Difference between revisions of "Abdelbaset al-Megrahi"

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[[File:Abdelbaset_al-Megrahi.jpg|400px|thumb|right| Abdelbaset al-Megrahi pictured in 2009 shortly after his "compassionate release" from prison in Scotland]]
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{{person
'''Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi''' (1 April 1952 – 20 May 2012) was head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli, Libya, and an alleged Libyan intelligence officer.<ref>{{cite news
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|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdelbaset_al-Megrahi
|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6841390.ece |title=Legal doubt over Megrahi's guilt |date=20 September 2009 |work=Sunday Times |location=UK |author=Jason Allardyce |accessdate=21 September 2009}}</ref> On 31 January 2001, Megrahi was convicted, by a panel of three Scottish judges sitting in a special court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, of 270 counts of murder for the bombing of [[Lockerbie Bombing|Pan Am Flight 103]] over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. His co-accused, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, was found not guilty and set free.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/LockerbieVerdict.html |title=Pan Am 103 – Lockerbie verdict |publisher=Terrorismcentral.com |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>  
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|image=AbdelBasset.jpg
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|image_caption=Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in 1992 under arrest in Libya
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|birth_date=1 April 1952
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|death_date=20 May 2012
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|default_sort=Megrahi, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al
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|spouses=Aisha
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|constitutes=spook
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|ON_constitutes=Islamic terrorist
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|birth_name=Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi
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|birth_place=Tripoli, Kingdom of Libya
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|death_place=Tripoli, Libya
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|nationality=Libyan
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|children=4 sons, 1 daughter
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|employment=
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}}
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[[File:Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.jpg|400px|right|thumb|[[Abdelbaset al-Megrahi]] framed by banned expert witness [[Alan Feraday]] ]]
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'''Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi''' was head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli, Libya, and an alleged Libyan intelligence officer.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6841390.ece "Legal doubt over Megrahi's guilt"]</ref>
  
Megrahi unsuccessfully appealed his conviction in January 2001. In June 2007 the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission granted Megrahi leave to appeal against his [[Lockerbie bombing]] conviction for a second time. After initially appealing, Megrahi abandoned his second appeal in August 2009 as an ongoing appeal would have prevented him from being moved to Libya under the Prisoner Transfer Scheme which was thought to be a possibility in 2009.  
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Abdelbaset al-Megrahi told author [[John Ashton]] that it came as a complete surprise when, in November 1991, he and his former LAA colleague [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah|Lamin Fhimah]] were charged with the bombing ([[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah|Fhimah]] was found not guilty). Megrahi maintained it was their decision to stand trial and that they were not ordered to by their government. He was repeatedly warned that he was unlikely to receive a fair trial, but believed he would be acquitted.
  
Several legal experts as well as the UN observer at the Lockerbie trial have vehemently challenged the verdict that convicted Megrahi,<ref>[http://www.trinicenter.com/oops/lockerbie.html Blum, William, "The Bombing of [[Pan Am Flight 103]] - Case Not Closed"]</ref> while Ulrich Lumpert, the Mebo AG engineer who testified to the validity of a key piece of evidence, admitted in an affidavit to lying in court and stealing the object from his employer, after which he gave it to one of the crime investigators.<ref name=nytdeath>{{cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|title=Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, Convicted in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing, Dies at 60|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/world/africa/abdel-basset-ali-al-megrahi-lockerbie-bomber-dies-at-60.html|accessdate=2012-05-20|work=The New York Times|date=20 May 2012}}</ref>
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In 2000 at his trial which was held under Scots Law at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, Crown expert witness [[Alan Feraday]] - who had been banned in 1993 by the English [[Peter Taylor|Lord Chief Justice Taylor]] - conspired with his US counterpart [[Thomas Thurman]] in fabricating the [[time bomb]] evidence that led to Megrahi's conviction. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was sentenced to 27 years in prison: one year for every ten victims of the [[Pan Am Flight 103|Lockerbie bombing]].
  
Megrahi was freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Government on 20 August 2009 following doctors reporting on 10 August 2009 that he had terminal prostate cancer and was expected to have around three months to live.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00603/Abdel_Baset_al_Megr_603477a.pdf |work=The Times |location=UK |title= Progress record|accessdate=27 January 2010 |quote= The clinical assessment, therefore, is that a 3 month prognosis is now a reasonable estimate for this patient. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Tom Gordon|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/politics/government-admits-megrahi-always-had-50-50-chance-of-living-past-three-months-1.1064925 |title=Government admits Megrahi always had 50/50 chance of living past three months|work=Herald Scotland |date=31 October 2010 |accessdate=16 May 2011}}</ref> On his return to Libya, al-Megrahi was initially hospitalized but was allowed to leave on 2 November 2009, taking up residence in a villa in Tripoli.<ref name="luxury_villa">{{cite news|last=Alderson |first=Andrew |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/7279123/Lockerbie-bomber-Megrahi-living-in-luxury-villa-six-months-after-being-at-deaths-door.html |title=Lockerbie bomber Megrahi living in luxury villa six months after being at 'death's door' |work=The Telegraph |date=20 February 2010|accessdate=30 July 2010 | location=London}}</ref> In October 2011 al-Megrahi gave an interview from his bed in which he claimed that he had only days, weeks or months to live.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/03/lockerbie-bomber-says-role-exaggerated |title=Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi says west exaggerated role |work=The Guardian |date=3 October 2011 |accessdate=9 October 2011 |location=London}}</ref> He died on 20 May 2012 nearly three years after his release.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18137896 |title=Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies in Tripoli |date=20 May 2012 |work=BBC |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
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During the decade he spent in prison, Megrahi's good manners and cooperative behaviour earned him the respect of the officers. He bonded with them through football, joining in their three-a-side matches at HMP Barlinnie and bantering about Glasgow's 'Old Firm' rivalry. Perversely, he supported Rangers, but his favourite player was Celtic's Henrik Larsson.
  
==Charges, conviction and punishment==
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Megrahi was cheered by visits from well-known figures, most notably [[Nelson Mandela]], and by hundreds of letters of support. In 2005 he was transferred to a low-security wing of HMP Gateside in Greenock, where he was placed among long-term prisoners nearing the end of their sentences. He was soon accepted by both inmates and officers, one of whom volunteered to [[John Ashton|Ashton]]:
===Background===
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:"We all know he didn't do it."<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/18/lockerbie-bomber-megrahi-libyan-conflict "The Lockerbie bomber I know"]</ref>
Megrahi was born in Tripoli and was educated in the United States and Cardiff, Wales. He was the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli. It was alleged by the FBI and the prosecution in the Lockerbie case that he was also an officer of the Libyan intelligence service, Jamahiriya el-Mukhabarat.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite news|last=Cramb |first=Auslan |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6060481/Lockerbie-bomber-Abdelbaset-Ali-Mohmed-Al-Megrahi-a-profile.html |title=Lockerbie bomber: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi – a profile |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=20 August 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010 | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100602203955/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6060481/Lockerbie-bomber-Abdelbaset-Ali-Mohmed-Al-Megrahi-a-profile.html| archivedate= 2 June 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2009/08/2009819143226391461.html |title=Profile: Abdel Basset al-Megrahi |work=Al Jazeera|accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
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{{SubPages}}
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On 13 November 1991, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], LAA's manager in Malta, were indicted jointly by the US Attorney General and Scotland's Lord Advocate on charges of 270 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, and breaching the UK's Aviation Security Act 1982 for the bombing of [[Pan Am Flight 103]] over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-16000162 "Lockerbie and Megrahi: Timeline"]</ref>
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Following the indictment, Megrahi and Fhimah were arrested in [[Libya]], which offered to put them on trial if the US and Britain would supply the evidence. The Libyan offer was rejected by the US and Britain, whereupon [[Nelson Mandela]] proposed to have the two accused Libyans tried in a neutral country and by independent judges.
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Contrary to [[Mandela]]'s proposal, [[Robert Black#Blackout of Mandela blueprint|Professor of Scots Law, Robert Black]] conducted a series of negotiations for the Lockerbie trial to be held without a jury and in front of a panel of three Scottish judges sitting in a special court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, which for the duration of the trial became British territory.
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On 31 January 2001, the conspiracy to murder charge having been dropped, Megrahi was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. His co-accused, [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], was found not guilty and set free.<ref>[http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/LockerbieVerdict.html "Pan Am 103 – Lockerbie verdict"]</ref>
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In February 2002, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi unsuccessfully appealed his conviction but, in 2003, applied to the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] (SCCRC) for his case to be re-examined. On 28 June 2007, the [[SCCRC]] granted Megrahi leave to appeal against his [[Lockerbie bombing]] conviction for a second time.<ref>[http://www.standforpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/SCCRC-Statement-of-Reasons-red.pdf "SCCRC Statement of Reasons"]</ref> "Lockerbie Revisited", a Dutch  documentary film, was broadcast in the Netherlands on the eve of the start at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh on 28 April 2009 of his second appeal.<ref>[https://www.newyorkfestivals.com/winners/2011/pieces.php?iid=412747&pid=1 "Lockerbie Revisited"]</ref> During the two-year delay between the SCCRC's ruling and the start of al-Megrahi's second appeal, he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. Megrahi decided to abandon his second appeal in August 2009, a few days before being granted [[Compassionate release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi|compassionate release]] from prison in Scotland and returning to Libya.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00603/Abdel_Baset_al_Megr_603477a.pdf "Progress record"]</ref><ref>[http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/politics/government-admits-megrahi-always-had-50-50-chance-of-living-past-three-months-1.1064925 "Government admits Megrahi always had 50/50 chance of living past three months"]</ref> On his return to Libya, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was initially hospitalized but was allowed to leave on 2 November 2009, taking up residence in a villa in Tripoli.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/7279123/Lockerbie-bomber-Megrahi-living-in-luxury-villa-six-months-after-being-at-deaths-door.html "Lockerbie bomber Megrahi living in luxury villa six months after being at 'death's door'"]</ref>
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In October 2010, the [[Justice for Megrahi]] campaign group created an e-petition which called on the Scottish Parliament "to urge the Scottish Government to open an independent inquiry into the 2001 Kamp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi for the bombing of [[Pan Am Flight 103]] in December 1988." Petition PE1370 is currently under consideration by the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee, whose Chair is [[Christine Grahame]].<ref>[http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Petitions_Archive/PE1370.pdf "Public Petition PE1370"]</ref> 
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In October 2011, al-Megrahi gave an interview from his bed in which he claimed that he had only days, weeks or months to live.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/03/lockerbie-bomber-says-role-exaggerated "Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi says west exaggerated role"]</ref>
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Abdelbaset al-Megrahi died on 20 May 2012 nearly three years after his release.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18137896 "Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies in Tripoli"]</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/world/africa/abdel-basset-ali-al-megrahi-lockerbie-bomber-dies-at-60.html "Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, Convicted in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing, Dies at 60"]</ref>
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==Posthumous appeal==
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In April 2017, the family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi launched a fresh effort to posthumously clear his name. Family lawyer [[Aamer Anwar]] said that a dossier of evidence will be delivered to the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]], which will review it and decide whether to hand the case on to an appeals court. Al-Megrahi's widow Aisha said:
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:"I wish to pursue this appeal in my husband's name to have his conviction overturned, to clear his name and to clear the name of my family.
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:"The world will say sorry to my husband and my family one day."<ref>''[https://sputniknews.com/society/201704251052956882-lockerbie-bomber-case-appeal-revived/ "Lockerbie Bomber Case Revived as Family Launches Effort to Clear His Name"]''</ref>
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On 11 March 2020, the [[SCCRC]] again referred the case of the late Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to the High Court of Justiciary, the hearing of which has been delayed due to the [[COVID-19/Lockdown]].<ref>''[https://gosint.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/lockerbie-trial-start-delayed-by-covid-19/ "Lockerbie – Trial Start Delayed by COVID-19"]''</ref> The Commission sent a Statement of Reasons for its decision to the High Court. It has sent a copy of the document to Messrs [[Aamer Anwar]] & Co (whom the Megrahi family have instructed), the Lord Advocate and the Crown Agent.
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The Commission is not, by law, permitted to provide members of the public with copies of its statement of reasons. However, given the continuing worldwide interest in this case, which sits uniquely within the criminal justice system in Scotland, the Commission decided to provide a fuller news release than normal by setting out a summary of the case history and providing brief details of the application made to it, the trial court’s findings and the Commission’s conclusions.
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Gerard Sinclair, SCCRC Chief Executive, said:
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:"When we referred this case in 2007 I never expected that, over 10 years later, we would be asked not only to revisit our original decision, applying the law as currently stated, but also consider a whole new set of materials which had become available in the intervening years. I’m pleased to report that, after another lengthy investigation and review, we are now in a position to issue our decision in this unique case.
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:"It seems important to note that, this month, an entirely new Board of the Commission from that which considered the matter in 2007 has again decided to refer this case. The 419-page decision issued today, with voluminous appendices, is a testament to the hard work and diligence of our investigating team over the last 3 years, involving us in novel and challenging court procedures along the way, and I pay tribute to them. The Commission’s involvement in the case is, once again, at an end. It is now a matter for those representing the Crown and the defence to decide how to proceed at any future appeal. Thereafter, it will be for the appeal court to decide whether there has been a miscarriage of justice in this case."<ref>''[https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/8f56052e/files/uploaded/11%20March%202020%20-%20SCCRC%20News%20Release%20-%20Application%20on%20behalf%20of%20Mr%20Abdelbaset%20Ali%20Mohmed%20Al%20Megrahi_dgMrLN20RqqEoEwzK4eV.pdf "News Release: Application on behalf of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi"]''</ref>
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===Grounds of Review===
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The SCCRC considered the following six broad Grounds of Review:
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* Ground 1: Insufficient Evidence
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* Ground 2: Unreasonable Verdict
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* Ground 3: Fresh Evidence: The Christmas Lights
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* Ground 4: Non-disclosure
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* Ground 5: Timer Fragment PT/35(b)
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* Ground 6: The Suitcase Ingestion
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but upheld only two of these grounds: Ground 2: Unreasonable Verdict and Ground 4: Non-disclosure. Thus it took the "entirely new Board of the Commission" 2 years, 8 months, and 7 days to confirm two of the six grounds their predecessors had already validated 13 years ago. The new Commission has simply reaffirmed that no reasonable trial court could have accepted that Megrahi was identified as the purchaser (of the clothes, traces of which were found in the bomb suitcase).
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===Limited chance of success===
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For the posthumous appeal to succeed, Megrahi’s legal team are limited solely to showing that his conviction was based upon the unreliable identification evidence given by the now-deceased Maltese shop owner [[Tony Gauci]]. Lawyer [[Aamer Anwar]] is unlikely to be able to challenge any of the other unreliable evidence given at the [[Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial]] that:
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[[File:Megrahi_Carlsson.jpg|400px|right|thumb|[[Pan Am Flight 103|Lockerbie bombing]]: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi wrongly convicted, [[Bernt Carlsson]] callously targeted on [[Pan Am Flight 103]] ]]
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* A [[time bomb]] triggered by an [[MST-13 Timer]] was wrapped in clothes purchased in [[Malta]] and packed inside the bomb suitcase
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* The unaccompanied bomb suitcase was ingested at [[Malta]]'s Luqa Airport on 21 December 1988
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* Air Malta flight KM180 transported the bomb suitcase unaccompanied to Frankfurt airport
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* Feeder flight Pan Am 103A transported the bomb suitcase unaccompanied from Frankfurt to Heathrow airport
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* [[Pan Am Flight 103]] transported the bomb suitcase unaccompanied from [[London]]'s Heathrow until the aircraft exploded at 19:03 hours on 21 December 1988 over Lockerbie in [[Scotland]]
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While the law does not inhibit Megrahi's legal team from trying to appeal on these additional grounds, the High Court of Justiciary is expected to reject any such appeal and focus on whether Megrahi or another [[Libya]]n terrorist is responsible for the [[Pan Am Flight 103|Lockerbie bombing]].<ref>''[https://gosint.wordpress.com/2020/03/16/lockerbie-diabolical-endgame-part-i-sccrc-the-grounds-of-appeal/ "Lockerbie - Diabolical Endgame (Part I: SCCRC & the Grounds of Appeal)"]''</ref>
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Thus, even if the Appeal Court were to overturn Megrahi's conviction, we would be no nearer to knowing who targeted [[Bernt Carlsson]] on [[Pan Am Flight 103]].<ref>''[https://www.facebook.com/patrick.haseldine/posts/10220147018719926 "LOCKERBIE CONVICTION: POSTHUMOUS APPEAL"]''</ref>
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===Five Judges reject appeal===
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In a 64-page Judgment on 15 January 2021, five Judges in the Court of Criminal Appeal in Scotland announced they upheld the original trial verdict and rejected the posthumous appeal against Megrahi's conviction.<ref>''[https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/docs/default-source/cos-general-docs/pdf-docs-for-opinions/2021hcjac3.pdf "OPINION OF THE APPEAL COURT, HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY"]''</ref> Following the Judgment, the family's lawyer [[Aamer Anwar]] said:{{QB|“Ali Al-Megrahi, the son of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, said his family were left heartbroken by the decision of the Scottish courts. He maintained his father’s innocence and is determined to fulfil the promise he made to clear his name and that of [[Libya]].
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“As of this morning, the Megrahi family have instructed our legal team to appeal to the [[UK Supreme Court]] and we will lodge an application within 14 days.
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“The family demand the release of secret evidence held by the UK Government, which they believe incriminates others such as [[Iran]] and the [[Syria]]n-[[Palestinian]] group.
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“The [[Dominic Raab|Foreign Secretary]] had refused to do so, this must happen for the truth to emerge.”
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Mr Anwar said “significant material has been received by the legal team over the last several months, especially since the announcement by [[Donald Trump]]’s former Attorney General [[William Barr]] on 21 December 2020, when he stated that the USA wished to extradite a former Libyan Intelligence Officer, [[Abu Agila Mas'ud]] for the Lockerbie bombing, 32 years later”.
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He said: “[[Masud]]’s confession to being involved in the conspiracy with Al-Megrahi to blow up [[Pan Am Flight 103]], was supposedly ‘extracted’ by a ‘Libyan law enforcement agent’ in 2012, whilst in custody in a Libyan Prison. No new information appeared to be presented by Attorney General [[William Barr|Barr]].
  
===Indictment and arrest===
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“What was significant in the US criminal complaint against [[Masud]] was his claim that he bought the clothes to put into the Samsonite suitcase that is claimed went on to blow up [[Pan Am Flight 103]].
In November 1991, Megrahi and Fhimah were indicted by the US Attorney General and the Scottish Lord Advocate for the bombing of [[Lockerbie Bombing|Pan Am Flight 103]]. Libya refused to extradite the two accused, but held them under armed house arrest in Tripoli, offering to detain them for trial in Libya, as long as all the incriminating evidence was provided. The offer was unacceptable to the US and UK, and there was an impasse for the next three years.
 
  
On 23 March 1995, over six years after the 1988 attack, Megrahi and Fhimah were designated as United States fugitives from justice and became the 441st and 442nd additions on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. This list offered a US$4 million reward from the US Air Line Pilots Association, Air Transport Association, and United States Department of State, and $50,000 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for information leading to their arrest.
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“Of course, the problem for the [[US Department of Justice]] is that the case against Megrahi is still based on the eyewitness testimony of [[Tony Gauci]] stating that Megrahi bought the clothes. How can both men be held responsible?
  
The parties eventually agreed on a compromise and a trial was held in the Netherlands under Scots law. The trial format was engineered by legal academic [[Professor Robert Black]] of the University of Edinburgh and was given political impetus by the then foreign secretary, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Cook Robin Cook].
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“The Al-Megrahi family believe that if the conviction against their father were to be overturned then the [[US]] case against [[Masud]] would be non-existent.
  
Protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader, Colonel [[Muammar Gaddafi]], and the imposition of UN economic sanctions against Libya brought the two accused to trial in a neutral country. Over ten years after the bombing, Megrahi and Fhimah were placed under arrest at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands on 5 April 1999. During his seven-year house arrest awaiting deportation and trial, Megrahi lived on a Libyan Arab Airlines pension and worked as a teacher.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>
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“Undoubtedly there will now be huge pressure on [[Libya]] and the GNA, the [[Government of National Accord]] based in Tripoli to extradite [[Abu Agila Mas'ud]] to the [[US]], but of course the American authorities will be also aware that if the Megrahi’s were to be successful at the [[UK Supreme Court]], then ‘so called’ case against [[Abu Agila Mas'ud]] would crumble.<ref>''[https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/al-megrahi-family-devastated-lockerbie-23323762 "Al-Megrahi family 'devastated' as Lockerbie appeal court judges uphold conviction"]''</ref>}}
  
===Trial===
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===Appeal to UK Supreme Court===
The Scottish High Court of Justiciary at Camp Zeist was presided over by three senior judges and an additional, non-voting, judge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/TheJudges.html |title=Lockerbie trial Judges |publisher=Terrorismcentral.com |date=31 January 2001 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> The two accused, Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, denied all charges against them. The full charges included the names of the murdered 259 passengers and crew of Pan Am Flight 103, and the eleven residents killed on the ground at Lockerbie in Scotland.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/newsid_493000/493242.stm |title=Full charges, and names of 270 victims |publisher=BBC News|date= 11 January 2001|accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
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On 2 April 2021, five Scottish Judges refused [https://twitter.com/Ali2082009 Ali Abdelbaset al-Megrahi] permission to take the posthumous appeal against his father's Lockerbie bombing conviction to the [[UK Supreme Court]]:{{QB|A written Judgment issued by Lord Carloway, the Lord Justice General, said the Court of Criminal Appeal in Scotland "has had some difficulty in understanding the exact nature of the challenge".
  
Representing Megrahi were his solicitor, Alistair Duff, and advocates William Taylor QC, David Burns QC and John Beckett. Fhimah was represented by solicitor Eddie McKechnie and advocates Richard Keen QC, Jack Davidson QC and Murdo Macleod. Both defendants also had access to a Libyan defence lawyer, Kamel Maghur, a former foreign affairs minister in the Libyan government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.i-p-o.org/lockerbie-report-koechler-commentary.htm |title=Commentary on Dr Hans Koechler's Lockerbie report – Scotland on Sunday, 8 April 2001 |publisher=I-p-o.org |date=8 April 2001 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
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It said: "Although the case is clearly one of public importance, the proposed grounds of appeal do not raise points of law of general public importance.
  
Court proceedings started on 3 May 2000. The crucial witness against Megrahi for the prosecution was Tony Gauci, a Maltese storekeeper, who testified that he had sold Megrahi the clothing later found in the remains of the suitcase bomb.<ref>{{cite news
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"The principles of law which the court applied were all well known, settled and largely uncontroversial in the appeal.
|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,,2182343,00.html
 
|title=Fresh doubts on Lockerbie conviction
 
|first=Severin
 
|last=Carrell
 
|work=The Guardian |date=3 October 2007
 
| location=London}}</ref> At the trial, Gauci appeared uncertain about the exact date he sold the clothes in question, and was not entirely sure that it was Megrahi to whom they were sold. Nonetheless, Megrahi's appeal against conviction was rejected by the Scottish Court in the Netherlands in March 2002. Five years after the trial, former Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, publicly described Gauci as being "an apple short of a picnic" and "not quite the full shilling".
 
  
===Verdict===
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"For these reasons, the court refuses permission to appeal to the [[UK Supreme Court]]."}}
The judges announced their verdict on 31 January 2001. They said of Megrahi: "There is nothing in the evidence which leaves us with any reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the first accused, and accordingly we find him guilty of the remaining charge in the indictment as amended."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pixunlimited.co.uk/guardian/pdf/0131lockerbieverdict.pdf |title=Lockerbie trial verdict |format=PDF |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommendation that he should serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole.
 
  
The judges unanimously found the second accused, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, not guilty of the murder charge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/Lockerbie_Verdict-31Jan2001.htm |title=Fhimah was found "not guilty" |publisher=I-p-o.org |date=31 January 2001 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> Fhimah was freed and returned to his home at Souk al-Juma in Libya on 1 February 2001.
+
[[Megrahi]]'s son [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000142886955 Ali al-Megrahi], who has maintained his father’s innocence and is determined to fulfil the promise he made to clear his name and that of [[Libya]], clearly cannot accept the Scots Appeal Court ruling.<ref>''[https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/al-megrahi-family-devastated-lockerbie-23323762 "Al-Megrahi family 'devastated' as Lockerbie appeal court judges uphold conviction"]''</ref> He said:
  
Megrahi was imprisoned at the high-security Barlinnie Jail.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gunn |first=David |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Lockerbie-bomber-Al-Megrahi-treated.4612702.jp |title=Lockerbie bomber Al Megrahi treated for 'advanced cancer'|work=The Scotsman|accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
"I have now instructed our legal team to seek leave to appeal directly to the [[UK Supreme Court]] which is the final court of appeal for my father's case.<ref>''[https://www.rte.ie/news/uk/2021/0402/1207648-lockerbie/ "Judges reject Lockerbie bomber family's bid to appeal to UK's highest court"]''</ref>
  
===Prison visit by [[Nelson Mandela]]===
+
On 4 April 2021, [[Patrick Haseldine]] wrote to the [[Megrahi]] family lawyer [[Aamer Anwar]] recommending this course of action:
[[File:Press_conference_at_Barlinnie_Jail.jpg|400px|thumb|right|[[Nelson Mandela]]'s press conference at Barlinnie Jail]]
+
:"My recommendation, [[Aamer Anwar|Mr Anwar]], is that you appeal to the [[UK Supreme Court]] to quash the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Court_in_the_Netherlands Scottish Court in the Netherlands'] 2001 conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on the basis of fabricated timer fragment evidence led by the "non-expert witness" [[Allen Feraday]].<ref>''[[Document:Justice for Megrahi awaits at the Supreme Court]]''</ref>
On 10 June 2002, [[Nelson Mandela]] visited Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for more than an hour at Barlinnie Jail in Glasgow. Following the meeting which took place in Megrahi's own cell within the prison, in a section nicknamed by other inmates as "[[Gaddafi]]'s Cafe", Mandela held a 30-minute press conference and called for a fresh appeal in the case.
 
  
"Megrahi is all alone," Mandela said. "He has nobody he can talk to. It is a psychological persecution that a man must stay for the length of his long sentence all alone." He added that al-Megrahi was being "harassed" by other inmates at Barlinnie. "He says he is being treated well by the officials but when he takes exercise he has been harassed by a number of prisoners," said Mr Mandela. "He cannot identify them because they shout at him from their cells through the windows and sometimes it is difficult even for the officials to know from which quarter the shouting occurs."
+
==271st victim of Lockerbie==
 +
Relatives of the only man convicted of the [[Lockerbie bombing]] have embarked on a legal bid to clear his name amid claims that his case is the "worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history". Six immediate members of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's family have joined forces with 24 British relatives of those who died in the atrocity to seek, ultimately, a third appeal against his conviction in the Scottish courts.
  
Mandela said: "It would be fair if Mr Megrahi was transferred to a Muslim country - and there are Muslim countries which are trusted by the West. It will make it easier for his family to visit him if he is in a place like the Kingdom of Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt."
+
Campaigners say they are still "desperately seeking to get to the truth" 25 years after their loved ones were murdered and two years on from [[Megrahi]]'s death. They have united to submit an application to the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] (SCCRC) for a review of the conviction, a move which could see the case referred back to the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh. They claim to have evidence that [[Megrahi]] was pressured by ministers to drop his second appeal.
  
Mandela described in detail how a four-judge commission from the Organisation of African Unity had criticised the basis by which Megrahi came to be convicted at a special Scottish court, sitting at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 2001: "They have criticised it fiercely, and it will be a pity if no court reviews the case itself. From the point of view of fundamental principles of natural law, it would be fair if he is given a chance to appeal either to the Privy Council or the European Court of Human Rights."
+
Reversal of the guilty verdict would expose the US and UK governments "as having lived a monumental lie for 25 years", their lawyers claim. Quoting [[Megrahi]]'s relatives, their solicitor, [[Aamer Anwar]], said:
 +
:"'We, the family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, will keep fighting for justice to find out who was responsible for 271 victims of the [[Lockerbie disaster]].' They, of course, include Mr [[Megrahi]] as its 271st victim."
  
In conclusion, Nelson Mandela said he also hoped to meet Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] and US President [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush George Bush] to discuss the Megrahi case.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1396819/Mandela-meets-Lockerbie-bomber.html "Mandela meets Lockerbie bomber"]</ref>
+
The members of [[Megrahi]]'s family involved have not being identified due to concerns for their safety.
 +
[[File:Swire_Anwar.jpg|400px|thumb|right|[[Dr Jim Swire]] and [[Aamer Anwar]] announcing the 2015 application for a review of [[Abdelbaset al-Megrahi]]'s [[Lockerbie bombing]] conviction]]
 +
Mr Anwar and campaigner [[Jim Swire]] today submitted three volumes of papers to the [[SCCRC]] in Glasgow, launching their application. [[Dr Swire]], whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the bombing, said: "As relatives, we want to know all that is known about who was responsible for murdering our lovely families all those years ago. Who did it? Why am I and other relatives still desperately seeking to get to the truth 25 years after our families were murdered?"
  
===Appeals===
+
The fact that [[Megrahi]]'s own family have chosen to take forward an appeal bid could boost its chances of getting back to court. It is expected to be several months before the review body makes a decision on any way forward. The Commission will be asked to reconfirm the six grounds of appeal it cited in 2007. The application will also focus on "question marks" over material evidence, allegations of the Crown's non-disclosure of evidence and claims he was convicted on the word of a Maltese shopkeeper who "gave a false description" of him. Mr Anwar said:
Megrahi's appeal against his conviction in January 2001 was refused on 14 March 2002 by a panel of five Scottish judges at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/Lockerbieappealjudgement.html |title=Lockerbie Appeal Judgment |publisher=Terrorismcentral.com |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> According to a report by the [[BBC]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1872996.stm |title=UN monitor decries Lockerbie judgment |publisher=BBC News|date=14 March 2002 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> Dr Hans Köchler, one of the UN observers at the trial, expressed serious doubts about the fairness of the proceedings and spoke of a "spectacular miscarriage of justice".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/nr-lockerbie-14Oct05.htm |title=Statement by Dr Hans Köchler, international observer at the Lockerbie trial |publisher=I-p-o.org |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
:"The case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has been described as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history. A reversal of the verdict would mean that the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom would stand exposed as having lived a monumental lie for 25 years and having imprisoned a man they knew to be innocent for 10 years."
  
On 24 November 2003, Megrahi appeared at the High Court in Glasgow, in front of the three judges who originally sentenced him at Camp Zeist, to learn that he would have to serve at least 27 years in jail&nbsp;– back-dated to April 1999 when he was extradited from Libya&nbsp;– before he could be considered for parole. This court hearing was the result of the incorporation into Scots law of the European Convention on Human Rights in 2001, nine months after Megrahi's sentence was imposed, which required him to be told the extent of the "punishment part" of his life term. On 31 May 2004 he was granted leave to appeal against his 27-year sentence.<ref>{{cite news|author=Kirsty Scott |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,,1228631,00.html |title=Leave to appeal against sentence |work=Guardian |location=UK |date= 1 June 2004|accessdate=5 June 2010 }}</ref> The appeal against sentence was scheduled to be heard in Edinburgh by a panel of five Judges on 11 July 2006. However, the Scottish Court of Criminal Appeal decided to postpone the July hearing to allow consideration of whether the appeal against sentence ought to be heard at Camp Zeist rather than in Edinburgh.
+
The legal team will also ask the SCCRC to consider the circumstances that led to Megrahi abandoning his last appeal. Mr Anwar said:
 +
:"To date both the British Government and Scottish Government have claimed that they played no role in pressurising Mr [[Megrahi]] into dropping his appeal as a condition of his immediate release. However the evidence submitted to the Commission today claims that this is fundamentally untrue."
  
===Judicial reviews===
+
[[SCCRC]] chief executive Gerard Sinclair said:
On 23 September 2003 lawyers acting for Megrahi applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for a review of the case (both sentence and conviction), arguing that there had been a miscarriage of justice. On 1 November 2006 Megrahi was reported to have dropped his demand for the new appeal to be held at Camp Zeist.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=184&id=1613972006 |title=Appeal can be held in Edinburgh |work=The Scotsman|accessdate=5 June 2010 |date=1 November 2006}}</ref> In an interview with ''The Scotsman'' newspaper of 31 January 2006, retired Scottish Judge Lord MacLean – one of the three who convicted Megrahi in 2001 – said he believed the SCCRC would return the case for a further appeal against conviction:
+
:"As it does in every case, the Commission will now give careful consideration to this new application."
:"They can't be working for two years without producing something with which to go to the court."
 
MacLean added that any new appeal would indicate the flexibility of Scots law, rather than a weakness:
 
:"It might even be the strength of the system – it is capable of looking at itself subsequently and determining a ground for appeal."
 
  
In January 2007, the SCCRC announced that it would issue its decision on Megrahi's case by the end of June 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sccrc.org.uk/ViewFile.aspx?id=175 |title=SCCRC ruling by the end of June 2007 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> On 9 June 2007 rumours of a possible prisoner swap deal involving Megrahi were strenuously denied by the then-prime minister, [[Tony Blair]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=904402007 |title=PM says no deal over Megrahi |work=The Scotsman|date= 9 June 2007|accessdate=5 June 2010 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref> Later in June, ''The Observer'' confirmed the imminence of the SCCRC ruling and reported:
+
A Scottish Government spokesman said:
:"Abdelbaset al-Megrahi never wavered in his denial of causing the Lockerbie disaster: now some Scottish legal experts say they believe him."<ref>{{cite news|author=Mark Townsend and David Smith |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2104982,00.htm |title=Evidence that casts doubt on who brought down Flight 103 |work=The Guardian|date= 25 June 2007|accessdate=5 June 2010 | location=London}}</ref>
+
"Mr [[al-Megrahi]] was convicted in a court of law, his conviction was upheld on appeal and that is the only appropriate place for his guilt or innocence to be determined."
  
===Second appeal===
+
The Lockerbie case remains a live investigation, with Scotland's criminal justice officials saying they will pursue any new lines of inquiry.
On 28 June 2007 the SCCRC concluded its four-year review and, having uncovered evidence that a miscarriage of justice could have occurred, the commission granted Megrahi leave to appeal against his Lockerbie bombing conviction for a second time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sccrc.org.uk/ViewFile.aspx?id=293 |title=SCCRC referral of Megrahi case |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> The second appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal was abandoned in August 2009, as an impediment to the legal power to release him to Libya under the Prisoner Transfer Scheme then operating in the United Kingdom. Ultimately, he was not released under this scheme, rather, on compassionate grounds due to his ill health. There was in the event, no requirement to drop his appeal against conviction.
 
  
New information casting fresh doubts about Megrahi's conviction was examined at a procedural hearing at the Judicial Appeal Court in Edinburgh on 11 October 2007:
+
A [[Crown Office]] spokesman said:
#His lawyers claimed that vital documents, which emanated from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and related to the Mebo timer that allegedly detonated the Lockerbie bomb, were withheld from the trial defence team.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7023397.stm 'Secret' Lockerbie report claim] BBC News 2 October 2007</ref>
+
:"We do not fear scrutiny of the conviction by the [[SCCRC]]. The evidence upon which the conviction was based was rigorously scrutinised by the trial court and two appeal courts, after which [[Megrahi]] stands convicted of the terrorist murder of 270 people. We will rigorously defend this conviction when called upon to do so. In the meantime we will continue the investigation with US and Scottish police and law enforcement, and will keep fighting for justice to find out who was responsible for 271 victims of the Lockerbie disaster."<ref>[http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/new-lockerbie-bomber-appeal-sought-1-6655916 "New Lockerbie bomber appeal sought"]</ref>
#Tony Gauci, chief prosecution witness at the trial, was alleged to have been paid $2&nbsp;million for testifying against Megrahi.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,,2182343,00.html Fresh doubts on Lockerbie conviction] ''The Guardian'' 3 October 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/02/lockerbie-documents-witness-megrahi US paid reward to Lockerbie witness, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi papers claim] ''The Guardian'' 2 October 2009</ref>
 
#Mebo's owner, Edwin Bollier, claimed that in 1991 the FBI offered him $4&nbsp;million to testify that the timer fragment found near the scene of the crash was part of a Mebo MST-13 timer supplied to Libya.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/IPO-nr-Lockerbie-5Oct07.htm |title=Lockerbie trial: an intelligence operation? New revelation about financial offer to key witness from Switzerland |publisher=I-p-o.org |date=5 October 2007 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
 
#Former employee of Mebo Ulrich Lumpert swore an affidavit in July 2007 that he had stolen a prototype MST-13 timer in 1989, and had handed it over to "a person officially investigating the Lockerbie case".<ref>{{cite news|author=Alex Duval Smith|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2160655,00.html |title=Vital Lockerbie evidence 'was tampered with' |work=The Guardian |date= 2 September 2007|accessdate=5 June 2010 | location=London}}</ref>
 
  
On 1 November 2007 Megrahi invited Professor Robert Black QC to visit him at Greenock Prison. After a two-hour meeting, Black stated "that not only was there a wrongful conviction, but the victim of it was an innocent man. Lawyers, and I hope others, will appreciate this distinction."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/21/megrahi-release-compassionate-not-political|title=Megrahi release was compassionate, not political|work=The Guardian|date=21 July 2010 |accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref>
+
On 5 November 2015, the SCCRC announced that the Board of the Commission had decided that “it is not in the interests of justice” to continue with a review of the conviction of the late Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi. Consequently, the application has been refused.<ref>''[http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/lockerbie-bomber-application-refused-by-criminal-cases-review-commission-11364014889813 "SCCRC refuses the application to review of the conviction of the late Abdelbaset al-Megrahi"]''</ref>
  
Prior to Megrahi's second appeal, another four procedural hearings took place at the High Court of Appeal in Edinburgh between December 2007 and June 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7144552.stm |title=Major appeal cases back in court |publisher=BBC News|date=14 December 2007 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7414359.stm |title=Concern at Lockerbie lawyer claim |publisher=BBC News|date=22 May 2008 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
==CIA wanted to assassinate Megrahi==
 +
In June 2013, a Capitol Hill academic [[William C. Chasey]], after being diagnosed with incurable cancer, reported that the [[CIA]] had made repeated approaches to him. They wanted to get him to attach tracking devices to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and his co-accused, [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], so that they could assassinate them before their trial.{{QB|"He wasn’t explicit but my belief is that the [[CIA]] wanted the suspects eliminated to stop any trial taking place and bury the alternative view that [[Iran]] and [[Syria]] were behind [[Pan Am Flight 103|Lockerbie]]."<ref>[[Document:CIA wanted to kill Lockerbie bomber before trial]]</ref><ref>[http://www.truthneverdies.com/ "Truth Never Dies"]</ref>}}
  
In the June 2008 edition of the Scottish lawyers' magazine ''The Firm'', the UN Observer at the Lockerbie trial, Dr Hans Köchler, referred to the 'totalitarian' nature of Megrahi's second appeal process saying it "bears the hallmarks of an 'intelligence operation'."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefirmmagazine.com/news/901/UN_Observer_to_the_Lockerbie_Trial_says_%E2%80%98totalitarian%E2%80%99_appeal_process_bears_the_hallmarks_of_an_%E2%80%9Cintelligence_operation%E2%80%9D_.html |title=UN Observer to the Lockerbie Trial says 'totalitarian' appeal process bears the hallmarks of an "intelligence operation" |publisher=Thefirmmagazine.com |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> Pointing out an error on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website (FCO) and accusing the British government of "delaying tactics" in relation to Megrahi's second Lockerbie appeal, UN Observer at the Lockerbie trial Dr Hans Köchler wrote to Foreign Secretary David Miliband on 21 July 2008 saying:
+
==Charges, conviction and punishment==
<blockquote>As international observer, appointed by the UN, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands I am also concerned about the Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate which has been issued by you in connection with the new Appeal of the convicted Libyan national. Withholding of evidence from the Defence was one of the reasons why the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred Mr. Al-Megrahi's case back to the High Court of Justiciary. The Appeal cannot go ahead if the Government of the United Kingdom, through the PII certificate issued by you, denies the Defence the right (also guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights) to have access to a document which is in the possession of the Prosecution. How can there be equality of arms in such a situation? How can the independence of the judiciary be upheld if the executive power interferes into the appeal process in such a way?</blockquote>
+
===Background===
 +
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was born in Tripoli and was educated in the United States and Cardiff, Wales. He was the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli. It was alleged by the FBI and the prosecution in the Lockerbie case that he was also an officer of the Libyan intelligence service, Jamahiriya el-Mukhabarat.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20100602203955/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6060481/Lockerbie-bomber-Abdelbaset-Ali-Mohmed-Al-Megrahi-a-profile.html "Lockerbie bomber: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi – a profile"]</ref><ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2009/08/2009819143226391461.html "Profile: Abdel Basset al-Megrahi"]</ref>
  
The FCO corrected the error on its website and wrote to Köchler on 27 August 2008:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://i-p-o.org/IPO-nr-Lockerbie-FCO-01Sept08.htm |title=FCO reply dated 27&nbsp;August 2008|accessdate=2 September 2008}}</ref><blockquote>"Ultimately, it will be for the Court to decide whether the material should be disclosed, not the Foreign Secretary."</blockquote>
+
===Indictment and arrest===
 +
In November 1991, Megrahi and Fhimah were indicted by the US Attorney General and the Scottish Lord Advocate for the bombing of [[Lockerbie Bombing|Pan Am Flight 103]]. Libya refused to extradite the two accused, but held them under armed house arrest in Tripoli, offering to detain them for trial in Libya, as long as all the incriminating evidence was provided. The offer was unacceptable to the US and UK, and there was an impasse for the next three years.
  
