Long standing difference in approach between UK and US families

[Hexham parents of Lockerbie victim Alistair Berkley involved in new appeal call is the headline over a report published this evening on the Chronicle Live website. It reads as follows:]

The North East parents of a Lockerbie victim are involved in a campaign to have the only man convicted of the atrocity cleared.

Jean and Barrie Berkley, who lost son Alistair in the 1988 bombing, are among a number of UK relatives of victims who believe Abdelbaset al-Megrahi suffered a miscarriage of justice.

They - and relatives of al-Megrahi - have applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) to refer his case back to the High Court for a fresh appeal.

However, the move has pitted UK families against their American counterparts, who have called it “disgraceful” and registered their opposition.

Megrahi, who died in 2012, remains the only person convicted over the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on December 21 1988, in which 270 people were killed.

Members of Megrahi’s family and the Justice for Megrahi campaign group, which includes relatives of British victims, are seeking to review the conviction.

Mrs and Mrs Berkley, 84 and 87 respectively and who live at Sandhoe, Hexham, are among the UK relatives to have signed the petition.

Mrs Berkley, whose son, a law lecturer at the Polytechnic of Central London, was 29 when he was killed, said: “To us it seems there are many unanswered questions and we would like to know what the answers are.

“There were many things about the trial which were unsatisfactory.”

However, the Mary Kay Stratis, the widow of US victim Elia Stratis, has written to the (SCCRC) to voice American relatives’ opposition to the petition.

Mrs Berkley, co-ordinator of the UK Families Flight 103 group with her husband treasurer, said there was a “long standing” difference in approach.

“I am very sorry the American families are upset about this but we just have a different way of looking at it,” she added.

Lockerbie truth campaigner dies 30 years on

[This is the headline over an article published yesterday on the website of the Hexham Courant. It reads as follows:]

Barrie Berkley, a driving force in the fight to discover the truth behind the Lockerbie bombing, has died at the age of 91.

The retired oil executive and his wife, Jean, had spent 30 years since that day in December 1988 seeking justice for the 270 people, including their 29-year-old son Alistair, who died when Pam Am Flight 103 was brought down over the town.

The Sandhoe couple helped run the UK Families Flight 103 pressure group, which represented the families of the 31 British people who died. Members believe the only person ever convicted of the crime, Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was set up as a fall guy.

The Berkleys used their Libyan compensation money to launch the Alistair Berkley Charitable Trust.

[RB: Examples of interventions by Barrie and Jean Berkley in the Lockerbie saga can be found on this blog here.]

Libyan government applies for Megrahi prisoner transfer

[What follows is the text of a report that was published on the BBC News website on this date in 2009:]

The Libyan authorities have requested that the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing be transferred from Scotland.

The application for the transfer of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was received by the Scottish Government.

The move came after a prisoner transfer agreement was ratified by the UK and Libyan governments last week.

Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of carrying out the 1988 atrocity, which claimed 270 lives when Pan-Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town.

The Scottish Government, which has the final say on the transfer request, said the application would be considered by officials who would advise ministers.

Under the terms of the prisoner transfer agreement, it is thought the process could take about 90 days - although it could take longer if further information is required.

Al-Megrahi, who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, is currently being held in Greenock Prison.

The 57-year-old, who has already lost one appeal, has been conducting a second appeal against his conviction. It is being heard by five judges in Edinburgh.

Although the appeal can continue while Scottish ministers consider the application from the Libyan authorities, a transfer would not be possible while criminal proceedings are taking place.

That means it would not be possible for al-Megrahi to return to Libya unless he dropped his appeal.

Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was on board the Pan Am flight, said it was only right Megrahi should be allowed home.

"I am not opposed to this, simply because I don't believe the man is guilty as charged and I don't think Megrahi should be in prison," he said.

But Barrie Berkley, who lost his son Alistair in what was the worst terrorist attack in UK history, said he hoped the appeal would continue.

"I would rather the appeal be completed first and I hope the courts would facilitate it going through without any further delay," said Mr Berkley, of Hexham, Northumberland.

