The father of former policewoman Shirley McKie has welcomed a decision by the Information Commissioner ordering the Scottish Government to release 131 documents relating to his daughter's case and the competence of the country's fingerprints experts. (...)
Iain McKie said: "All that is left is to ascertain what happened in the corridors of power, why it took 14 years to resolve itself, and make sure lessons are learned. (...)
"The culture of secrecy in Scotland is a disgrace, it marks everything it touches. We have a secretive government in Scotland, they don't like giving out information.
"It's important we have a forensic service in Scotland that is up to the job. I don't think we do have." (...)
Mr McKie said: "This might finally help us to find out why the Scottish Government has been determined to hide this matter. Her case was in 1999, the same year as the Lockerbie trial. The last thing they wanted was for the Scottish Forensic Service to be seen in a bad light at that time."
[From a report in today's edition of The Scotsman.
I have been unable to access the internet for just under a week because of (a) commitments at Gannaga Lodge and (b) the local phone lines being down for two days, but there appear to have been no significant Lockerbie-related developments in any event.]
Of the 638 documents identified, Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion accepted the Scottish Government was right to withhold 507, but should release 111 in their entirety, and parts of a further 20.
ReplyDeleteMr McKie said: "This might finally help us to find out why the Scottish Government has been determined to hide this matter. Her case was in 1999, the same year as the Lockerbie trial. The last thing they wanted was for the Scottish Forensic Service to be seen in a bad light at that time."
Does Mr Dunion's decision mean that 131 previously withheld documents are now subject to public scrutiny?
And let's not forget that there's an Article 10 (Freedom of Expression) issue here.
And whatever became of this petition to PM Tony Blair?