Lockerbie bomber Al Megrahi releases documents in bid to prove innocence

Published on Friday 18 September 2009 13:14

THE Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing published documents on the internet today that he claims will prove his innocence.

Hundreds of pages relating to the appeal by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi were put into the public domain on a new website.

Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, was freed early on compassionate grounds last month from the life term he was serving at Greenock prison for the bombing.

Before his release, he dropped his second appeal against conviction.

His Scottish lawyers, Taylor & Kelly, said the documents published on www.megrahimystory.net related to that appeal.

Megrahi said in a statement: "I have returned to Tripoli with my unjust conviction still in place.

"As a result of the abandonment of my appeal, I have been deprived of the opportunity to clear my name through the formal appeal process.

"I have vowed to continue my attempts to clear my name."

Megrahi's statement went on: "I will do everything in my power to persuade the public, and in particular the Scottish public, of my innocence.

"Through my website I have published the material which featured in the first full hearing of my appeal."

These included documents on the grounds of his appeal, and the "legal sufficiency and reasonableness" of court findings.

"I hope that this can assist in the understanding of my case, especially for those who have been most profoundly affected by it," said Megrahi.

"As can be seen from the documents released today, some of the challenges mounted before the court are supported by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission."

Argument had been heard on the challenges but the appeal court had not been able to give its opinion by the time he dropped his appeal, he said.

A spokesman for the law firm said: "Mr Megrahi hopes to continue to publish details of his appeal challenge in the course of the forthcoming weeks."

Megrahi was serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years after being convicted in 2001 of bombing Pan Am flight 103 in 1988, killing 270 people.

His release by Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill triggered an international controversy, sparking outrage among the relatives of US victims.

But there has been a long-running campaign, supported by some British

relatives of victims, to have his conviction overturned.

Megrahi was convicted of the bombing in January 2001 by a three-judge Scottish court convened in the Netherlands.

He appealed unsuccessfully the following year.

In 2007 the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, sent his case for a second appeal.

That process got under way earlier this year, but has now been left in legal limbo by Megrahi's decision to drop the appeal.

The documents published today relate to the grounds of appeal which were argued at the appeal court in Edinburgh between April 28 and May 19.

The website said Megrahi would publish other documents at a later date.

These related to arguments which would have been made in court from November.

The appeal was lodged on several grounds.

The first two grounds, which have already been argued in court, were that Megrahi's conviction was unreasonable and based on insufficient evidence.

A third set of grounds gave some of the reasons why the SCCRC referred the case to the Appeal Court, along with additional arguments.

These include the way in which identification evidence was obtained from a Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci.

They also include what the defence documents describe as "significant failures" by the Crown to disclose information about the identification evidence and about Mr Gauci.

Mr Gauci picked out Megrahi as the man who bought clothes which were later found in the suitcase that contained the bomb.

The third set of appeal grounds also relate – according to today's documents – to undisclosed information for which the UK Government had sought public interest immunity from disclosure.

"The SCCRC considered that failure to disclose this information, of itself, may have resulted in a miscarriage of justice and this was one of the reasons for referring the case back to the Appeal Court," said the documents.

Megrahi had sought disclosure of that information since October 2007, but the issue had not been resolved by the time he dropped his appeal.

"Without that information, the appellant argues that he could not advance his right of appeal and was denied a fair hearing of his appeal in breach of statute and Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights," said the document.

Other grounds of appeal related to "concerns" about forensic evidence and "defective" representation.

But the document said: "It is not intended to publish these grounds at this juncture."