[This is the headline over an article dated 25 June on the website of The New York Times. It reads in part:]
At least six men suspected or convicted of crimes that threaten national security retained their federal aviation licenses, despite antiterrorism laws written after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that required license revocation. Among them was a Libyan sentenced to 27 years in prison by a Scottish court for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie.
In response to questions from The New York Times, the Transportation Security Administration, which is supposed to root out such individuals, announced that the Federal Aviation Administration suspended the licenses on Thursday. (...)
The two on the most wanted list were the defendants in the Pan Am 103 case, listed by the F.B.I. in 1995 as Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhima. The former is in the public F.A.A. records as Abdelbaset Ali Elmegrahi. While the transliteration of the Arabic differs between the two agencies, both records list the same birth date.
“This data’s dirty,” said Mark Schiffer, who works for the family company along with his father. “People have typos, misspellings, and the data gets truncated or entered in the wrong field.” (...)
But the matching is not difficult, using “fuzzy logic” developed in the banking industry, he said, and with clues like a post office box address in Tripoli used by both the bomber who was convicted, and a co-defendant who was acquitted by the Scottish court, listed on his F.A.A. license as Lamen Khalifa Fhima.
The two men were considered to be Libyan intelligence agents, yet they remained licensed as flight dispatchers, an obscure but critical profession in the airline world. Dispatchers help draw up flight plans, calculate how many people and how much cargo and baggage the plane can carry, and so on.
Friday 26 June 2009
Tuesday 23 June 2009
The Truth, Trust, Inconsistencies and Contradictions of Lockerbie
[This is the heading over a lengthy and important recent post on the Ed's Blog City weblog. Reproduced below is the bulk of the text of the post.]
Since the release of the Dutch TV documentary, "Lockerbie:Revisted", a number of curious unexplained inconsistencies in the accounts given by many of those who led the investigation have remained unchallenged. Officially anyway. The documentary maker Gideon Levy asked a number of important questions, crucial to the investigation and pivotal to the whole case, which were quite clearly not satisfactorily answered. Even more astounding, given the position and power of those in the investigation, some of the answers given by those entrusted to find those guilty of the bombing in 1988 directly conflicted with one another.
Mr Levy's first unexplained question relates to the PFLP-GC cell which was exposed by the German BKA and who's members were arrested in Neuss, Germany in October 1988, two months before the Pan Am bombing. They had been discovered with an array of weapons including a radio cassette manipulated into a bomb designed specifically for targeting aircraft. The key member of this group Marwan Khreesat, seemingly known to be the bomb maker, and part of a group planning on attacking American targets, was inexplicably released without charge and was thought to have left Germany for Jordan. After the bombing over Lockerbie, and it was determined that the bomb had been concealed in a radio cassette player, naturally suspicion focussed on the cell that had been exposed in Germany.
Lord Fraser, the former Lord Advocate entrusted in leading the investigation into the bombing, claims that the Scottish authorities were never given the opportunity to question Khreesat at any point with regard to any connection or knowledge about the Lockerbie bombing. Mr Khresat's involvement with the PFLP group and yet subsequent release can only be explained by deducing he was involved with very powerful individuals with the capability of securing such a release, and we can only conclude that the chance to question him was denied due to Khreesat's complex and unclear association with various intelligence and government agencies.
Richard Marquise, head of the FBI investigative team, states that he does not know why Khreesat was released by the Germans, and it is a matter Mr Levy should take up with the German government to clarify. Mr Marquise considers an explanation may be that Khreesat was working for the Palestinian group, as a bomb maker targeting US trains, bases and aircraft, but was also involved with the Jordanian intelligence services who enabled his release from Germany. Lord Fraser however, suggests that the only plausible explanation was that Khreesat was working for the Palestinian group while also involved with US intelligence therefore facilitating his release from Germany and proving someone who the Scottish authorities could not gain access to interview.
This in itself seems a disturbing chain of events and assumptions by those investigating the bombing of 103, and even more inexplicable to those who expect honest endeavour when seeking truth and justice from the investigators, especially given the nature of Khreesat's activities in Germany and his apparent history of expertise in bomb making. This cynicism is merely strengthened when Mr Fraser had stated unequivocally that neither he nor the Scottish prosecutors had ever gained access, despite repeated attempts, "they (the PFLP-GC cell) had simply disappeared", to interview Khreesat, while Mr Marquise seems quite indifferent to the fact that the German authorities had simply released a man of extremely dubious background clearly engaged in activities to cause serious harm to American citizens and institutions.
Mr Marquise does however state that to his knowledge Scottish prosecutors did in fact interview Khreesat, as did the FBI in 1989, clearly contradicting Lord Fraser's position, and that Scottish investigators were happy to accept Khreesat's word during an interview that he knew nothing of the Lockerbie bombing. That a key figure such as Khreesat, the man that according to Mr Marquise was "building the bombs", with the motive, method and capability of attacking US targets, and whether investigators had interviewed him or not, is not conclusively known to either of the two people leading the investigation, is simply incomprehensible.
Mr Levy then enquires about the possibilty of financial payments made to witnesses before, during or subsequent to the trial at Zeist in Holland where Al-Megrahi was found guilty. Inducement had been made to the public by the US authorities to "Give up these terrorists, and we'll give you upto $4 million" by the way of posters with photographs of the two Libyans, and presumably, naturally, by those investigating while interviewing suspects or witnesses. Even if not explicitly offered to those potential witnesses by investigators, the witnesses would be well aware of the financial reward that was available for the successful conviction of the two Libyan's.
Both Lord Fraser and Mr Marquise deny any financial reward, as promised in the posters and adverts issued, was made before or during the trial. However, while Lord Fraser is unaware of any payment subsequent to the trial, Mr Marquise will not comment. The only implication that can be made from this is that the reward offered before the trial and during the investigation was indeed paid to some witnesses after the trial. Any financial reward or inducement to those providing statements would surely render any testimony or information as lacking credibility and does not enhance the supposed search for 'truth' when life changing amounts of money are used as enticement.
So concerned with the implication of rewards to witnesses that Lord Fraser is reluctant to even comment on the suggestion that money was paid to witnesses after the trial without his knowledge.
The focus of the documentary then turns to the most pivotal and crucial piece of evidence found during the investigation and presented at the trial in Zeist. The fragment of microchip discovered 6 months (although the exact period has been disputed) after the disaster, and determined to be the most significant piece of evidence linking the bomb to a Swiss timer manufacturer who had links to Megrahi and Libya.
