From SCOTSMAN
I suspect that 'non-disclosure'
will be a red hot topic in the appeal, and grounds for setting aside the
verdict on its own merit.
However what those who seek the
truth behind all this should consider is whether such an issue can be used as a
convenient 'destructor' of the verdict whilst at the same time avoiding certain
much more sinister perversions of justice which most believe also occurred.
Should non-disclosure be used as
the reason for setting Megrahi free, the scapegoat
might well be the Lord Advocate of the day (Colin Boyd), with UK/US
intelligence etc emerging with their armour bright,
shiny, and undented.
Jim S.
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Lockerbie
evidence withheld from defence
MICHAEL HOWIE HOME AFFAIRS
CORRESPODNENT
FRESH doubt has been cast over the conviction of the
Lockerbie bomber after it emerged a document containing vital evidence about
the bomb timer has never been shown to the defence.
The Scotsman has learned that the failure to disclose the
classified document, which concerns the supply of timers identical to the one
said to have been used to blow up Pan Am Flight 103, led a review body that
examined the case against Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi to conclude a
miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
It was not previously known that doubts over the timer were
grounds for an appeal.
The content of the document remains a mystery as sensitive
details of the report seen by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
(SCCRC) have been blacked out, or redacted. It is understood that security
services also prevented the SCCRC from releasing the report, or disclosing any
of its contents, to Megrahi or his lawyers, who are
thought likely to seek a court order forcing the Crown Office to hand it over.
The document is among six points in the case which the
SCCRC has concluded casts doubt over the reliability of Megrahi's
conviction. The SCCRC detailed some of these in a summary of its findings in
June, but others, including the failure to disclose this document, remained
secret.
However, disclosure, or the lack of it, has already been
exposed as one of the concerns of the SCCRC, which has ruled a fresh appeal
must be heard.
Among the grounds for a potential miscarriage of justice
was the discovery of new evidence, not made available to the defence, that casts doubt over the reliability of the
identification by Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci of Megrahi as the man who bought clothes found wrapped around
the bomb used to blow up the plane, murdering 259 passengers and crew on board
the plane, and 11 town residents.
The evidence showed that four days before Mr Gauci picked the Libyan out in
an identity parade, the witness saw a photograph of
him in a magazine linking him to the bombing.
The Lockerbie trial is one of several cases in which the
prosecution has been shown to have withheld potentially vital evidence from the
defence.
Last July, Stuart Gair was
cleared after spending 17 years protesting his innocence over a murder
involving a knife.
His conviction was quashed after Lord Abernethy singled out
a failure to disclose witness statements to his lawyers deprived the defence of a "powerful argument" on
identification.
In December, four brothers accused of murder were freed by
the High Court in Glasgow after the Crown failed to provide more than 100
witness statements to the defence.
The hidden evidence in the Lockerbie case relates to the
timer said to have detonated the bomb. It was identified by a fragment of
circuit board said to have been found in the remains of a shirt among the
debris.
The timers were said to have been supplied only to
Last night neither the SCCRC or Megrahi's lawyer, Tony Kelly, were prepared to comment.
Tam Dalyell, the former MP who
believes Megrahi is innocent, said: "At issue now
is whether there should be a challenge to the Crown Office."
POINTS FOR APPEAL
SIX years on from the landmark trial, the matter of who was
responsible for the Lockerbie bombing remains unresolved.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission identified
six aspects of the case against Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi where it
believes that "a miscarriage of justice may have occurred". One of
those related to the day that clothes believed to have been wrapped around the
bomb were bought from a shop in
The court had accepted the Crown's position that the
clothes were bought on
It also said that new evidence, not heard at the trial,
together with the testimony of the shopkeeper, Tony Gauci,
indicated the items were bought before 6 December, when Megrahi
was not on the island.
Related topic
This article:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1571662007
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