PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "A key part of the prosecution's case was that the bomb had been wrapped in clothing in a briefcase traced back to a clothes shop in Malta. The shop's then-owner, Tony Gauci, identified Megrahi and a colleague as the buyers. But the commission found that said that "no reasonable trial court could have accepted that al-Megrahi was identified as the purchaser" of items that were inside a bomb suitcase used in the attack. It concluded that the Crown "ought to have disclosed to the defence a statement and a police report concerning possession of photographs of Mr Megrahi" by Mr Gauci. The commission also concluded that the Crown's failure to disclose a $2 million reward to be paid to Mr Gauci under a scheme administered by the US Department of State "bolsters its conclusion that Mr Megrahi was denied a fair trial."
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STORY: "Lockerbie bomber 'may have been the victim of miscarriage of justice, by reporter Gareth Davies, published by The Telegraph on March 11, 2020.
SUB-HEADING: "Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission referred case of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to the High Court of Justiciary.
GIST: "The conviction of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing can be referred to the courts for a fresh appeal over a potential miscarriage of justice, an official review has ruled. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi died, aged 60, in 2012 after he was controversially released early from his 27-year prison sentence on compassionate grounds while suffering from terminal cancer. He returned home to Libya to a hero’s welcome after being set free by the Scottish Government. The Libyan intelligence agent decided to abandon his second appeal, which was underway at the time. A request for a posthumous appeal against the conviction for the 1988 bombing was submitted almost three years ago by his family, including Megrahi's wife Aysha and his 22-year-old son Ali. It was backed by Dr Jim Swire and the Rev John Mosey, the UK Lockerbie campaigners who both lost a daughter in the atrocity, which claimed 270 lives, and by other British relatives. The Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission (SCCRC) has now referred the case to the High Court of Justiciary, saying that Megrahi's family is entitled to seek an appeal. The commission said it had considered six grounds of review and concluded that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred by reason of "unreasonable verdict" and "non-disclosure". In a statement issued by lawyer Aamer Anwar, who is acting on behalf of the Megrahi family, Dr Swire said "it has always been and remains my intent to see those responsible" for his daughter Flora's death being brought to justice. He said: "I still ache for her, what might have been, the grandchildren she would have had, the love she always gave us and the glowing medical career. "For me this case is about two families, mine and Abdelbaset’s, but behind them now are seen to lie the needs of 25 other families in applying for a further appeal 31 years after the event itself. We need the truth." A key part of the prosecution's case was that the bomb had been wrapped in clothing in a briefcase traced back to a clothes shop in Malta. The shop's then-owner, Tony Gauci, identified Megrahi and a colleague as the buyers. But the commission found that said that "no reasonable trial court could have accepted that al-Megrahi was identified as the purchaser" of items that were inside a bomb suitcase used in the attack. It concluded that the Crown "ought to have disclosed to the defence a statement and a police report concerning possession of photographs of Mr Megrahi" by Mr Gauci. The commission also concluded that the Crown's failure to disclose a $2 million reward to be paid to Mr Gauci under a scheme administered by the US Department of State "bolsters its conclusion that Mr Megrahi was denied a fair trial." Announcing the decision, Bill Matthews, the SCCRC's chairman, said it had carried out a "rigorous and independent" review of the conviction taking into account fresh information which had become available. He said the commission's function was to not to rule upon "guilt or innocence" but to decide whether any of the grounds identified "meet the statutory test for a potential miscarriage." A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: "It would not be appropriate to comment on matters which will be heard by the appeal court." Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the 1988 atrocity and lost his original appeal against conviction in 2002. The SCCRC then recommended in 2007 that he should be granted a second appeal. Speaking from his deathbed in Libya in 2011, he said the true facts about the attack would become clear "hopefully in the near future", and claimed "the West exaggerated my name"."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/11/lockerbie-bomber-may-have-victim-miscarriage-justice/
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For background , read the post published by this Blog on March 8, 2014 at the link below:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/11/lockerbie-bomber-may-have-victim-miscarriage-justice/
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For background , read the post published by this Blog on March 8, 2014 at the link below:
The Lockerbie disaster; Abdelbaset al-Megrahi; Documentary aftermath 1); Better late then ever! The Charles Smith Blog begins to wade into unresolved forensic questions swirling around the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December, 1988. Our initial focus: A new documentary entitled "Lockerbie: What really happened?" to be broadcast on Aljazeera English on Tuesday 11 March, 2014 and subsequent days.
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Crucially, our film also showed how new scientific tests comprehensively undermined the validity of the most significant piece of evidence linking the bombing to al-Megrahi and Libya - a fragment of electronic timer found embedded in the shredded remains of a shirt, supposedly bought by the convicted man in Malta. The timer, the prosecution had claimed, was identical to ones sold to Libyan intelligence by a Swiss manufacturer. But as our investigation proved, it was not identical - a fact that must have been known to British government scientists all along."
POST: "The Lockerbie case," published by Aljazeera on March 8, 2014.
POST: "The Lockerbie case," published by Aljazeera on March 8, 2014.
GIST: A commentary on the case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, convicted of the murder of 270 people in the Pan Am 103 disaster........."In late December 1988 a terrorist bomb destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie and killed 270 people. Only one man, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a Libyan citizen, was tried and found guilty of causing the explosion. But he protested his innocence at the time of his trial in Camp Zeist in Holland in May 2000, and continued to do so up until his death in Tripoli in May 2012. For three years filmmakers working for Al Jazeera have been investigating the prosecution of al-Megrahi. Two award-winning documentaries, screened on Al Jazeera in 2011 and 2012, demonstrated that the case against him was deeply flawed and argued that a serious miscarriage of justice may have taken place. In the first episode, Lockerbie: The Pan Am bomber, we followed defence investigator George Thomson as he revealed how forensic evidence presented at al-Megrahi's trial was not only inaccurate but appears to have been deliberately tampered with. Then in Lockerbie: Case Closed, we revealed the hitherto secret assessment of the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission (SCCRC) - an independent public body in Scotland - which had re-examined the case in detail and had recommended that it be referred back to the courts for possible dismissal. Crucially, our film also showed how new scientific tests comprehensively undermined the validity of the most significant piece of evidence linking the bombing to al-Megrahi and Libya - a fragment of electronic timer found embedded in the shredded remains of a shirt, supposedly bought by the convicted man in Malta. The timer, the prosecution had claimed, was identical to ones sold to Libyan intelligence by a Swiss manufacturer. But as our investigation proved, it was not identical - a fact that must have been known to British government scientists all along. Now, in our third and most disturbing investigation, we answer the question left hanging at the end of our last programme: if al-Megrahi was not guilty of the Lockerbie bombing, then who was?".........The new documentary Lockerbie: What really happened? is to be broadcast on Aljazeera English on Tuesday 11 March at 8 pm GMT, Wednesday 12 March at 12 noon, Thursday 13 March at 1 am and Friday 14 March at 6 am. The premiere showing is in Holyrood’s Committee Room 1 at 1pm on Tuesday 11th."
The entire post can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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