Family’s fury at Lockerbie appeal bid
‘Substantial grounds’ says lawyer
THE family of a Lockerbie bombing victim reacted with fury yesterday as relatives of the man convicted for the terrorist attack launched a fresh attempt to clear his name.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who died eight years ago, confirmed ‘substantial’ grounds of appeal have been lodged with the courts.
The legal move comes more than 30 years after the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, travelling from London to New York on December 21, 1988.
A total of 270 people were killed as the wreckage fell onto Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, in what has remained Britain’s largest terrorist atrocity.
Megrahi was the sole party found guilty in 2001 of mass murder, but many victims’ families believe others were involved in the attack.
Although jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years, Megrahi died at home in Tripoli in 2012 after being released from prison early on compassionate grounds for terminal cancer.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred his case to the High Court in March, ruling a possible miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
His lawyer, Aamer Anwar, who made the application on behalf of Megrahi’s family, was supported by some families of those who died in the 1988 disaster.
But the move was condemned by Rosemary Mild, who lost her 20-year-old daughter Miriam Wolfe in the disaster.
Speaking from her New Jersey home in the United States yesterday, Mrs Mild, 78, said: ‘The bottom line is that Megrahi was let go from prison with the understanding that he would not appeal his case.
‘I see no reason at this point in time where his family should be allowed to intervene.
‘I continue to be befuddled by the system that is allowing this. It’s just mind-boggling to me that there is no end to this.
‘I want all the truth to come out and if there are new people who should be charged and prosecuted, then I want that to happen. I never believed that Megrahi did this alone.
‘This doesn’t get us any closer to the truth. What would get us closer to the truth is for the Scottish investigators to reveal information they have that has not come out.’
Senior Appeal Court judges are expected to hear the appeal case later this year.
Mr Anwar said: ‘The reputation of Scottish law has suffered 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.’
Megrahi’s son, Ali Al Megrahi, said: ‘We have faith that justice will win in the end and overturn the unlawful verdict.’
The SCCRC published a decision on March 11 ruling a miscarriage of justice may have occurred in his case on two of the six grounds it considered in the review – unreasonable verdict and non-disclosure.
Jim Swire lost his daughter Flora in the 1988 bombing. He later advocated for the retrial and release of Al Megrahi.
Mr Swire, a doctor who lives in Gloucestershire, told the Mail: ‘I’m entirely in favour of it and I think that it should never have been the case that the Scottish High Court rejected the plea from close relatives of the dead for a further appeal.’
‘Befuddled by the system’