"We want the appeal to go through because it's the main means of us getting further information about how our family members died or why they died.

"We really want to know whether the Libyans were behind this and Megrahi was behind it."

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond previously raised concern that his government was not consulted by UK ministers before a memorandum of understanding on prisoner transfer was signed with Libya.

A spokesman for the then prime minister, Tony Blair, insisted at the time that no deal had been signed over the future of Megrahi, who was tried under Scottish law at a specially convened court at Camp Zeist, in the Netherlands.

Libya applies for transfer of Lockerbie bomb prisoner

The Libyan authorities have applied for the transfer of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, the Scottish government said today.

The move, which could see Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi sent home to Libya to serve out his sentence, follows last week's ratification of a prisoner transfer agreement between the British and Libyan governments.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The application will be considered by officials who will provide information and advice to Scottish ministers for decision on this matter.

"Under the terms of the agreement this process may take 90 days although it could be longer if further information is required in relation to the application, or for another reason."

[From The Herald's website. The BBC News website's report can be read here. The report on The Scotsman's website can be accessed here. The following are excerpts:

'[Megrahi's] second appeal against conviction began at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh last week, but this must be dropped if his transfer to a Libyan jail is to take place.

'Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was on board the Pan Am flight 103, welcomed the development.

'He said: "I am not opposed to this simply because I don't believe the man is guilty as charged and I don't think Megrahi should be in prison."

'He said it was only "right" Megrahi, who is dying from cancer, should be allowed home.

'But Dr Swire added: "He has to renounce his appeal before he can go home. Just because the authorities have applied doesn't mean it is going to happen immediately."

'The application to the Scottish Government was made late yesterday, officials said.

'Under terms of Britain's agreement with Libya, a decision on transferring a prisoner cannot be made if there are any outstanding legal proceedings.

'But the fact that legal proceedings are still outstanding does not prevent an application being lodged.

'The prisoner transfer deal was ratified last Wednesday – the day after Megrahi's second appeal began in Edinburgh.

'For a prisoner like Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, the requirement that there can be no legal proceedings outstanding poses an agonising choice.

'He can either drop his appeal – and with it his bid to clear his name – and seek a return to Libya. Or he can persist with an appeal – and possibly die before it is completed.

'Labour's Scottish justice spokesman Richard Baker said: "It is absolutely right that it is Scottish ministers that will be responsible for any decision to transfer Mr Megrahi.

'"The Scottish Justice Minister has responsibility for Scottish prisoners and so it follows that Kenny MacAskill should decide on the issue."

'Barrie Berkley, who lost his son Alistair, said he hoped the appeal would continue.

'Mr Berkley, of Hexham, Northumberland, said: "I would rather the appeal be completed first and I hope the courts would facilitate it going through without any further delay.

'"We want the appeal to go through because it's the main means of us getting further information about how our family members died or why they died.

"We really want to know whether the Libyans were behind this and Megrahi was behind it.

'"Or of course if he was found not guilty that would mean the inquiry would have to reopen and the various agencies of the US and UK would need to find who was behind it if it wasn't Megrahi.

'"Our main motive is to find out whether Megrahi did do it or not."

'He added: "If he is found guilty then the Government has to decide where he serves the remainder of his term. It shouldn't be up to him or the Libyan authorities."'

The relevant legal provisions governing prisoner transfer are set out here. A prisoner may be transferred only if the judgment against him is final and no other criminal proceedings are pending in the transferring state. This means that Abdelbaset Megrahi's current appeal would have to be abandoned before transfer takes place. But it would seem on the face of it that there is no reason why the appeal should not continue while the Scottish Government is considering the application. Transfer cannot be effected without the consent of the prisoner concerned since it is he alone who can instruct the appeal to be abandoned to allow transfer to take place.]

