UN Lockerbie trial observer urges probe of UK-US Pan Am 103 investigation News
UN Lockerbie trial observer urges probe of UK-US Pan Am 103 investigation

[JURIST] The United Nations observer overseeing the Lockerbie trial, Dr. Hans Koechler, has called for a probe into UK and US handling of the investigation of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 [Wikipedia backgrounder] over the Scottish village of Lockerbie. The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission last week granted an appeal [JURIST report] in the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi [Wikipedia profile], the only person convicted in the bombing, after the commission identified six grounds [press release, PDF] for a possible "miscarriage of justice" in Megrahi's trial and conviction.

In a statement following the commission's decision, Koechler said:

In order to avoid bias, such an investigation will require the participation of additional legal experts, to be appointed by the United Nations Organisation, from countries that are not involved in the Lockerbie dispute. Those politicians in the United Kingdom and the United States who have proclaimed an international "war on terror" will not be credible in their strategy if they prevent a full investigation into the causes of the explosion of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie.

Koechler has compared the Lockerbie verdict with Libya's judicial proceedings against six foreign medics [JURIST news archive], saying that procedural flaws, lack of transparency, and political interference had marred the trials [statement, PDF] and tarnished the European Union and United States' legitimacy in confronting Libya on the trial of the foreign medics. The Scotsman has more.

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