On 15 October 2008, five Scottish judges decided unanimously to reject a submission by the Crown Office to the effect that the scope of Megrahi's second appeal should be limited to the specific grounds of appeal that were identified by the SCCRC in June 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2008HCJAC58.html |title=Judgment on the scope of Megrahi's second appeal |publisher=Scottish Courts |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
On 23 March 1995, over six years after the 1988 attack, Megrahi and Fhimah were designated as United States fugitives from justice and became the 441st and 442nd additions on the FBI ''Ten Most Wanted Fugitives'' list. This list offered a US$4 million reward from the US Air Line Pilots Association, Air Transport Association, and United States Department of State, and $50,000 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for information leading to their arrest.
  
In January 2009, it was reported that, although Megrahi's second appeal against conviction was scheduled to begin on 27 April 2009, the hearing could last as long as 12 months because of the complexity of the case and volume of material to be examined. At a preliminary High Court hearing in Edinburgh on 20 February 2009, Megrahi's Counsel, Maggie Scott QC, was informed that a delegation from the Crown Office was due to travel to Malta to "actively seek the consent for disclosure" of sensitive documents that could determine the outcome of the second appeal.<ref>{{cite web
+
The parties eventually agreed on a compromise and a trial was held in the Netherlands under Scots law. The trial format was engineered by legal academic [[Professor Robert Black]] of the University of Edinburgh and was given political impetus by the then foreign secretary [[Robin Cook]].
|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=83564
 
|title=Lockerbie investigators to travel to Malta to seek new evidence
 
|date=23 February 2009
 
|author=David Lindsay
 
|work=The Malta Independent Online
 
}}</ref>
 
  
Scottish ministers denied in April 2009 they had clandestinely agreed to the repatriation of Megrahi before the start of his second appeal on 28 April.<ref>{{cite news
+
Protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader, Colonel [[Muammar Gaddafi]], and the imposition of UN economic sanctions against Libya brought the two accused to trial. Over ten years after the bombing, Megrahi and Fhimah were placed under arrest at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands on 5 April 1999. During his seven-year house arrest awaiting deportation and trial, Megrahi lived on a Libyan Arab Airlines pension and worked as a teacher.
|url=http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Ministers-deny-that-Lockerbie-bomber.5184493.jp
 
|title=Ministers deny that Lockerbie bomber will be moved to Libya
 
|date=19 April 2009
 
|work=Scotsman
 
|author=Hamish Macdonell
 
|accessdate=20 April 2009
 
|location=Edinburgh
 
}}</ref>
 
  
Kenny MacAskill announced in May 2011 that the re-elected SNP Government would seek to change Scots law to allow publication of the SCCRC report, which can presently be blocked by any party that provided evidence to the review.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/snp-plans-law-change-over-lockerbie-files-2284523.html|title=SNP plans law change over Lockerbie files|work=Independent|first=Lucinda|last=Cameron|date=15 May 2011|accessdate=15 May 2011|location=London}}</ref> Nevertheless, ''The Herald'' published this report online in March 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/lockerbie-exclusive-we-publish-the-report-that-could-have-cleared-megrahi.2012036248|title=Lockerbie exclusive: we publish the report that could have cleared Megrahi|work=The Herald|first=Lucy|last=Adams|date=25 March 2012|location=Glasgow}}</ref>
+
===Trial===
 +
The Scottish High Court of Justiciary at Camp Zeist was presided over by three senior judges and an additional, non-voting, judge.<ref>[http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/TheJudges.html "Lockerbie trial Judges"]</ref> The two accused, Megrahi and [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], denied all charges against them. The full charges included the names of the murdered 259 passengers and crew of [[Pan Am Flight 103]], and the eleven residents killed on the ground at Lockerbie in Scotland.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/newsid_493000/493242.stm "Full charges, and names of 270 victims"]</ref>
  
===Call for Megrahi's release===
+
Representing Megrahi were his solicitor, Alistair Duff, and advocates [[Bill Taylor|William Taylor]] QC, David Burns QC and John Beckett. Fhimah was represented by solicitor Eddie McKechnie and advocates [[Richard Keen]] QC, (thirteen years later to be appointed Chair of the Scottish Conservative Party)<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24939146 "QC Richard Keen appointed Scottish Tory Party chairman"]</ref> Jack Davidson QC and Murdo Macleod. Both defendants also had access to a Libyan defence lawyer, Kamel Maghur, a former foreign affairs minister in the Libyan government.<ref>[http://www.i-p-o.org/lockerbie-report-koechler-commentary.htm "Commentary on Dr Hans Koechler's Lockerbie report"]</ref>
The first Scottish call for the release of Megrahi was made by Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Iain Torrance. At the beginning of 2003, Nelson Mandela had asked for the intervention of the Western Christian churches in what he described as "a clear miscarriage of justice". This led to the production of a highly critical report of the scientific and forensic evidence presented at the original trial by the Church of Scotland's leading scientist [http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4453168801559&l=a92a2892d4 Dr John Urquhart Cameron].<ref>[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4453168801559&l=a92a2892d4 "Lockerbie: Mandela and Dr John Cameron's Report"]</ref> As a result, in July 2003 Torrance petitioned the then prime minister [[Tony Blair]] to consider Megrahi's release in view of the widespread unease in Scotland concerning the safety of the verdict.
 
  
On 14 September 2008, the Arab League Ministerial Council passed a resolution calling for the 'political hostage' Megrahi to be released from prison in Scotland. The resolution demanded that the Scottish government should hand to Megrahi's lawyers the documents which the SCCRC had identified, adding that Britain's refusal to do so represented a 'miscarriage of justice'. The Arab League also endorsed Libya's right to compensation for the damage done to its economy by UN sanctions which were in force from 1991 until 1999.<ref>{{cite web
+
Court proceedings started on 3 May 2000. A crucial witness against Megrahi for the prosecution was [[Tony Gauci]], a Maltese storekeeper, who testified that he had sold Megrahi the clothing later found in the remains of the suitcase bomb.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,,2182343,00.html "Fresh doubts on Lockerbie conviction"]</ref> At the trial, Gauci appeared uncertain about the exact date he sold the clothes in question, and was not entirely sure that it was Megrahi to whom they were sold.
|title=Arab League Ministerial Council Re New Call for Al Megrahi Release
 
|date=14 September 2008
 
|work=The Tripoli Post
 
|url=http://tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=2356
 
|accessdate=14 September 2008
 
}}</ref>
 
  
On 6 November 2008, three Criminal Appeal Court judges reserved judgment on an application by defence counsel Maggie Scott for Megrahi to be released on bail pending his second appeal against conviction which was expected to be heard in 2009.<ref>{{cite news
+
===Megrahi aka Abdusamad===
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7712018.stm
+
[[File:Abdusamad_Passport.jpg|300px|right|thumb|[[Abdelbaset al-Megrahi]]'s coded passport in the name of [[Ahmed Khalifa Abdusamad]] ]]
|date=6 November 2008
+
The Court heard that Megrahi had an ''alias'', [[Ahmed Khalifa Abdusamad]], and that he was issued with a "coded passport" in that name. Megrahi used it on a visit to Nigeria in August 1987, returning to Tripoli via Zurich and Malta, travelling at least between Zurich and Tripoli on the same flights as Nassr Ashur who was also travelling on a coded passport. It was also used during 1987 for visits to Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus. On 22 August 1987, "Abdusamad" flew from Zurich to Malta, stayed at the Holiday Inn there, and returned to Tripoli the next day. This trip was made "along with the said Nassr Ashur, who was then using a passport in the false name and using the false identity of Nassr Ahmed Salem." After a long break, Megrahi went out as "Abdusamad" only once in 1988 - on 20 December, when he flew with Fhimah from Tripoli to Malta, and again the next morning for the return trip, this time with [[Mohammed Abouagela Masud]]. The Zeist judges agreed that "the only use of this passport in 1988 was for an overnight visit to Malta on 20/21 December, and it was never used again."
|title=Lockerbie bomber 'should go free'
 
|publisher=BBC News
 
|accessdate=6 November 2008
 
| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081107010305/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7712018.stm| archivedate= 7 November 2008| deadurl= no}}</ref> A week later, Megrahi's bail application was refused.<ref>{{cite news
 
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7713341.stm
 
|title=Lockerbie bomber bail bid fails
 
|date=14 November 2008
 
|publisher=BBC News
 
|accessdate=14 November 2008
 
| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081115010618/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7713341.stm| archivedate= 15 November 2008| deadurl= no}}</ref>
 
  
On the Lockerbie bombing's 20th anniversary, ''The Independent'' published an opinion piece by journalist Hugh Miles, repeating questions around Megrahi's guilt, writing in part:
+
A supposedly key piece of evidence for Megrahi's guilt occurred shortly after he was indicted on 14 November 1991 in an interview with [[Pierre Salinger]] when Megrahi denied being "Abdusamad" or being on Malta the day of the bombing. This was presented in the 2010 STV documentary "Lockerbie Bomber: Sent Home To Die" [23:18]:
 +
:"You accuse me falsely. ... On 20 and 21 December 1988, at that time I wasn't there. Believe me, I was here in Tripoli with my family."
 +
The editors had FBI lead investigator [[Richard Marquise]] follow the clip by saying "I realise that being a liar doesn't make you a terrorist murderer. But I think, again, it adds credibility to all the other factors that we led up to at that point." And Marquise was quick to offer up this lie, as one of his two or three points, nearly every chance he gets. This repeat play is itself a sign that he knows "all the other factors" need all the help they can get. At least once, Marquise called this "the biggest lie" the Libyan had told: Megrahi denied being a member of the Libyan Intelligence Service; he did not know "Abdusamad"; and he did not know [[MEBO]]. All were proven at trial to be lies. However, his biggest lie was his claim that on December 20-21 he had not been in Malta: "I was here in Tripoli with my family believe me." Why should anyone believe any of his claims today after his lies in 1991?
  
<blockquote>Since the Crown never had much of a case against Megrahi, it was no surprise when the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) found prima facie evidence in June 2007 that Megrahi had suffered a miscarriage of justice and recommended that he be granted a second appeal.
+
This early repudiation has been a verbal rope used by Marquise and many others, time and again over the years, to tie Megrahi to the bombing. In retrospect, he should probably have come clean as much as possible, but bare days after the shocking announcement, and revelation of his secret presence, that didn't happen. It seems cover-up won, at least for a moment. Perhaps it was reflexive on Megrahi's part, not grasping the reality of the charges against him, or a firm order from callous superiors despite Megrahi's own pleas. Either way, it was an unfortunate move on the part of the accused to say these words to a watching world, and one of the few things he actually did that contributed to his conviction.
  
If Megrahi didn't do it, who did? Some time ago suspicion fell on a gang headed by a convicted Palestinian terrorist named Abu Talb and a Jordanian triple agent named Marwan Abdel Razzaq Khreesat. Both were Iranian agents; Khreesat was also on the CIA payroll. Abu Talb was given lifelong immunity from prosecution in exchange for his evidence at the Lockerbie trial; Marwan Khreesat was released for lack of evidence by German police even though a barometric timer of the type used to detonate the bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 was found in his car when he was arrested.<ref>{{cite news
+
The Zeist judges, considering in 2000 and 2001, referred to the 1991 interview in lieu of live testimony, which both accused declined to offer (they felt it was wiser to let the lawyers do the talking henceforth). Referring to the crucial visit, the judges mused:
|title=Lockerbie: was it Iran? Syria? All I know is, it wasn't the man in prison
+
:"It is possible to infer that this visit under a false name ... was a visit connected with the planting of the [explosive] device. Had there been any innocent explanation for this visit, obviously this inference could not be drawn. The only explanation that appeared in the evidence was contained in his interview with Mr Salinger, when he denied visiting Malta at that time and denied using the name "Abdusamad" or having had a passport in that name. Again, we do not accept his denial."
|date=21 December 2008
 
|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/hugh-miles-lockerbie-was-it-iran-syria-all-i-know-is-it-wasnt-the-man-in-prison-1206086.html
 
|work=The Independent |location=UK |author=Hugh Miles
 
|accessdate=31 December 2008
 
  
| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081225120906/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/hugh-miles-lockerbie-was-it-iran-syria-all-i-know-is-it-wasnt-the-man-in-prison-1206086.html| archivedate= 25 December 2008| deadurl= no}}</ref></blockquote>
+
Megrahi was of course no longer denying his presence at the time, his representatives having surrendered to the [[Crown Office]] the passport with his photo and stamped 20 December, Malta. But Megrahi's, his counsel's, and his government's continued silence over this mission, presumably not bombing-related, allowed this inference that it was bombing-related to be possible. Besides pretending to genius status for rejecting a moot denial made to someone else a decade ago, the judges managed to bolster it with the other weak points to collectively sort-of-justify saying "guilty." An act of imagination, and otherwise it was down to the evidence that he actually was planning a bombing at the time. And it's this class of clues, as [[Richard Marquise|Mr Marquise]] likely knows, that needs some help. He called on the same imaginative reading of "Abdusamad" as support for the evidentiary case. But in reality there's much to suggest the oppposite - the hard evidence may have been planted and bribed into being in order to support the fabricated case against that suspicious-looking Megrahi and his false passport.<ref>[http://lockerbiedivide.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/abdusamad-on-malta.html "Abdusamad on Malta: The Biggest Lie They Could Find"]</ref>
  
On 14 August 2009, Megrahi withdrew his appeal. South of Scotland SNP MSP Christine Grahame said: "There are a number of vested interests who have been deeply opposed to this appeal continuing as they know it would go a considerable way towards exposing the truth behind Lockerbie... In the next days, weeks and months new information will be placed in the public domain that will make it clear that Mr Megrahi had nothing to do with the bombing of Pan Am 103."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8201188.stm|publisher=BBC News |date=14 August 2009|title=Lockerbie bomber withdraws appeal}}</ref> Tam Dalyell, the former Labour MP for West Lothian, has long believed Megrahi was the victim of a catastrophic miscarriage of justice, and has publicly stated that Megrahi is merely a scapegoat.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article5058606.ece|work=The Times |location=UK |date=31 October 2008|title=The Megrahi I know|author=Tam Dalyell }}</ref> Dalyell was supported by Nelson Mandela,<ref>{{cite news
+
===Verdict===
|title=Mandela calls for Lockerbie bomber appeal
+
The judges announced their verdict on 31 January 2001. They said of Megrahi: "There is nothing in the evidence which leaves us with any reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the first accused, and accordingly we find him guilty of the remaining charge in the indictment as amended."<ref>[http://www.pixunlimited.co.uk/guardian/pdf/0131lockerbieverdict.pdf "Lockerbie trial verdict"]</ref> Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommendation that he should serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole.
|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-122453/Mandela-calls-Lockerbie-bomber-appeal.html
 
|work=Daily Mail |location=UK |accessdate=6 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 
|title=Mandela takes up bomber's case
 
|date=10 June 2002
 
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2033124.stm
 
|work=BBC
 
|accessdate=6 November 2010
 
}}</ref> the Church of Scotland, the Catholic Church, the law faculties of the Scottish universities, the representatives of British relatives and the UN's official observer at the notorious trial in The Hague.
 
  
According to the ''Mail On Sunday'', confidential documents released showed the British Government released Megrahi because of pressure from Gaddafi as the British government feared that British nationals would be harassed and because UK energy contracts in Libya could be revoked and there would be an end to counterterrorism assistance.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2033773/Bomber-freed-avert-holy-war-Lying-Labours-key-role-handing-Megrahi-Libya.html?ito=feeds-newsxml | location=London | work=Daily Mail | first1=Sam | last1=Greenhill | first2=Vanessa | last2=Allen | title=Bomber freed to avert 'holy war': Lying Labour's key role in handing Megrahi to Libya | date=5 September 2011}}</ref>
+
The judges unanimously found the second accused, [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], not guilty of the murder charge.<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/Lockerbie_Verdict-31Jan2001.htm "Fhimah was found 'not guilty'"]</ref> Fhimah was freed and returned to his home at Souk al-Juma in Libya on 1 February 2001.
  
Alastair Darling, Britain's finance minister from 2007 to 2010, stated that "It's true to say that the British Government wanted Megrahi out. It's probably true to say that Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond fancied a wander into the international stage" but denied that British government had anything to do with the release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/world/uk-lied-about-lockerbie-bomber/story-e6frea8l-1226129388926 |title=UK 'lied about Lockerbie bomber' |work=Adelaide Now |date=5 September 2011 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
+
Megrahi was imprisoned at the high-security Barlinnie Jail.<ref>[http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Lockerbie-bomber-Al-Megrahi-treated.4612702.jp "Lockerbie bomber Al Megrahi treated for 'advanced cancer'"]</ref>
  
==Compassionate release==
+
===Prison visit by Nelson Mandela===
===Family and health===
+
[[File:Mandela_Megrahi.jpg|360px|thumb|right|[[Nelson Mandela]] visits '''[[Abdelbaset al-Megrahi]]''' in Barlinnie Jail]]
Megrahi married Aisha in 1982.<ref name=nytdeath/> They had five children: four sons and one married daughter.<ref>{{cite web
+
On 10 June 2002, [[Nelson Mandela]] visited Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for more than an hour at Barlinnie Jail in Glasgow. Megrahi described the meeting thus:
|title=Megrahi's daughter: I want to be a lawyer to help people like my dad
 
|date=10 December 2008
 
|url=http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2474160.0.Megrahis_daughter_I_want_to_be_a_lawyer_to_help_people_like_my_dad.php
 
|work=The Glasgow Herald
 
|accessdate=15 December 2008
 
| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081210164811/http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2474160.0.Megrahis_daughter_I_want_to_be_a_lawyer_to_help_people_like_my_dad.php| archivedate= 10 December 2008| deadurl=yes}}</ref>
 
  
On 19 September 2008, armed police escorted Megrahi from prison in Greenock to Inverclyde Royal Hospital, where he was expected to undergo medical treatment.<ref>{{cite web|title=Operation Megrahi|date=19 September 2008|work=The Scottish Sun|url=http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article1707719.ece |accessdate=19 September 2008}}</ref> On 23 September 2008, Megrahi was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, prompting calls for his second appeal to be heard promptly.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7681387.stm |title=Lockerbie bomber in cancer battle |publisher=BBC News|date=21 October 2008 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
:"Three months after my transfer to Barlinnie, [[Nelson Mandela]] kept his promise to visit me. That the world’s most respected statesman should again take the trouble to demonstrate his solidarity gave me a great lift. We chatted for sometime, mainly about the unjust guilty verdict. Having spent 27 years imprisoned on Robben Island, the agonies of prison life were etched into his soul. He asked me about my living conditions, the standard of my food and my bed, clearly aware of the huge importance of those things to a prisoner’s well-being. Before he left I introduced him again to my family, who thanked him and presented him with a bouquet of flowers. I was allowed to take photographs of him in the reception area and he signed my Arabic version of his book 'Long Walk to Freedom', which describes his prison years. In it he wrote:
 +
::'To Comrade Megrahi, Best wishes to one who is in our thoughts and prayers continuously. [[Nelson Mandela|Mandela]]'."<ref>[http://www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net/?p=927 "Nelson Mendela’s message to Megrahi"]</ref>
  
On 4 December 2008, Megrahi's family joined others protesting against alleged miscarriages of justice within the Scottish justice system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Lockerbie_convict's_family_among_protesters_for_justice_in_Edinburgh?curid=117716 |title=Aisha, Khaleb and Ghada on protest march in Edinburgh |publisher=En.wikinews.org |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
Following the meeting which took place in Megrahi's own cell within the prison, in a section nicknamed by other inmates as "[[Gaddafi]]'s Cafe", [[Nelson Mandela]] held a 30-minute press conference and called for a fresh appeal in the case.
  
