regarding the Libyan intelligence service and Megrahi’s position therein. The court provides no reasons for accepting Giaka’s evidence on this issue while comprehensively rejecting it on every other matter.
Whole Lockerbie case must be reviewed
[This is the heading over three letters published in today's edition of The Scotsman. They read as follows:]
W Robert Durward (Letters, 10 August) points out that Megrahi's trial has never been officially acknowledged as a "travesty of justice". However, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) stated: "The commission is of the view that based upon our lengthy investigations, the new evidence we have found and other evidence which was not before the trial court, that the applicant may have suffered a miscarriage of justice."
If we take into consideration that this was the biggest mass murder committed in Scotland in modern times, many are rightly of the belief we should rigorously review the whole case and investigate fully the glaring fragility of the evidence used in the Camp Zeist trial.
If the Scottish criminal justice system made a mistake and jailed an innocent man, then it needs to be open and honest if it ever hopes to retain the confidence of the concerned Scottish public.
David Flett
Monday's STV documentary on Lockerbie was interesting in that Tony Kelly, Megrahi's lawyer, seemed bullish about the new evidence for the SCCRC appeal and especially the fact that Tony Gauci, the Maltese shopkeeper had been given £2 million for giving the evidence that was pivotal to Megrahi's conviction. The US government official would not comment on this, but it does raise some questions as to Gauci's impartiality.
Surely former lord advocate Lord Fraser was mistaken when he told the Sunday Times that "Gauci was not quite the full shilling. I think even his family would say (that he] was an apple short of a picnic". It would seem to me that Tony Gauci is very much "all there, and a wee bit mair", as they say in Fife. But whether justice was best served by this witness is another matter.
Tom Minogue
A year ago, at the height of the furore over the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber, Scotland was subjected to a barrage of (mostly ill-informed) hostile criticism from the United States.
At that time, you published a letter from me in which I suggested that, with Guantanamo Bay and extraordinary rendition as examples of US justice at work, it ill-suited Hillary Clinton, amongst others, to lecture Scotland on the operation of any justice system, let alone a compassionate one. I have waited in vain for someone of influence in Scotland to express similar views in public. At last, Cardinal Keith O'Brien has spoken out.
Rather than simply "welcoming" his views (your report, 9 August), is it not time for Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill to reiterate the words of Cardinal O'Brien on every possible occasion?
Alan R Irons
[The following is a letter published in today's edition of The Herald.]
Jim Swire’s is one of the most uplifting letters I have ever read in your columns (The Herald, August 10). It is a privilege to share the planet with him.
He has suffered as great a blow as anyone can – the loss of a very close relative through personal malicious violence – and yet no rancour is there.
Although he acknowledges that in American culture there is some aspect of vengeance, he does not brand them all so. He says US Lockerbie relatives are the same kind of people he has encountered here and have the same desires as he has. I think we are too ready to assign national attributes. I have many American relatives and friends, and when asked how I find Americans, I reply, some I like, a few I dislike but the great majority I do not know well enough either to like or dislike. That answer would also apply to other nationals I know well: Indians, English and Scots. I imagine it would also apply to those whom I only know in small numbers or have not yet met. Perceived national stereotypes are poor guides to behaviour.
The problem of determining the truth is a persistent one, but I feel a chimera. I have spent my working life in science where hypotheses are tested in the laboratory. Having observed the most plausible hypotheses turn out to be defective, I have little faith in any inquiry yielding the truth. If a well-equipped laboratory cannot be absolutely certain of its results, what chance is there of a committee coming to an ultimately valid conclusion when its evidence is not only volatile but dependent on human observation, not of the directed kind as in the laboratory, but rather of a casual view of an event not recognised as important at the time? Human memory, even at the best of times, is frail.
Perhaps the best we can do is, as Dr Swire suggests, have the incident looked at by a group in whom we can trust, but that will lead to a never-ending regress if we look for faults in its findings. As Dr Swire says, the relatives want closure.
Chris Parton
[As someone who yesterday spent over four hours in the company of Dr Swire and Rev John Mosey, I wish to record how wholeheartedly, in respect of each, I endorse the second sentence of Mr Parton's letter.]
W Robert Durward (Letters, 10 August) points out that Megrahi's trial has never been officially acknowledged as a "travesty of justice". However, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) stated: "The commission is of the view that based upon our lengthy investigations, the new evidence we have found and other evidence which was not before the trial court, that the applicant may have suffered a miscarriage of justice."
If we take into consideration that this was the biggest mass murder committed in Scotland in modern times, many are rightly of the belief we should rigorously review the whole case and investigate fully the glaring fragility of the evidence used in the Camp Zeist trial.
If the Scottish criminal justice system made a mistake and jailed an innocent man, then it needs to be open and honest if it ever hopes to retain the confidence of the concerned Scottish public.
David Flett
Monday's STV documentary on Lockerbie was interesting in that Tony Kelly, Megrahi's lawyer, seemed bullish about the new evidence for the SCCRC appeal and especially the fact that Tony Gauci, the Maltese shopkeeper had been given £2 million for giving the evidence that was pivotal to Megrahi's conviction. The US government official would not comment on this, but it does raise some questions as to Gauci's impartiality.