This particular piece of evidence, the microchip fragment, already somewhat controversial given the unexplained altering of the labels on evidence bags containing the 'charred' fragments, was examined and concluded had originated with the Swiss company called 'Mebo'. They had supplied these timers, it was claimed, to Libya, and Megrahi with his connections and dealings with Mebo, had used this timer in constructing the bomb which he then placed on a flight in Malta, later finding it's way onto the Pan Am flight from Heathrow.
Now it seems, neither Lord Fraser or Mr Marquise can conclusively explain who exactly made this identification of the timer fragment, and where this identification was made. In the UK or in Washington? By Mr Thurman or Mr Feraday? The fragment itself, or as part of the larger circuit board from where the fragment came? By photograph or the actual fragment?
Mr Marquise is certain that this evidence was transported from the UK to the US, and taken to the FBI labs in Washington, by a member of RARDE, thought to be Alan Feraday were the identification was made. The photograph of the tiny piece of fragment of the microchip (evidence PT35b) on a persons finger is claimed to be that of Thomas Thurman of the FBI, who was also the scientist who uncovered the microchips origin and connection to the circuit board made by Mebo. He claims in Mr Levy's film that the microchip was "brought over by UK authorities" to the United States were identification was made, and was conclusively re-identified in the UK by RARDE (Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment).
However, once again there are contradictions in the accounts given. Lord Fraser is adamant that no evidence recovered from the Pan Am debris has ever left his authority or the UK mainland. This would have compromised the whole investigation and could have resulted in accusations of manipulation and, or, contamination of any evidence purity. Detective Chief Supt Mr Stuart Henderson, head of the UK police investigation, also states that the evidence relating to Pan Am 103, any evidence, but specifically the fragment of microchip, never left the UK mainland, but in actual fact the US investigators and the FBI had travelled to the UK to identify the fragment at RARDE with Mr Feraday.
When the public are asked to trust the integrity of those we commend with providing the truth and justice our democratic society demands, expectations can be, on occasion, somewhat unrealistic. Especially when dealing with highly complex issues of international politics, international crimes of nation states and multi-national business corporations. The public however, do expect a genuine and honest search for these truths, and those we charge with this responsibility to fulfil those simplest and most honourable tasks to have carried out their duty, with conscience and integrity.
Those who died over Lockerbie, and the families of the victims deserve at least this. With the pain of a lost loved one however, the relatives of those who died have also had to endure the persistent inaccuracies, the constant contradictions, and the inexplicable decisions taken with respect to those who carried out the atrocity and how their government failed in their loved ones protection. Not by those who wish to seek conspiracies were there are none, and not by those who have ulterior motives for continuing to ask questions. But by the very investigators, police, professionals, experts, lawyers and those in power entrusted with upholding their faith in human kind and seeking justice in the supposed democratic nation we live in today. For those fundamental expectations and hopes are diminished with every conflicting statement, every unexplained area of the investigation, and every inscrutable and unaccountable decision taken by those with power in relation to finding the true perpetrators who organised and carried out the crime over Lockerbie in 1988.
Since the release of the Dutch TV documentary, "Lockerbie:Revisted", a number of curious unexplained inconsistencies in the accounts given by many of those who led the investigation have remained unchallenged. Officially anyway. The documentary maker Gideon Levy asked a number of important questions, crucial to the investigation and pivotal to the whole case, which were quite clearly not satisfactorily answered. Even more astounding, given the position and power of those in the investigation, some of the answers given by those entrusted to find those guilty of the bombing in 1988 directly conflicted with one another.
Mr Levy's first unexplained question relates to the PFLP-GC cell which was exposed by the German BKA and who's members were arrested in Neuss, Germany in October 1988, two months before the Pan Am bombing. They had been discovered with an array of weapons including a radio cassette manipulated into a bomb designed specifically for targeting aircraft. The key member of this group Marwan Khreesat, seemingly known to be the bomb maker, and part of a group planning on attacking American targets, was inexplicably released without charge and was thought to have left Germany for Jordan. After the bombing over Lockerbie, and it was determined that the bomb had been concealed in a radio cassette player, naturally suspicion focussed on the cell that had been exposed in Germany.
Lord Fraser, the former Lord Advocate entrusted in leading the investigation into the bombing, claims that the Scottish authorities were never given the opportunity to question Khreesat at any point with regard to any connection or knowledge about the Lockerbie bombing. Mr Khresat's involvement with the PFLP group and yet subsequent release can only be explained by deducing he was involved with very powerful individuals with the capability of securing such a release, and we can only conclude that the chance to question him was denied due to Khreesat's complex and unclear association with various intelligence and government agencies.
Richard Marquise, head of the FBI investigative team, states that he does not know why Khreesat was released by the Germans, and it is a matter Mr Levy should take up with the German government to clarify. Mr Marquise considers an explanation may be that Khreesat was working for the Palestinian group, as a bomb maker targeting US trains, bases and aircraft, but was also involved with the Jordanian intelligence services who enabled his release from Germany. Lord Fraser however, suggests that the only plausible explanation was that Khreesat was working for the Palestinian group while also involved with US intelligence therefore facilitating his release from Germany and proving someone who the Scottish authorities could not gain access to interview.
This in itself seems a disturbing chain of events and assumptions by those investigating the bombing of 103, and even more inexplicable to those who expect honest endeavour when seeking truth and justice from the investigators, especially given the nature of Khreesat's activities in Germany and his apparent history of expertise in bomb making. This cynicism is merely strengthened when Mr Fraser had stated unequivocally that neither he nor the Scottish prosecutors had ever gained access, despite repeated attempts, "they (the PFLP-GC cell) had simply disappeared", to interview Khreesat, while Mr Marquise seems quite indifferent to the fact that the German authorities had simply released a man of extremely dubious background clearly engaged in activities to cause serious harm to American citizens and institutions.
Mr Marquise does however state that to his knowledge Scottish prosecutors did in fact interview Khreesat, as did the FBI in 1989, clearly contradicting Lord Fraser's position, and that Scottish investigators were happy to accept Khreesat's word during an interview that he knew nothing of the Lockerbie bombing. That a key figure such as Khreesat, the man that according to Mr Marquise was "building the bombs", with the motive, method and capability of attacking US targets, and whether investigators had interviewed him or not, is not conclusively known to either of the two people leading the investigation, is simply incomprehensible.
Mr Levy then enquires about the possibilty of financial payments made to witnesses before, during or subsequent to the trial at Zeist in Holland where Al-Megrahi was found guilty. Inducement had been made to the public by the US authorities to "Give up these terrorists, and we'll give you upto $4 million" by the way of posters with photographs of the two Libyans, and presumably, naturally, by those investigating while interviewing suspects or witnesses. Even if not explicitly offered to those potential witnesses by investigators, the witnesses would be well aware of the financial reward that was available for the successful conviction of the two Libyan's.
