Son of Lockerbie bomber in new bid to prove his father’s innocence

THE SON of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has said he is “100 per cent certain” his father was innocent, as his family lodged a new bid to appeal against his conviction five years after his death.

Relatives of victims joined lawyer Aamer Anwar to hand files to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) in Glasgow yesterday.

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

He dropped the second attempt to overturn his conviction in 2009, ahead of his return to Libya, but his widow Aisha and son Ali met Mr Anwar late last year to discuss a posthumous appeal.

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

Ali Megrahi, 22, said: “This is a milestone on the road to prove that the verdict against my father was unsafe.

“When my father returned to Libya, I spent most of my time next to him and had the opportunity to talk to him as much as possible before he passed away.”

He added: “I am 100 per cent certain that he was innocent and not the so-called Lockerbie bomber.”

Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora, Rev John Mosey, whose daughter Helga was killed, and Geoff and Ann Mann, who lost her brother John, his wife and their two children, joined him in Glasgow.