Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Scotland parliament votes to condemn Lockerbie bomber release

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Scottish Parliament voted 73-50 Wednesday to condemn last month's decision by Scottish Justice Minister Kennny MacAskill to release to Libya convicted Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi. The symbolic vote was a defeat for the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) but did not represent an attempt to overthrow the government. The vote comes as documents released Tuesday indicate that the British Middle East minister and other officials told MacAskill that there were no legal obstacles to Megrahi's release. Also Wednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied that there was any cover-up of a deal between the UK and Libya for Megrahi's release, reiterating that it was a Scottish decision. Last week, MacAskill defended his decision to release the terminally ill Megrahi to Libya after strong opposition from US government officials. In November, the High Court denied Megrahi's request to be released on bail during the appeals process. Lawyers for Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer, were denied access in March 2008 to a "missing document," that they had sought in appealing his conviction. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) granted an appeal in Megrahi's case in June 2007 and referred it the High Court after the commission identified six grounds for a possible "miscarriage of justice" in his trial and conviction. In 2003, Libya made its final compensation payment to a US fund for victims' families in November 2008 after agreeing to accept responsibility for the 1988 airline bombing that killed all 259 on board, including 180 Americans.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 02, 2009 (boomark / email).