Surely former lord advocate Lord Fraser was mistaken when he told the Sunday Times that "Gauci was not quite the full shilling. I think even his family would say (that he] was an apple short of a picnic". It would seem to me that Tony Gauci is very much "all there, and a wee bit mair", as they say in Fife. But whether justice was best served by this witness is another matter.
Tom Minogue
A year ago, at the height of the furore over the decision to release the Lockerbie bomber, Scotland was subjected to a barrage of (mostly ill-informed) hostile criticism from the United States.
At that time, you published a letter from me in which I suggested that, with Guantanamo Bay and extraordinary rendition as examples of US justice at work, it ill-suited Hillary Clinton, amongst others, to lecture Scotland on the operation of any justice system, let alone a compassionate one. I have waited in vain for someone of influence in Scotland to express similar views in public. At last, Cardinal Keith O'Brien has spoken out.
Rather than simply "welcoming" his views (your report, 9 August), is it not time for Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill to reiterate the words of Cardinal O'Brien on every possible occasion?
Alan R Irons
[The following is a letter published in today's edition of The Herald.]
Jim Swire’s is one of the most uplifting letters I have ever read in your columns (The Herald, August 10). It is a privilege to share the planet with him.
He has suffered as great a blow as anyone can – the loss of a very close relative through personal malicious violence – and yet no rancour is there.
Although he acknowledges that in American culture there is some aspect of vengeance, he does not brand them all so. He says US Lockerbie relatives are the same kind of people he has encountered here and have the same desires as he has. I think we are too ready to assign national attributes. I have many American relatives and friends, and when asked how I find Americans, I reply, some I like, a few I dislike but the great majority I do not know well enough either to like or dislike. That answer would also apply to other nationals I know well: Indians, English and Scots. I imagine it would also apply to those whom I only know in small numbers or have not yet met. Perceived national stereotypes are poor guides to behaviour.
The problem of determining the truth is a persistent one, but I feel a chimera. I have spent my working life in science where hypotheses are tested in the laboratory. Having observed the most plausible hypotheses turn out to be defective, I have little faith in any inquiry yielding the truth. If a well-equipped laboratory cannot be absolutely certain of its results, what chance is there of a committee coming to an ultimately valid conclusion when its evidence is not only volatile but dependent on human observation, not of the directed kind as in the laboratory, but rather of a casual view of an event not recognised as important at the time? Human memory, even at the best of times, is frail.
Perhaps the best we can do is, as Dr Swire suggests, have the incident looked at by a group in whom we can trust, but that will lead to a never-ending regress if we look for faults in its findings. As Dr Swire says, the relatives want closure.
Chris Parton
[As someone who yesterday spent over four hours in the company of Dr Swire and Rev John Mosey, I wish to record how wholeheartedly, in respect of each, I endorse the second sentence of Mr Parton's letter.]
Justice Secretary repeats support for full Lockerbie inquiry
[The following are excerpts from a report in today's edition of The Herald.]
The Holyrood Ministerial roadshow received a boost in Stirling when unexpected visitor and former Labour foe Dennis Canavan received applause for backing the SNP-administration’s approach on the Megrahi case.
The former Labour MP turned independent MSP received the first applause of a public meeting in the city’s Albert Halls to coincide with a cabinet meeting convened by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in the absence of Alex Salmond who is on holiday.
Mr Canavan, still a popular figure in Stirlingshire, rose to support the issue of raising Scotland’s profile on the international stage.
He then said he supported the decision of Mr MacAskill almost a year ago to release on compassionate grounds the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, the applause for his comments doubling as he “wholeheartedly supported” the refusal of Scottish ministers to heed a summons to appear before US senators.
But the former MSP said “unanswered questions” about the Megrahi conviction led him to believe an international commission or tribunal would be best placed to reveal what had really happened during the case.
“What action is the Scottish Government taking to bring about such an inquiry?” he asked, prompting Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to respond that, while he supported such a course of events, the Scottish Government simply did not have the powers needed to order such an inquiry, which could only be created by the UK, the US or the United Nations.
[The local newspaper for the area in which the meeting was held, the Stirling Observer, reports the exchange as follows:]
Former Falkirk West MSP Dennis Canavan raised the controversial subject of the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.
He said he supported justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision to release the bomber on compassionate grounds – and the Scottish Government’s decision not to go “crawling across to the other side of the Atlantic” to give evidence at a US inquiry – but added that some kind of international inquiry was necessary and asked what steps the administration was taking on this issue.
Mr MacAskill answered that when he made the decision to release the bomber he “also made clear that there are outstanding issues”.
He added: “I made it quite clear that I would fully support an inquiry that had the appropriate jurisdiction.
“Scotland doesn’t have that jurisdiction however. It is beyond the limitations we have either as a government or in the laws of Scotland.”