Liberty human rights award to UK Families Flight 103

From Jean Berkley:

On 1st December Jean and Barrie Berkley, Jim and Jane Swire and John Mosey attended the Liberty annual Human Rights Awards Ceremony, where the UK Families Flight 103 were given a special award for their persistence over so many years in seeking more of the truth about the Lockerbie disaster and answers to the large number of questions that remain.  We had the opportunity to speak briefly when we were presented with the award and were very well received. Many of those present also approached us later and were very supportive.

Libyan Government requests transfer of Megrahi

[On this date in 2009 the Libyan Government submitted an application to the Scottish Government for Abdelbaset Megrahi to be transferred to Libya to serve the remainder of his sentence. The relevant post on this blog reads as follows:]

The Libyan authorities have applied for the transfer of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, the Scottish government said today.

The move, which could see Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi sent home to Libya to serve out his sentence, follows last week's ratification of a prisoner transfer agreement between the British and Libyan governments.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The application will be considered by officials who will provide information and advice to Scottish ministers for decision on this matter.

"Under the terms of the agreement this process may take 90 days although it could be longer if further information is required in relation to the application, or for another reason."

[From The Herald's website. The BBC News website's report can be read here. The report on The Scotsman's website can be accessed here. The following are excerpts:]

'[Megrahi's] second appeal against conviction began at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh last week, but this must be dropped if his transfer to a Libyan jail is to take place.

'Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was on board the Pan Am flight 103, welcomed the development.

'He said: "I am not opposed to this simply because I don't believe the man is guilty as charged and I don't think Megrahi should be in prison."

'He said it was only "right" Megrahi, who is dying from cancer, should be allowed home.

'But Dr Swire added: "He has to renounce his appeal before he can go home. Just because the authorities have applied doesn't mean it is going to happen immediately."

'The application to the Scottish Government was made late yesterday, officials said.

'Under terms of Britain's agreement with Libya, a decision on transferring a prisoner cannot be made if there are any outstanding legal proceedings.

'But the fact that legal proceedings are still outstanding does not prevent an application being lodged.

'The prisoner transfer deal was ratified last Wednesday – the day after Megrahi's second appeal began in Edinburgh.

'For a prisoner like Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, the requirement that there can be no legal proceedings outstanding poses an agonising choice.

'He can either drop his appeal – and with it his bid to clear his name – and seek a return to Libya. Or he can persist with an appeal – and possibly die before it is completed.

'Labour's Scottish justice spokesman Richard Baker said: "It is absolutely right that it is Scottish ministers that will be responsible for any decision to transfer Mr Megrahi.

'"The Scottish Justice Minister has responsibility for Scottish prisoners and so it follows that Kenny MacAskill should decide on the issue."

'Barrie Berkley, who lost his son Alistair, said he hoped the appeal would continue.

'Mr Berkley, of Hexham, Northumberland, said: "I would rather the appeal be completed first and I hope the courts would facilitate it going through without any further delay.

'"We want the appeal to go through because it's the main means of us getting further information about how our family members died or why they died.

"We really want to know whether the Libyans were behind this and Megrahi was behind it.

'"Or of course if he was found not guilty that would mean the inquiry would have to reopen and the various agencies of the US and UK would need to find who was behind it if it wasn't Megrahi.

'"Our main motive is to find out whether Megrahi did do it or not."

'He added: "If he is found guilty then the Government has to decide where he serves the remainder of his term. It shouldn't be up to him or the Libyan authorities."'

[RB: The relevant legal provisions governing prisoner transfer are set out here. A prisoner may be transferred only if the judgment against him is final and no other criminal proceedings are pending in the transferring state. This means that Abdelbaset Megrahi's current appeal would have to be abandoned before transfer takes place. But it would seem on the face of it that there is no reason why the appeal should not continue while the Scottish Government is considering the application. Transfer cannot be effected without the consent of the prisoner concerned since it is he alone who can instruct the appeal to be abandoned to allow transfer to take place.]

Lockerbie questions remain

[This is the heading over a letter from Jean and Barrie Berkley in the current issue of The Economist.]

