[This is the heading over a section of an article by Lucy Adams that was published in The Herald on the occasion of the publication of John Ashton’s Megrahi: You are my Jury. It reads as follows:]
CONTEXT: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi had two possible routes out of Greenock jail in August 2009: a prisoner transfer application for which he first had to drop his appeal, or compassionate release because of his prostate cancer. The latter route did not demand that he drop his appeal, in contrast to the former. In the event, he ended his appeal, yet the PTA was turned down, and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill instead granted compassionate release. The chain of actions has always been a mystery, leaving those who believe in Megrahi’s guilt to see his decision as confirmation of their views. Why would an innocent man not pursue an appeal against conviction that he had waited years to begin? Now, for the first time, Megrahi claims that he was pressured to drop the appeal by Mr MacAskill personally through diplomatic channels.
EXTRACT: "On 10 August [2009] MacAskill and his senior civil servants met a delegation of Libyan officials, including Minister [Abdel Ati] Al-Obeidi. By this time I was desperate. The 90-day time limit for considering the prisoner transfer application had passed and, although I had some vocal public supporters, MacAskill was coming under considerable pressure to reject both applications. After the meeting the Libyan delegation came to the prison to visit me. Obeidi said that, towards the end of the meeting, MacAskill had asked to speak to him in private. Once the others had withdrawn, MacAskill told him it would be easier for him to grant compassionate release if I dropped my appeal. He [MacAskill] said he was not demanding that I do so, but the message seemed to me to be clear. I was legally entitled to continue the appeal, but I could not risk doing so. It meant abandoning my quest for justice."
LUCY ADAMS VERDICT: Mr MacAskill, who was not contacted in advance of today's book publication, has always said he could not interfere in the judicial process. If Megrahi's version of events is true, it will prove very damaging to the minister, who has repeatedly distanced himself from any appeal which, if it had gone ahead, could have been a massive embarrassment to the Scottish legal system. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission had already found six grounds on which Megrahi’s conviction was potentially unsafe.
This humble servant of the people's republic of China greets the courageous Scots.
ReplyDeleteI have a simple off-topic question: What is the current status of operation Sandwood?
Thank you for you greetings. The police report on the Operation Sandwood investigation is nearing completion and is expected to be submitted within a few weeks.
DeleteWe seem to have been hearing exactly that message for over a year. I understand some of the reasons for it, including the involvement of the Dutch forensic scientists and the publication of Kenny Macaskill's book, but I still wonder what's going on.
DeleteHello Rolfe. Who are the Dutch forensic scientists and what did they do or say?
ReplyDeleteOne Dutch scientist became interested in the case and we corresponded privately. He was particularly interested in the Indian Head tests on the luggage and the baggage container and I was able to get him copies of the test reports so he could analyse them for himself. He was also a great help to me at the time I was looking at the photos of the damaged luggage. Several important insights came from him.
DeleteIn 2015 I was having discussions with the Operation Sandwood team and his contribution was touched on. I contacted him to ask permission to give his contact details to the Sandwood detectives. When he replied he also revealed that his institute had done some practical explosion tests themselves on some sample suitcases in different positions. The results he showed me appeared to me to be incompatible with an explosion on the second layer of luggage, or as high as Feraday estimated it, and to indicate a bottom-layer position for the bomb suitcase.
I simply showed the dog the rabbit and stepped aside. I don't know what transpired between the Sandwood detectives and the Dutch scientists. I'd have given quite a lot to be a fly on the wall though.
That contact happened about a year ago, and must have been one of the factors in delaying the report from the "summer 2015" date we were hearing at one time. Then Kenny MacAskill put another cat among the pigeons, and so it goes on.
Thanks, Rolfe. As always, very clear and helpful. I didn't know about this - no reason why I should, but good to know now.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, and out of contaxt, does anyone know if Dr Kevin Bannon's PhD thesis is available on line, other than at the British Library where it will cost £60-odd to get a copy?
Aku, as far as I know the thesis is not available on line. I'll send you his email address: maybe he'd send you a digital copy if you explain who you are.
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