Both Lord Fraser and Mr Marquise deny any financial reward, as promised in the posters and adverts issued, was made before or during the trial. However, while Lord Fraser is unaware of any payment subsequent to the trial, Mr Marquise will not comment. The only implication that can be made from this is that the reward offered before the trial and during the investigation was indeed paid to some witnesses after the trial. Any financial reward or inducement to those providing statements would surely render any testimony or information as lacking credibility and does not enhance the supposed search for 'truth' when life changing amounts of money are used as enticement.
So concerned with the implication of rewards to witnesses that Lord Fraser is reluctant to even comment on the suggestion that money was paid to witnesses after the trial without his knowledge.
The focus of the documentary then turns to the most pivotal and crucial piece of evidence found during the investigation and presented at the trial in Zeist. The fragment of microchip discovered 6 months (although the exact period has been disputed) after the disaster, and determined to be the most significant piece of evidence linking the bomb to a Swiss timer manufacturer who had links to Megrahi and Libya.
This particular piece of evidence, the microchip fragment, already somewhat controversial given the unexplained altering of the labels on evidence bags containing the 'charred' fragments, was examined and concluded had originated with the Swiss company called 'Mebo'. They had supplied these timers, it was claimed, to Libya, and Megrahi with his connections and dealings with Mebo, had used this timer in constructing the bomb which he then placed on a flight in Malta, later finding it's way onto the Pan Am flight from Heathrow.
Now it seems, neither Lord Fraser or Mr Marquise can conclusively explain who exactly made this identification of the timer fragment, and where this identification was made. In the UK or in Washington? By Mr Thurman or Mr Feraday? The fragment itself, or as part of the larger circuit board from where the fragment came? By photograph or the actual fragment?
Mr Marquise is certain that this evidence was transported from the UK to the US, and taken to the FBI labs in Washington, by a member of RARDE, thought to be Alan Feraday were the identification was made. The photograph of the tiny piece of fragment of the microchip (evidence PT35b) on a persons finger is claimed to be that of Thomas Thurman of the FBI, who was also the scientist who uncovered the microchips origin and connection to the circuit board made by Mebo. He claims in Mr Levy's film that the microchip was "brought over by UK authorities" to the United States were identification was made, and was conclusively re-identified in the UK by RARDE (Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment).
However, once again there are contradictions in the accounts given. Lord Fraser is adamant that no evidence recovered from the Pan Am debris has ever left his authority or the UK mainland. This would have compromised the whole investigation and could have resulted in accusations of manipulation and, or, contamination of any evidence purity. Detective Chief Supt Mr Stuart Henderson, head of the UK police investigation, also states that the evidence relating to Pan Am 103, any evidence, but specifically the fragment of microchip, never left the UK mainland, but in actual fact the US investigators and the FBI had travelled to the UK to identify the fragment at RARDE with Mr Feraday.
When the public are asked to trust the integrity of those we commend with providing the truth and justice our democratic society demands, expectations can be, on occasion, somewhat unrealistic. Especially when dealing with highly complex issues of international politics, international crimes of nation states and multi-national business corporations. The public however, do expect a genuine and honest search for these truths, and those we charge with this responsibility to fulfil those simplest and most honourable tasks to have carried out their duty, with conscience and integrity.
Those who died over Lockerbie, and the families of the victims deserve at least this. With the pain of a lost loved one however, the relatives of those who died have also had to endure the persistent inaccuracies, the constant contradictions, and the inexplicable decisions taken with respect to those who carried out the atrocity and how their government failed in their loved ones protection. Not by those who wish to seek conspiracies were there are none, and not by those who have ulterior motives for continuing to ask questions. But by the very investigators, police, professionals, experts, lawyers and those in power entrusted with upholding their faith in human kind and seeking justice in the supposed democratic nation we live in today. For those fundamental expectations and hopes are diminished with every conflicting statement, every unexplained area of the investigation, and every inscrutable and unaccountable decision taken by those with power in relation to finding the true perpetrators who organised and carried out the crime over Lockerbie in 1988.
Sunday 21 June 2009
Megrahi prosecutor: I would not have let evidence go to US
Lord Fraser says alleged transfer of timer to FBI lab would have compromised the Lockerbie bomb trial
Lord Fraser, the former lord advocate who charged the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, has revealed he was unaware that evidence presented at his trial seems to have left Britain beforehand.
The Tory peer has told a television documentary that he did not know that a fragment of circuit board linked to the bomb had allegedly been moved to an FBI lab in Washington for analysis ahead of the trial and conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
Fraser said he would not have agreed to the step because it could have left the crown open to accusations at the trial that the circuit board could have been damaged or tampered with during the move.
The original trial heard the fragment was found in a piece of recovered clothing in a wood 25 miles from Lockerbie, six months after the bombing in December 1988.
Prosecutors linked it to Megrahi after Thomas Thurman of the FBI identified it as part of a sophisticated timer used to detonate explosives. He said it was made by Mebo, a Swiss firm which supplied the component only to Libya and the East German Stasi.
Fraser’s comments were made in a Dutch documentary called “Lockerbie Revisited”. (...)
The Libyan authorities have asked Scottish ministers to transfer Megrahi to their custody under the terms of a transfer deal brokered by London and Tripoli, but a condition of the treaty is that prisoners cannot leave the country while criminal proceedings are ongoing.
Megrahi, who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, has revealed that he does not believe he will live to clear his name. He said he may drop his appeal to try to spend his final days with his family. (...)
He said his low spirits as a result of being away from his wife, children and parents, were reducing the chances of his body responding to medical treatment and that there was now little to keep him here.
He made his views known last week in a meeting with Christine Grahame, the nationalist MSP, who has taken an interest in his case. He told her he was happy for his views to be publicised although his lawyer has stipulated that he cannot be directly quoted.
Megrahi believes he will die by the end of the year, long before his appeal is expected to conclude and complains that prison is reducing his lifespan. He claims his isolation and depression are reducing the chance of his body responding to the medical treatment he receives. If your mood is low the body will not respond properly to medication to fight the disease, he told Grahame.
There is no consideration in the criminal justice system for his health, Megrahi said. People do not care about his condition and the system is unfair, he added.
The Scottish prison service says it always provides seriously ill prisoners with support.
Megrahi regards as perverse the fact that his transfer to Libya would not be guaranteed even if he agrees first to drop his appeal, but he feels he may have to take the gamble.
[From an article by Jason Allardyce in today's edition of The Sunday Times.]
Lord Fraser, the former lord advocate who charged the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, has revealed he was unaware that evidence presented at his trial seems to have left Britain beforehand.
