Thursday, 14 March, 2002
Scottish Judges to Decide on Lockerbie Appeal
VOA News 14
Mar 2002

Five Scottish judges
are expected to decide Thursday on the appeal by a Libyan intelligence agent
convicted last year in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Lawyers for Abdel
Basset Ali al-Megrahi say his guilty verdict is unjust.
He was convicted last
year and sentenced to life in prison for placing a bomb-laden suitcase in
baggage at the Malta airport. The bomb was eventually put on the U.S. Pan
American flight that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270
people.
During two weeks of
appeals, the defense presented witnesses who testified about a break-in at
London's Heathrow airport baggage area the night before the
blast.
The defense contends
the testimony undermines conclusions about the origin of the bomb. Prosecutors,
however, rebutted the testimony and cited discrepancies in the
story.
A special three-judge
Scottish court sentenced al-Megrahi to life in prison and said he should serve
a minimum of 20 years.
The court acquitted
al-Megrahi's co-defendant, Al-amin Khalifa Fahima.
Email this article to a friend.
Printer Friendly Version
|