An online petition to the Scottish Ministers seeking Megrahi's compassionate release was raised on 19 December 2008. It stated that he was terminally ill and would benefit physically and psychologically from compassionate release to his temporary home in Glasgow while he awaited the outcome of the appeal granted to him by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in June 2007. Since it was likely to be many months before such an appeal was finally decided, the petition asked that Megrahi be allowed to spend his "very limited" remaining time in Scotland with his family and loved ones.<ref>{{cite web
+
:"Megrahi is all alone," [[Nelson Mandela|Mandela]] said. "He has nobody he can talk to. It is a psychological persecution that a man must stay for the length of his long sentence all alone." He added that al-Megrahi was being "harassed" by other inmates at Barlinnie. "He says he is being treated well by the officials but when he takes exercise he has been harassed by a number of prisoners," said [[Nelson Mandela|Mr Mandela]]. "He cannot identify them because they shout at him from their cells through the windows and sometimes it is difficult even for the officials to know from which quarter the shouting occurs."
|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38084497/ns/world_news-europe/
 
|title=Online petition for Megrahi's compassionate release
 
|date=19 December 2008
 
|work=MSNBC
 
|accessdate=18 January 2009
 
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 
|title=Letter of Petition to the Scottish Ministers
 
|url=http://www.justiceformegrahi.com/sf/petition.html
 
|publisher=Justice for Megrahi
 
|accessdate=20 December 2008
 
}}</ref>
 
  
===Release===
+
[[Nelson Mandela|Mandela]] continued:
 +
:"It would be fair if Mr Megrahi was transferred to a Muslim country - and there are Muslim countries which are trusted by the West. It will make it easier for his family to visit him if he is in a place like the Kingdom of Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt."
  
On 4 August 2009, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in Scotland, Kenny MacAskill, visited Greenock Prison to hear Megrahi's request for a prisoner transfer to Libya.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8184014.stm|title=Minister visits Lockerbie bomber|publisher=BBC News |first=Reevel|last=Alderson|date=4 August 2009|accessdate=13 August 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090805101715/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8184014.stm| archivedate= 5 August 2009| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8212794.stm|title='Regrettable actions' over bomber|publisher=BBC News |date=20 August 2009|accessdate=20 August 2009}}</ref> The following week it was reported that Megrahi was likely to be released within a few days on compassionate grounds due to terminal prostate cancer, although the Scottish Government dismissed this as "complete speculation";<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8198603.stm|title= Lockerbie bomber 'to be released'|publisher=BBC News |date= 13 August 2009|accessdate=13 August 2009}}</ref>meanwhile, a United States official said that the U.S. had no information suggesting Megrahi would be released and that he should serve out his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8199574.stm|title= US stands against bomber release|publisher=BBC News |date= 13 August 2009|accessdate=13 August 2009}}</ref> MacAskill faced international pressure from politicians in the United Kingdom and United States, with US victims’ groups and Syracuse University (which lost 25 students in the Lockerbie bombing) all urging him not to release Megrahi.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6796144.ece|title= Bomber Al-Megrahi drops Lockerbie appeal as release moves closer|work=The Times |location=UK |first= Nico|last= Hines|date= 14 August 2009|accessdate=14 August 2009 }}</ref>
+
[[Nelson Mandela]] described in detail how a four-judge commission from the Organisation of African Unity had criticised the basis by which Megrahi came to be convicted at a special Scottish court, sitting at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 2001:
 +
:"They have criticised it fiercely, and it will be a pity if no court reviews the case itself. From the point of view of fundamental principles of natural law, it would be fair if he is given a chance to appeal either to the Privy Council or the European Court of Human Rights."
  
On 14 August, lawyers representing Megrahi announced that he had applied to the High Court in Edinburgh two days previously to withdraw his second appeal, and that his condition had "taken a significant turn for the worse".<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8201188.stm|title= Lockerbie bomber withdraws appeal|publisher=BBC News |date= 14 August 2009|accessdate=14 August 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090816102308/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8201188.stm| archivedate= 16 August 2009| deadurl= no}}</ref> On 19 August 2009, it was divulged that MacAskill had reached a decision on the bomber's fate to be announced the following day.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8210715.stm|title= Decision reached on bomber's fate|publisher=BBC News |date= 19 August 2009|accessdate=19 August 2009}}</ref> The following day, MacAskill granted his release on compassionate grounds, stating that Megrahi was in the final stages of terminal prostate cancer and was expected to die within three months.<ref>{{cite web
+
Concluding his remarks, [[Nelson Mandela]] said he also hoped to meet Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] and US President [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush George Bush] to discuss the Megrahi case.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1396819/Mandela-meets-Lockerbie-bomber.html "Mandela meets Lockerbie bomber"]</ref><ref>[ "Mandela appeals on behalf of Lockerbie bomber"]</ref>
| title= Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi released from jail on compassionate grounds
 
| accessdate =20 August 2009
 
| url = http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/08/20/lockerbie-bomber-abdelbaset-al-megrahi-released-from-jail-on-compassionate-grounds-86908-21610945
 
}}</ref>
 
Speaking of the Scottish tradition of justice with compassion and mercy, MacAskill said he was "bound by Scottish values to release him", and allow him to die in his home country of Libya.<ref name=AP>{{cite news
 
|work=MSNBC|agency=Associated Press
 
| title = Lockerbie kin: Release of terrorist is 'sickening'
 
| date =20 August 2009
 
| url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32494106/ns/us_news-life/t/lockerbie-kin-release-terrorist-sickening/#.T7sY0UVYvWg
 
}}</ref>
 
  
Immediately following the announcement, Megrahi, who had served just over 8½ years of his life sentence,<ref name=AP /> was escorted by Strathclyde Police to Glasgow Airport where he boarded a specially chartered Afriqiyah Airways Airbus for Tripoli. Megrahi arrived back in time to join celebrations to mark 40 years since the country's revolution.
+
===Appeal===
 +
Megrahi's appeal against his conviction in January 2001 was refused on 14 March 2002 by a panel of five Scottish judges at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.<ref>[http://www.terrorismcentral.com/Library/Legal/HCJ/Lockerbie/Lockerbieappealjudgement.html "Lockerbie Appeal Judgment"]</ref> According to a report by the [[BBC]],<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1872996.stm "UN monitor decries Lockerbie judgment"]</ref> Dr [[Hans Köchler]], one of the UN observers at the trial, expressed serious doubts about the fairness of the proceedings and spoke of a "spectacular miscarriage of justice".<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/nr-lockerbie-14Oct05.htm "Statement by Dr Hans Köchler, international observer at the Lockerbie trial"]</ref>
  
Megrahi landed in Libya to national celebrations and acclaim.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/6063529/Lockerbie-bomber-returns-to-heros-welcome-and-Scottish-flag-waving-in-Libya.html |title=Lockerbie bomber returns to hero's welcome and Scottish flag waving in Libya |work=Telegraph |date=20 August 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010 | location=London| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100604005555/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/6063529/Lockerbie-bomber-returns-to-heros-welcome-and-Scottish-flag-waving-in-Libya.html| archivedate= 4 June 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref> As he left the plane, a crowd of several hundred young people were gathered at Tripoli Airport to welcome him, some waving Libyan or Scottish flags, others throwing flower petals. Many had been ushered away by Libyan officials in an attempt to play down the arrival in accordance with British and US wishes.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/21/libya-plays-down-lockerbie-bomber-return |title=Libya plays down return of Lockerbie bomber |work=Guardian |location=Tripoli |date= 21 August 2009|accessdate=5 June 2010 }}</ref> Megrahi was accompanied by [http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2410304091218&l=e931cb961c Saif al-Islam Gaddafi], son of Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]], who had pledged in 2008 to bring al-Megrahi home, and was then joined on the aircraft steps by Lamin Khalifah Fhimah. This was the first time the pair had met since they had stood side by side during their eight-month trial at Camp Zeist, in the Netherlands 8½ years earlier.<ref>{{cite news|last=Barnes |first=Eddie |url=http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/The-familiar-man-who-helped.5578578.jp |title=The familiar man who helped Megrahi from the plane|work=The Scotsman|date= 22 August 2009|accessdate=5 June 2010 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref>
+
On 24 November 2003, Megrahi appeared at the High Court in Glasgow, in front of the three judges who originally sentenced him at Camp Zeist, to learn that he would have to serve at least 27 years in jail&nbsp;– back-dated to April 1999 when he was extradited from Libya&nbsp;– before he could be considered for parole. This court hearing was the result of the incorporation into Scots law of the European Convention on Human Rights in 2001, nine months after Megrahi's sentence was imposed, which required him to be told the extent of the "punishment part" of his life term. On 31 May 2004 he was granted leave to appeal against his 27-year sentence.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,,1228631,00.html "Leave to appeal against sentence"]</ref> The appeal against sentence was scheduled to be heard in Edinburgh by a panel of five Judges on 11 July 2006. However, the Scottish Court of Criminal Appeal decided to postpone the July hearing to allow consideration of whether the appeal against sentence ought to be heard at Camp Zeist rather than in Edinburgh.
  
After he left the aircraft, Megrahi was driven away in convoy for a long-awaited meeting with his 86-year-old mother, Hajja Fatma Ali al-Araibi, who a few days earlier had pleaded emotionally with Scottish Ministers to release her son. Hajja had not been told of her son's terminal cancer for fear that the shock would be too much for her.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gardner |first=Claire |url=http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Megrahi39s-mother-makes-plea-for.5558848.jp |title=Megrahi's mother makes plea for release|work=The Scotsman|date= 17 August 2009|accessdate=5 June 2010 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref>
+
===Judicial reviews===
 +
On 23 September 2003 lawyers acting for Megrahi applied to the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] (SCCRC) for a review of the case (both sentence and conviction), arguing that there had been a miscarriage of justice. On 1 November 2006 Megrahi was reported to have dropped his demand for the new appeal to be held at Camp Zeist.<ref>[http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=184&id=1613972006 "Appeal can be held in Edinburgh"]</ref> In an interview with ''The Scotsman'' newspaper of 31 January 2006, retired Scottish Judge Lord MacLean – one of the three who convicted Megrahi in 2001 – said he believed the [[SCCRC]] would return the case for a further appeal against conviction:
 +
:"They can't be working for two years without producing something with which to go to the court."
 +
MacLean added that any new appeal would indicate the flexibility of Scots law, rather than a weakness:
 +
:"It might even be the strength of the system – it is capable of looking at itself subsequently and determining a ground for appeal."
  
Megrahi also met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The reception was shown afterwards on Libyan state television.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/22/gaddafi-meets-megrahi-lockerbie-bombing |title=Lockerbie fury grows as Gaddafi meets bomber Megrahi|work=Guardian |location=UK |date=22 August 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2009-08/22/content_8603808.htm |title=Libya's Gaddafi meets Lockerbie bomber: TV footage |work=China Daily|accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
In January 2007, the [[SCCRC]] announced that it would issue its decision on Megrahi's case by the end of June 2007.<ref>[http://www.sccrc.org.uk/ViewFile.aspx?id=175 "SCCRC ruling by the end of June 2007"]</ref> On 9 June 2007 rumours of a possible prisoner swap deal involving Megrahi were strenuously denied by the then-prime minister, [[Tony Blair]].<ref>[http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=904402007 "PM says no deal over Megrahi"]</ref> Later in June, ''The Observer'' confirmed the imminence of the SCCRC ruling and reported:
 +
:"Abdelbaset al-Megrahi never wavered in his denial of causing the Lockerbie disaster: now some Scottish legal experts say they believe him."<ref>[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2104982,00.htm "Evidence that casts doubt on who brought down Flight 103"]</ref>
  
In an interview the following day with ''The Times'', Megrahi vowed to present new evidence before he died which would exonerate him of any involvement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. He said, "If there is justice in the UK I would be acquitted or the verdict would be quashed because it was unsafe. There was a miscarriage of justice ... my message to the British and Scottish communities is that I will put out the evidence and ask them to be the jury".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6806087.ece | location=London | work=The Times | title=At home with the Lockerbie bomber | first=Martin | last=Fletcher | date=21 August 2009}}</ref>
+
===Second appeal===
In May 2010, a sister of one of the victims expressed her desire to visit and forgive him, saying "I want to look him in the eye and make sure he knows our pain... God will judge him". She said the decision to release him was "more than we could ever expect from Libya if the tables were turned."<ref>{{cite news|last=McFadyen|first=Siobham|title=I'll look at Lockerbie bomber and forgive him|url=http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/scottish/scottish_news/801658/Grieving-Lisa-Gibson-in-vow-to-confront-the-freed-killer.html|work=News of the World|date=2 May 2010}}</ref>
+
On 28 June 2007 the [[SCCRC]] concluded its four-year review and, having uncovered evidence that a miscarriage of justice could have occurred, the commission granted Megrahi leave to appeal against his Lockerbie bombing conviction for a second time.<ref>[http://www.sccrc.org.uk/ViewFile.aspx?id=293 "SCCRC referral of Megrahi case"]</ref> The second appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal was abandoned in August 2009, as an impediment to the legal power to release him to Libya under the Prisoner Transfer Scheme then operating in the United Kingdom. Ultimately, he was not released under this scheme, rather, on compassionate grounds due to his ill health. There was in the event, no requirement to drop his appeal against conviction.
  
Following his release, Megrahi was taken to Tripoli Medical Center, Libya's most advanced public clinic, for cancer treatment. A video of him in the hospital showed him using an oxygen mask to breathe. On 2 September 2009, it was reported that his cancer had worsened, and that he had been transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Seyala claimed that Megrahi had been moved to a special VIP wing of the hospital, was receiving full treatment from a team of doctors, and that his condition was not dangerous. Megrahi's family claimed that they had been informed that he had been taken to the ICU, but they were not allowed to visit him. The Foreign Ministry confirmed that his family were not allowed to visit him, but said that it was to ensure his safety. On 5 September, Megrahi was released from the ICU, but remained under close observation by a team of doctors.<ref>{{cite news|title=Megrahi moved out of intensive care ward
+
In a statement dated 29 June 2007 Dr [[Hans Köchler]], international observer at the [[Lockerbie Bombing|Lockerbie trial]], expressed his surprise at the [[SCCRC]]'s narrow focus and apparent bias towards the judicial establishment:
|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/6141172/Megrahi-moved-out-of-intensive-care-ward.html|date=5 September 2009|work=The Telegraph|accessdate=22 May 2012}}</ref>
+
:"In giving exoneration to the police, prosecutors and forensic staff, I think they show their lack of independence. No officials to be blamed, simply a Maltese shopkeeper."<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/koechler-lockerbie-referral-29June2007.htm "Statement by Dr Hans Köchler"]</ref>
  
While in hospital, Megrahi underwent chemotherapy treatment, receiving the drug Docetaxel. He was discharged from hospital on 2 November,<ref>{{cite news|last=McElroy |first=Damien |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/6487842/Lockerbie-bomber-Abdelbaset-al-Megrahi-discharged-from-hospital.html |title=Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi discharged from hospital |work=Telegraph |date=2 November 2009 |accessdate=30 August 2011 |location=London}}</ref> and sent to live with his family in the New Damascus district in west Tripoli, in a villa reportedly built or bought for him, shortly before his release, by the Libyan government.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lee|first=Adrian|title=Charmed Life Of Lockerbie Killer|url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/188851/Charmed-life-of-Lockerbie-killer|accessdate=1 December 2010|work=Express|date=24 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="luxury_villa"/><ref name=Walt>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2005268,00.html |title=BP and the Lockerbie Bomber: Despite Denials, Signs of a Link? |author=Vivienne Walt |date=21 July 2010 |work=Time |accessdate=16 August 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100824023206/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2005268,00.html| archivedate= 24 August 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref> Under police protection, he resumed chemotherapy, making regular visits to hospital for chemotherapy sessions and other intensive treatment.<ref name=Walt/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=110710 |title=Bomber freed to die is now being given ‘miracle cure’ drug |work=The Malta Independent |date=14 August 2010 |accessdate=11 August 2010}}</ref>
+
New information casting fresh doubts about Megrahi's conviction was examined at a procedural hearing at the Judicial Appeal Court in Edinburgh on 11 October 2007:
 +
#His lawyers claimed that vital documents, which emanated from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and related to the Mebo timer that allegedly detonated the Lockerbie bomb, were withheld from the trial defence team.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7023397.stm 'Secret' Lockerbie report claim] BBC News 2 October 2007</ref>
 +
#[[Tony Gauci]], chief prosecution witness at the trial, was alleged to have been paid $2&nbsp;million for testifying against Megrahi.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Lockerbie/Story/0,,2182343,00.html "Fresh doubts on Lockerbie conviction"] ''The Guardian'' 3 October 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/02/lockerbie-documents-witness-megrahi "US paid reward to Lockerbie witness, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi papers claim"] ''The Guardian'' 2 October 2009</ref>
 +
#Mebo's owner, [[Edwin Bollier]], claimed that in 1991 the FBI offered him $4&nbsp;million to testify that the timer fragment found near the scene of the crash was part of a Mebo MST-13 timer supplied to Libya.<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/IPO-nr-Lockerbie-5Oct07.htm "Lockerbie trial: an intelligence operation? New revelation about financial offer to key witness from Switzerland"]</ref>
 +
#Former employee of Mebo Ulrich Lumpert swore an affidavit in July 2007 that he had stolen a prototype MST-13 timer in 1989, and had handed it over to "a person officially investigating the Lockerbie case".<ref>[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2160655,00.html "Vital Lockerbie evidence 'was tampered with'"]</ref>
  
===Medical condition===
+
On 1 November 2007 Megrahi invited Professor [[Robert Black]] QC to visit him at Greenock Prison. After a two-hour meeting, Black stated "that not only was there a wrongful conviction, but the victim of it was an innocent man. Lawyers, and I hope others, will appreciate this distinction."<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/21/megrahi-release-compassionate-not-political "Megrahi release was compassionate, not political"]</ref>
Following the release, doubts were expressed whether Megrahi was as ill as claimed by MacAskill in his statement to the Scottish Parliament. The guidance on compassionate release of a terminally ill prisoner under Scottish law specifies that death must be likely to occur "soon"; there is no fixed time limit but a life expectancy of three months is suggested as "appropriate".<ref>{{cite news| author=Angus Macleod|coauthors=Magnus Linklater| title = New row over 'non-expert' cancer diagnosis of Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi| url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6812427.ece|work=The Times| date = 28 August 2009| accessdate =28 August 2009| quote = . . . Scottish Prison Service guidance says that compassionate release from prison "may be considered where a prisoner is suffering from a terminal illness and death is likely to occur soon. There are no fixed time limits but life expectancy of less than three months may be considered an appropriate period".| location=London}}</ref> The Labour MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife and a Minister in the previous Labour administration, Dr Richard Simpson, accused the Scottish justice minister of failing to conduct sufficient checks before deciding to release Megrahi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://itn.co.uk/afa7e8af33044dc7d7d66e8e357ede97.html |title=Lockerbie bomber may live for months yet |publisher=Itn.co.uk |date=26 August 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> Dr. Simpson, a former member of the British Association of Urological Surgeons' prostate cancer working group who specialised in prostate disease research, expressed doubt that Megrahi would die within the next three months and claimed that he could live for eight months, going on to say that, "Kenny MacAskill released him apparently on the advice of just one doctor whose status is not clear and who is not named." He added that a second specialist opinion in palliative care should have been sought before the release.<ref>{{cite news|last=Johnson |first=Simon |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/scotland/6089131/Lockerbie-bomber-Megrahi-may-live-for-many-more-months.html |title=Lockerbie bomber Megrahi 'may live for many more months' |work=Telegraph |date=25 August 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyindia.com/show/330532.php |title=Lockerbie bomber Megrahi may live longer, prognosis under cloud |work=Daily India|accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref> A source close to the justice secretary called Simpson's comments "tasteless" and added: "I really don't think we should be speculating on the day somebody is going to die."<ref>{{cite web|last=Maddox |first=David |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Medical-advice--on-Libyan.5587119.jp |title=Medical advice on Libyan bomber 'in doubt'|work=The Scotsman|accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
 