The Tory peer has told a television documentary that he did not know that a fragment of circuit board linked to the bomb had allegedly been moved to an FBI lab in Washington for analysis ahead of the trial and conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
Fraser said he would not have agreed to the step because it could have left the crown open to accusations at the trial that the circuit board could have been damaged or tampered with during the move.
The original trial heard the fragment was found in a piece of recovered clothing in a wood 25 miles from Lockerbie, six months after the bombing in December 1988.
Prosecutors linked it to Megrahi after Thomas Thurman of the FBI identified it as part of a sophisticated timer used to detonate explosives. He said it was made by Mebo, a Swiss firm which supplied the component only to Libya and the East German Stasi.
Fraser’s comments were made in a Dutch documentary called “Lockerbie Revisited”. (...)
The Libyan authorities have asked Scottish ministers to transfer Megrahi to their custody under the terms of a transfer deal brokered by London and Tripoli, but a condition of the treaty is that prisoners cannot leave the country while criminal proceedings are ongoing.
Megrahi, who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, has revealed that he does not believe he will live to clear his name. He said he may drop his appeal to try to spend his final days with his family. (...)
He said his low spirits as a result of being away from his wife, children and parents, were reducing the chances of his body responding to medical treatment and that there was now little to keep him here.
He made his views known last week in a meeting with Christine Grahame, the nationalist MSP, who has taken an interest in his case. He told her he was happy for his views to be publicised although his lawyer has stipulated that he cannot be directly quoted.
Megrahi believes he will die by the end of the year, long before his appeal is expected to conclude and complains that prison is reducing his lifespan. He claims his isolation and depression are reducing the chance of his body responding to the medical treatment he receives. If your mood is low the body will not respond properly to medication to fight the disease, he told Grahame.
There is no consideration in the criminal justice system for his health, Megrahi said. People do not care about his condition and the system is unfair, he added.
The Scottish prison service says it always provides seriously ill prisoners with support.
Megrahi regards as perverse the fact that his transfer to Libya would not be guaranteed even if he agrees first to drop his appeal, but he feels he may have to take the gamble.
[From an article by Jason Allardyce in today's edition of The Sunday Times.]
Thursday 18 June 2009
Megrahi will not return home as a hero
[This is the headline over an article, which I have just discovered, by Ben Borland in the edition of the Sunday Express of 14 June. It reads as follows:]
Colonel Gaddafi has vowed not to give Megrahi a hero’s welcome if he is returned to Libya next month.
Tripoli has agreed to keep the homecoming “very low profile” amid fears of hindering the country’s renewed relations with the West.
It is understood the Scottish Government is concerned about a repeat of triumphant scenes when Megrahi’s co-accused Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah was acquitted of the bombing in 2001.
A source close to the Libyan authorities said: “A triumphant return is not on the cards.
“Megrahi will most likely end up in a hospice, rather than a villa overlooking the Mediterranean.”
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has until the end of July to rule on Megrahi.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The decision will be one made on judicial grounds. Economic and political considerations have no place in the process.”
Colonel Gaddafi has vowed not to give Megrahi a hero’s welcome if he is returned to Libya next month.
Tripoli has agreed to keep the homecoming “very low profile” amid fears of hindering the country’s renewed relations with the West.
It is understood the Scottish Government is concerned about a repeat of triumphant scenes when Megrahi’s co-accused Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah was acquitted of the bombing in 2001.
A source close to the Libyan authorities said: “A triumphant return is not on the cards.
“Megrahi will most likely end up in a hospice, rather than a villa overlooking the Mediterranean.”
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has until the end of July to rule on Megrahi.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The decision will be one made on judicial grounds. Economic and political considerations have no place in the process.”
Megrahi in quandary over option to abandon court fight
The Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has still not decided whether to abandon his fight to clear his name, an MSP said after visiting him yesterday.
Christine Grahame, SNP member for the south of Scotland, said Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was struggling to make the choice while suffering "severe pain" from prostate cancer.
Libyan authorities have filed an application to have him moved to his home country, but the transfer cannot go ahead while legal proceedings are still ongoing.
Al Megrahi is currently pursuing an appeal against his conviction, but he would have to drop it in order to get back to Africa and see his family.
The 57-year-old, serving a life sentence for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that killed 270 people, is thought unlikely to survive long enough for a second part of the appeal continuing next spring.
After her 90-minute visit to Greenock Prison yesterday afternoon, Ms Grahame said: "He is a man who is in a great quandary about what he should do. He's got this major decision to take at some point.
"Overall I think he is dealing very well with the circumstances he finds himself in.
"He is in severe pain. His health is deteriorating, both his physical and emotional health.
"I think the issue for Mr Megrahi is that he would want the appeal to continue but at the same time he is desperate to see his family."
Ms Grahame is certain that his relatives would press for a public inquiry in the event of his death, she added.
The South of Scotland MSP also spoke of a Dutch TV documentary that she said showed that a key piece of evidence was taken out of Scotland without the proper documentation. The circuit board used as a bomb trigger had been removed to America, she said, undermining the reliability of Al Megrahi's conviction.
"Lord Peter Fraser, who was the Lord Advocate at the time, has said it never left Scotland - so my challenge to the Lord Fraser is, what did the Crown know at the time about that circuit board, what did you know, can you come and tell us and tell the public?" she added.
Lord Fraser declined to comment.
[The above is The Herald's report on Christine Grahame MSP's meeting with Abdelbaset Megrahi on Tuesday, 16 June. The report on the BBC News website can be read here; and that on the Southern Reporter's website here.]
Christine Grahame, SNP member for the south of Scotland, said Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was struggling to make the choice while suffering "severe pain" from prostate cancer.
Libyan authorities have filed an application to have him moved to his home country, but the transfer cannot go ahead while legal proceedings are still ongoing.
Al Megrahi is currently pursuing an appeal against his conviction, but he would have to drop it in order to get back to Africa and see his family.
The 57-year-old, serving a life sentence for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that killed 270 people, is thought unlikely to survive long enough for a second part of the appeal continuing next spring.
After her 90-minute visit to Greenock Prison yesterday afternoon, Ms Grahame said: "He is a man who is in a great quandary about what he should do. He's got this major decision to take at some point.
"Overall I think he is dealing very well with the circumstances he finds himself in.
"He is in severe pain. His health is deteriorating, both his physical and emotional health.
"I think the issue for Mr Megrahi is that he would want the appeal to continue but at the same time he is desperate to see his family."
Ms Grahame is certain that his relatives would press for a public inquiry in the event of his death, she added.
The South of Scotland MSP also spoke of a Dutch TV documentary that she said showed that a key piece of evidence was taken out of Scotland without the proper documentation. The circuit board used as a bomb trigger had been removed to America, she said, undermining the reliability of Al Megrahi's conviction.
