Wednesday 14 October 2009
Megrahi release and the House of Commons
The full text of Foreign Secretary David Miliband's statement in the House of Commons on Monday, 12 October, on the release of Abdelbaset Megrahi can be read here, along with the questions and answers that followed it. Not nearly as interesting as the exchanges in the Lords, in my view.
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Notable in the Q & A session following David Miliband's statement to Parliament were the following:
ReplyDeleteMr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD): Does the Foreign Secretary accept that after all the sound and fury generated by Governments, the people who are left feeling more alienated and marginalised than ever are the families of the 259 passengers and crew from Pan Am flight 103 and of the 11 Lockerbie residents? They are the ones who are left feeling, more than ever, that they are further from the truth. I have asked the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs to hold an inquiry into how the machinery of government in London and in Edinburgh has operated to produce this lamentable situation. Would the Foreign Secretary assure me that if the Committee were minded to proceed with such an inquiry he and the rest of the Government would co-operate with it fully? Does he not think that the families deserve that at the very least?
David Miliband: I can certainly assure the hon. Gentleman that the Government will follow all the appropriate procedures and precedents when it comes to the establishment of inquiries by this or any other House.
Mr Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale, West) (Con): May I, too, emphasise the strength of feeling among many friends and family of the Lockerbie victims about the fact that there should be a full inquiry, especially as they believe that the dropping by Megrahi of an appeal may deprive them of any opportunity of really finding the truth and achieving the closure that they want?
David Miliband: I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s words have been heard in Scotland as well as here, because it is for them to decide whether or not there is the basis or evidence for a new inquiry of any kind.
In the House of Lords debate, the ennobled Colin Boyd forgot to apologise for his role in the wrongful conviction of Mr al-Megrahi. Instead, Lord Boyd was bragging about being responsible for it! ( http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldhansrd/text/91012-0007.htm ):
ReplyDeleteLord Boyd of Duncansby: My Lords, noble Lords will know that I was Solicitor-General for Scotland when the two accused were handed over in Libya for trial and I was Lord Advocate at the time of the prosecution. I appeared myself for parts of the prosecution and was responsible for it. I have been asked on many occasions for my view on the compassionate release of Mr Megrahi and have taken the view that it would not be proper for me as the prosecutor to comment on that. However, I shall say one thing. I have known Mr MacAskill for more than 30 years and know that he is someone who would take a decision on proper grounds and not on extraneous matters. In particular, when he said in his statement that the withdrawal of the appeal by Megrahi was solely for him and his legal advisers and that no pressure had been put on Megrahi to do so, that should be accepted.
Does my noble friend agree that in respect of the conviction, no fewer than six Lords Advocate have taken the view that there was sufficient evidence for Megrahi to stand trial and that he was appropriately convicted on that evidence, and that no fewer than eight judges of the High Court of Justiciary have similarly concluded on the evidence that he was guilty of the crimes? He remains convicted of the worst terrorist offence on British soil—the deaths of 270 people, 11 of whom were in the town of Lockerbie.
I wish to raise one matter. Assurances were given that, if convicted, Mr Megrahi or his co-accused would serve their sentences in the United Kingdom. Those assurances were important in securing the support of the American relatives for the trial process, which was particularly important in ensuring the legitimacy of the trial. They now feel alienated from the trial process. It is a source of regret to me that I gave those assurances based on the assurances that were given by the United Kingdom Government to the relatives when I met them, and they now feel aggrieved about that. Will the Minister work with the Scottish authorities to make overtures to the families, particularly the American relatives, to ensure that they know the full facts behind the decisions that were taken and assure them that we have always had their interests and the interests of justice in mind?
Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: I thank my noble friend. I will certainly pursue the issue that he raised, particularly in relation to the importance that we attach to having contact and engagement with the American relatives.
Perhaps Lord Boyd will have cause to worry once his role is put under the spotlight by the upcoming United Nations inquiry. Others who could be summoned to appear at the International Criminal Court include:
a. former Scottish police detective constable John Crawford;
b. retired Fort Halstead forensic laboratory head Alan Feraday;
c. retired Fort Halstead forensic scientist Dr Thomas Hayes;
d. retired Scottish police detective chief superintendent Stuart Henderson;
e. ex-FBI special agent Richard Marquise;
f. FBI director Robert Mueller; and,
g. ex-FBI forensic laboratory head Thomas Thurman.
Those mentioned above must all be fervently hoping that the petition asking PM Gordon Brown to endorse calls for a United Nations Inquiry into the murder of UN Commissioner for Namibia, Bernt Carlsson, in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing fails to achieve the target of 500 signatures by its 28 January 2010 closing date ( http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/BerntCarlsson/ ).
I thought Mr Milliband's statement particularly paras. 4 & 5 was a very good summary of the reasons why Libya was blamed for the Lockerbie bombing and he continued to detail the political benefits that followed from this abuse of the Criminal Justice system.
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