  
On 27 August 2009, ''The Scotsman'', quoting an anonymous Scottish Government source, reported that MacAskill ignored the advice of four specialists who were unwilling to speculate on Megrahi's anticipated lifespan.<ref name="GP">{{cite news |first=David |last=Maddox|title=Ordinary prison GP – not cancer expert – told MacAskill bomber had three months to live |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/Ordinary-prison-GP--not.5592149.jp |work=The Scotsman |location=UK |date=27 August 2009 |accessdate=27 August 2009}}</ref> In response, a spokesman for the Scottish Government stated, "The latest assessment of his condition was conducted by the Scottish Prison Service primary care physician treating Mr al-Megrahi, in close consultation with a highly experienced National Health Service (NHS) consultant oncologist of many years experience – both of whom have dealt with Mr al-Megrahi's case since the earliest stages following the diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer".<ref>{{cite news|author=Daniel Martin |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209588/Lockerbie-bomber-Al-Megrahi-sent-home-advice-just-ONE-GP.html#ixzz0PRAEAHTu |title=Lockerbie bomber Al Megrahi sent home 'on the advice of just ONE GP'|work=The Daily Mail |location=UK |date=28 August 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010 }}</ref>
+
Prior to Megrahi's second appeal, another four procedural hearings took place at the High Court of Appeal in Edinburgh between December 2007 and June 2008.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7144552.stm "Major appeal cases back in court"]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7414359.stm "Concern at Lockerbie lawyer claim"]</ref>
  
Reviewing the case, members of Holyrood's justice committee stated that Scottish Prison Service guidelines were not followed in the decision to release Megrahi, that the medical evidence presented was flimsy, and that four cancer specialists had refused to back up the opinion of the prison doctor that Megrahi would be dead within three months.<ref>{{cite news|last=Maddox |first=David |url=http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Report-to-slate-MacAskill-over.5894531.jp |title=Report to slate MacAskill over early release of Megrahi|work=The Scotsman|date= 9 December 2009|accessdate=5 June 2010 |location=Edinburgh}}</ref> However the prison doctors and numerous experts brought in had said that Megrahi met the Scottish standards for release. The release of prisoners on compassionate grounds is up to the Minister of Justice and not to a committee.
+
Megrahi's grounds of appeal were published in November 2009, two months after the appeal was abandoned.<ref>[http://www.megrahimystory.net/ "Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi - My Story"]</ref>
  
Soon afterwards, Libyan media reported that Megrahi was able to talk to his mother by telephone from his hospital bed and ''The Times'', at the beginning of November, suggested that his condition had not deteriorated significantly.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6911730.ece | location=London | work=The Times | title=Justice Secretary under fire as bomber defies threemonth prognosis | date=11 November 2009 | first1=Charlene | last1=Sweeney | first2=Martin | last2=Fletcher}}</ref>
+
===My dear brother Abdullah===
 +
[[File:Senussi_1.jpg|300px|right|thumb|[[Abdullah al-Senussi]] "convicted of war crimes" in July 2015 and sentenced to death]]
 +
On 17 October 2015, [[John Ashton]] reported that Megrahi had written a letter some seven or eight years ago to [[Abdullah al-Senussi]] proclaiming his innocence in relation to the Lockerbie bombing:
  
In early April 2010 it was reported that his cancer was no longer responding to treatment. The cancer consultant Karol Sikora who had originally supported the three months prognosis (although his evidence was not allowed to contribute to the release decision as he was paid by the Libyan authorities), reported that Megrahi was bed-bound and had probably no more than four weeks to live, with his earlier apparent recovery probably due to his being with his family. The Libyan Consul General in Glasgow also reported that his condition had rapidly deteriorated.<ref name="Jamieson">{{cite news|last=Jamieson |first=Alastair |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/7871234/Dying-Lockerbie-bomber-could-survive-for-10-years-or-more.html |title=Dying Lockerbie bomber 'could survive for 10 years or more'|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=4 July 2010 |accessdate=16 May 2011}}</ref> In July 2010 Dr Sikora told ''The Daily Telegraph'', "There was always a chance he could live for 10 years, 20 years ... but that would be unusual". He also stated that "It was clear that three months was what they (the Libyan government) were aiming for" adding that "On the balance of probabilities, he felt he could sort of justify that."<ref name="Jamieson"/>
+
As everyone who follows the Lockerbie knows, two new suspects have been named: alleged bomb-maker [[Abu Agila Mas’ud]] and former Libyan security chief [[Abdullah Senussi]]. In truth, neither name is new, both have been suspects for almost 25 years. (I mistakenly said in a BBC interview on 15 October 2015 that both were named in the indictment against Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah|Lamin Fhimah]], which was issued in November 1991. They were not. Rather [[Abdullah al-Senussi|Senussi]] was named in a US State Department fact sheet that accompanied the indictment and Scottish police statements show that [[Abu Agila Mas’ud|Mas’ud]] became a suspect in early 1991.)
  
In June 2010, an attempt to have his medical condition made public was rejected by the Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/06/20/bid-to-have-lockerbie-bomber-s-medical-condition-revealed-is-rejected-86908-22346868/ |title=Bid to have Lockerbie bomber's medical condition revealed is rejected |work=The Daily Record |date=20 June 2010 |accessdate=16 May 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110609190806/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/06/20/bid-to-have-lockerbie-bomber-s-medical-condition-revealed-is-rejected-86908-22346868/| archivedate= 9 June 2011| deadurl= no}}</ref> In response to a similar request from Scottish Tories in July, First Minister Alex Salmond was quoted as saying "You can only take a decision based on information at the time. It's not unheard of for people who have been released on compassionate grounds to live longer than the three months specified."<ref>Kilbride, Paul "Release Megrahi Medical Evidence, Tories Demand", '''Express.co.uk''' 22 July 2010 [http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/188415/Release-Megrahi-medical-evidence-Tories-demand]</ref> He also compared him to one of Britain's most famous prisoners, Ronald Biggs,<ref>{{cite news|last=Spillius|first=Alex|title=David Cameron could still order inquiry into Lockerbie bomber release, say senators|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7903361/David-Cameron-could-still-order-inquiry-into-Lockerbie-bomber-release-say-senators.html|work=Telegraph|date=21 July 2010 | location=London}}</ref> who was outliving al-Megrahi while on compassionate release.
+
It seems that the [[Crown Office]]’s decision to announce that it is pursuing new suspects is a response to [[Ken Dornstein]]’s film "My Brother’s Bomber", which has just been broadcast as a three-part series on PBS ''Frontline'' in the US.
  
In a July 2010 interview with Scottish Television<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.stv.tv/scotland/187126-lockerbie-doctor-speaks-out-over-megrahi-comments/ |title= Lockerbie doctor speaks out over Megrahi comments}}</ref> he said that his statements were misquoted extensively by dropping his qualification that 10 years' survival "would be unusual". He stated that the chances of such a long survival would be less than 1% but there was a 90% likelihood that he would be dead in a matter of weeks. UPI was still reporting the other version in August 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/08/06/Megrahi-illness-not-faked-doctors-say/UPI-89361281109914// |title= Megrahi-illness-not-faked-doctors-say}}</ref>
+
I have written about the substantial flaws in the case against Mas’ud [http://www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net/?p=1075 here] and shall be writing more.
  
Libyan media outlets reported Megrahi had been released from the hospital and was living at his family's villa.<ref>{{cite web|last=Yager |first=Jordy |url=http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/68649-schumer-wants-lockerbie-bomber-back-in-scottish-prison|title=Sen. Schumer wants Lockerbie bomber back in Scottish prison |work=The Hill|accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africanews.com/site/Libya_Lockerbie_bomber_asked_back_to_jail/list_messages/28146 |title=Libya: Lockerbie bomber asked back to jail – The AfricaNews articles of KingsleyKobo |work=AfricaNews |date=20 November 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
+
As far as I know, there is no significant new evidence to implicate Senussi. The case against him would appear to rest on the fact that he was one of [[Muammar Gaddafi|Gaddafi]]’s most powerful thugs and was a friend and relative of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s. In view of the two men’s closeness, the private communications between them should be a focus for the Lockerbie investigation. I don’t know how much evidence of this survived the Libyan revolution, but one letter certainly did. It was reported by the ''Wall Street Journal'' on 30 August 2011, shortly after the fall of Tripoli, under the headline "In Letter to Tripoli, Bomber States His Case".<ref>[http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904332804576537984093500042 "In Letter to Tripoli, Bomber States His Case"]</ref> The salient extracts follow:
  
On 26 July 2011, during the Libyan civil war, Megrahi was shown on Libyan state television, attending a pro-Gaddafi rally of members of his Libyan tribe. Megrahi appeared to be frail, and was in a wheelchair.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14300687 |title=Lockerbie bomber seen on TV rally |publisher=BBC News|date=26 July 2011 |accessdate=30 August 2011| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110728172247/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14300687| archivedate= 28 July 2011| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Ben Quinn |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/27/lockerbie-bomber-al-megrahi-in-tripoli |title=Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi seen at pro-Gaddafi rally in Tripoli|work=The Guardian |date= 27 July 2011|accessdate=30 August 2011 |location=London| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110729065522/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/27/lockerbie-bomber-al-megrahi-in-tripoli| archivedate= 29 July 2011| deadurl= no}}</ref>However, in late August 2011, CNN reported that a TV crew had found Megrahi comatose, and, according to his family, on his deathbed.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|title=Charred bodies, nanny's scars left behind by|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/28/libya.war/|accessdate=29 August 2011|work=CNN|date=28 August 2011}}</ref> Notwithstanding this report, in early October in an interview with Reuters from his bed, al-Megrahi protested his innocence and claimed that he had only days, weeks or months to live.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/03/lockerbie-bomber-says-role-exaggerated |title=Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi says west exaggerated role |work=The Guardian |date=3 October 2011 |accessdate=9 October 2011 |location=London}}</ref> On 13 April 2012 he was hospitalized. He died on 20 May 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE83C0ER20120413 |title=Convicted Lockerbie bomber taken to hospital: brother |work=Reuters Africa|agency=Reuters |date=13 April 2012 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>  He was 60.
+
:Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi maintained his innocence in the 1988 bombing of [[Pan Am Flight 103]] throughout his trial and appeals — and did so in a private letter to Libya’s intelligence chief, discovered on Monday in intelligence headquarters in Tripoli.
  
===Suggestions of innocence===
+
:“I am an innocent man,” Mr. Megrahi wrote to Abdullah al-Senussi, a powerful official who was regarded as one of Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s closest aides, in a letter found by ''The Wall Street Journal''. The letter, in blue ink on a piece of ordinary binder paper, was apparently written while Mr. Megrahi was serving a life sentence in the U.K.
On 29 August 2011, a letter written by Megrahi was discovered by ''The Wall Street Journal'' at intelligence headquarters in Tripoli, Libya. In what was a private letter to Libya's intelligence chief not previously available to the public, Megrahi wrote "I am an innocent man," a letter apparently composed while he was serving a life sentence in Scotland, and written in blue ink on ordinary paper. The letter was found in a steel four-drawer filing cabinet that had been forced open by rebels who entered the office of intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/08/30/Lockerbie-bombers-letter-found-in-Tripoli/UPI-94861314709089/ |title=Lockerbie bomber's letter found in Tripoli |agency=UPI |date=30 August 2011 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
 
  
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing and who has been a spokesman for UK Families Flight 103, which represented British relatives, has said that he believes Megrahi is innocent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8700904/Abdelbaset-al-Megrahi-could-be-targeted-by-Osama-Bin-Laden-Navy-Seals.html |title=Abdelbaset al-Megrahi 'could be targeted by Osama Bin Laden Navy Seals' |work=Telegraph|date=14 August 2011 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref> Dr Swire is also concerned by comments attributed to the former Lord Advocate Lord Fraser, which appeared to doubt the credibility of the key prosecution witness, Tony Gauci.<ref name="news.scotsman.com">{{cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Architect-of-Lockerbie-trial-vows.2674376.jp |title=Architect of Lockerbie trial vows to fight for an appeal |work=The Scotsman|date=1 November 2005 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref> Dr Swire said "the scandal around Megrahi is not that a sick man was released, but that he was ever convicted in the first place. All I have ever wanted is to see the people who murdered my daughter are brought to justice."<ref name="ekklesia_lockerbie">{{cite web|url=http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/15217 |title=Lockerbie verdict a tragedy for Scottish justice, says Jim Swire |work=Ekklesia|accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
+
:The letter to Mr. Senussi was found in a steel, four-drawer filing cabinet in the intelligence chief’s office in Tripoli. The cabinet had been forced open, apparently by rebels who shot holes in the lock. The office lay in shambles, but many of Mr. Senussi’s personal papers appeared untouched. There was no way to immediately confirm the authenticity of the letter…
  
Professor Robert Black, an expert in Scots law who devised the non-jury trial that saw the Lockerbie case heard in 2000, has called Megrahi's murder conviction "the most disgraceful miscarriage of justice in Scotland for 100 years". Prof Black said he felt "a measure of personal responsibility" for persuading Libya to allow Megrahi and his co-accused, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhima, who was acquitted, to stand trial under Scots law.
+
:It is unclear why he would have had reason to profess his innocence to Mr. Senussi, who was in a position to already know details about the bombing. It is possible that the inmate expected Scottish prison officials to read his letter before delivering it to the Libyan government.
  
<blockquote>"I have written about this and nobody is interested. Every lawyer who has ... read the judgment says 'this is nonsense'. It is nonsense. It really distresses me; I won't let it go."<ref name="news.scotsman.com"/></blockquote>
+
:Mr. Megrahi insisted he was innocent throughout his original trial and subsequent appeals. Even after his conviction, mystery and unanswered questions about who else may have been involved have surrounded the case.
  
The non-profit religious think tank Ekklesia noted that "all of the Crown's witnesses in the 36-week trial, which took place at a specially convened Scottish Court in the Netherlands, have subsequently been discredited. In the latest revelation, a prosecution expert misled judges about key evidence, according to a classified police memo published by the Sunday Herald on 17 July 2011," cautioning that
+
:In the letter, addressed to “My dear brother Abdullah,” Mr. Megrahi blamed his conviction on “fraudulent information that was relayed to investigators by Libyan collaborators.”
  
<blockquote>"Dr. Swire, other UK relatives of the victims, and a range of legal campaigners, including Professor Black, say that the May 2000 trial of two Libyan suspects, the other of whom was not convicted, amounts to a cover up and a serious miscarriage of justice. Their concern is that the truth has not come out, and that the guilty have not been brought to justice."<ref name="ekklesia_lockerbie"/></blockquote>
+
:He blamed “the immoral British and American investigators” who he writes “knew there was foul play and irregularities in the investigation of the 1980s.
  
Megrahi himself, according to his cousin, used to say <blockquote>"If God gives me life and health I will appeal my case and prove my innocence."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euronews.com/newswires/1524038-lockerbie-bomber-megrahi-to-be-buried-in-libya/
+
:He described in detail his latest legal maneuvering, focusing on the testimony by a Maltese clothes merchant that was critical to his conviction. The Maltese clothes merchant in question testified that Mr. Megrahi had purchased clothes from him that were later found in the suitcase that contained the bomb that brought down Flight 103.
|title=Megrahi to be buried in Libya
 
|work=Euronews |date=21 May 2012
 
|accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref></blockquote>
 
  
===Suggested links to oil deals===
+
:“You my brother know very well that they were making false claims against me and that I didn’t buy any clothes at all from any store owner in Malta,” Mr. Megrahi wrote to Mr. Senussi.
On 28 August 2009, ''The Herald'' published an interview conducted with Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, in which he stated that Megrahi's release was not tied to any oil deals but was an entirely separate issue. Referring to the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA), he continued, "People should not get angry because we were talking about commerce or oil. We signed an oil deal at the same time. The commerce and politics and deals were all with the PTA. This was one animal and the other was the compassionate release. They are two completely different animals."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/i-think-the-scottish-justice-secretary-is-a-great-man-why-be-so-angry-about-an-innocent-man-who-is-dying-1.825026# |title=‘I think the Scottish Justice Secretary is a great man. Why be so angry about an innocent man who is dying?’|work=Herald Scotland |date=28 August 2009 |accessdate=5 June 2010}}</ref>
 
  
On 30 August an article published in the ''Sunday Times'' claimed ministers at Westminster had agreed not to specifically exclude al-Megrahi from an agreement concerning prisoner transfers in 2007 because of "overwhelming national interests".<ref name="Secret letters">{{cite news|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6814974.ece|title= Secret letters reveal Labour's Libyan deal|work=The Times|date= 30 August 2009|accessdate=30 August 2009 | location=London | first1=Jon | last1=UngoedThomas | first2=Jason | last2=Allardyce}}</ref><ref name="Guardian-exclude">{{cite news|url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/30/libya-jack-straw-lockerbie-bomber|title= Straw: Megrahi inclusion in Libya prisoner deal was 'in UK interests'|work=The Guardian|first= Maroon|last= Siddique|date= 30 August 2009|accessdate=30 August 2009 | location=London}}</ref> In a letter dated 19 December 2007, Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw wrote to his Scottish counterpart, "I had previously accepted the importance of the al-Megrahi issue to Scotland and said I would try to get an exclusion for him on the face of the agreement. I have not been able to secure an explicit exclusion. The wider negotiations with the Libyans are reaching a critical stage and, in view of the overwhelming interests for the UK, I have agreed that in this instance the [PTA] should be in the standard form and not mention any individual."<ref name="Salmond denial"/> Straw is quoted as stating that an application under the prisoner transfer agreement was turned down.<ref name="Guardian-exclude"/> Straw denied that the release was part of any deal, while Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond reiterated that the release had been granted on compassionate grounds and not as part of any deal struck by the British Government.<ref name="Salmond denial">{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8229193.stm|title= Salmond denies Megrahi trade deal|publisher=BBC News |date= 30 August 2009|accessdate=30 August 2009| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090901101933/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8229193.stm| archivedate= 1 September 2009| deadurl= no}}</ref>
+
Although the ''WSJ'' was unable to verify the authenticity of the letter, it was almost certainly genuine. It reflected what Megrahi told everyone who knew him and the idea that someone would have planted a fake is nonsensical. The speculation that Megrahi expected the prison authorities to read his mail is incorrect, as he was free to pass letters directly to his lawyers and the Libyan consular staff who regularly visited him.
  