"Lord Peter Fraser, who was the Lord Advocate at the time, has said it never left Scotland - so my challenge to the Lord Fraser is, what did the Crown know at the time about that circuit board, what did you know, can you come and tell us and tell the public?" she added.
Lord Fraser declined to comment.
[The above is The Herald's report on Christine Grahame MSP's meeting with Abdelbaset Megrahi on Tuesday, 16 June. The report on the BBC News website can be read here; and that on the Southern Reporter's website here.]
Tuesday 16 June 2009
MSP to have second meeting with Megrahi
[A Member of the Scottish Parliament] is meeting the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in prison. Christine Grahame will visit Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi in Greenock Prison.
A spokesman for the SNP MSP said she will make a "substantive" statement following the visit.
Al Megrahi was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and later failed to be freed on bail pending his appeal, which got under way at the end of April in Edinburgh.
Libyan authorities have applied for Al Megrahi to be moved to Libya under a prisoner-transfer treaty between Libya and the UK.
But no decision on this can be made by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill if there are outstanding legal proceedings.
Ms Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, paid an hour-long visit to Al Megrahi last month in Greenock Prison, where he is serving a life sentence for the 1988 bombing which killed 270 people.
After the last visit she said: "The man is obviously very ill and he is desperate to see his family - absolutely desperate to see his family - so, whatever it takes, that's the priority."
Asked if Al Megrahi plans to press on with his appeal, she said: "I can't say that - that is for him to say through his lawyers."
[From an article published today on the website of the Midlothian Advertiser. The report is attributed to the Press Association news agency.]
A spokesman for the SNP MSP said she will make a "substantive" statement following the visit.
Al Megrahi was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and later failed to be freed on bail pending his appeal, which got under way at the end of April in Edinburgh.
Libyan authorities have applied for Al Megrahi to be moved to Libya under a prisoner-transfer treaty between Libya and the UK.
But no decision on this can be made by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill if there are outstanding legal proceedings.
Ms Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, paid an hour-long visit to Al Megrahi last month in Greenock Prison, where he is serving a life sentence for the 1988 bombing which killed 270 people.
After the last visit she said: "The man is obviously very ill and he is desperate to see his family - absolutely desperate to see his family - so, whatever it takes, that's the priority."
Asked if Al Megrahi plans to press on with his appeal, she said: "I can't say that - that is for him to say through his lawyers."
[From an article published today on the website of the Midlothian Advertiser. The report is attributed to the Press Association news agency.]
Thursday 11 June 2009
Cabinet Secretary for Justice on prisoner transfer
George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to respond to the request by the Libyan authorities for the transfer of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.
(S3W-23693) 19 May 2009
Kenny MacAskill: The Prisoner Transfer Agreement states that "The requested State shall inform the State requesting the transfer of its decision whether or not to agree to the requested transfer, normally within 90 days of the receipt of the request. If a decision cannot be notified within 90 days of the request, the requested State shall inform the requesting State of the reasons for any delay and use best endeavours to notify the requesting State of its decision as soon as possible."
Whilst I will deal with this application expeditiously I will consider it thoroughly and will ensure I have all relevant information available to me before reaching decisions.
Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23693 by Kenny MacAskill on 19 May 2009, what consideration it will give to the views of the people affected by the Lockerbie air disaster in considering the application for the repatriation of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.
(S3W-24638) 9 June 2009
Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has received a number of representations relating to the application submitted by the Libyan Government for transfer of Mr Megrahi.
As I stated previously, I am considering the application thoroughly and will ensure I have all relevant information available to me before reaching decisions. The application is being considered with regard to the terms of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement and appropriate judicial procedures. Economic and political considerations have no place in this process.
The Lockerbie Air Disaster remains the most serious terrorist atrocity committed in the United Kingdom. I am aware of the pain and grief still being experienced by many people whose lives were affected by it both here in Scotland and across the world. As part of my consideration of the application, I will be meeting with groups and individuals who have submitted relevant representations to the Scottish Government and listening to their views.
(S3W-23693) 19 May 2009
Kenny MacAskill: The Prisoner Transfer Agreement states that "The requested State shall inform the State requesting the transfer of its decision whether or not to agree to the requested transfer, normally within 90 days of the receipt of the request. If a decision cannot be notified within 90 days of the request, the requested State shall inform the requesting State of the reasons for any delay and use best endeavours to notify the requesting State of its decision as soon as possible."
Whilst I will deal with this application expeditiously I will consider it thoroughly and will ensure I have all relevant information available to me before reaching decisions.
Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23693 by Kenny MacAskill on 19 May 2009, what consideration it will give to the views of the people affected by the Lockerbie air disaster in considering the application for the repatriation of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.
(S3W-24638) 9 June 2009
Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has received a number of representations relating to the application submitted by the Libyan Government for transfer of Mr Megrahi.
As I stated previously, I am considering the application thoroughly and will ensure I have all relevant information available to me before reaching decisions. The application is being considered with regard to the terms of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement and appropriate judicial procedures. Economic and political considerations have no place in this process.
The Lockerbie Air Disaster remains the most serious terrorist atrocity committed in the United Kingdom. I am aware of the pain and grief still being experienced by many people whose lives were affected by it both here in Scotland and across the world. As part of my consideration of the application, I will be meeting with groups and individuals who have submitted relevant representations to the Scottish Government and listening to their views.
Wednesday 10 June 2009
House of Lords ruling on secret evidence
Three terror suspects whose freedom is restricted by control orders have won a legal battle in the House of Lords over the use of secret evidence.
Nine Law Lords unanimously ruled it was unfair individuals should be kept in ignorance of the case against them. (...)
Ruling in favour of the men Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the senior Law Lord on the case, said: "A trial procedure can never be considered fair if a party to it is kept in ignorance of the case against him.
"If the wider public are to have confidence in the justice system, they need to be able to see that justice is done rather than being asked to take it on trust.
"The best way of producing a fair trial is to ensure that a party to it has the fullest information of both the allegations that are made against him and the evidence relied upon in support of those allegations."
Lord Hope of Craighead added: "The consequences of a successful terrorist attack are likely to be so appalling that there is an understandable wish to support the system that keeps those who are considered to be most dangerous out of circulation for as long as possible.
"But the slow creep of complacency must be resisted. If the rule of law is to mean anything, it is in cases such as these that the court must stand by [legal] principle. It must insist that the person affected be told what is alleged against him."
[The above is an extract from a report on the BBC News website. The full text can be read here. The judges' opinions in the case can be read here. The actual decision was made in the context of control orders against terrorist suspects. But it clearly has implications for Government claims of public interest immunity, and the "special advocate" system, in cases such as that of Abdelbaset Megrahi. The decision is a highly authoritative one. Nine Lords of Appeal sat on it (the normal quorum is five) and they were unanimous.]