Our son was killed in the Lockerbie disaster. He was on his way to spend Christmas with us in New York, where we were living at that time. We read your article following up the decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi (“Nowhere to hide”, September 5th). UK Families Flight 103 is a group of relatives and friends of most of the British victims of the Lockerbie bombing. When the group was founded in 1989, it adopted the maxim “The Truth Must Be Known”. After more than 20 years we are still asking for answers to many more crucial matters concerning the disaster.

Members of the group have varying views about the guilt or innocence of Mr Megrahi, which colour their reaction to his release on compassionate grounds. Some think that he is innocent. Others, including ourselves, believe that we are not in a position to know whether he was involved in some way or not, since much of the evidence at the trial was circumstantial and unconvincing to many, including an official UN observer and a prominent academic who is an authority on Scottish law. It is also a fact that in 2007 the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, after considering the matter for more than three years, concluded that there were six grounds for an appeal against the verdict in Mr Megrahi’s trial.

It is deeply disappointing that the appeal has now been—unnecessarily, in the case of compassionate release—abandoned. We were expecting to learn something new from the evidence we understood would have been presented. We still hope that some way will be found to release the evidence and our members are united in continuing to demand a full independent inquiry into the whole Lockerbie story. We have asked for such an inquiry many times in meetings with past and present senior government ministers, including Tony Blair. We were appalled that the ratification of the prisoner-transfer agreement, which stipulates that there must be no ongoing criminal proceedings if a prisoner is to be released, took place just as the first part of Mr Megrahi’s appeal was about to begin.

We are now hearing much talk of realpolitik, but we believe this has been the case right from the night of the crash. Why else would there be such difficulty in establishing answers to questions about, for example, the motive for the bombing of a Pan Am flight? The American attack on Tripoli in 1986 was said by Margaret Thatcher to have resulted in a marked decline in terrorist activity from Libya. Retaliation from Iran for shooting down one of its passenger jets by the Americans in July 1988 remains a distinctly plausible motive. We are told no evidence could be found to involve Iran, but we wonder how much effort went into finding evidence at a time when it would have been highly inconvenient to accuse that country or Syria.

Another unanswered question is about who else was involved. No one believes that Mr Megrahi could have operated alone and he was charged with “acting in concert with others”. Somehow, it has not been possible to establish who these others were. Surely, this is a major failure of the criminal investigation team? There were also numerous recorded warnings, some very explicit, and a prediction from the International Civil Aviation Organisation that retaliation from Iran was likely. We would like to know why the intelligence and security services failed to stop what was described at the Fatal Accident Inquiry as “a preventable disaster”.

It cannot be useful in preventing further terrorist attacks for Lockerbie to remain “a mystery”, as it was called recently by a well-informed academic. And the victims’ families surely have the right to know the full truth about the tragedy in which their loved ones died.

The last remaining unpleasantness

What follows is an item originally posted on this blog on this date in 2009.

The views of the UK's first ambassador to Tripoli after restoration of diplomatic relations

In 1999, Libya delivered the Lockerbie suspects to stand trial before a Scottish court convened in the Netherlands, which acquitted Mr Fhimah but sentenced Megrahi to life in prison with a minimum of 27 years. Meanwhile, Libya began secret talks with the United States and repaired ties with Britain.

“Relations developed quite quickly,” said Sir Richard Dalton, posted to Libya in 1999 as Britain’s first ambassador in 15 years and currently an analyst with Chatham House, an international affairs think tank in London. “The Libyans were acting responsibly and had fulfilled their obligations in the case of the Lockerbie incident.”

Rapprochement has seen Libya pay US$2.7 billion (Dh9.9bn) to the families of victims of the Lockerbie bombing and renounce attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon. UN and US sanctions have been lifted, and a US Embassy reopened in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. (...)

“The Libyans have maintained that Megrahi is innocent, and on humanitarian grounds they’d like to see him restored to his family in Libya,” Sir Richard said.

The move is likely to win applause for their government from ordinary Libyans, said Ronald Bruce St John, a Libya expert and analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus, a think tank that is part of the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies.

“There’s considerable support in Libya for the argument that the government was not involved in Lockerbie.”