On 16 July 2010, four United States senators made public their concerns over the release, stating they believed that the oil company BP pushed for his release to secure a deal with Libya. BP confirmed that it did press for a Prisoner Transfer Agreement as it was aware that a delay might have "negative consequences" for UK commercial interests. However, the firm said it was not involved in any discussions regarding Megrahi's release. A spokesmen for the Scottish Government insisted that they acted alone stating: "The Scottish government had no contact from BP in relation to Mr al-Megrahi." Further hearings examining Megrahi's release, due to be held at Capitol Hill on 29 July, were postponed when the US Dept of Justice and British witnesses – and in particular from the Scottish Government – refused to attend, and were rescheduled for September the same year, before the then forthcoming senatorial elections.<ref name="bp oil connections">{{cite news|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-10669618|title= US Senators believe BP was behind release|publisher=BBC News |date= 16 July 2010|accessdate=16 July 2010| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100717234030/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-10669618| archivedate= 17 July 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref>
+
Let’s hope the Lockerbie investigators have asked the ''Wall Street Journal''’s reporters for a copy of the letter.<ref>[http://www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net/?p=1079 "What Megrahi told Senussi about Lockerbie"]</ref>
  
===U.S. position on release===
+
===Observations by UN Observer===
While President Obama expressed surprise at the decision, stating "I think all of us here in the United States were surprised, disappointed and angry about the release",<ref name="Obama surprise (2)">{{cite news|url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7901541/David-Cameron-orders-release-of-secret-Lockerbie-bomber-documents.html|title= David Cameron orders release of secret Lockerbie bomber documents|work=Telegraph|date= 20 July 2010|accessdate=3 August 2010 | location=London | first=Robert | last=Winnett| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100811063942/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/7901541/David-Cameron-orders-release-of-secret-Lockerbie-bomber-documents.html| archivedate= 11 August 2010| deadurl= no}}</ref> the U.S. government was aware that a release was possible. The deputy head of the American embassy in London, Frank LeBaron, wrote in a letter to the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond that the U.S. believed al-Megrahi should remain in prison for his role in downing Pan Am flight 103 in 1988, and continued: "Nevertheless, if Scottish authorities come to the conclusion that Megrahi must be released from Scottish custody, the U.S. position is that conditional release on compassionate grounds would be a far preferable alternative to prisoner transfer, which we strongly oppose."<ref name="LeBaron letter">{{cite news|url=
+
In the June 2008 edition of the Scottish lawyers' magazine ''The Firm'', the UN Observer at the Lockerbie trial, Dr [[Hans Köchler]], referred to the 'totalitarian' nature of Megrahi's second appeal process saying it "bears the hallmarks of an 'intelligence operation'."<ref>[http://www.thefirmmagazine.com/news/901/UN_Observer_to_the_Lockerbie_Trial_says_%E2%80%98totalitarian%E2%80%99_appeal_process_bears_the_hallmarks_of_an_%E2%80%9Cintelligence_operation%E2%80%9D_.html "UN Observer to the Lockerbie Trial says 'totalitarian' appeal process bears the hallmarks of an 'intelligence operation'"]</ref> Pointing out an error on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website (FCO) and accusing the British government of "delaying tactics" in relation to Megrahi's second Lockerbie appeal, UN Observer at the Lockerbie trial Dr [[Hans Köchler]] wrote to Foreign Secretary David Miliband on 21 July 2008 saying:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/25/barack-obama-megrahi-release-lockerbie|title= Barack Obama faces rising pressure to publish Lockerbie bomber release letter|work=The Guardian |location=UK |date= 25 July 2010|accessdate=25 July 2010| first=Severin | last=Carrell| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100727111526/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/25/barack-obama-megrahi-release-lockerbie| archivedate= 27 July 2010| }}</ref><ref name="LeBaron letter (2)">{{cite news|url= http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/white-house-backed-release-of-lockerbie-bomber-abdel-baset-al-megrahi/story-e6frg6so-1225896741041|title= White House backed release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi|work=The Australian|date= 26 July 2010|accessdate=3 August 2010|first1=Jason|last1=Allardyce|first2=Tony|last2=Allen-Mills}}</ref> This same letter stressed the importance to the United States of America of a 3-months prognosis, despite it not being a legal requirement in Scotland: "any such release should only come after the results of independent and comprehensive medical exams clearly establishing that Megrahi's life expectancy is less than three months".<ref name="LeBaron letter as published by the US government">{{cite news|url= http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/07/145142.htm|title= LeBaron letter|publisher=US State Department|date= 26 July 2010}}</ref>
+
<blockquote>As international observer, appointed by the UN, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands I am also concerned about the [[Public Interest Immunity]] (PII) certificate which has been issued by you in connection with the new Appeal of the convicted Libyan national. Withholding of evidence from the Defence was one of the reasons why the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] has referred Mr al-Megrahi's case back to the High Court of Justiciary. The Appeal cannot go ahead if the Government of the United Kingdom, through the PII certificate issued by you, denies the Defence the right (also guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights) to have access to a document which is in the possession of the Prosecution. How can there be equality of arms in such a situation? How can the independence of the judiciary be upheld if the executive power interferes into the appeal process in such a way?</blockquote>
  
===Appeals dossier released===
+
The FCO corrected the error on its website and wrote to [[Hans Koechler|Köchler]] on 27 August 2008:<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/IPO-nr-Lockerbie-FCO-01Sept08.htm "FCO reply dated 27&nbsp;August 2008"]</ref><blockquote>"Ultimately, it will be for the Court to decide whether the material should be disclosed, not the Foreign Secretary."</blockquote>
On 18 September 2009 Megrahi released a 300-page dossier of evidence that challenges the prosecution case against him, and that he believed would have secured his release on appeal.<ref name="The Times">{{cite news|work=The Times |location=UK |date=19 September 2009|title=Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi releases appeal dossier|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6839840.ece| first=Charlene | last=Sweeney}}</ref> The release of the evidence dossier was condemned by Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini, who said that Megrahi had abandoned his appeal before his release on compassionate grounds.<ref>{{cite news|work=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8264119.stm|title=Law chief 'deplores' bomber claim|date=18 September 2009}}</ref>
 
  
===Wikileaks on Megrahi===
+
On 15 October 2008, five Scottish judges decided unanimously to reject a submission by the [[Crown Office]] to the effect that the scope of Megrahi's second appeal should be limited to the specific grounds of appeal that were identified by the [[SCCRC]] in June 2007.<ref>[http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2008HCJAC58.html "Judgment on the scope of Megrahi's second appeal"]</ref>
  
Cable 08LONDON2673 (dated 2008-10-24) from US Embassy London reports:
+
In January 2009, it was reported that, although Megrahi's second appeal against conviction was scheduled to begin on 27 April 2009, the hearing could last as long as 12 months because of the complexity of the case and volume of material to be examined. At a preliminary High Court hearing in Edinburgh on 20 February 2009, Megrahi's Counsel, Maggie Scott QC, was informed that a delegation from the [[Crown Office]] was due to travel to Malta to "actively seek the consent for disclosure" of sensitive documents that could determine the outcome of the second appeal.<ref>[http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=83564 "Lockerbie investigators to travel to Malta to seek new evidence"]</ref>
  
"MEGRAHI was first diagnosed on 23 September at Inverclyde Royal Hospital, both the FCO and the Scottish Crown office have told us; the second diagnosis was on 10 October. The two diagnoses match: he has prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, the cancer has advanced rapidly, and it is inoperable and incurable. MEGRAHI could have as long as five years to live, but the average life expectancy of someone of his age with his condition is eighteen months to two years".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=08LONDON2673 |title=08LONDON2673: PAN AM 103 BOMBER HAS INCURABLE CANCER; LIBYANS |publisher=Cablesearch.org |accessdate=16 May 2011}}</ref>
+
Scottish ministers denied in April 2009 they had clandestinely agreed to the repatriation of Megrahi before the start of his second appeal on 28 April.<ref>[http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Ministers-deny-that-Lockerbie-bomber.5184493.jp "Ministers deny that Lockerbie bomber will be moved to Libya"]</ref>
  
Cable 09TRIPOLI65 (dated 2009-01-28) from US Embassy Tripoli reports:  
+
[[Kenny MacAskill]] announced in May 2011 that the re-elected SNP Government would seek to change Scots law to allow publication of the SCCRC report, which can presently be blocked by any party that provided evidence to the review.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/snp-plans-law-change-over-lockerbie-files-2284523.html "SNP plans law change over Lockerbie files"]</ref> Nevertheless, ''The Herald'' published this report online in March 2012.<ref>[http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/lockerbie-exclusive-we-publish-the-report-that-could-have-cleared-megrahi.2012036248 "Lockerbie exclusive: we publish the report that could have cleared Megrahi"]</ref>
  
"the case of convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdelbasset al-Megrahi is arguably the regime’s most sensitive political subject, in part because it involves a firm timeline in the form of the ailing el-Megrahi’s approaching death. Through remarks by senior officials suggesting that al-Megrahi is innocent and a steady diet of publicity about his case, the regime has limited its room for political maneuver. U.K. Embassy interlocutors here are planning for a scenario in which the U.K.-Libya Prisoner Transfer Agreement is ratified in early March and the GOL makes application shortly thereafter for al-Megrahi’s transfer to Libya. The U.K. Embassy expects a sharply negative GOL reaction if al-Megrahi dies in prison or if the Scottish Executive and/or FCO oppose his transfer".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=09TRIPOLI65 |title=09TRIPOLI65: PAN AM BOMBER AL-MEGRAHI: THE VIEW FROM TRIPOLI |publisher=Cablesearch.org |accessdate=16 May 2011}}</ref>
+
===Compassionate release===
 +
{{FA|Abdelbaset al-Megrahi/Compassionate release}}
 +
On 20 August 2009, after Megrahi agreed to abandon his appeal, he was granted "compassionate release" by [[Scottish Justice Secretary]], [[Kenny MacAskill]], and flew back to Tripoli accompanied by [[Saif al-Islam Gaddafi]].
  
Another stated that the UK feared action by Libya against British interests if Megrahi died in jail. It also stated that the UK government fully supported his release by the Scottish government.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/07/wikileaks-gaddafi-britain-lockerbie-bomber | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=David | last=Leigh | title=WikiLeaks cables: Lockerbie bomber freed after Gaddafi's 'thuggish' threats | date=7 December 2010}}</ref>
+
===Same bad science and scientists===
 +
[[Gareth Peirce]], the solicitor who overturned the miscarriage of justice convictions of the [[Guildford Four]] and [[Birmingham Six]], has backed the call for a full inquiry into the [[Pan Am Flight 103]] debacle, and has directly criticised former Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]]’s role in shoring up "layers and layers of deceit" in the [[Lockerbie Bombing|Lockerbie case]].
 +
[[Gareth Peirce|Peirce]] says that the construction and maintenance of the discredited case against Megrahi has required active participation from those at all levels of the criminal justice system, with both tacit and overt support from the top of the political hierarchy.
  
===Calls for and comments on a return to custody===
+
"In the most notorious cases, everyone played their part, absolutely everybody," [[Gareth Peirce|Peirce]] says. "A big part of the blame lies within those who form the criminal justice system. It looks as if in the prosecution of the Lockerbie case, the defendants met the same fate, even to the extent of the same personnel featuring, in the person of the forensic scientists."
The United States urged the National Transitional Council (NTC) to review the case, with a view towards deporting Megrahi if he did not die in the meantime. The Scottish government rejected the calls, saying that only it could make such a request, and that it would not do so, as Megrahi had abided by the conditions of his release. NTC leaders initially said that they would not deport Megrahi or any other Libyan, but also admitted that only the future elected government of Libya could deal with such issues.
 
  
Following the fall of Tripoli when forces of the NTC had largely taken control of Libya, there were calls for al-Megrahi to be extradited to the United States.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-14590834 | publisher=BBC News | title=US Senators call for extradition of Lockerbie bomber | date=20 August 2011}}</ref> These calls were dismissed by the Scottish government<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/9820665|title=No to Megrahi extradition – Salmond|work=The Guardian|date=29 August 2011|accessdate=21 May 2012|agency=Press Association}}</ref> and the NTC in Libya<ref>{{cite news|last=Abbas |first=Mohammed |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/29/idINIndia-59018820110829 |title=Libya rebels say won't extradite Lockerbie bomber|work=Reuters India|agency=Reuters|date= 29 August 2011|accessdate=30 August 2011}}</ref> until such time as a decision can be made by the new elected government".<ref name=usasks>{{cite news|agency=Agence France-Presse, Reuters |url=http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/asks+rebels+look+Lockerbie+case+again/5325555/story.html |title=U.S. asks rebels to look at Lockerbie case again |work=The Ottawa Citizen|date=26 August 2011 |accessdate=30 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-08-29/Lockerbie-bomber-is-near-death-brother-says/50177208/1 |title=Libyans have 'other priorities' than Lockerbie bomber|work= USA Today |date=29 August 2011 |accessdate=30 August 2011}}</ref>
+
The principal forensic analyst, [[Thomas Hayes]], employed by the Crown to testify against [[Abdelbaset al-Megrahi]] was the same discredited analyst who was proven to have fabricated his evidence in the manufactured case against the [[Guildford Four]].  
  
The United States government has said that it has asked the new Libyan government to re-examine the Megrahi case.<ref name=usasks/><ref>{{cite news|author=Ben Hubbard |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/libyan-lockerbie-bomber-near-death-family-says/article2146567/ |title=Libyan Lockerbie bomber near death, family says |work=The Globe and Mail |date=9 September 2009 |accessdate=30 August 2011 |location=Toronto}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-01/US-No-plans-to-tie-Libya-aid-to-Lockerbie-case/50211652/1 | work=USA Today | title=U.S.: No plans to tie Libya aid to Lockerbie case|agency=Addociated Press|accessdate=21 May 2012| date=1 September 2011}}</ref>
+
He and [[Alan Feraday]] testified that the key forensic evidence, a fragment of circuit board, survived the explosion of [[Pan Am Flight 103|Pan Am 103]] and left traces of clothing connected to a shop in Malta. The owners of that shop provided the identification of [[Megrahi]] to the court, and were later found to have been paid in millions of dollars for their testimony. This testimony has been widely discredited by EU explosives consultant John Wyatt and others who claim that such an thing is not possible in physics.  
  
On 30 August 2011, the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said, "The latest pictures broadcast of Mr al-Megrahi clearly demonstrate that he is an extremely sick man, dying of terminal prostate cancer. Hopefully, this will end the ridiculous conspiracy theories that seek to claim anything else."<ref>{{cite news|title=Libya: Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi maintains innocence|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8730284/Libya-Lockerbie-bomber-Abdelbaset-Ali-al-Megrahi-maintains-innocence.html|work=The Telegraph|date=30 August 2011|location=London}}</ref> He also said that the issue was under Scottish jurisdiction and that what American lawyers and senators had to say "was neither here nor there".<ref>{{cite news|title=Alex Salmond will not demand Abdel Basset al-Megrahi's extradition|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8729482/Alex-Salmond-will-not-demand-Abdel-Basset-al-Megrahis-extradition.html|accessdate=30 August 2011|work=The Telegraph|date=29 August 2011|location=London}}</ref>
+
"That was the most shocking revelation to me," [[Gareth Peirce|Peirce]] says.  
  
After the death of Muammar Gaddafi on 20 October 2011, the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for al-Megrahi to be returned to prison in Scotland, describing the release of al-Megrahi as a miscarriage of justice. Additionally Clinton stated that having already raised the question of al-Megrahi's return to a Scottish prison with the leadership of the NTC, she would raise the matter again once a Libyan government had been formed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.stv.tv/scotland/276016-hillary-clinton-calls-for-return-of-lockerbie-bomber-to-jail/ |title=Hillary Clinton calls for return of Lockerbie bomber to jail|work=Scotland TV|date=24 October 2011 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref> Clinton also indicated that, while preferring imprisonment in Scotland, she supported imprisonment outside of Scotland over al-Megrahi remaining out of jail.<ref>{{cite news|author=Kate Devlin |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/news/politics/clinton-wants-megrahi-back-in-scottish-jail-1.1130828 |title=Clinton wants Megrahi back in Scottish jail |work=Herald Scotland |date=24 October 2011 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref> In early November, the U.S. State Department indicated that it was preparing to make a "formal approach" to the NTC, requesting al-Megrahi's extradition to the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/father_of_lockerbie_victim_fears_us_plans_to_abduct_megrahi_1_1947636 |title=Father of Lockerbie victim fears US plans to ‘abduct’ Megrahi|work=The Scotsman|date=4 November 2011 |accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
+
"Exactly the same forensic scientists who produced the wrongful conviction of [[Guiseppe Conlon]], the [[Maguire family]] and of [[Danny McNamee]], and had been stood down for the role they played. Yet here they were. Without them, there wouldn’t have been a prosecution, far less a conviction in Lockerbie. What shocked me most was that I thought that all that had been gone through on [[Guildford Four|Guildford]] and [[Birmingham Six|Birmingham]], the one thing that had been achieved was that nobody would be convicted again on bad science. But yet in the [[Pan Am Flight 103|Lockerbie case]], it isn’t just the same bad science, it is the same bad scientists."<ref>[http://www.firmmagazine.com/exclusive-guildford-four-and-birmingham-six-solicitor-condemns-tony-blairs-role-in-the-layers-and-layers-of-deceit-in-pan-am-103-case/ "Exclusive: Guildford Four and Birmingham Six solicitor condemns Tony Blair’s role in the 'layers and layers of deceit' in Pan Am 103 case"]</ref>
  
 
==Death==
 
==Death==
Al-Megrahi died at home in Tripoli on 20 May 2012 at the age of 60. His funeral was held the following day, on 21 May.<ref name=BBC205/>
+
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi died at home in Tripoli on 20 May 2012 at the age of 60. His funeral was held the following day, on 21 May.
 
 
British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking at a NATO summit in Chicago, said that it was a day to think of the victims of "an appalling terrorist act".<ref name=BBC205>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18137896|title=Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies in Tripoli|date=20 May 2012|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref> Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond also stated that people should use the occasion of al-Megrahi's death to remember the Lockerbie victims.<ref name=BBC205/> ''The Guardian'' reported that Libyans "expressed relief rather than sadness" at news of al-Megrahi's death, as he was a reminder of the international sanctions that had impoverished the country following the bombing.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/abdelbaset-al-megrahi-death-libya|title=Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's death generates little sadness among Libyans|author=Chris Stephens|date=20 May 2012|work=The Guardian|accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
 
  
Many families of the Lockerbie victims called for al-Megrahi's appeal to be reopened following his death and headed by investigators outside of Scotland, claiming that it would exonerate al-Megrahi. Cameron refused, stating, "I’m very clear that the court case was properly done and properly dealt with."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9278639/New-call-for-Lockerbie-inquiry-as-Abdelbaset-Ali-Mohmed-al-Megrahi-dies.html|title=New call for Lockerbie inquiry as Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi dies|author=Auslan Cramb|date=20 May 2012|work=The Telegraph|accessdate=20 May 2012}}</ref>
+
British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]], speaking at a NATO summit in Chicago, said that it was a day to think of the victims of "an appalling terrorist act".<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18137896 "Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies in Tripoli"]</ref> Scottish First Minister [[Alex Salmond]] also stated that people should use the occasion of al-Megrahi's death to remember the Lockerbie victims. ''The Guardian'' reported that Libyans "expressed relief rather than sadness" at news of al-Megrahi's death, as he was a reminder of the international sanctions that had impoverished the country following the bombing.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/abdelbaset-al-megrahi-death-libya "Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's death generates little sadness among Libyans"]</ref>
  
Alex Salmond said it was up to Megrahi’s relatives to apply to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission to seek a further appeal, adding that his death “ends one chapter of the Lockerbie case, but it does not close the book”. <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/abdelbaset-ali-mohmed-al-megrahi-the-lockerbie-bomber-is-dead-1-2307291 |title=Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi: The Lockerbie bomber is dead|author=Martyn Mclaughlin|date=21 May 2012|work=The Scotsman|accessdate=21 May 2012}}</ref>
+
Many families of the Lockerbie victims called for al-Megrahi's appeal to be reopened following his death and headed by investigators outside of Scotland, claiming that it would exonerate al-Megrahi. Cameron refused, stating, "I’m very clear that the court case was properly done and properly dealt with."<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9278639/New-call-for-Lockerbie-inquiry-as-Abdelbaset-Ali-Mohmed-al-Megrahi-dies.html "New call for Lockerbie inquiry as Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi dies"]</ref>
  
==See also==
+
Alex Salmond said it was up to Megrahi’s relatives to apply to the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] to seek a further appeal, adding that his death "ends one chapter of the Lockerbie case, but it does not close the book". <ref>[http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/abdelbaset-ali-mohmed-al-megrahi-the-lockerbie-bomber-is-dead-1-2307291 "Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi: The Lockerbie bomber is dead"]</ref>
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigation_into_the_bombing_of_Pan_Am_Flight_103 Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103]
 
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103_bombing_trial Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial]
 
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103_conspiracy_theories Pan Am Flight 103 conspiracy theories]
 
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_K%C3%B6chler%27s_Lockerbie_trial_observer_mission Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission]
 
  
 +
{{SMWDocs}}
 
==References==
 
==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
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==External links==
 
==External links==
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*[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/peir01_.html London Review of Books – The Framing of al-Megrahi by Gareth Peirce] 24 September 2009
 
*[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n18/peir01_.html London Review of Books – The Framing of al-Megrahi by Gareth Peirce] 24 September 2009
 
*[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4009030178371&l=6662cb7fb9 Blackout of Mandela Blueprint for Lockerbie Justice] by [[Patrick Haseldine]]
 
*[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4009030178371&l=6662cb7fb9 Blackout of Mandela Blueprint for Lockerbie Justice] by [[Patrick Haseldine]]
*[http://www.megrahimystory.net/ Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi My Story] Website Created September 2009, containing the grounds for appeal against conviction.
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*[http://www.megrahimystory.net/ Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi - My Story] Website Created September 2009, containing the grounds for appeal against conviction.
 