Nine Law Lords unanimously ruled it was unfair individuals should be kept in ignorance of the case against them. (...)
Ruling in favour of the men Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the senior Law Lord on the case, said: "A trial procedure can never be considered fair if a party to it is kept in ignorance of the case against him.
"If the wider public are to have confidence in the justice system, they need to be able to see that justice is done rather than being asked to take it on trust.
"The best way of producing a fair trial is to ensure that a party to it has the fullest information of both the allegations that are made against him and the evidence relied upon in support of those allegations."
Lord Hope of Craighead added: "The consequences of a successful terrorist attack are likely to be so appalling that there is an understandable wish to support the system that keeps those who are considered to be most dangerous out of circulation for as long as possible.
"But the slow creep of complacency must be resisted. If the rule of law is to mean anything, it is in cases such as these that the court must stand by [legal] principle. It must insist that the person affected be told what is alleged against him."
[The above is an extract from a report on the BBC News website. The full text can be read here. The judges' opinions in the case can be read here. The actual decision was made in the context of control orders against terrorist suspects. But it clearly has implications for Government claims of public interest immunity, and the "special advocate" system, in cases such as that of Abdelbaset Megrahi. The decision is a highly authoritative one. Nine Lords of Appeal sat on it (the normal quorum is five) and they were unanimous.]
Tuesday 9 June 2009
FCO explanatory memorandum on prisoner transfer
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Explanatory Memorandum on a Treaty between the United Kingdom and Libya on the Transfer of Prisoners can be read here. The treaty provides the framework for the recent Libyan Government application for the transfer of Abdelbaset Megrahi from Scotland to Libya. The decision on this application rests with the Scottish, not the UK, Government.
I am grateful to Professor John Grant for supplying this reference.
I am grateful to Professor John Grant for supplying this reference.
Saturday 6 June 2009
2nd Circuit sends dispute over Lockerbie fees back to lower court
A dispute over the allocation of attorney fees in the settlement of claims against Libya for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, is headed back to the district court.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals found three "significant" errors plagued a judge's decision ordering Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady to pay from its contingency fees $1.44 million, 21.3 percent of what it had then earned from the case, to a plaintiffs' committee, whose lead counsel until his death in 2003 was Lee S. Kreindler of Kreindler & Kreindler. (...)
Libya eventually agreed to pay $10 million to each plaintiff, although it withheld $2 million of this amount until May 2006, when the U.S. State Department removed the country from its State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
All but one of the 270 decedents accepted the settlement. Of those 269 parties, 240 were represented by members of the plaintiffs' committee. The remaining 29 parties were advised by 14 other counsel -- six by Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady.
Eventually, all of the non-committee counsel except Emery Celli agreed to pay the plaintiffs' committee a portion of their fees equal to 3 percent of their clients' recoveries. The plaintiffs' committee used part of those payments for expenses it said it had incurred on behalf of all plaintiffs. It donated the remainder to a nonprofit foundation established in the name of Kreindler that has endowed a chair at Harvard Law School and a conference center at Dartmouth College, both in his name.
As justification for refusing to pay the fee, Emery Celli argued that it had performed a key role in lobbying Congress to change the law to permit suits against Libya to go forward. According to the circuit decision, the firm also objected to the use of the fees for "nonprofit causes unrelated to victims' rights or anti-terrorism, serving instead to glorify Lee S. Kreindler's legacy." (...)
Richard D. Emery said Friday that the plaintiffs' committee had done excellent work but had ridden "our coattails" when it came to the crucial change in the law that held Libya accountable.
"This was a huge effort on our part on behalf of Paul Hudson in what was Paul's heroic fight to hold Libya accountable before the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allowed any redress."
Emery noted that it was the initial dismissal of the case, and an affirmation of that dismissal by the 2nd Circuit, that triggered a "political outcry" and action by Congress, which "was the only reason that Kreindler and the other families ultimately won."
[From the Law.com website. The full text of the article can be read here.]
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals found three "significant" errors plagued a judge's decision ordering Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady to pay from its contingency fees $1.44 million, 21.3 percent of what it had then earned from the case, to a plaintiffs' committee, whose lead counsel until his death in 2003 was Lee S. Kreindler of Kreindler & Kreindler. (...)
Libya eventually agreed to pay $10 million to each plaintiff, although it withheld $2 million of this amount until May 2006, when the U.S. State Department removed the country from its State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
All but one of the 270 decedents accepted the settlement. Of those 269 parties, 240 were represented by members of the plaintiffs' committee. The remaining 29 parties were advised by 14 other counsel -- six by Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady.
Eventually, all of the non-committee counsel except Emery Celli agreed to pay the plaintiffs' committee a portion of their fees equal to 3 percent of their clients' recoveries. The plaintiffs' committee used part of those payments for expenses it said it had incurred on behalf of all plaintiffs. It donated the remainder to a nonprofit foundation established in the name of Kreindler that has endowed a chair at Harvard Law School and a conference center at Dartmouth College, both in his name.
As justification for refusing to pay the fee, Emery Celli argued that it had performed a key role in lobbying Congress to change the law to permit suits against Libya to go forward. According to the circuit decision, the firm also objected to the use of the fees for "nonprofit causes unrelated to victims' rights or anti-terrorism, serving instead to glorify Lee S. Kreindler's legacy." (...)
Richard D. Emery said Friday that the plaintiffs' committee had done excellent work but had ridden "our coattails" when it came to the crucial change in the law that held Libya accountable.
"This was a huge effort on our part on behalf of Paul Hudson in what was Paul's heroic fight to hold Libya accountable before the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allowed any redress."
Emery noted that it was the initial dismissal of the case, and an affirmation of that dismissal by the 2nd Circuit, that triggered a "political outcry" and action by Congress, which "was the only reason that Kreindler and the other families ultimately won."
[From the Law.com website. The full text of the article can be read here.]
Thursday 4 June 2009
Compassion call in bomber appeal
A “compassionate country” would let the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber return home to Libya AND continue his appeal, according to a retired Scottish law professor.
Responding to a leaked report on Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi’s psychological state, Professor Robert Black QC said it was a “tragedy” the Libyan could only return home if he abandoned the quest to clear his name.
The confidential medical report, leaked to a Scottish national newspaper, is said to have been written by a consultant clinical psychologist and commissioned by the Libyan consul. It is said to warn that Megrahi is suffering high levels of emotional and psychological distress and highlights the detrimental effect of his social and cultural isolation.
