Call for publishing of Lockerbie appeal

THE First Minister has called for the publication of the Lockerbie bomber’s grounds for appeal after the Lord Advocate said no current member or employee of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission would be prosecuted for doing so.

In a letter to the SCCRC, Frank Mulholland, QC, said “recent selective and misleading” publication in the media of extracts from the Statement of Reasons in the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi had created a “highly unsatisfactory situation” which was not sustainable.

He urged the commission to decide whether to publish as soon as possible.

Alex Salmond said yesterday that he welcomed the Lord Advocate’s statement.

He said: “It makes it easier to ensure that the whole Statement of Reasons is available publicly as soon as possible, which is something I have wanted to see for some time and which the Scottish Government has been doing everything we can to enable.

“It is important that everyone is able to read the SCCRC report in its entirety, rather than the selective and partial accounts of its contents which have made their way into the public domain through various media reports, and this statement from Scotland’s senior law officer is an important step forward in securing full and proper publication.”

The six grounds for referral were previously published by the SCCRC in summary. The Scottish Government has brought forward legislation to bring about the publication of the full report, but data protection rules still bar its formal publication.

Mulholland wrote: “As you are aware, the Crown has made it clear on a number of occasions that it supports the publication of the Statement of Reasons by the Commission, albeit we also appreciate that there are some legal restrictions which the commission must consider, some of which the Bill is intended to facilitate, before publication can take place.

“You will also be aware of the recent selective and misleading publication of extracts from the Statement of Reasons out of context in the media.”

Mulholland said the Crown was prevented from fully correcting “misleading reporting”.