-Caveat Lector-
Electronic Telegraph UK News
ISSUE 2081 Sunday 4 February 2001
Architect of Lockerbie trial attacks guilty verdict
by Jenny Booth
The Lockerbie trial
THE Scots law professor who masterminded the Lockerbie trial in
the Netherlands has launched a scathing attack on the judges for
finding the defendant guilty on "very, very weak" evidence.
Professor Robert Black described the decision by three Scottish
judges to convict Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, a Libyan
secret serviceman, of the murder of 270 people when Pan Am flight
103 exploded over Lockerbie as "astonishing". He warned that the
bomber stands a better-than-average chance of being acquitted on
appeal.
Professor Black, a former judge with 13 years' experience and
Scotland's leading expert on criminal procedure and evidence, said
that in his view the Crown case had failed to comply with strict
Scottish legal rules - tougher than English law - that evidence be
corroborated.
Professor Black said: "I thought this was a very, very weak
circumstantial case. I am absolutely astounded, astonished. I was
extremely reluctant to believe that any Scottish judge would convict
anyone, even a Libyan, on the basis of such evidence." Professor
Black's reservations will fuel the concerns of bereaved families that,
despite the criminal trial, the truth is yet to emerge about the
Lockerbie bombing.
At a hushed press conference in London the day after the verdict,
Martin Cadman, whose son Bill died in the bombing, said: "We
have our doubts about the guilt of Megrahi and that will have to
remain the subject of any appeal to come. The appeal will hold us
up for another year or so before we can have an inquiry into the
truth of who was responsible and what the motive was."
The chief spokesman for the families, Dr Jim Swire, a former army
explosives expert, produced a bomb timer to illustrate why he
found it hard to believe the Crown's version of events. He said that
the timing of the explosion, 38 minutes after the aircraft took off
from Heathrow and while the jet was still over land, made the bomb
more likely to have been detonated by a crude pressure-activated
timer, such as those used by the Palestinian terror group operating
in Germany under the command of Ahmed Jibril, than by a
sophisticated 999-hour electronic timer of the type bought by
Libyan secret services from MeBo, a Swiss arms firm.
Professor Black's concerns are likely to be seized upon by Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi to back claims of Libya's innocence of the
bombing. Professor Black devised the unique format of the
Lockerbie trial, which was held in a neutral country without a jury,
and campaigned alongside the bereaved families for its acceptance
by Libya, America and Britain.
Megrahi has a further 11 days to lodge an appeal, which would
probably be heard in the same courtroom in Camp Zeist, in front of
a bench of five judges, over about two weeks in late summer. The
appeal bench is expected to be chaired by Lord Cullen, Scotland's
second most senior judge. Under ordinary circumstances, barely a
handful of appeals against conviction ever succeed in the Scottish
courts, but Professor Black said that the unique circumstances of
the trial meant that Megrahi stood a better chance.
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