Professor Black, who was born and grew up in Lockerbie and is one of the founders of the Justice for Megrahi campaign, said a reason for the refusal of a bail application last November was that Megrahi would receive the best possible treatment for his cancer in Greenock Prison.
He said: “It is difficult to see how this assurance can be reconciled with the total absence of psychological counseling provided or offered by the prison service. It is unsurprising that, given this, he should now wish to be returned to his own country where he can be supported in his last weeks or months by his family and friends.”
The first stage of Megrahi’s appeal was heard in court in Edinburgh last month. At the same time Libya applied for the return of the bomber to them under the recently ratified Prisoner Transfer Agreement between Libya and the UK. The Scottish Government will rule on the application but could only grant it if Megrahi dropped his appeal.
Professor Black, credited as one of the architects of the original court case at Camp Zeist in Holland, said: “What a civilised country would do is grant him compassionate release (which is within the power of the Scottish Government) to return to Libya while allowing his appeal to proceed.
“But I fear there are too many vested interests which wish the appeal to be aborted and the legitimate concerns over his conviction to be swept under the carpet.”
The Libyan, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, was convicted of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie in December 1988 killing 270 people, in 2001. A first appeal against the conviction was unsuccessful but Megrahi’s case was put forward for a second appeal after the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission found he may have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
[This is the text of an article by Carol Hogarth in this week's edition of Lockerbie's local newspaper, the Annandale Herald.]
Responding to a leaked report on Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi’s psychological state, Professor Robert Black QC said it was a “tragedy” the Libyan could only return home if he abandoned the quest to clear his name.
The confidential medical report, leaked to a Scottish national newspaper, is said to have been written by a consultant clinical psychologist and commissioned by the Libyan consul. It is said to warn that Megrahi is suffering high levels of emotional and psychological distress and highlights the detrimental effect of his social and cultural isolation.
Professor Black, who was born and grew up in Lockerbie and is one of the founders of the Justice for Megrahi campaign, said a reason for the refusal of a bail application last November was that Megrahi would receive the best possible treatment for his cancer in Greenock Prison.
He said: “It is difficult to see how this assurance can be reconciled with the total absence of psychological counseling provided or offered by the prison service. It is unsurprising that, given this, he should now wish to be returned to his own country where he can be supported in his last weeks or months by his family and friends.”
The first stage of Megrahi’s appeal was heard in court in Edinburgh last month. At the same time Libya applied for the return of the bomber to them under the recently ratified Prisoner Transfer Agreement between Libya and the UK. The Scottish Government will rule on the application but could only grant it if Megrahi dropped his appeal.
Professor Black, credited as one of the architects of the original court case at Camp Zeist in Holland, said: “What a civilised country would do is grant him compassionate release (which is within the power of the Scottish Government) to return to Libya while allowing his appeal to proceed.
“But I fear there are too many vested interests which wish the appeal to be aborted and the legitimate concerns over his conviction to be swept under the carpet.”
The Libyan, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, was convicted of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie in December 1988 killing 270 people, in 2001. A first appeal against the conviction was unsuccessful but Megrahi’s case was put forward for a second appeal after the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission found he may have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
[This is the text of an article by Carol Hogarth in this week's edition of Lockerbie's local newspaper, the Annandale Herald.]
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Libya's UN circus
This is the headline over an article by columnist Ian Williams on The Guardian's website. The article is critical of the likely forthcoming election of Libya to the 2009-2010 presidency of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Here are a few sentences:
'Interestingly, since Gaddafi paid blood money for Lockerbie, helped shop the IRA, renounced nuclear weapons, quietened down about Israel, and opened up the oil wells even more to western involvement, Washington and London seem to have overcome the visceral horror that once had them fighting to keep Libya off the security council. It is arguable that Libya got a raw deal over the Lockerbie bombing, albeit not as raw as its citizen Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi who is dying of cancer in a Scottish prison while his appeal against a 27-year sentence is heard. The case against him and Libya was circumstantial and politically motivated.
'London and Washington may have been attacking Libya for the wrong reasons in the past – but there were plenty of substantial reasons for holding the regime up for scrutiny and despite its more accommodating foreign policy, little has changed inside the country.'
'Interestingly, since Gaddafi paid blood money for Lockerbie, helped shop the IRA, renounced nuclear weapons, quietened down about Israel, and opened up the oil wells even more to western involvement, Washington and London seem to have overcome the visceral horror that once had them fighting to keep Libya off the security council. It is arguable that Libya got a raw deal over the Lockerbie bombing, albeit not as raw as its citizen Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi who is dying of cancer in a Scottish prison while his appeal against a 27-year sentence is heard. The case against him and Libya was circumstantial and politically motivated.
'London and Washington may have been attacking Libya for the wrong reasons in the past – but there were plenty of substantial reasons for holding the regime up for scrutiny and despite its more accommodating foreign policy, little has changed inside the country.'
Tuesday 2 June 2009
Politische Justiz: das Beispiel Lockerbie
For readers of German, an interesting recent account of the Lockerbie affair, from the Trüten website, can be accessed here.
Deliberate information diffusion?
The Lallands Peat Worrier blog contains an interesting post following on from the Lucy Adams article in The Herald which forms the subject of the immediately preceding entry on this blog. The post can be read here. The anonymous author apparently attended a lecture by me in The Edinburgh Law School in 2004 and -- which must be unique -- remembers it.
Monday 1 June 2009
The psychological state of Abdelbaset Megrahi
Stricken by cancer, desperate to see his mother …
Little is known about the man who has already served 10 years in prison for the bombing of Pan Am 103 in December 1988.
Famous for being convicted of the worst terrorist atrocity on mainland Britain, which killed 270, the only things most people are aware of about Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi are the bare facts of his trial and appeals .
But the psychological report commissioned by the Libyan consul earlier this year reveals details of a man dedicated to his family.
It explains that, among his seven siblings, he has always had a strong attachment to his 85-year-old mother. She cannot visit him because of arthritis.
The report states: "Of all the children he was, and remains, particularly close to his mother who is now 85; since being in prison he has phoned her every day and every day she says that she hopes to see him again before she dies."
It also talks about his dedication to prayer and says his daily routine revolves around going to sleep after his final prayers at 9pm, and rising to pray at 4.30am.
The reports states: "There is little doubt that Mr. Megrahi is suffering high levels of emotional and psychological distress.
"He is not only dealing with a progressive fatal illness and unpleasant side-effects from his treatment, but also the stressful uncertainty of his prognosis.
"Unlike most people with cancer he is unable to access any form of confiding support.
"There is a lack of culturally appropriate support to enable Mr. Megrahi to give vent to the very natural emotions he is feeling and, in the face of his mortality, to adjust to and make peace with his impending death.
