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TITLE: Law Expert Denounces Libyan's Guilty Verdict |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: The Telegraph |
DATE: February 5, 2001 |
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The Scots law professor who masterminded the Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands has launched a scathing attack on the judges for finding the defendant guilty on "very, very weak" evidence. Professor Robert Black described the decision by three Scottish judges to convict Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a Libyan secret serviceman, of the murder of 270 people when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie as astonishing. He warned that the bomber stands a better-than-average chance of being acquitted on appeal. Professor Black, a former judge with 13 years' experience and Scotland's leading expert on criminal procedure and evidence, said the Crown case had failed to comply with strict Scottish legal rules - tougher than English law - that evidence be corroborated. Professor Black said: "I thought this was a very, very weak circumstantial case. I am absolutely astounded, astonished. I was extremely reluctant to believe that any Scottish judge would convict anyone, even a Libyan, on the basis of such evidence." Professor Black's reservations will fuel the concerns of bereaved families that, despite the criminal trial, the truth is yet to emerge about the Lockerbie bombing. At a hushed press conference in London the day after the verdict, Mr Martin Cadman, whose son Bill died in the bombing, said: "We have our doubts about the guilt of Megrahi and that will have to remain the subject of any appeal to come." The chief spokesman for the families, Dr Jim Swire, a former army explosives expert, produced a bomb timer to illustrate why he found it hard to believe the Crown's version of events. He said that the timing of the explosion, 38 minutes after the aircraft took off from London, made the bomb more likely to have been detonated by a crude pressure-activated timer, such as those used by the Palestinian terror group operating in Germany under Ahmed Jibril, than by a sophisticated 999-hour electronic timer of the type bought by Libyan secret services from MeBo, a Swiss arms firm. Professor Black's concerns are likely to be seized upon by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to back claims of Libya's innocence of the bombing. Professor Black devised the unique format of the Lockerbie trial, which was held in a neutral country without a jury, and campaigned alongside the bereaved families for its acceptance by Libya, America and Britain. Megrahi has until next week to lodge an appeal. END |