Lord Lester of Herne Hill acted for Abdul
Baset al-Megrahi in the European Court of Human Rights, and believes him to be
innocent
I acted
for Abdul Baset al-Megrahi in his unsuccessful application to the European
Court of Human Rights complaining of a breach of his right to a fair criminal
trial (reports, May 21 and 22). I did not appear in
the Scottish proceedings, but, after reviewing all the transcripts and
judgments, I came to the conclusion that there had been a serious miscarriage
of justice.
When I met al-Megrahi in HMP
Barlinnie, I asked him whether he thought the Libyan government would stand by
him. He replied, “they ought to do so but I am not sure whether they will”.
He told me what it had been
like in Tripoli when sanctions had been imposed to secure his extradition to
face trial. He said that in the midst of a huge media campaign his mother had
asked him if he had any more bombs in his possession. He said he realised that
if even his own mother believed he was guilty it was unlikely that he would
have a fair trial.
It is regrettable that, despite
the concerns expressed by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, after
a three-year examination of the evidence, he was persuaded to abandon his
further appeal before being released and returned to die in Libya.
In my view, he was not the
perpetrator of the barbaric Lockerbie atrocity.
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