However, Tripoli’s request leaves Megrahi in a bind. If he goes home, he will have to drop his current attempt to appeal his conviction. If he stays to fight his case, he may die before its conclusion.

The affair has caused a stir in Britain, where Scottish politicians have voiced dismay at the prospect of Megrahi being turned loose. Some families of Lockerbie victims believe he may be innocent, but others want him to stay in Scottish custody.

“We want the appeal to go through because it’s the main means of us getting further information about how our family members died or why they died,” said Barrie Berkley, an Englishman whose son Alistair was killed in the bombing, quoted by the BBC.

A decision by the Scottish authorities to keep Megrahi would not seriously derail Britain’s relations with Libya, said Sir Richard. “But there would be consequences.”

Among them is the possibility that a successful appeal by Megrahi would plunge Britain, the US and Libya once again into the fraught environment of an international investigation to find new Lockerbie suspects, Sir Richard said.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in London said Washington wanted Megrahi to remain in Scottish hands, while Britain’s foreign office declined to comment on the affair. (...)

His case is currently being examined by the Scottish authorities, said Fiona Wilson, a spokeswoman for Scotland’s devolved government.

“You have to look at Lockerbie as the last remaining unpleasantness between Britain and Libya,” Dr St John said. “They’d like to get it off the table.”

[From an article by John Thorne, foreign correspondent of The National newspaper, Abu Dhabi.]

The views of the UK's first ambassador to Tripoli after restoration of diplomatic relations

In 1999, Libya delivered the Lockerbie suspects to stand trial before a Scottish court convened in the Netherlands, which acquitted Mr Fhimah but sentenced Megrahi to life in prison with a minimum of 27 years. Meanwhile, Libya began secret talks with the United States and repaired ties with Britain.

“Relations developed quite quickly,” said Sir Richard Dalton, posted to Libya in 1999 as Britain’s first ambassador in 15 years and currently an analyst with Chatham House, an international affairs think tank in London. “The Libyans were acting responsibly and had fulfilled their obligations in the case of the Lockerbie incident.”

Rapprochement has seen Libya pay US$2.7 billion (Dh9.9bn) to the families of victims of the Lockerbie bombing and renounce attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon. UN and US sanctions have been lifted, and a US Embassy reopened in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. (...)

“The Libyans have maintained that Megrahi is innocent, and on humanitarian grounds they’d like to see him restored to his family in Libya,” Sir Richard said.

The move is likely to win applause for their government from ordinary Libyans, said Ronald Bruce St John, a Libya expert and analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus, a think tank that is part of the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies.

“There’s considerable support in Libya for the argument that the government was not involved in Lockerbie.”

However, Tripoli’s request leaves Megrahi in a bind. If he goes home, he will have to drop his current attempt to appeal his conviction. If he stays to fight his case, he may die before its conclusion.

The affair has caused a stir in Britain, where Scottish politicians have voiced dismay at the prospect of Megrahi being turned loose. Some families of Lockerbie victims believe he may be innocent, but others want him to stay in Scottish custody.

“We want the appeal to go through because it’s the main means of us getting further information about how our family members died or why they died,” said Barrie Berkley, an Englishman whose son Alistair was killed in the bombing, quoted by the BBC.

A decision by the Scottish authorities to keep Megrahi would not seriously derail Britain’s relations with Libya, said Sir Richard. “But there would be consequences.”

Among them is the possibility that a successful appeal by Megrahi would plunge Britain, the US and Libya once again into the fraught environment of an international investigation to find new Lockerbie suspects, Sir Richard said.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in London said Washington wanted Megrahi to remain in Scottish hands, while Britain’s foreign office declined to comment on the affair. (...)

His case is currently being examined by the Scottish authorities, said Fiona Wilson, a spokeswoman for Scotland’s devolved government.

“You have to look at Lockerbie as the last remaining unpleasantness between Britain and Libya,” Dr St John said. “They’d like to get it off the table.”

[From an article by John Thorne, foreign correspendent of The National newspaper, Abu Dhabi.]