[This is the headline over a report published today on the BBC News website. It reads in part:]
A Lockerbie bombing suspect cannot get a fair trial because a video of his alleged confession has been "lost or destroyed", his defence lawyers have claimed.
Public defenders representing Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi in a United States court case said the disappearance of the video deprived him of evidence which could have cleared his name.
They are also arguing the case against the Libyan - also known as Masud - should be thrown out of court because it involves events which took place 37 years ago, outside US territorial jurisdiction. (...)
Masud was forcibly removed from Libya and taken into US custody in 2022, with his trial due to get under way in Washington DC this August after two postponements.
US prosecutors allege Masud admitted his role in bombing the airliner when he was interrogated in a Libyan detention facility in 2012.
According to an FBI summary of the case, he told a Libyan law enforcement officer that the bomb was hidden in an unaccompanied suitcase on a flight from Malta to Frankfurt.
The device was then transferred undetected onto a Pan Am feeder flight to Heathrow, where it was placed in the forward hold of Pan Am 103.
Masud has already claimed he was forced into making a false confession under duress and is arguing that it should be ruled inadmissible.
In a fresh line of attack, his lawyers have said his right to a fair trial has been violated because of the "bad-faith loss of material" during the long history of the case.
That material is said to include a video recording of Masud's alleged confession, made by the Libyan official who had questioned him.
According to the defence, the official claimed to have kept the video in a safe for three years before telling a colleague what had happened in 2015.
Scottish investigators heard about the alleged confession later that year and obtained copies of a written statement in 2017.
The documents were passed on to the Americans and were central to the charges against Masud, which were announced on the bombing of the anniversary in 2020.
The defence says that in 2024, the Libyan interrogator stated he had "located the recording device but could not locate the recording itself".
Federal public defender Geremy Kamens submitted that the loss of the video had deprived Masud of "potentially exculpatory evidence would could have attacked the centrepiece of the government's case against him".
"A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video comprises dozens of pictures every second," Kamens said.
"The interrogation video may have shown Mr Al-Marimi [Masud] appearing nervous, apprehensive, uncomfortable, tense, jumpy, subdued or any combination of these states at various times.
"He may have been sweating, his language may have been stilted, he may have avoided eye contact.
"Any discrepancy between the recording and the written statement or the interrogator's descriptions of the conversation would provide powerful fodder for cross-examination and impeachment.
"It was not until he [the Libyan official] was asked to provide a copy of the recording to US law enforcement in 2024 that the recording suddenly vanished."
Kamens also argued that delays in bringing Masud before a jury would deny him his right to a fair trial.
"It borders on the impossible for Mr Al-Marimi [Masud] to investigate his actions and whereabouts 30 years ago, let alone the government's allegations, whereas the government can rely on the fruits of a contemporaneous investigation and decades of preparation by an international cohort of prosecutors and police."
Kamens said Masud's defence would be hampered by his "mental and physical deterioration" and the deaths of crucial witnesses, including Al-Megrahi.
The US government is expected to respond to the defence arguments this week.
A hearing on the admissibility of the alleged confession is due to be held in Washington next month.
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