BOMBER FAMILY'S APPEAL

Lockerbie bomber’s family launch new bid against his conviction – five years after his death

Family members and supporters to hand files to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in Glasgow

THE family of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi have lodged a new bid to appeal against his conviction, five years after his death.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar joined family members and supporters to hand files to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) in Glasgow.

PA:Press Association
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s family have lodged a new bid to appeal against his conviction, five years after his death

AP:Associated Press
A bomb exploded on the Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 and killed 270 people

Reuters
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi pictured in his room at a hospital in Tripoli in September 2009

Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the 1988 atrocity which killed 270 people.

He was jailed for 27 years but died of prostate cancer aged 60 in 2012, after being released on compassionate grounds in 2009.

He first lost an appeal against his conviction in 2002, with the SCCRC recommending in 2007 he should be granted a second appeal.

The second attempt at overturning his conviction was dropped in 2009.

But his widow Aisha and son Ali met Mr Anwar late last year to talk over a posthumous appeal.

The SCCRC will now decide if there are grounds to refer the case to the appeal court.

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing, and Rev John Mosey, whose daughter Helga also died, have supported the appeal.

PA:Press Association
Solicitor Aamer Anwar claimed his clients did not get a fair trial

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The move has the support of Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103

Wullie Marr/DEADLINE NEWS
Aamer Anwar and Dr Jim Swire pictured at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh in 2015

It is believed the new appeal bid is based on concerns over the evidence that convicted the Libyan, including that given by Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci, who died last year.

Mr Anwar said: “It has been a long journey in the pursuit for truth and justice.

“When Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988, killing 271 people from 21 countries, it still remains the worst terrorist atrocity ever committed in the UK – 28 years later the truth remains elusive.

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“The reputation of Scottish law has suffered both at home and internationally because of widespread doubts about the conviction of Mr al-Megrahi.

“It is in the interests of justice and restoring confidence in our criminal justice system that these doubts can be addressed.

“However the only place to determine whether a miscarriage of justice did occur is in the appeal court, where the evidence can be subjected to rigorous scrutiny.”


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