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigation_into_the_bombing_of_Pan_Am_Flight_103 Investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Megrahi, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al}}
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103_bombing_trial Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial]
 
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103_conspiracy_theories Pan Am Flight 103 conspiracy theories]
[[Category:Lockerbie]]
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_K%C3%B6chler%27s_Lockerbie_trial_observer_mission Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission]
[[Category:Terrorist attack]]
 
  
 
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Latest revision as of 15:32, 28 October 2021

"“Islamic terrorist”"
Person.png Abdelbaset al-Megrahi  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(spook)
AbdelBasset.jpg
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in 1992 under arrest in Libya
BornAbdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi
1 April 1952
Tripoli, Kingdom of Libya
Died20 May 2012 (Age 60)
Tripoli, Libya
NationalityLibyan
Children • 4 sons
• 1 daughter
SpouseAisha
Supposed perpetrator ofPan Am Flight 103
SubpageAbdelbaset al-Megrahi/Compassionate release
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi framed by banned expert witness Alan Feraday

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli, Libya, and an alleged Libyan intelligence officer.[1]

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi told author John Ashton that it came as a complete surprise when, in November 1991, he and his former LAA colleague Lamin Fhimah were charged with the bombing (Fhimah was found not guilty). Megrahi maintained it was their decision to stand trial and that they were not ordered to by their government. He was repeatedly warned that he was unlikely to receive a fair trial, but believed he would be acquitted.

In 2000 at his trial which was held under Scots Law at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, Crown expert witness Alan Feraday - who had been banned in 1993 by the English Lord Chief Justice Taylor - conspired with his US counterpart Thomas Thurman in fabricating the time bomb evidence that led to Megrahi's conviction. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was sentenced to 27 years in prison: one year for every ten victims of the Lockerbie bombing.

During the decade he spent in prison, Megrahi's good manners and cooperative behaviour earned him the respect of the officers. He bonded with them through football, joining in their three-a-side matches at HMP Barlinnie and bantering about Glasgow's 'Old Firm' rivalry. Perversely, he supported Rangers, but his favourite player was Celtic's Henrik Larsson.

Megrahi was cheered by visits from well-known figures, most notably Nelson Mandela, and by hundreds of letters of support. In 2005 he was transferred to a low-security wing of HMP Gateside in Greenock, where he was placed among long-term prisoners nearing the end of their sentences. He was soon accepted by both inmates and officers, one of whom volunteered to Ashton:

"We all know he didn't do it."[2]

 

Sub-Page

          Page Name          SizeDescription
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi/Compassionate release51,974The actual grounds for Megrahi's release may in fact be as "compassionate" as claimed; this may have been a convenient way to short cirtcuit increasing realisation that he had been falsely convicted.

On 13 November 1991, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, LAA's manager in Malta, were indicted jointly by the US Attorney General and Scotland's Lord Advocate on charges of 270 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, and breaching the UK's Aviation Security Act 1982 for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988.[3]

Following the indictment, Megrahi and Fhimah were arrested in Libya, which offered to put them on trial if the US and Britain would supply the evidence. The Libyan offer was rejected by the US and Britain, whereupon Nelson Mandela proposed to have the two accused Libyans tried in a neutral country and by independent judges.

Contrary to Mandela's proposal, Professor of Scots Law, Robert Black conducted a series of negotiations for the Lockerbie trial to be held without a jury and in front of a panel of three Scottish judges sitting in a special court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, which for the duration of the trial became British territory.

On 31 January 2001, the conspiracy to murder charge having been dropped, Megrahi was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. His co-accused, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, was found not guilty and set free.[4]

In February 2002, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi unsuccessfully appealed his conviction but, in 2003, applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for his case to be re-examined. On 28 June 2007, the SCCRC granted Megrahi leave to appeal against his Lockerbie bombing conviction for a second time.[5] "Lockerbie Revisited", a Dutch documentary film, was broadcast in the Netherlands on the eve of the start at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh on 28 April 2009 of his second appeal.[6] During the two-year delay between the SCCRC's ruling and the start of al-Megrahi's second appeal, he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. Megrahi decided to abandon his second appeal in August 2009, a few days before being granted compassionate release from prison in Scotland and returning to Libya.[7][8] On his return to Libya, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was initially hospitalized but was allowed to leave on 2 November 2009, taking up residence in a villa in Tripoli.[9]

In October 2010, the Justice for Megrahi campaign group created an e-petition which called on the Scottish Parliament "to urge the Scottish Government to open an independent inquiry into the 2001 Kamp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988." Petition PE1370 is currently under consideration by the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee, whose Chair is Christine Grahame.[10]

In October 2011, al-Megrahi gave an interview from his bed in which he claimed that he had only days, weeks or months to live.[11]

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi died on 20 May 2012 nearly three years after his release.[12][13]

Posthumous appeal

In April 2017, the family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi launched a fresh effort to posthumously clear his name. Family lawyer Aamer Anwar said that a dossier of evidence will be delivered to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which will review it and decide whether to hand the case on to an appeals court. Al-Megrahi's widow Aisha said:

"I wish to pursue this appeal in my husband's name to have his conviction overturned, to clear his name and to clear the name of my family.
"The world will say sorry to my husband and my family one day."[14]

On 11 March 2020, the SCCRC again referred the case of the late Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to the High Court of Justiciary, the hearing of which has been delayed due to the COVID-19/Lockdown.[15] The Commission sent a Statement of Reasons for its decision to the High Court. It has sent a copy of the document to Messrs Aamer Anwar & Co (whom the Megrahi family have instructed), the Lord Advocate and the Crown Agent.

The Commission is not, by law, permitted to provide members of the public with copies of its statement of reasons. However, given the continuing worldwide interest in this case, which sits uniquely within the criminal justice system in Scotland, the Commission decided to provide a fuller news release than normal by setting out a summary of the case history and providing brief details of the application made to it, the trial court’s findings and the Commission’s conclusions.

Gerard Sinclair, SCCRC Chief Executive, said:

"When we referred this case in 2007 I never expected that, over 10 years later, we would be asked not only to revisit our original decision, applying the law as currently stated, but also consider a whole new set of materials which had become available in the intervening years. I’m pleased to report that, after another lengthy investigation and review, we are now in a position to issue our decision in this unique case.
"It seems important to note that, this month, an entirely new Board of the Commission from that which considered the matter in 2007 has again decided to refer this case. The 419-page decision issued today, with voluminous appendices, is a testament to the hard work and diligence of our investigating team over the last 3 years, involving us in novel and challenging court procedures along the way, and I pay tribute to them. The Commission’s involvement in the case is, once again, at an end. It is now a matter for those representing the Crown and the defence to decide how to proceed at any future appeal. Thereafter, it will be for the appeal court to decide whether there has been a miscarriage of justice in this case."[16]

Grounds of Review

The SCCRC considered the following six broad Grounds of Review:

  • Ground 1: Insufficient Evidence
  • Ground 2: Unreasonable Verdict
  • Ground 3: Fresh Evidence: The Christmas Lights
  • Ground 4: Non-disclosure
  • Ground 5: Timer Fragment PT/35(b)
  • Ground 6: The Suitcase Ingestion

but upheld only two of these grounds: Ground 2: Unreasonable Verdict and Ground 4: Non-disclosure. Thus it took the "entirely new Board of the Commission" 2 years, 8 months, and 7 days to confirm two of the six grounds their predecessors had already validated 13 years ago. The new Commission has simply reaffirmed that no reasonable trial court could have accepted that Megrahi was identified as the purchaser (of the clothes, traces of which were found in the bomb suitcase).

Limited chance of success

For the posthumous appeal to succeed, Megrahi’s legal team are limited solely to showing that his conviction was based upon the unreliable identification evidence given by the now-deceased Maltese shop owner Tony Gauci. Lawyer Aamer Anwar is unlikely to be able to challenge any of the other unreliable evidence given at the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial that:

Lockerbie bombing: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi wrongly convicted, Bernt Carlsson callously targeted on Pan Am Flight 103
  • A time bomb triggered by an MST-13 Timer was wrapped in clothes purchased in Malta and packed inside the bomb suitcase
  • The unaccompanied bomb suitcase was ingested at Malta's Luqa Airport on 21 December 1988
  • Air Malta flight KM180 transported the bomb suitcase unaccompanied to Frankfurt airport
  • Feeder flight Pan Am 103A transported the bomb suitcase unaccompanied from Frankfurt to Heathrow airport
  • Pan Am Flight 103 transported the bomb suitcase unaccompanied from London's Heathrow until the aircraft exploded at 19:03 hours on 21 December 1988 over Lockerbie in Scotland

While the law does not inhibit Megrahi's legal team from trying to appeal on these additional grounds, the High Court of Justiciary is expected to reject any such appeal and focus on whether Megrahi or another Libyan terrorist is responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.[17]

Thus, even if the Appeal Court were to overturn Megrahi's conviction, we would be no nearer to knowing who targeted Bernt Carlsson on Pan Am Flight 103.[18]

Five Judges reject appeal

In a 64-page Judgment on 15 January 2021, five Judges in the Court of Criminal Appeal in Scotland announced they upheld the original trial verdict and rejected the posthumous appeal against Megrahi's conviction.[19] Following the Judgment, the family's lawyer Aamer Anwar said:

“Ali Al-Megrahi, the son of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, said his family were left heartbroken by the decision of the Scottish courts. He maintained his father’s innocence and is determined to fulfil the promise he made to clear his name and that of Libya.

“As of this morning, the Megrahi family have instructed our legal team to appeal to the UK Supreme Court and we will lodge an application within 14 days.

“The family demand the release of secret evidence held by the UK Government, which they believe incriminates others such as Iran and the Syrian-Palestinian group.

“The Foreign Secretary had refused to do so, this must happen for the truth to emerge.”

Mr Anwar said “significant material has been received by the legal team over the last several months, especially since the announcement by Donald Trump’s former Attorney General William Barr on 21 December 2020, when he stated that the USA wished to extradite a former Libyan Intelligence Officer, Abu Agila Mas'ud for the Lockerbie bombing, 32 years later”.

He said: “Masud’s confession to being involved in the conspiracy with Al-Megrahi to blow up Pan Am Flight 103, was supposedly ‘extracted’ by a ‘Libyan law enforcement agent’ in 2012, whilst in custody in a Libyan Prison. No new information appeared to be presented by Attorney General Barr.

“What was significant in the US criminal complaint against Masud was his claim that he bought the clothes to put into the Samsonite suitcase that is claimed went on to blow up Pan Am Flight 103.

“Of course, the problem for the US Department of Justice is that the case against Megrahi is still based on the eyewitness testimony of Tony Gauci stating that Megrahi bought the clothes. How can both men be held responsible?

“The Al-Megrahi family believe that if the conviction against their father were to be overturned then the US case against Masud would be non-existent.

“Undoubtedly there will now be huge pressure on Libya and the GNA, the Government of National Accord based in Tripoli to extradite Abu Agila Mas'ud to the US, but of course the American authorities will be also aware that if the Megrahi’s were to be successful at the UK Supreme Court, then ‘so called’ case against Abu Agila Mas'ud would crumble.”[20]

Appeal to UK Supreme Court

On 2 April 2021, five Scottish Judges refused Ali Abdelbaset al-Megrahi permission to take the posthumous appeal against his father's Lockerbie bombing conviction to the UK Supreme Court:

A written Judgment issued by Lord Carloway, the Lord Justice General, said the Court of Criminal Appeal in Scotland "has had some difficulty in understanding the exact nature of the challenge".

It said: "Although the case is clearly one of public importance, the proposed grounds of appeal do not raise points of law of general public importance.

"The principles of law which the court applied were all well known, settled and largely uncontroversial in the appeal.

"For these reasons, the court refuses permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court."

Megrahi's son Ali al-Megrahi, who has maintained his father’s innocence and is determined to fulfil the promise he made to clear his name and that of Libya, clearly cannot accept the Scots Appeal Court ruling.[21] He said:

"I have now instructed our legal team to seek leave to appeal directly to the UK Supreme Court which is the final court of appeal for my father's case.[22]

On 4 April 2021, Patrick Haseldine wrote to the Megrahi family lawyer Aamer Anwar recommending this course of action:

"My recommendation, Mr Anwar, is that you appeal to the UK Supreme Court to quash the Scottish Court in the Netherlands' 2001 conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on the basis of fabricated timer fragment evidence led by the "non-expert witness" Allen Feraday.[23]

271st victim of Lockerbie

Relatives of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing have embarked on a legal bid to clear his name amid claims that his case is the "worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history". Six immediate members of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's family have joined forces with 24 British relatives of those who died in the atrocity to seek, ultimately, a third appeal against his conviction in the Scottish courts.

Campaigners say they are still "desperately seeking to get to the truth" 25 years after their loved ones were murdered and two years on from Megrahi's death. They have united to submit an application to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for a review of the conviction, a move which could see the case referred back to the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh. They claim to have evidence that Megrahi was pressured by ministers to drop his second appeal.

Reversal of the guilty verdict would expose the US and UK governments "as having lived a monumental lie for 25 years", their lawyers claim. Quoting Megrahi's relatives, their solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said:

"'We, the family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, will keep fighting for justice to find out who was responsible for 271 victims of the Lockerbie disaster.' They, of course, include Mr Megrahi as its 271st victim."

The members of Megrahi's family involved have not being identified due to concerns for their safety.

Dr Jim Swire and Aamer Anwar announcing the 2015 application for a review of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's Lockerbie bombing conviction

Mr Anwar and campaigner Jim Swire today submitted three volumes of papers to the SCCRC in Glasgow, launching their application. Dr Swire, whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the bombing, said: "As relatives, we want to know all that is known about who was responsible for murdering our lovely families all those years ago. Who did it? Why am I and other relatives still desperately seeking to get to the truth 25 years after our families were murdered?"

The fact that Megrahi's own family have chosen to take forward an appeal bid could boost its chances of getting back to court. It is expected to be several months before the review body makes a decision on any way forward. The Commission will be asked to reconfirm the six grounds of appeal it cited in 2007. The application will also focus on "question marks" over material evidence, allegations of the Crown's non-disclosure of evidence and claims he was convicted on the word of a Maltese shopkeeper who "gave a false description" of him. Mr Anwar said:

"The case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has been described as the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history. A reversal of the verdict would mean that the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom would stand exposed as having lived a monumental lie for 25 years and having imprisoned a man they knew to be innocent for 10 years."

The legal team will also ask the SCCRC to consider the circumstances that led to Megrahi abandoning his last appeal. Mr Anwar said:

"To date both the British Government and Scottish Government have claimed that they played no role in pressurising Mr Megrahi into dropping his appeal as a condition of his immediate release. However the evidence submitted to the Commission today claims that this is fundamentally untrue."

SCCRC chief executive Gerard Sinclair said:

"As it does in every case, the Commission will now give careful consideration to this new application."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Mr al-Megrahi was convicted in a court of law, his conviction was upheld on appeal and that is the only appropriate place for his guilt or innocence to be determined."

The Lockerbie case remains a live investigation, with Scotland's criminal justice officials saying they will pursue any new lines of inquiry.

A Crown Office spokesman said:

"We do not fear scrutiny of the conviction by the SCCRC. The evidence upon which the conviction was based was rigorously scrutinised by the trial court and two appeal courts, after which Megrahi stands convicted of the terrorist murder of 270 people. We will rigorously defend this conviction when called upon to do so. In the meantime we will continue the investigation with US and Scottish police and law enforcement, and will keep fighting for justice to find out who was responsible for 271 victims of the Lockerbie disaster."[24]

On 5 November 2015, the SCCRC announced that the Board of the Commission had decided that “it is not in the interests of justice” to continue with a review of the conviction of the late Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi. Consequently, the application has been refused.[25]

CIA wanted to assassinate Megrahi

In June 2013, a Capitol Hill academic William C. Chasey, after being diagnosed with incurable cancer, reported that the CIA had made repeated approaches to him. They wanted to get him to attach tracking devices to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and his co-accused, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, so that they could assassinate them before their trial.

"He wasn’t explicit but my belief is that the CIA wanted the suspects eliminated to stop any trial taking place and bury the alternative view that Iran and Syria were behind Lockerbie."[26][27]

Charges, conviction and punishment

Background

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was born in Tripoli and was educated in the United States and Cardiff, Wales. He was the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli. It was alleged by the FBI and the prosecution in the Lockerbie case that he was also an officer of the Libyan intelligence service, Jamahiriya el-Mukhabarat.[28][29]

Indictment and arrest

In November 1991, Megrahi and Fhimah were indicted by the US Attorney General and the Scottish Lord Advocate for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Libya refused to extradite the two accused, but held them under armed house arrest in Tripoli, offering to detain them for trial in Libya, as long as all the incriminating evidence was provided. The offer was unacceptable to the US and UK, and there was an impasse for the next three years.

On 23 March 1995, over six years after the 1988 attack, Megrahi and Fhimah were designated as United States fugitives from justice and became the 441st and 442nd additions on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. This list offered a US$4 million reward from the US Air Line Pilots Association, Air Transport Association, and United States Department of State, and $50,000 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for information leading to their arrest.

The parties eventually agreed on a compromise and a trial was held in the Netherlands under Scots law. The trial format was engineered by legal academic Professor Robert Black of the University of Edinburgh and was given political impetus by the then foreign secretary Robin Cook.

Protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and the imposition of UN economic sanctions against Libya brought the two accused to trial. Over ten years after the bombing, Megrahi and Fhimah were placed under arrest at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands on 5 April 1999. During his seven-year house arrest awaiting deportation and trial, Megrahi lived on a Libyan Arab Airlines pension and worked as a teacher.

Trial

The Scottish High Court of Justiciary at Camp Zeist was presided over by three senior judges and an additional, non-voting, judge.[30] The two accused, Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, denied all charges against them. The full charges included the names of the murdered 259 passengers and crew of Pan Am Flight 103, and the eleven residents killed on the ground at Lockerbie in Scotland.[31]

Representing Megrahi were his solicitor, Alistair Duff, and advocates William Taylor QC, David Burns QC and John Beckett. Fhimah was represented by solicitor Eddie McKechnie and advocates Richard Keen QC, (thirteen years later to be appointed Chair of the Scottish Conservative Party)[32] Jack Davidson QC and Murdo Macleod. Both defendants also had access to a Libyan defence lawyer, Kamel Maghur, a former foreign affairs minister in the Libyan government.[33]

Court proceedings started on 3 May 2000. A crucial witness against Megrahi for the prosecution was Tony Gauci, a Maltese storekeeper, who testified that he had sold Megrahi the clothing later found in the remains of the suitcase bomb.[34] At the trial, Gauci appeared uncertain about the exact date he sold the clothes in question, and was not entirely sure that it was Megrahi to whom they were sold.

Megrahi aka Abdusamad

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's coded passport in the name of Ahmed Khalifa Abdusamad

The Court heard that Megrahi had an alias, Ahmed Khalifa Abdusamad, and that he was issued with a "coded passport" in that name. Megrahi used it on a visit to Nigeria in August 1987, returning to Tripoli via Zurich and Malta, travelling at least between Zurich and Tripoli on the same flights as Nassr Ashur who was also travelling on a coded passport. It was also used during 1987 for visits to Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus. On 22 August 1987, "Abdusamad" flew from Zurich to Malta, stayed at the Holiday Inn there, and returned to Tripoli the next day. This trip was made "along with the said Nassr Ashur, who was then using a passport in the false name and using the false identity of Nassr Ahmed Salem." After a long break, Megrahi went out as "Abdusamad" only once in 1988 - on 20 December, when he flew with Fhimah from Tripoli to Malta, and again the next morning for the return trip, this time with Mohammed Abouagela Masud. The Zeist judges agreed that "the only use of this passport in 1988 was for an overnight visit to Malta on 20/21 December, and it was never used again."

A supposedly key piece of evidence for Megrahi's guilt occurred shortly after he was indicted on 14 November 1991 in an interview with Pierre Salinger when Megrahi denied being "Abdusamad" or being on Malta the day of the bombing. This was presented in the 2010 STV documentary "Lockerbie Bomber: Sent Home To Die" [23:18]:

"You accuse me falsely. ... On 20 and 21 December 1988, at that time I wasn't there. Believe me, I was here in Tripoli with my family."

The editors had FBI lead investigator Richard Marquise follow the clip by saying "I realise that being a liar doesn't make you a terrorist murderer. But I think, again, it adds credibility to all the other factors that we led up to at that point." And Marquise was quick to offer up this lie, as one of his two or three points, nearly every chance he gets. This repeat play is itself a sign that he knows "all the other factors" need all the help they can get. At least once, Marquise called this "the biggest lie" the Libyan had told: Megrahi denied being a member of the Libyan Intelligence Service; he did not know "Abdusamad"; and he did not know MEBO. All were proven at trial to be lies. However, his biggest lie was his claim that on December 20-21 he had not been in Malta: "I was here in Tripoli with my family believe me." Why should anyone believe any of his claims today after his lies in 1991?