[The excuse about the Scottish Government not having sufficient powers to institute a meaningful inquiry is becoming boring. To quote from a recent letter sent by the Justice for Megrahi campaign:]
The Scottish Government should not be allowed to expect other authorities to pick up the gauntlet.
*The case was investigated by a Scottish police force.
*The trial was conducted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was imprisoned in a Scottish gaol.
*The SCCRC referred the second appeal to the Scottish Court of Appeal.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was given compassionate release by the Scottish Cabinet Minister for Justice.
This is undeniably a Scottish issue.
The Holyrood Ministerial roadshow received a boost in Stirling when unexpected visitor and former Labour foe Dennis Canavan received applause for backing the SNP-administration’s approach on the Megrahi case.
The former Labour MP turned independent MSP received the first applause of a public meeting in the city’s Albert Halls to coincide with a cabinet meeting convened by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in the absence of Alex Salmond who is on holiday.
Mr Canavan, still a popular figure in Stirlingshire, rose to support the issue of raising Scotland’s profile on the international stage.
He then said he supported the decision of Mr MacAskill almost a year ago to release on compassionate grounds the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, the applause for his comments doubling as he “wholeheartedly supported” the refusal of Scottish ministers to heed a summons to appear before US senators.
But the former MSP said “unanswered questions” about the Megrahi conviction led him to believe an international commission or tribunal would be best placed to reveal what had really happened during the case.
“What action is the Scottish Government taking to bring about such an inquiry?” he asked, prompting Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to respond that, while he supported such a course of events, the Scottish Government simply did not have the powers needed to order such an inquiry, which could only be created by the UK, the US or the United Nations.
[The local newspaper for the area in which the meeting was held, the Stirling Observer, reports the exchange as follows:]
Former Falkirk West MSP Dennis Canavan raised the controversial subject of the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.
He said he supported justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision to release the bomber on compassionate grounds – and the Scottish Government’s decision not to go “crawling across to the other side of the Atlantic” to give evidence at a US inquiry – but added that some kind of international inquiry was necessary and asked what steps the administration was taking on this issue.
Mr MacAskill answered that when he made the decision to release the bomber he “also made clear that there are outstanding issues”.
He added: “I made it quite clear that I would fully support an inquiry that had the appropriate jurisdiction.
“Scotland doesn’t have that jurisdiction however. It is beyond the limitations we have either as a government or in the laws of Scotland.”
[The excuse about the Scottish Government not having sufficient powers to institute a meaningful inquiry is becoming boring. To quote from a recent letter sent by the Justice for Megrahi campaign:]
The Scottish Government should not be allowed to expect other authorities to pick up the gauntlet.
*The case was investigated by a Scottish police force.
*The trial was conducted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was convicted under Scots Law.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was imprisoned in a Scottish gaol.
*The SCCRC referred the second appeal to the Scottish Court of Appeal.
*Mr Al-Megrahi was given compassionate release by the Scottish Cabinet Minister for Justice.
This is undeniably a Scottish issue.
Libyan-hired docs had no role in Lockerbie release
Doctors for convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi had no role in the decision to release him last year on compassionate grounds because of prostate cancer, according to information from Scotland authorities Tuesday.
Three doctors hired by Libyan authorities to assess al Megrahi "played no part of any kind in the decision on compassionate release," according to the information provided on background by a Scottish government official.
Al Megrahi was given three months to live when he was set free by Scotland last year to return home to Libya.
He is still alive today, and four US senators from New York and New Jersey are demanding answers from Scotland on details of the decision to release him. (...)
In a letter Tuesday, the four Democratic senators -- Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, and Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York -- asked the Scottish government to release al Megrahi's full medical records.
"We understand that an extensive medical record was used as the basis of the decision to release Mr. al Megrahi, but only one three-page medical document with redactions has been released by the Scottish government," wrote the senators. "Independent examination of Mr. al Megrahi's complete medical record is necessary in order to understand the circumstances surrounding his compassionate release."
A Scottish government spokesman told CNN on Tuesday that the senators' letter had been received, and there would be a response in due course.
Additional information provided on background concluded that a three-month prognosis for al Megrahi was a reasonable estimate, said Dr. Andrew Fraser, the director of health and care of the Scottish Prison Service.
Fraser's assessment was the medical report submitted to the justice secretary, along with reports from the Parole Board and the prison governor, according to the information, which also said all the reports supported a compassionate release of al Megrahi.
It said Fraser relied on advice from various cancer specialists and denied media reports that the decision was based on the opinion of one doctor.
According to the information, the assessments by the three doctors hired by Libya -- identified as Ibrahim Sherif, Karol Sikora and Jonathan Waxman -- were never considered by Fraser.
[From a report on the CNN website.]
Three doctors hired by Libyan authorities to assess al Megrahi "played no part of any kind in the decision on compassionate release," according to the information provided on background by a Scottish government official.
Al Megrahi was given three months to live when he was set free by Scotland last year to return home to Libya.
He is still alive today, and four US senators from New York and New Jersey are demanding answers from Scotland on details of the decision to release him. (...)
