Lockerbie dichter bij waarheid na 21 jaar?

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Hieruit blijkt maar weer eens hoe moeilijk waarheidsvinding is.

Groet / Cees

The Guardian, Friday 14 August 2009
Mounting speculation yesterday that the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie
bombing could be released from prison next week has reopened old and
painful wounds. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is dying, in the final stages of
prostate cancer, and the bereaved families of the 270 killed in the
bombing of Pan Am flight 103 are deeply split. Some US relatives resist
his release on the grounds that any compassion shown to a man who showed
none for his victims is vile. Many British families, along with a growing
body of lawyers, politicians and diplomats, believe Megrahi has been the
victim of a major miscarriage of justice. It is essential for both groups
that a court tests the evidence to emerge since his conviction.

But it is unclear whether this will happen. Only a fraction of the
backroom dealing that has gone on over this case is ever revealed at any
one time. Is justice being served, or are the commercial interests of BP
the driving force behind a steady rapprochement between Britain and Libya?
This is not an idle question. There are two legal routes for Megrahi's
release: either on compassionate grounds, or under a prisoner transfer
agreement that was signed by Tony Blair and Muammar Gaddafi. But for the
latter to happen, all live legal proceedings would have to be halted
first. Hence the suggestion yesterday that Megrahi might withdraw his
appeal against his conviction, even though he has always protested his
innocence. This might serve Colonel Gaddafi's sense of realpolitik. He has
travelled some way since he was branded the "mad dog" that Ronald Reagan
tried to kill. But it would not serve the interests of justice.

The second appeal was launched by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review
Commission, a statutory body made up of senior police officers and
lawyers. After three years of sifting through the evidence, it found that
a major miscarriage of justice may have occurred. It rejected claims that
evidence about the provenance of the bomb's timer may have been tampered
with to implicate Libya. But the commission cast doubt on the reliability
of the prosecution's chief witness, Tony Gauci, who identified Megrahi as
the buyer of clothes found in the suitcase containing the bomb. There was
no evidence that Megrahi was in Malta when the clothes were bought.

It is important that the appeal survives Megrahi's probable release. If he
is released on compassionate grounds, an appeal could continue even after
his death. For this is no longer just about the guilt or innocence of one
man, but about the integrity of our courts, and their ability to withstand
the buffeting of governments. The passengers on Pan Am 103 and the town of
Lockerbie deserve no less.

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