Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi may have been victim of miscarriage of justice and his family can appeal his conviction over terror outrage that killed 270, Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission says
- Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was only man found guilty of the 1988 aircraft bombing
- He died in 2012 after he was allowed to return from Scotland to Libya in ill health
- US opposed the move but now his guilty verdict has been referred for appeal
A miscarriage of justice may have occurred in the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has found.
The conviction of the only man found guilty of the 1988 aircraft bombing has been referred for an appeal to Scotland’s High Court of Justiciary,
The Commission said the family of Libyan intelligence officer al-Megrahi, who died in 2012, could instruct an appeal over his conviction for the attack on Pam Am flight 103, which was blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 en route from London to New York.
A picture taken on August 20, 2009 (left) shows freed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi (right, at the time of the bombing), the sole Libyan convicted over the 1988 Pan Am jetliner bombing after he was released from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds
December 1988: Some of the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 after it crashed onto the town of Lockerbie in Scotland
Pictured: The terminally ill Libyan convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing flew home from Scotland to a joyous reception after being freed on compassionate grounds despite fierce US opposition
The application to the SCCRC was made by lawyer Aamer Anwar on behalf of al-Megrahi’s family and was supported by some families of those who died in the 1988 disaster.
The al-Megrahi family is now entitled to instruct an appeal against his conviction on January 31 2001 for the murders of the 243 passengers and the 16 crew on board Pan Am Flight 103 (PA 103) from London to New York, and 11 residents of Lockerbie, on December 21, 1988.
The commission has sent a statement of reasons for its decision to the High Court. It has long been suggested that then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered the bombing, although he denied it.
Al-Megrahi was convicted on the basis of evidence from Maltese shop keeper Tony Gauci, who died in 2016 aged 75.
Mr Gauci ran a clothes shop in Swieqi, Malta, at the time of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and claimed that Megrahi bought a piece of clothing found among the debris of the aircraft.
His evidence helped to secure the 2001 conviction of the former Libyan intelligence officer for the atrocity in which 270 people died, including 11 people on the ground.
But some doubts were subsequently raised about Mr Gauci’s reliability.
The trial judgment detailed how the three judges were satisfied Megrahi had walked into Mr Gauci’s shop and bought items of clothing which ended up packed around the bomb that exploded in a suitcase on board the flight.
But the SCCRC said doubt had been cast on some of the evidence which helped convict Megrahi, in particular evidence relating to the visit to Mr Gauci’s shop.
Last year Scottish investigators reportedly wanted to speak to nearly 20 former East German secret police officers over alleged links to the Lockerbie bombing.
Seven retired Stasi agents, now in their 70s and 80s, have reportedly been interrogated already, more than 30 years after the crash which killed 270.
Detectives are said to believe that the Stasi could have helped to supply the timer on the bomb, which brought down Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town in 1988.
At the Lockerbie trial in 2000 the court heard that the Swiss businessman whose company supplied the timer had links to the Stasi.
The Stasi are known to have given assistance to members of the Red Army Faction, a far-left terrorist network active in West Germany in the 1970s.
Who was Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi?
Former Libyian intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted of involvement in the Lockerbie bombing which claimed 270 lives
Former Libyian intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted of involvement in the Lockerbie bombing which claimed 270 lives.
Was jailed in 2001 for his role in the attack which brought down Pan Am flight 103 on December 21, 1988, in what became the worst terrorist attack on British soil.
The Boeing 747 jet took off from London Heathrow airport around 30 minutes before it exploded as it cruised at 31,000 feet above the Scottish borders.
Al-Megrahi was convicted on the basis of evidence from Maltese shop owner Tony Gauci, who died in 2016 aged 75.
Mr Gauci ran a clothes shop in Swieqi, Malta, at the time of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and claimed that Megrahi bought a piece of clothing found among the debris of the aircraft.
His evidence helped to secure the 2001 conviction of the former Libyan intelligence officer for the atrocity in which 270 people died, including 11 people on the ground.
But some doubts were subsequently raised about Mr Gauci’s reliability.
Megrahi was the only person to have been convicted of the bombing over the south of Scotland on December 21 1988.
He was jailed for life but an investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) led to a finding in 2007 of six grounds where it is believed a miscarriage of justice may have occurred, paving the way for a second appeal.
The Libyan dropped that appeal in 2009 before being released from jail on compassionate grounds due to his terminal prostate cancer. He died protesting his innocence in Libya in 2012.
The trial judgment detailed how the three judges were satisfied Megrahi had walked into Mr Gauci’s shop and bought items of clothing which ended up packed around the bomb that exploded in a suitcase on board the flight.
Al-Megrahi, pictured here following his release from prison on compassionate grounds in 2009 claimed he was innocent of the crime