In a letter Tuesday, the four Democratic senators -- Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, and Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York -- asked the Scottish government to release al Megrahi's full medical records.
"We understand that an extensive medical record was used as the basis of the decision to release Mr. al Megrahi, but only one three-page medical document with redactions has been released by the Scottish government," wrote the senators. "Independent examination of Mr. al Megrahi's complete medical record is necessary in order to understand the circumstances surrounding his compassionate release."
A Scottish government spokesman told CNN on Tuesday that the senators' letter had been received, and there would be a response in due course.
Additional information provided on background concluded that a three-month prognosis for al Megrahi was a reasonable estimate, said Dr. Andrew Fraser, the director of health and care of the Scottish Prison Service.
Fraser's assessment was the medical report submitted to the justice secretary, along with reports from the Parole Board and the prison governor, according to the information, which also said all the reports supported a compassionate release of al Megrahi.
It said Fraser relied on advice from various cancer specialists and denied media reports that the decision was based on the opinion of one doctor.
According to the information, the assessments by the three doctors hired by Libya -- identified as Ibrahim Sherif, Karol Sikora and Jonathan Waxman -- were never considered by Fraser.
[From a report on the CNN website.]
Reviews of "Lockerbie: Unfinished Business"
[Review by Dominic Cavendish in the Daily Telegraph:]
Last time we saw David Benson at the festival he was performing songs by Noel Coward in the clipped and high-class manner of the Master. His best-loved solo show to date, Think No Evil of Us, capitalised on his uncanny ability to impersonate Kenneth Williams.
So it’s quite a huge leap, then, for the actor to go all serious for a change and under-take the role of Jim Swire, the real-life doctor who has tirelessly campaigned to find out the truth behind the 1988 bombing of Pam Am Flight 103, which claimed his 24-year-old daughter Flora among its 270 victims.
Better known for his comedic impersonations, David Benson's latest production isn't just a stark contrast to what we expect from him - it's arguably his finest work to date.
It’s a leap Benson makes with absolute assurance in a performance that must rank as one of the most quietly compelling and finely judged on the Fringe.
As the first anniversary of the roundly condemned decision to release Ali Al Megrahi nears, Lockerbie: Unfinished Business, drawn from Swire’s own manuscripts, doesn’t hijack the occasion to make glib, headline-grabbing points. Swire’s position about the “Lockerbie bomber” is made abundantly clear towards the end: “The scandal is not that he was released but that he was ever imprisoned in the first place.”
The over-riding achievement of this concise, calmly delivered 60-minute address, though, is that it resists cut-and-dried conclusions and knee-jerk responses. It eloquently insists that the more carefully you look at the case, the more questions lie unanswered.
Part of its persuasive power lies in Benson’s own understatement. Tales of official obfuscation and obstruction are relayed with a wintry humour. There’s even matter for bleak mirth in a description of an encounter with Colonel Gaddafi conducted in a lavishly arrayed Libyan bunker lined with gun-toting female bodyguards.
Grief and anger are kept bundled under the cloak of British reticence. At times, we see the pain breaking through, as when, blinking back tears, he pictures the terrifying seconds on-board following the detonation. Such moments, almost unbearable to watch, bring home the fact that far from disqualifying Swire from his relentless quest for justice, his undying sense of loss underpins his mission with a humanity that has been woefully absent in far too many quarters for far too long.
[Review by Barry Gordon in The Scotsman:]
In Lockerbie: Unfinished Business, Benson plays Dr Jim Swire, the man who has sought (and fought) to bring those responsible for the murder of his daughter, Flora (as well as the other 270 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103), to justice.
There's not enough space to convey the raw emotion, depth and scope that goes into Benson's logical analysis as to why the attack took place, how it was achieved and, ultimately, not who was responsible, but who wasn't.
Controversy still surrounds this subject, 22 years on from the terrorist attack, public opinion largely divided on the matter. However, the best way to approach this show is to remind yourself that it's about a father who has lost his daughter.
Archive footage from the period, as well as a tear-welling cassette-recording of a song Flora sang as a seven-year-old, isn't a cynical ploy to tug at the heart-strings either, it's simply the truth.
Overall then, a story that many feel deserves to be told. As Benson as Swire says: "Justice is knowing the right people." Riveting.
[Review by Nadine McBay on the Big On Glasgow website:]
When we saw Abdelbaset al-Megrahi being given a hero’s welcome at Tripoli airport last August, many were appalled. Others found the sight of a mail jailed for the worst ever terrorist attack on UK soil being garlanded distasteful at best.
Indeed, in the ongoing furore since Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill gave the go-ahead to release al-Megrahi, the argument has been characterised as that between retribution for the killing of 270 people and compassion for a man supposedly in the advanced stages of terminal cancer.
And yet, to Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was on board that fatal flight, the scandal isn’t that al-Megrahi was released or seemingly refuses to die, the real scandal is that the Libyan was imprisoned in the first place.
