by Enver Masud
WASHINGTON, DC -- Professor Robert Black, a former judge and Scotland's leading
expert on criminal procedure and evidence, described the January 31
decision by three Scottish judges to convict Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al
Megrahi as "astonishing."
Mr. Megrahi, alleged Libyan secret serviceman, was found guilty of
the murder of 270 people when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over
Lockerbie, Scotland. Co-defendant Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah was found not
guilty of the murder.
Prof. Black, who devised the format of the Netherlands-based trial,
conducted under Scottish law at Camp Zeist, points to the Opinion of
the Court, paragraph 89: "We are aware that in relation to certain
aspects of the case there are a number of uncertainties and
qualifications. We are also aware that there is a danger that by
selecting parts of the evidence which seem to fit together and
ignoring parts which might not fit, it is possible to read into a mass
of conflicting evidence a pattern or conclusion which is not really
justified."
In Prof. Black's view the Crown case has failed to comply with
strict Scottish legal rules that evidence be corroborated. He adds,
"for reasons that were never satisfactorily explained," a fragment of
an electronic circuit board "was not dealt with by the investigators
and forensic scientists in the same way as other pieces." This
fragment of a timer is an important link to Libya in the evidence.
Other evidence questioned by Prof. Black relates to clothing
purchased by Mr. Megrahi in Malta, and computer printouts linking Mr.
Megrahi to a piece of unaccompanied baggage on Flight KM 180 from
Malta to Frankfurt on 21 December 1988 which was then carried on to
Heathrow.
"The best we learn of events in Libya," writes veteran journalist
Robert Fisk ("Libya:
what's the bloody motive?," Independent, February
4, 2001), "is from a CIA-paid 'witness' who is totally discredited by
the judgment."
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has condemned the verdict in the
Lockerbie bombing trial as an "injustice". Mr. Megrahi is expected to
appeal. The appeal court is expected to be chaired by Lord Cullen,
Scotland's second most senior judge.
---
["Today's criminal justice system is addicted to informants. Some
have made headlines lately, such as Michael Fitzpatrick, the longtime
informant at the heart of the alleged plot by Malcolm X's daughter to
assassinate Louis Farrakhan, and Emad Salem, the main witness in the
terrorist conspiracy trial in New York, who prosecutors say was paid
more than $1 million for his help....
A nine-month investigation by the National Law Journal has found
that abuses by informants and law enforcement threaten the rights and
the safety of innocent people, as well as the integrity of the
courts."-- Michael Curriden, "The
Informant Trap," National Law Journal, March 20, 1995]
[One month before a court order was served on him by the US government gagging him from
speaking on the grounds of national security, he spoke to US congressional aide Susan
Lindauer, telling her he knew the identities of the Lockerbie bombers and claiming they
were not Libyan.--"Lockerbie: CIA witness
gagged by US government," Sunday Herald, May 28, 2000]
["The United Nations has savaged the Crown Office's handling of the
Lockerbie trial claiming the outcome was rigged through the unfair
suppression of evidence; it was politically influenced by the USA; and
the court had no grounds to return a guilty verdict."--"UN Claims
Lockerbie Trial Rigged," Sunday Herald, April 8, 2001]
["The fact of the matter is that this is a financial deal for Libya. All Libya
cares about is to extricate itself from these sanctions and re-enter the
international and particularly the US market.--"Libya agrees
Lockerbie deal," BBC News, August 14, 2003]
Copyright © 2001 The Wisdom Fund -
Provided that it is not edited, and author name, organization, and web address
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