Appeal setback for Lockerbie bomber

Published on Friday 7 March 2008 12:29

THE man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing suffered a setback today in the latest stage of his appeal.

Lawyers for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi have accused the UK Government of "interference" in his appeal, after it opposed the release of secret papers which could help clear the Libyan.

The defence argued it was not competent in law for the Advocate General, on behalf of UK ministers, to object to disclosure of the documents by lodging a public interest immunity plea.

But today three judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh rejected that argument.

A further hearing will be held at a later date to decide whether or not the documents should be released.

Al Megrahi – the only man convicted of the bombing – was not present at today's hearing.

He lost a previous appeal against conviction in 2002 and is currently serving a minimum of 27 years for the bombing, in which Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people.

Official papers, handed to prosecutors by an undisclosed foreign government, have been requested by Al Megrahi's legal team to help with his current appeal against his conviction.

The document has been seen in confidential circumstances by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), which referred the case back to the court last year after ruling that there were six grounds where they believed a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.

But moves by Al Megrahi's legal team to see the mystery papers are being blocked by the UK Government.

The Advocate General, the top UK law officer in Scotland, has entered into a process on behalf of UK ministers to object to unrestricted access by Al Megrahi's lawyers to the document.

The court previously heard Foreign Secretary David Miliband has signed the public interest immunity certificate. Judges were told he believes releasing the secret document would cause "real harm" to the national interest.

Scotland's top prosecutor, Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini QC, has stated it would be appropriate to disclose the document for the purposes of the appeal, but subject to the objection taken by the Advocate General.

Al Megrahi's lawyers argued that where the Lord Advocate had not herself stated that the document should not be disclosed, it was not open to the Advocate General to do so.

Today, Lords Hamilton, Eassie and Kingarth rejected that argument.

The court will sit at a later date to allow the issues to be explored at length. This will eventually lead to a decision on whether Al Megrahi can have access to the secret document.