Written and performed by Fringe veteran David Benson, this revelatory piece claims that the case against al-Megrahi hung on the involvement of his supposed accomplice Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, a man who was unanimously acquitted by three judges in January 2001. More shocking still, it claims that the evidence points to Iranian, not Libyan responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
Based on his own interview with Swire, Peter Biddulph’s as-yet unpublished book Moving The World and other documentary evidence, including verbatim testimonies from the trial at Camp Zeist, Benson’s play is sober, meticulous and controversial – much like Swire himself. Briskly taking the stage, Benson shows us how Swire easily took a fake bomb onto a flight from Heathrow to JFK. ‘I made a lot of enemies with that stunt,’ he acknowledges, aware that to many – not least many of the grieving American families – he’s viewed as a deluded victim of a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, a man driven so mad by his loss that he’s sided with the ‘enemy’. (...)
Portraying Swire as the unshowy, level-headed GP that he appears to be on camera, Benson rounds out the character with credible moments of humour and anguish. It’s also to Benson’s credit that he’s compacted over two decades of material into a compelling 70 minute piece of theatre. Often breaking out of the monologue for moments of action, news reports or to play another character, he’s pitched the piece somewhere between docu-drama and presentation. You’ll need your wits about you, certainly, and though Lockerbie won’t have you reeling in the face of pizzazz and spectacle, it can’t help but lead you to question the official record of events.
It closes with footage of the actual Mr and Mrs Swire at their daughter’s grave and a shot of the memorial to all those murdered that night. It’s a reminder that Benson has taken on a lot here; from Swire and his daughter to the reputations and motives of countless witnesses, experts and pawns. Kirsty Wark was at this performance; perhaps some of those she’s interviewed will take note too. Essential viewing, whatever your own theories are.
[The performance can be seen at the Gilded Balloon until 30 August. A video about the play can be viewed on The Guardian website.]
Last time we saw David Benson at the festival he was performing songs by Noel Coward in the clipped and high-class manner of the Master. His best-loved solo show to date, Think No Evil of Us, capitalised on his uncanny ability to impersonate Kenneth Williams.
So it’s quite a huge leap, then, for the actor to go all serious for a change and under-take the role of Jim Swire, the real-life doctor who has tirelessly campaigned to find out the truth behind the 1988 bombing of Pam Am Flight 103, which claimed his 24-year-old daughter Flora among its 270 victims.
Better known for his comedic impersonations, David Benson's latest production isn't just a stark contrast to what we expect from him - it's arguably his finest work to date.
It’s a leap Benson makes with absolute assurance in a performance that must rank as one of the most quietly compelling and finely judged on the Fringe.
As the first anniversary of the roundly condemned decision to release Ali Al Megrahi nears, Lockerbie: Unfinished Business, drawn from Swire’s own manuscripts, doesn’t hijack the occasion to make glib, headline-grabbing points. Swire’s position about the “Lockerbie bomber” is made abundantly clear towards the end: “The scandal is not that he was released but that he was ever imprisoned in the first place.”
The over-riding achievement of this concise, calmly delivered 60-minute address, though, is that it resists cut-and-dried conclusions and knee-jerk responses. It eloquently insists that the more carefully you look at the case, the more questions lie unanswered.
Part of its persuasive power lies in Benson’s own understatement. Tales of official obfuscation and obstruction are relayed with a wintry humour. There’s even matter for bleak mirth in a description of an encounter with Colonel Gaddafi conducted in a lavishly arrayed Libyan bunker lined with gun-toting female bodyguards.
Grief and anger are kept bundled under the cloak of British reticence. At times, we see the pain breaking through, as when, blinking back tears, he pictures the terrifying seconds on-board following the detonation. Such moments, almost unbearable to watch, bring home the fact that far from disqualifying Swire from his relentless quest for justice, his undying sense of loss underpins his mission with a humanity that has been woefully absent in far too many quarters for far too long.
[Review by Barry Gordon in The Scotsman:]
In Lockerbie: Unfinished Business, Benson plays Dr Jim Swire, the man who has sought (and fought) to bring those responsible for the murder of his daughter, Flora (as well as the other 270 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103), to justice.
There's not enough space to convey the raw emotion, depth and scope that goes into Benson's logical analysis as to why the attack took place, how it was achieved and, ultimately, not who was responsible, but who wasn't.
Controversy still surrounds this subject, 22 years on from the terrorist attack, public opinion largely divided on the matter. However, the best way to approach this show is to remind yourself that it's about a father who has lost his daughter.
Archive footage from the period, as well as a tear-welling cassette-recording of a song Flora sang as a seven-year-old, isn't a cynical ploy to tug at the heart-strings either, it's simply the truth.
Overall then, a story that many feel deserves to be told. As Benson as Swire says: "Justice is knowing the right people." Riveting.
[Review by Nadine McBay on the Big On Glasgow website:]
When we saw Abdelbaset al-Megrahi being given a hero’s welcome at Tripoli airport last August, many were appalled. Others found the sight of a mail jailed for the worst ever terrorist attack on UK soil being garlanded distasteful at best.
