Further appeal for Lockerbie accused
Thursday, 28 Jun 2007 12:54
A previous appeal has already been heard in the Lockerbie case
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The Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has been given the right to a further appeal against his sentence.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the murder of 270 people after the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on December 21st 1988.
The Boeing 747 was travelling between London and New York when it exploded above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board the plane and 11 people on the ground.
Today the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), which is responsible for looking into possible miscarriages of justice, ruled the case should be referred to Edinburgh's court of appeal.
Libyan intelligence agent Megrahi is currently serving a life sentence in Scotland over the bombing.
"I am satisfied that the commission has vigorously and independently scrutinised the many grounds of review in this particular application, and has now produced a lengthy and detailed statement of reasons which I believe comprehensively deals with all of the issues raised," chairman of the commission the Dr Graham Forbes said.
He added: "This has been a difficult case to deal with.
"The commission's enquiry team have worked tirelessly for over three years. Some of what we have discovered may imply innocence; some of what we have discovered may imply guilt.
"However, such matters are for a court to decide. The commission is of the view, based upon our lengthy investigations, the new evidence we have found and other evidence which was not before the trial court that the applicant may have suffered a miscarriage of justice. The place for that matter to be determined is in the appeal court, to which we now refer the case."
A previous appeal Megrahi made was rejected in March 2002, but some say doubts remain about his conviction, with the Scottish judges who originally sentenced him in a Netherlands court acknowledging at the time that there were "a number of uncertainties and qualifications" in relation to aspects of the case.
Some critics have questioned the reliability of witnesses who testified against Megrahi, who maintains his innocence.
Others have speculated that responsibility for the bombing was laid at Libya's door by the US in order to detract attention away from Iran and Syria, which it had sought as allies in the first Gulf War.
Megrahi's co-accused, Al-amin Khalifa Fhima, was acquitted of involvement in the attack.