This early repudiation has been a verbal rope used by Marquise and many others, time and again over the years, to tie Megrahi to the bombing. In retrospect, he should probably have come clean as much as possible, but bare days after the shocking announcement, and revelation of his secret presence, that didn't happen. It seems cover-up won, at least for a moment. Perhaps it was reflexive on Megrahi's part, not grasping the reality of the charges against him, or a firm order from callous superiors despite Megrahi's own pleas. Either way, it was an unfortunate move on the part of the accused to say these words to a watching world, and one of the few things he actually did that contributed to his conviction.

The Zeist judges, considering in 2000 and 2001, referred to the 1991 interview in lieu of live testimony, which both accused declined to offer (they felt it was wiser to let the lawyers do the talking henceforth). Referring to the crucial visit, the judges mused:

"It is possible to infer that this visit under a false name ... was a visit connected with the planting of the [explosive] device. Had there been any innocent explanation for this visit, obviously this inference could not be drawn. The only explanation that appeared in the evidence was contained in his interview with Mr Salinger, when he denied visiting Malta at that time and denied using the name "Abdusamad" or having had a passport in that name. Again, we do not accept his denial."

Megrahi was of course no longer denying his presence at the time, his representatives having surrendered to the Crown Office the passport with his photo and stamped 20 December, Malta. But Megrahi's, his counsel's, and his government's continued silence over this mission, presumably not bombing-related, allowed this inference that it was bombing-related to be possible. Besides pretending to genius status for rejecting a moot denial made to someone else a decade ago, the judges managed to bolster it with the other weak points to collectively sort-of-justify saying "guilty." An act of imagination, and otherwise it was down to the evidence that he actually was planning a bombing at the time. And it's this class of clues, as Mr Marquise likely knows, that needs some help. He called on the same imaginative reading of "Abdusamad" as support for the evidentiary case. But in reality there's much to suggest the oppposite - the hard evidence may have been planted and bribed into being in order to support the fabricated case against that suspicious-looking Megrahi and his false passport.[35]

Verdict

The judges announced their verdict on 31 January 2001. They said of Megrahi: "There is nothing in the evidence which leaves us with any reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the first accused, and accordingly we find him guilty of the remaining charge in the indictment as amended."[36] Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommendation that he should serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole.

The judges unanimously found the second accused, Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, not guilty of the murder charge.[37] Fhimah was freed and returned to his home at Souk al-Juma in Libya on 1 February 2001.

Megrahi was imprisoned at the high-security Barlinnie Jail.[38]

Prison visit by Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela visits Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in Barlinnie Jail

On 10 June 2002, Nelson Mandela visited Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for more than an hour at Barlinnie Jail in Glasgow. Megrahi described the meeting thus:

"Three months after my transfer to Barlinnie, Nelson Mandela kept his promise to visit me. That the world’s most respected statesman should again take the trouble to demonstrate his solidarity gave me a great lift. We chatted for sometime, mainly about the unjust guilty verdict. Having spent 27 years imprisoned on Robben Island, the agonies of prison life were etched into his soul. He asked me about my living conditions, the standard of my food and my bed, clearly aware of the huge importance of those things to a prisoner’s well-being. Before he left I introduced him again to my family, who thanked him and presented him with a bouquet of flowers. I was allowed to take photographs of him in the reception area and he signed my Arabic version of his book 'Long Walk to Freedom', which describes his prison years. In it he wrote:
'To Comrade Megrahi, Best wishes to one who is in our thoughts and prayers continuously. Mandela'."[39]

Following the meeting which took place in Megrahi's own cell within the prison, in a section nicknamed by other inmates as "Gaddafi's Cafe", Nelson Mandela held a 30-minute press conference and called for a fresh appeal in the case.

"Megrahi is all alone," Mandela said. "He has nobody he can talk to. It is a psychological persecution that a man must stay for the length of his long sentence all alone." He added that al-Megrahi was being "harassed" by other inmates at Barlinnie. "He says he is being treated well by the officials but when he takes exercise he has been harassed by a number of prisoners," said Mr Mandela. "He cannot identify them because they shout at him from their cells through the windows and sometimes it is difficult even for the officials to know from which quarter the shouting occurs."

Mandela continued:

"It would be fair if Mr Megrahi was transferred to a Muslim country - and there are Muslim countries which are trusted by the West. It will make it easier for his family to visit him if he is in a place like the Kingdom of Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt."

Nelson Mandela described in detail how a four-judge commission from the Organisation of African Unity had criticised the basis by which Megrahi came to be convicted at a special Scottish court, sitting at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 2001:

"They have criticised it fiercely, and it will be a pity if no court reviews the case itself. From the point of view of fundamental principles of natural law, it would be fair if he is given a chance to appeal either to the Privy Council or the European Court of Human Rights."

Concluding his remarks, Nelson Mandela said he also hoped to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush to discuss the Megrahi case.[40][41]

Appeal

Megrahi's appeal against his conviction in January 2001 was refused on 14 March 2002 by a panel of five Scottish judges at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.[42] According to a report by the BBC,[43] Dr Hans Köchler, one of the UN observers at the trial, expressed serious doubts about the fairness of the proceedings and spoke of a "spectacular miscarriage of justice".[44]

On 24 November 2003, Megrahi appeared at the High Court in Glasgow, in front of the three judges who originally sentenced him at Camp Zeist, to learn that he would have to serve at least 27 years in jail – back-dated to April 1999 when he was extradited from Libya – before he could be considered for parole. This court hearing was the result of the incorporation into Scots law of the European Convention on Human Rights in 2001, nine months after Megrahi's sentence was imposed, which required him to be told the extent of the "punishment part" of his life term. On 31 May 2004 he was granted leave to appeal against his 27-year sentence.[45] The appeal against sentence was scheduled to be heard in Edinburgh by a panel of five Judges on 11 July 2006. However, the Scottish Court of Criminal Appeal decided to postpone the July hearing to allow consideration of whether the appeal against sentence ought to be heard at Camp Zeist rather than in Edinburgh.

Judicial reviews

On 23 September 2003 lawyers acting for Megrahi applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for a review of the case (both sentence and conviction), arguing that there had been a miscarriage of justice. On 1 November 2006 Megrahi was reported to have dropped his demand for the new appeal to be held at Camp Zeist.[46] In an interview with The Scotsman newspaper of 31 January 2006, retired Scottish Judge Lord MacLean – one of the three who convicted Megrahi in 2001 – said he believed the SCCRC would return the case for a further appeal against conviction:

"They can't be working for two years without producing something with which to go to the court."

MacLean added that any new appeal would indicate the flexibility of Scots law, rather than a weakness:

"It might even be the strength of the system – it is capable of looking at itself subsequently and determining a ground for appeal."

In January 2007, the SCCRC announced that it would issue its decision on Megrahi's case by the end of June 2007.[47] On 9 June 2007 rumours of a possible prisoner swap deal involving Megrahi were strenuously denied by the then-prime minister, Tony Blair.[48] Later in June, The Observer confirmed the imminence of the SCCRC ruling and reported:

"Abdelbaset al-Megrahi never wavered in his denial of causing the Lockerbie disaster: now some Scottish legal experts say they believe him."[49]

Second appeal

On 28 June 2007 the SCCRC concluded its four-year review and, having uncovered evidence that a miscarriage of justice could have occurred, the commission granted Megrahi leave to appeal against his Lockerbie bombing conviction for a second time.[50] The second appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal was abandoned in August 2009, as an impediment to the legal power to release him to Libya under the Prisoner Transfer Scheme then operating in the United Kingdom. Ultimately, he was not released under this scheme, rather, on compassionate grounds due to his ill health. There was in the event, no requirement to drop his appeal against conviction.

In a statement dated 29 June 2007 Dr Hans Köchler, international observer at the Lockerbie trial, expressed his surprise at the SCCRC's narrow focus and apparent bias towards the judicial establishment:

"In giving exoneration to the police, prosecutors and forensic staff, I think they show their lack of independence. No officials to be blamed, simply a Maltese shopkeeper."[51]

New information casting fresh doubts about Megrahi's conviction was examined at a procedural hearing at the Judicial Appeal Court in Edinburgh on 11 October 2007:

  1. His lawyers claimed that vital documents, which emanated from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and related to the Mebo timer that allegedly detonated the Lockerbie bomb, were withheld from the trial defence team.[52]
  2. Tony Gauci, chief prosecution witness at the trial, was alleged to have been paid $2 million for testifying against Megrahi.[53][54]
  3. Mebo's owner, Edwin Bollier, claimed that in 1991 the FBI offered him $4 million to testify that the timer fragment found near the scene of the crash was part of a Mebo MST-13 timer supplied to Libya.[55]
  4. Former employee of Mebo Ulrich Lumpert swore an affidavit in July 2007 that he had stolen a prototype MST-13 timer in 1989, and had handed it over to "a person officially investigating the Lockerbie case".[56]

On 1 November 2007 Megrahi invited Professor Robert Black QC to visit him at Greenock Prison. After a two-hour meeting, Black stated "that not only was there a wrongful conviction, but the victim of it was an innocent man. Lawyers, and I hope others, will appreciate this distinction."[57]

Prior to Megrahi's second appeal, another four procedural hearings took place at the High Court of Appeal in Edinburgh between December 2007 and June 2008.[58][59]

Megrahi's grounds of appeal were published in November 2009, two months after the appeal was abandoned.[60]

My dear brother Abdullah

Abdullah al-Senussi "convicted of war crimes" in July 2015 and sentenced to death

On 17 October 2015, John Ashton reported that Megrahi had written a letter some seven or eight years ago to Abdullah al-Senussi proclaiming his innocence in relation to the Lockerbie bombing:

As everyone who follows the Lockerbie knows, two new suspects have been named: alleged bomb-maker Abu Agila Mas’ud and former Libyan security chief Abdullah Senussi. In truth, neither name is new, both have been suspects for almost 25 years. (I mistakenly said in a BBC interview on 15 October 2015 that both were named in the indictment against Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Fhimah, which was issued in November 1991. They were not. Rather Senussi was named in a US State Department fact sheet that accompanied the indictment and Scottish police statements show that Mas’ud became a suspect in early 1991.)

It seems that the Crown Office’s decision to announce that it is pursuing new suspects is a response to Ken Dornstein’s film "My Brother’s Bomber", which has just been broadcast as a three-part series on PBS Frontline in the US.

I have written about the substantial flaws in the case against Mas’ud here and shall be writing more.

As far as I know, there is no significant new evidence to implicate Senussi. The case against him would appear to rest on the fact that he was one of Gaddafi’s most powerful thugs and was a friend and relative of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s. In view of the two men’s closeness, the private communications between them should be a focus for the Lockerbie investigation. I don’t know how much evidence of this survived the Libyan revolution, but one letter certainly did. It was reported by the Wall Street Journal on 30 August 2011, shortly after the fall of Tripoli, under the headline "In Letter to Tripoli, Bomber States His Case".[61] The salient extracts follow:

Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi maintained his innocence in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 throughout his trial and appeals — and did so in a private letter to Libya’s intelligence chief, discovered on Monday in intelligence headquarters in Tripoli.
“I am an innocent man,” Mr. Megrahi wrote to Abdullah al-Senussi, a powerful official who was regarded as one of Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s closest aides, in a letter found by The Wall Street Journal. The letter, in blue ink on a piece of ordinary binder paper, was apparently written while Mr. Megrahi was serving a life sentence in the U.K.
The letter to Mr. Senussi was found in a steel, four-drawer filing cabinet in the intelligence chief’s office in Tripoli. The cabinet had been forced open, apparently by rebels who shot holes in the lock. The office lay in shambles, but many of Mr. Senussi’s personal papers appeared untouched. There was no way to immediately confirm the authenticity of the letter…
It is unclear why he would have had reason to profess his innocence to Mr. Senussi, who was in a position to already know details about the bombing. It is possible that the inmate expected Scottish prison officials to read his letter before delivering it to the Libyan government.
Mr. Megrahi insisted he was innocent throughout his original trial and subsequent appeals. Even after his conviction, mystery and unanswered questions about who else may have been involved have surrounded the case.
In the letter, addressed to “My dear brother Abdullah,” Mr. Megrahi blamed his conviction on “fraudulent information that was relayed to investigators by Libyan collaborators.”
He blamed “the immoral British and American investigators” who he writes “knew there was foul play and irregularities in the investigation of the 1980s.”
He described in detail his latest legal maneuvering, focusing on the testimony by a Maltese clothes merchant that was critical to his conviction. The Maltese clothes merchant in question testified that Mr. Megrahi had purchased clothes from him that were later found in the suitcase that contained the bomb that brought down Flight 103.
“You my brother know very well that they were making false claims against me and that I didn’t buy any clothes at all from any store owner in Malta,” Mr. Megrahi wrote to Mr. Senussi.

Although the WSJ was unable to verify the authenticity of the letter, it was almost certainly genuine. It reflected what Megrahi told everyone who knew him and the idea that someone would have planted a fake is nonsensical. The speculation that Megrahi expected the prison authorities to read his mail is incorrect, as he was free to pass letters directly to his lawyers and the Libyan consular staff who regularly visited him.

Let’s hope the Lockerbie investigators have asked the Wall Street Journal’s reporters for a copy of the letter.[62]

Observations by UN Observer

In the June 2008 edition of the Scottish lawyers' magazine The Firm, the UN Observer at the Lockerbie trial, Dr Hans Köchler, referred to the 'totalitarian' nature of Megrahi's second appeal process saying it "bears the hallmarks of an 'intelligence operation'."[63] Pointing out an error on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website (FCO) and accusing the British government of "delaying tactics" in relation to Megrahi's second Lockerbie appeal, UN Observer at the Lockerbie trial Dr Hans Köchler wrote to Foreign Secretary David Miliband on 21 July 2008 saying:

As international observer, appointed by the UN, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands I am also concerned about the Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate which has been issued by you in connection with the new Appeal of the convicted Libyan national. Withholding of evidence from the Defence was one of the reasons why the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred Mr al-Megrahi's case back to the High Court of Justiciary. The Appeal cannot go ahead if the Government of the United Kingdom, through the PII certificate issued by you, denies the Defence the right (also guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights) to have access to a document which is in the possession of the Prosecution. How can there be equality of arms in such a situation? How can the independence of the judiciary be upheld if the executive power interferes into the appeal process in such a way?

The FCO corrected the error on its website and wrote to Köchler on 27 August 2008:[64]

"Ultimately, it will be for the Court to decide whether the material should be disclosed, not the Foreign Secretary."

On 15 October 2008, five Scottish judges decided unanimously to reject a submission by the Crown Office to the effect that the scope of Megrahi's second appeal should be limited to the specific grounds of appeal that were identified by the SCCRC in June 2007.[65]

In January 2009, it was reported that, although Megrahi's second appeal against conviction was scheduled to begin on 27 April 2009, the hearing could last as long as 12 months because of the complexity of the case and volume of material to be examined. At a preliminary High Court hearing in Edinburgh on 20 February 2009, Megrahi's Counsel, Maggie Scott QC, was informed that a delegation from the Crown Office was due to travel to Malta to "actively seek the consent for disclosure" of sensitive documents that could determine the outcome of the second appeal.[66]

Scottish ministers denied in April 2009 they had clandestinely agreed to the repatriation of Megrahi before the start of his second appeal on 28 April.[67]

Kenny MacAskill announced in May 2011 that the re-elected SNP Government would seek to change Scots law to allow publication of the SCCRC report, which can presently be blocked by any party that provided evidence to the review.[68] Nevertheless, The Herald published this report online in March 2012.[69]

Compassionate release

Full article: Abdelbaset al-Megrahi/Compassionate release

On 20 August 2009, after Megrahi agreed to abandon his appeal, he was granted "compassionate release" by Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, and flew back to Tripoli accompanied by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

Same bad science and scientists

Gareth Peirce, the solicitor who overturned the miscarriage of justice convictions of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six, has backed the call for a full inquiry into the Pan Am Flight 103 debacle, and has directly criticised former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s role in shoring up "layers and layers of deceit" in the Lockerbie case. Peirce says that the construction and maintenance of the discredited case against Megrahi has required active participation from those at all levels of the criminal justice system, with both tacit and overt support from the top of the political hierarchy.

"In the most notorious cases, everyone played their part, absolutely everybody," Peirce says. "A big part of the blame lies within those who form the criminal justice system. It looks as if in the prosecution of the Lockerbie case, the defendants met the same fate, even to the extent of the same personnel featuring, in the person of the forensic scientists."

The principal forensic analyst, Thomas Hayes, employed by the Crown to testify against Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was the same discredited analyst who was proven to have fabricated his evidence in the manufactured case against the Guildford Four.

He and Alan Feraday testified that the key forensic evidence, a fragment of circuit board, survived the explosion of Pan Am 103 and left traces of clothing connected to a shop in Malta. The owners of that shop provided the identification of Megrahi to the court, and were later found to have been paid in millions of dollars for their testimony. This testimony has been widely discredited by EU explosives consultant John Wyatt and others who claim that such an thing is not possible in physics.

"That was the most shocking revelation to me," Peirce says.

"Exactly the same forensic scientists who produced the wrongful conviction of Guiseppe Conlon, the Maguire family and of Danny McNamee, and had been stood down for the role they played. Yet here they were. Without them, there wouldn’t have been a prosecution, far less a conviction in Lockerbie. What shocked me most was that I thought that all that had been gone through on Guildford and Birmingham, the one thing that had been achieved was that nobody would be convicted again on bad science. But yet in the Lockerbie case, it isn’t just the same bad science, it is the same bad scientists."[70]

Death

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi died at home in Tripoli on 20 May 2012 at the age of 60. His funeral was held the following day, on 21 May.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking at a NATO summit in Chicago, said that it was a day to think of the victims of "an appalling terrorist act".[71] Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond also stated that people should use the occasion of al-Megrahi's death to remember the Lockerbie victims. The Guardian reported that Libyans "expressed relief rather than sadness" at news of al-Megrahi's death, as he was a reminder of the international sanctions that had impoverished the country following the bombing.[72]

Many families of the Lockerbie victims called for al-Megrahi's appeal to be reopened following his death and headed by investigators outside of Scotland, claiming that it would exonerate al-Megrahi. Cameron refused, stating, "I’m very clear that the court case was properly done and properly dealt with."[73]

Alex Salmond said it was up to Megrahi’s relatives to apply to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to seek a further appeal, adding that his death "ends one chapter of the Lockerbie case, but it does not close the book". [74]


 

Related Documents

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Document:Ex-Scottish Government Ministers: Political Consequences of Public StatementsLetter16 March 2018Robert ForresterProfessor Robert Black said that Kenny MacAskill’s contention in his new book that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi had not bought the clothes wrapped around the explosive device that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 amounted to “the end of the conviction”.
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Document:Lockerbie LiesArticle22 December 2017Steven WalkerThe Lockerbie bombing remains a text book case of a terrible tragedy causing considerable pain and suffering to relatives whose search for answers and clarification about why and how their loved ones died have taken second place to geo-political manoeuvres, deliberate meddling in legal processes, and the murky world of secret service wheeling and dealing on behalf of governments with no respect for human decency.
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Document:The Political Scientists of Lockerbie - Allen Feradayblog post26 October 2010Adam Larson"Patrick Haseldine’s famously deleted Wikipedia page on Alan Feraday sums up nicely that he 'has appeared as an expert witness at criminal trials leading to convictions in at least four high-profile cases, three of which were subsequently overturned on appeal. The appeal in the fourth case is ongoing'.”
Document:The Political Scientists of Lockerbie - Thomas Hayesblog post22 October 2010Adam LarsonDr Thomas Hayes' testimony was central to the Lockerbie verdict. Yet he and two colleagues conspired to withhold evidence from the 1974 alleged IRA Maguire Seven trial which would have indicated innocence. The Maguires were freed on appeal after fifteen years in jail. This matter was exposed at the Lockerbie trial, but the Judges trusted Hayes' word implicitly.
File:Koechler-lockerbie-appeal report.pdfreport26 March 2002Hans KöchlerA report on the appeal proceedings at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands
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External links

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