Indeed, in the ongoing furore since Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill gave the go-ahead to release al-Megrahi, the argument has been characterised as that between retribution for the killing of 270 people and compassion for a man supposedly in the advanced stages of terminal cancer.
And yet, to Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was on board that fatal flight, the scandal isn’t that al-Megrahi was released or seemingly refuses to die, the real scandal is that the Libyan was imprisoned in the first place.
Written and performed by Fringe veteran David Benson, this revelatory piece claims that the case against al-Megrahi hung on the involvement of his supposed accomplice Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, a man who was unanimously acquitted by three judges in January 2001. More shocking still, it claims that the evidence points to Iranian, not Libyan responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
Based on his own interview with Swire, Peter Biddulph’s as-yet unpublished book Moving The World and other documentary evidence, including verbatim testimonies from the trial at Camp Zeist, Benson’s play is sober, meticulous and controversial – much like Swire himself. Briskly taking the stage, Benson shows us how Swire easily took a fake bomb onto a flight from Heathrow to JFK. ‘I made a lot of enemies with that stunt,’ he acknowledges, aware that to many – not least many of the grieving American families – he’s viewed as a deluded victim of a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, a man driven so mad by his loss that he’s sided with the ‘enemy’. (...)
Portraying Swire as the unshowy, level-headed GP that he appears to be on camera, Benson rounds out the character with credible moments of humour and anguish. It’s also to Benson’s credit that he’s compacted over two decades of material into a compelling 70 minute piece of theatre. Often breaking out of the monologue for moments of action, news reports or to play another character, he’s pitched the piece somewhere between docu-drama and presentation. You’ll need your wits about you, certainly, and though Lockerbie won’t have you reeling in the face of pizzazz and spectacle, it can’t help but lead you to question the official record of events.
It closes with footage of the actual Mr and Mrs Swire at their daughter’s grave and a shot of the memorial to all those murdered that night. It’s a reminder that Benson has taken on a lot here; from Swire and his daughter to the reputations and motives of countless witnesses, experts and pawns. Kirsty Wark was at this performance; perhaps some of those she’s interviewed will take note too. Essential viewing, whatever your own theories are.
[The performance can be seen at the Gilded Balloon until 30 August. A video about the play can be viewed on The Guardian website.]
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Call to reveal Megrahi doctors' advice
The Scottish Government faced calls to name the doctors whose advice resulted in the assessment that the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing had three months to live. (...)
The bomber was given three months to live, but is still living with his family in Tripoli.
Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made the decision to free the Libyan after receiving advice that no specialist "would be willing to say" if a three-month prognosis was reasonable.
Dr Andrew Fraser, director of health and care of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), said in his report to Kenny MacAskill that his clinical assessment drew on expert advice from a number of cancer specialists.
Labour have now called on the SNP government to reveal the identities of those doctors and what their prognosis was.
The party's community safety spokesman James Kelly said: "It's time that Kenny MacAskill released the full facts surrounding the medical evidence of Al Megrahi's release."
As part of their push, Labour has pointed to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology from two years ago.
It said patients with advanced metastatic prostate cancer, which is resistant to hormone treatment, had a median life expectancy of 19.2 months from the start of chemotherapy. (...)
A Scottish Government spokeswoman defended Dr Fraser and his assessment of Al Megrahi's condition, adding he was "a professional of unimpeachable integrity".
"Dr Fraser drew on expert advice from a number of cancer specialists in coming to his clinical assessment that a three month prognosis was a reasonable estimate for Al Megrahi - it was not based on the opinion of any one doctor," she said.
"These specialists included two consultant oncologists, two consultant urologists and a number of other specialists, including a palliative care team, and Mr Al Megrahi's primary care physician."
In a documentary screened in Scotland on Monday night, Mr MacAskill said he acted "in good faith" when he authorised the release of Al Megrahi.
He said in the STV programme: "I authorised it. I did so in good faith and I believe everybody who's been involved in this has also acted in good faith.
"It was my responsibility and I stand by my actions."
[From a report on the Sky News website.]
The bomber was given three months to live, but is still living with his family in Tripoli.
Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made the decision to free the Libyan after receiving advice that no specialist "would be willing to say" if a three-month prognosis was reasonable.
Dr Andrew Fraser, director of health and care of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), said in his report to Kenny MacAskill that his clinical assessment drew on expert advice from a number of cancer specialists.
Labour have now called on the SNP government to reveal the identities of those doctors and what their prognosis was.
The party's community safety spokesman James Kelly said: "It's time that Kenny MacAskill released the full facts surrounding the medical evidence of Al Megrahi's release."
As part of their push, Labour has pointed to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology from two years ago.
It said patients with advanced metastatic prostate cancer, which is resistant to hormone treatment, had a median life expectancy of 19.2 months from the start of chemotherapy. (...)
A Scottish Government spokeswoman defended Dr Fraser and his assessment of Al Megrahi's condition, adding he was "a professional of unimpeachable integrity".