"Although his religion is a source of great solace, he is highly frustrated by his inability to care for his family."
Fiercely private, Megrahi has tried to keep his personal details and family out of the media spotlight.
The diagnosis in September last year of terminal prostate cancer has changed this. In December, his family spoke out for the first time and his wife Aisha Megrahi publicly pleaded for his release to allow him to spend his remaining time with her and their five children.
"Please release him so he can spend what few days he has left at home with his family," she told The Herald.
Megrahi's conviction in 2001 was seen as a huge triumph for the Scottish legal establishment and a symbol of changing international relations. However, serious doubts about his guilt have grown ever since.
A successful appeal would prove highly embarrassing, not just for the Scottish judicial system. It is understood some members of the UK and American security agencies would prefer the case not to be reopened publicly.
Talks to establish a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) between Libya and the UK began in 2005 but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office consistently denied that such discussions bore any relevance to Megrahi.
Such denials look particularly flimsy now that Libya has in fact applied to transfer Megrahi. At this stage it is a government-to-government application. The decision on whether to allow the transfer will be down to Scottish ministers, but it cannot be signed off unless Megrahi himself agrees to drop the appeal.
Despite seemingly interminable delays, his new appeal began in April. But with hopes of clearing his name so close to realisation, he has to face up to the fact he may not live to see its conclusion.
Faced with deciding to pursue the appeal - expected to be one of the most complex in Scottish legal history - and have the prospect of dying thousands of miles from home in a Scots prison, or drop the legal proceedings and apply for a transfer to Libya, it is impossible to say what he should or will do, but officials are working behind the scenes to persuade him to opt for the latter option.
In the meantime he has been forced to choose between a slow and lengthy appeal during which he is isolated from his family and which he may not live to see the end of, or applying to return to his home country and seeing his family before he dies. Few would blame him for choosing to return.
The psychological report concludes: "In my view it is self-evident that Mr Megrahi would be considerably less stressed, and at lower risk of depression, if he were able to be with his family, to receive their care and to be able to plan for their future. The prison environment adds to what is already a highly stressful situation for him and I have no doubt that a home environment would be highly beneficial to his psychological health, if not his physical health. It would also mean that he would be able to receive culturally sensitive care and support from others.
"At the very least, while he remains in prison he should be offered regular emotional support from someone trained in doing so, and preferably from someone who understands Mr Megrahi's cultural background and needs."
[The above is an article by Lucy Adams in today's edition of The Herald. A much shorter version of the same story from the Daily Record website can be accessed here.
The reasons for the very long absence of posts on this blog are that (a) I had to make a short visit to Scotland and (b) since my return to South Africa the phone lines in my remote part of the Northern Cape have been out of order and so I have been unable to access the internet.]
Little is known about the man who has already served 10 years in prison for the bombing of Pan Am 103 in December 1988.
Famous for being convicted of the worst terrorist atrocity on mainland Britain, which killed 270, the only things most people are aware of about Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi are the bare facts of his trial and appeals .
But the psychological report commissioned by the Libyan consul earlier this year reveals details of a man dedicated to his family.
It explains that, among his seven siblings, he has always had a strong attachment to his 85-year-old mother. She cannot visit him because of arthritis.
The report states: "Of all the children he was, and remains, particularly close to his mother who is now 85; since being in prison he has phoned her every day and every day she says that she hopes to see him again before she dies."
It also talks about his dedication to prayer and says his daily routine revolves around going to sleep after his final prayers at 9pm, and rising to pray at 4.30am.
The reports states: "There is little doubt that Mr. Megrahi is suffering high levels of emotional and psychological distress.
"He is not only dealing with a progressive fatal illness and unpleasant side-effects from his treatment, but also the stressful uncertainty of his prognosis.
"Unlike most people with cancer he is unable to access any form of confiding support.
"There is a lack of culturally appropriate support to enable Mr. Megrahi to give vent to the very natural emotions he is feeling and, in the face of his mortality, to adjust to and make peace with his impending death.
"Although his religion is a source of great solace, he is highly frustrated by his inability to care for his family."
Fiercely private, Megrahi has tried to keep his personal details and family out of the media spotlight.
The diagnosis in September last year of terminal prostate cancer has changed this. In December, his family spoke out for the first time and his wife Aisha Megrahi publicly pleaded for his release to allow him to spend his remaining time with her and their five children.
"Please release him so he can spend what few days he has left at home with his family," she told The Herald.
Megrahi's conviction in 2001 was seen as a huge triumph for the Scottish legal establishment and a symbol of changing international relations. However, serious doubts about his guilt have grown ever since.
A successful appeal would prove highly embarrassing, not just for the Scottish judicial system. It is understood some members of the UK and American security agencies would prefer the case not to be reopened publicly.
Talks to establish a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) between Libya and the UK began in 2005 but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office consistently denied that such discussions bore any relevance to Megrahi.
Such denials look particularly flimsy now that Libya has in fact applied to transfer Megrahi. At this stage it is a government-to-government application. The decision on whether to allow the transfer will be down to Scottish ministers, but it cannot be signed off unless Megrahi himself agrees to drop the appeal.
Despite seemingly interminable delays, his new appeal began in April. But with hopes of clearing his name so close to realisation, he has to face up to the fact he may not live to see its conclusion.
Faced with deciding to pursue the appeal - expected to be one of the most complex in Scottish legal history - and have the prospect of dying thousands of miles from home in a Scots prison, or drop the legal proceedings and apply for a transfer to Libya, it is impossible to say what he should or will do, but officials are working behind the scenes to persuade him to opt for the latter option.
In the meantime he has been forced to choose between a slow and lengthy appeal during which he is isolated from his family and which he may not live to see the end of, or applying to return to his home country and seeing his family before he dies. Few would blame him for choosing to return.
The psychological report concludes: "In my view it is self-evident that Mr Megrahi would be considerably less stressed, and at lower risk of depression, if he were able to be with his family, to receive their care and to be able to plan for their future. The prison environment adds to what is already a highly stressful situation for him and I have no doubt that a home environment would be highly beneficial to his psychological health, if not his physical health. It would also mean that he would be able to receive culturally sensitive care and support from others.
"At the very least, while he remains in prison he should be offered regular emotional support from someone trained in doing so, and preferably from someone who understands Mr Megrahi's cultural background and needs."
[The above is an article by Lucy Adams in today's edition of The Herald. A much shorter version of the same story from the Daily Record website can be accessed here.
The reasons for the very long absence of posts on this blog are that (a) I had to make a short visit to Scotland and (b) since my return to South Africa the phone lines in my remote part of the Northern Cape have been out of order and so I have been unable to access the internet.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)