Al-Megrahi family hand in criminal review files 5 years after Libyan’s death
LIBYAN Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s family have lodged a new bid to appeal against his conviction for the Lockerbie bombing.
Five years after he died, they joined campaigning lawyer Aamer Anwar to hand over files on the 1988 atrocity to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) in Glasgow.
Their move has been backed by the families of some of the 271 victims of the Pan Am jet bombing, who believe Megrahi was wrongly convicted.
They include Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died on the plane.
A joint statement said: “It has been a long journey in the pursuit of truth and justice. The application being lodged this morning with the SCCRC seeks to overturn the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for murder.”
The statement also pointed out there have long been suspicions that the December 1988 bombing was ordered by Iran in revenge for the shooting down of one of their planes by the US Vincennes six months earlier.
Megrahi was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years of a life term after his mass murder conviction in 2001. He was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 and died from prostate cancer at home in Libya in 2012.
He abandoned an appeal in 2009 in the light of his release. But his widow Aisha and son Ali met Anwar last year to discuss a bid to clear his name.
Ali, 22, said yesterday was “the most important day” of his life. He said: “I trust the Scottish authorities will correct this unjust verdict.
“When my father returned to Libya I had the opportunity to talk to him as much as possible before he passed away.
“I am 100 per cent certain that he was innocent and not the so-called Lockerbie Bomber.”