Media coverage of Justice for Megrahi petition hearing
[The best coverage of yesterday's hearing before the Holyrood Public Petitions Committee is to be found in The Times. It can be read -- but only by subscribers -- here. The report reads in part:]
The Scottish legal establishment was accused at a Holyrood committee yesterday of putting obstacles in the way of an independent inquiry into the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber.
The claim was made by Canon Patrick Keegans, who was the local Catholic priest in Lockerbie at the time of the disaster in December 1988.
He was giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s petitions committee in support of a 1600-signature petition organised by the Justice for Megrahi (JFM) campaign calling on the Scottish government to set up an inquiry.
Members of the group told MSPs a full independent inquiry was the only way to restore the reputation of the Scottish legal system. (...)
Canon Keegans told MSPs on the committee: “People have never found a full answer to Lockerbie and this will always be a source of distress.”
Canon Keegans, who lived in Sherwood Crescent, part of which was obliterated by falling debris from the aircraft said the case was about the “redemption of the Scottish justice system”.
He added: “We have been denied justice from the very beginning. I am very doubtful about the conviction of al-Megrahi. While doubt remains the victims are denied justice. What we need is the truth about Lockerbie.
He added: “Obstacles have been put in our way by the Crown Office and by the judiciary. There seems to be a desire to put a lid on this and keep it there.
“We need truth and we need justice to be at peace. Otherwise we are back in December 1988 in the darkness.”
Jim Swire, whose daughter, Flora, died in the bombing, said the reputation of Scottish justice had been “shot to pieces”.
He said only an impartial inquiry could rebuild that reputation. Swire said the original criminal investigation was run by Scottish police forces and involved Scottish lawyers.
They were, he added, two obvious groups who might be interested in protecting their reputations.
“Speaking as a relative who has been looking for the truth for 22 years I think it would be vital that any inquiry is seen to be led impartially. Such an inquiry would be of little value if it was deemed to be in any way limited by groups involved in the trial.”
Mr Swire said an inquiry was the only way “we will be able to heal the terrible wounds done to our justice system”.
Professor Robert Black, emeritus professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University, said: “The fact of the conviction is being used as an excuse for not holding a wide ranging inquiry.”
He added: “We are asking the Scottish government to set up an inquiry. The government cannot deny there is domestic and international concern. We are asking them to investigate these concerns.”
Both First Minister Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary, have said they have confidence in the conviction of al-Megrahi.
After hearing from the campaigners, the committee agreed to write to the Scottish government asking them to respond to the request for an independent inquiry.
The petition has already attracted the support of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The progress of Justice for Megrahi’s petition to the Scottish Parliament from summer 2010 up to the present day can be followed here.
ReplyDeleteLiving with the "Lockerbie Affair", 2014 - google translation, german/englisch:
The fingernail great MST-13 timer fragment, can in favor for the Libyan people be value, up to U$ 50 billion - should be validly proven by forensic examination, that the PT-35 fragment is a Scottish proof of fraud, in the verdict against Libya!
The damage was done by 8 years, fatal impacting UN sanctions against the Libyan government.
The only official sentenced, Mr. Abdelbaset al Megrahi (political victims) would after the "pupation" in the Lockerbie case - be rehabilitated by a new judgment.
The original MST-13 timer fragment, from police called (PT-35), was reportedly allegedly found under the wreckage of Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie ?
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in german language: Dieses Fingernnagel grosse MST-13 Timerfragment, kann zu Gunsten des libyschen Volkes, bis 50 Milliarden US$ Wert sein (als Schadenersatz) - sollte durch forensische Prüfung rechtsgültig bewiesen werden, dass es sich um einen Beweisbetrug, im schottischen Urteil, gegen Libyen handelt ! Der Schaden entstand durch 8 jährige, fatal auswirkende UN- Sanktionen gegen den Libyschen Staat.
Der einzige verurteilte Offizielle, Mr. Abdelbaset al Megrahi (politisches Opfer) müsste nach der "Verpuppung im Lockerbie-Fall" - durch ein neues Urteil, rehabilitiert werden.
Das originale MST-13 Timerfragment, polizeilich als (PT-35) bezeichnet, soll angeblich unter den Trümmerteilen der PanAm 103 in Lockerbie, gefunden worden sein ?
by Edwin Bollier, MEBO LTD. Telecommunication Switzerland. Webpage: www.lockerbie.ch