"Dr Fraser drew on expert advice from a number of cancer specialists in coming to his clinical assessment that a three month prognosis was a reasonable estimate for Al Megrahi - it was not based on the opinion of any one doctor," she said.
"These specialists included two consultant oncologists, two consultant urologists and a number of other specialists, including a palliative care team, and Mr Al Megrahi's primary care physician."
In a documentary screened in Scotland on Monday night, Mr MacAskill said he acted "in good faith" when he authorised the release of Al Megrahi.
He said in the STV programme: "I authorised it. I did so in good faith and I believe everybody who's been involved in this has also acted in good faith.
"It was my responsibility and I stand by my actions."
[From a report on the Sky News website.]
Independent inquiry into Lockerbie could help the world to learn truth of atrocity
[This is the heading over two letters published in today's edition of The Herald. They read as follows:]
No matter whether you believe that Libya and Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, seeking revenge for the bombing of Tripoli and Bengazi by the USAF in 1986, were responsible for Lockerbie, or whether you believe that it was Iran obtaining vengeance for the US destruction of its airliner in July 1988 with the loss of 290 lives, you are forced to the same conclusion: the Lockerbie atrocity was an act of revenge. What could better support Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s argument?
During the hearings in the Camp Zeist court, long before the verdict was reached, I heard a US citizen suggesting that “Libya should be nuked" and one of us was asked by another American how we (UK relatives) could bear to sit near the Libyan relatives in the public gallery. Was that a kind of school-bus racism or merely evidence of a presumption of as yet unproven guilt?
The US Lockerbie relatives I have met are decent folk with similar objectives in life to ours. Some have become friends and have been most generous on many occasions, welcoming us into their homes and sharing research with us. They deserve closure on their grief, just as we do in the UK, and it is very sad that some now seem unable to consider for themselves whether Megrahi really was guilty, preferring blindly to accept what their culture is telling them, a culture which seems to some of us, and I suspect to Cardinal O’Brien, to steer a path perilously close to revenge under the mantra of God’s Own Country “kicking ass”. But is the right ass being kicked, or is that of secondary importance in US culture?
It is as the cardinal says: there is a clash of cultures and, like him, I want to live in a culture capable of compassion. I believe that the Church of Scotland also supported compassionate release of Megrahi.
A culture tending towards vengeance will always find widespread support, because the lust for revenge is latent in us all. When I first went to see Colonel Gaddafi to ask that he allow his people to be tried in a Scottish court, I knew I did not want the alleged culprits to be tried in the US, where I felt sure that, given even a minimum of evidence, they would be found guilty and executed. Like the cardinal, I did not want that option to be available.
I also believed that Scottish justice was among the fairest available. I still believe that if Scotland can set up or allow a vehicle for the full objective re-examination of the evidence to be created, she could redeem her reputation for fairness. We must remember that our own Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission found after more than three years of careful scrutiny that this trial may have been a miscarriage of justice.
History would look askance upon a country that left so great a question unresolved, and with such evidence available. The world might be more credulous of the result if Scotland allows a distinguished, expert and uninvolved set of examiners to address the issues. Yes, Scottish heads might roll, and to applaud that risks being vengeful, but there are still the entities of right and wrong in this world, and the Scottish nation has existed long enough to know the difference.
There was evidence at Camp Zeist that made me and many others doubt Megrahi’s guilt. Much more has accumulated since, and the total of it now strains credulity beyond breaking point. Not only that, some of the evidence which has accumulated, even since the SCCRC made its comments, suggests connivance in the perversion of justice. More detailed allegations should await a fully empowered re-assessment.
Rightly, Scotland accepted the burden of bringing justice down upon the heads of those responsible. For that privilege, it must now bear the responsibility for making sure that the verdict reached is sound, and seen to be sound, beyond any reasonable doubt.
The world owes us all the truth, and we need a system of justice in which we can have faith.
Dr Jim Swire
Cardinal Keith O’Brien has not missed and hit the wall. He is absolutely correct to attack the US “culture of vengeance” and support Scottish officials’ decision not to go crawling to America.
While every sympathy must go out to the bereaved families in America, it sometimes tends to be forgotten that Scotland also suffered greatly in the Lockerbie atrocity. I fully agree with Dr Jim Swire when he says we should look for justice rather than vengeance.
The night before the US led invasion of Iraq, I recall a telephone conversation I had with an American friend when we spoke of our horror of what was to come. We agreed that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, but as my friend sadly remarked: “America has to blame someone, and anyone will do.”
Ruth Marr
No matter whether you believe that Libya and Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, seeking revenge for the bombing of Tripoli and Bengazi by the USAF in 1986, were responsible for Lockerbie, or whether you believe that it was Iran obtaining vengeance for the US destruction of its airliner in July 1988 with the loss of 290 lives, you are forced to the same conclusion: the Lockerbie atrocity was an act of revenge. What could better support Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s argument?
During the hearings in the Camp Zeist court, long before the verdict was reached, I heard a US citizen suggesting that “Libya should be nuked" and one of us was asked by another American how we (UK relatives) could bear to sit near the Libyan relatives in the public gallery. Was that a kind of school-bus racism or merely evidence of a presumption of as yet unproven guilt?
