LONDON: Lawyers representing the family of the Libyan man jailed for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing on Wednesday formally lodged an appeal against his conviction, after a Scottish commission ruled a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al-Megrahi, who died in 2012, was the only person convicted for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 243 passengers and 16 crew as it traveled from London to New York.
Eleven people on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie also lost their lives in what was the biggest terrorist attack on British soil.
Libyan national Megrahi, who denied involvement, was jailed for life for mass murder by three Scottish judges at a special court sitting in the Netherlands in 2001.
Lawyer Aamer Anwar, acting for the former Libyan intelligence officer’s family, said the grounds for the family’s appeal were “substantial.”
“We have now formally lodged with the High Court of Justiciary the appeal grounds in the posthumous appeal on behalf of the late Al-Megrahi,” he said.
Megrahi’s son, Ali Al-Megrahi, called the original trial “unfair” and added: “We have faith that justice will win in the end and overturn the unlawful verdict.”
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission reviewed the conviction and in March issued a 419-page decision, saying that “further information” provided grounds for appeal.
The commission cited an “unreasonable verdict” and “non-disclosure” in the handling of the case.
The Scottish government approved Megrahi’s release from prison on compassionate grounds in 2009 because he was suffering from prostate cancer.
He died in Libya three years later.
Family of Lockerbie bomber appeals conviction
https://arab.news/wa8te
Family of Lockerbie bomber appeals conviction
- Al-Megrahi, who died in 2012, was the only person convicted for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Drone-backed militants attack Nigerian army base, several soldiers dead
- The militants struck the Sabon Gari base before dawn
- The army regained control after reinforcements arrived
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: Islamist militants backed by armed drones raided an army base in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, killing several troops in the early hours of Thursday, the military said, in the second assault reported there this week.
The use of drones by the fighters from Daesh West Africa Province (Daesh-WAP) in recent attacks has marked a significant escalation in the violence in the region, military spokesman Lt. Col. Sani Uba said.
The militants struck the Sabon Gari base before dawn, storming the perimeter and briefly breaching part of the facility, Uba said.
While they were fighting, their drone bombardment destroyed several military vehicles, including an excavator and a low-bed trailer, he added.
The army regained control after reinforcements arrived, repelled the attack and were pursuing the militants, Uba said.
Some soldiers and Civilian Joint Task Force members “paid the supreme price,” he said, without giving details on the numbers.
Two security sources told Reuters at least nine soldiers and two task force members were killed, with around 16 others wounded.
Nigeria’s military has pushed deeper into insurgent strongholds in the northeast this year as part of a renewed offensive against militant groups.
But despite repeated operations, Boko Haram and its splinter faction Daesh-WAP continue to mount large-scale attacks, exploiting difficult terrain, porous borders and a weak state presence across parts of the arid northeast. Borno, where Boko Haram and Daesh-WAP fighters have intensified attacks on military convoys and civilians, remains the epicenter of the 17-year Islamist insurgency.