The US Lockerbie relatives I have met are decent folk with similar objectives in life to ours. Some have become friends and have been most generous on many occasions, welcoming us into their homes and sharing research with us. They deserve closure on their grief, just as we do in the UK, and it is very sad that some now seem unable to consider for themselves whether Megrahi really was guilty, preferring blindly to accept what their culture is telling them, a culture which seems to some of us, and I suspect to Cardinal O’Brien, to steer a path perilously close to revenge under the mantra of God’s Own Country “kicking ass”. But is the right ass being kicked, or is that of secondary importance in US culture?
It is as the cardinal says: there is a clash of cultures and, like him, I want to live in a culture capable of compassion. I believe that the Church of Scotland also supported compassionate release of Megrahi.
A culture tending towards vengeance will always find widespread support, because the lust for revenge is latent in us all. When I first went to see Colonel Gaddafi to ask that he allow his people to be tried in a Scottish court, I knew I did not want the alleged culprits to be tried in the US, where I felt sure that, given even a minimum of evidence, they would be found guilty and executed. Like the cardinal, I did not want that option to be available.
I also believed that Scottish justice was among the fairest available. I still believe that if Scotland can set up or allow a vehicle for the full objective re-examination of the evidence to be created, she could redeem her reputation for fairness. We must remember that our own Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission found after more than three years of careful scrutiny that this trial may have been a miscarriage of justice.
History would look askance upon a country that left so great a question unresolved, and with such evidence available. The world might be more credulous of the result if Scotland allows a distinguished, expert and uninvolved set of examiners to address the issues. Yes, Scottish heads might roll, and to applaud that risks being vengeful, but there are still the entities of right and wrong in this world, and the Scottish nation has existed long enough to know the difference.
There was evidence at Camp Zeist that made me and many others doubt Megrahi’s guilt. Much more has accumulated since, and the total of it now strains credulity beyond breaking point. Not only that, some of the evidence which has accumulated, even since the SCCRC made its comments, suggests connivance in the perversion of justice. More detailed allegations should await a fully empowered re-assessment.
Rightly, Scotland accepted the burden of bringing justice down upon the heads of those responsible. For that privilege, it must now bear the responsibility for making sure that the verdict reached is sound, and seen to be sound, beyond any reasonable doubt.
The world owes us all the truth, and we need a system of justice in which we can have faith.
Dr Jim Swire
Cardinal Keith O’Brien has not missed and hit the wall. He is absolutely correct to attack the US “culture of vengeance” and support Scottish officials’ decision not to go crawling to America.
While every sympathy must go out to the bereaved families in America, it sometimes tends to be forgotten that Scotland also suffered greatly in the Lockerbie atrocity. I fully agree with Dr Jim Swire when he says we should look for justice rather than vengeance.
The night before the US led invasion of Iraq, I recall a telephone conversation I had with an American friend when we spoke of our horror of what was to come. We agreed that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, but as my friend sadly remarked: “America has to blame someone, and anyone will do.”
Ruth Marr
Monday, 9 August 2010
Lockerbie documentary to screen tonight on STV
Almost one year on from Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi’s early release on compassionate grounds, STV is this evening to air a special programme on the disaster and the international investigation which led to the Libyan being convicted of the murder of 270 people.
The Lockerbie Bomber: Sent Home to Die - being transmitted at 9pm this evening - also reports outrage in the US over the Scottish Government’s controversial decision to allow Megrahi to return home to Libya to die. (...)
Narrated by Kaye Adams, one of the first reporters at the scene, this programme speaks to key people involved and charts the story of the Lockerbie disaster from that horrific night on 21 December 1988, through to the Scottish Government’s decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds in August last year.
The programme features rarely-seen archive news footage and new interviews with the relatives of the victims, Scottish and American detectives who led the investigation and cancer specialists who examined Megrahi prior to his release, and Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill who defends his controversial decision.
[From a report on the Allmedia Scotland website. The hour-long programme starts at 21.00.
The STV News website has a report advertising tonight's programme headlined "MacAskill: No backroom deal behind Lockerbie bomber's release".]
The Lockerbie Bomber: Sent Home to Die - being transmitted at 9pm this evening - also reports outrage in the US over the Scottish Government’s controversial decision to allow Megrahi to return home to Libya to die. (...)
Narrated by Kaye Adams, one of the first reporters at the scene, this programme speaks to key people involved and charts the story of the Lockerbie disaster from that horrific night on 21 December 1988, through to the Scottish Government’s decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds in August last year.
The programme features rarely-seen archive news footage and new interviews with the relatives of the victims, Scottish and American detectives who led the investigation and cancer specialists who examined Megrahi prior to his release, and Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill who defends his controversial decision.
[From a report on the Allmedia Scotland website. The hour-long programme starts at 21.00.
The STV News website has a report advertising tonight's programme headlined "MacAskill: No backroom deal behind Lockerbie bomber's release".]
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