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Pat A. Wertheim · Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 73 Location: USA

Al Megrahi's greatest revenge would be to go home and let the appeal be abandoned. Then the real bombers could breathe easy. Because if they go free on this one, they can begin planning their next terrorist attack.

And that attack, my friends, would be "Al Megrahi's Revenge."

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Iain McKie · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 262 Location: Ayr, Scotland.

Hi Pat,

I often wonder how Scottish justice is viewed across the world against the background of Lockerbie and Shirley's case?

For years the Crown Office and Scottish government have denied any link between the two cases and yet your personal experiences and the ominous shadow of Harry Bell over both cases make me more and more convinced that something stinks.

As yet more doubt is cast on the veracity of the statements obtained by Mr. Bell the case against him increases.

Pat A. Wertheim · Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 73 Location: USA

Is Harry Bell behind it all, or is he a pawn on a larger chess board? In the Pan Am 103 debacle, it seems to me that Harry is a small fish in an ocean of sharks. If he doesn't swim the way they want, he'll be quickly eaten. I doubt any Inquiry will ever probe into that ocean.
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scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 526

Lockerbie: Megrahi 'never positively identified'
DAVE FINLAY May 01 2009

Appeal judges were told today there "no positive identification" of a Libyan intelligence officer by a crucial witness at the Lockerbie bombing trial.

A senior counsel said there were "striking discrepancies" in the evidence of a Maltese shopkeeper over the height and age of a man who had bought clothing from him with that of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi.

The clothes were found to have been in a suitcase which housed the bomb that blew Pan Am Flight 103 out of the skies over the Dumfriesshire town in December 1988 killing 270 people.
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Margaret Scott QC told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that the testimony of shopkeeper Tony Gauci was at best "a looks like resemblance" between the man who made the purchases and Megrahi.

She said: "When one looks at the identification evidence it is incapable of sustaining a finding that the appellant was the purchaser of the clothing."

The finding was one of four critical inferences made by judges at Megrahi's original at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in convicting him of murder in 2001.

Megrahi (57) whose health is "deteriorating" as he suffers from prostate cancer, is appealling against the conviction claiming he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

He was jailed for life following the guilty finding and ordered to serve at least 27 years for the mass murder.

Megrahi has previous unsuccessfully challenged his conviction, but his case has now been referred back to the appeal court by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which examines alleged miscarriages of justice.

His counsel, Miss Scott, said that in 1989 Mr Gauci had described the man who bought the clothes as aged about 50 and six feet in height. Megrahi was aged 36 at the time of the purchase and stood five feet eight inches tall.

"The initial description given by the witness at the outset is substantially different to the appellant both in terms of height and age," she said.

She said Mr Gauci had been shown several photospreads by police on different occasions as they sought his help.

Miss Scott said that at the first which featured a photo of Megrahi, supplied by the FBI, there were aspects of procedure clearly different to the others.

She said initially Mr Gauci said the men featured were younger than the purchaser.

The defence counsel said: "In a sense he rejected the photos on the basis they were too young, but quite unlike before the witness was told to look at the photos again carefully and to try to allow for any age difference."

Miss Scott argued it was "a clear message that the witness needs to try again and a message that there is something there to be found".

She said it was only following this that Mr Gauci picked out the photo of Megrahi as being similar to the man who bought the clothing.

"In my submission, that is highly irregular and liable to introduce the risk of significant error in what he subsequently does," she said.

Miss Scott said that an identity parade held at Camp Zeist in 1999 with Mr Gauci in attendance was also flawed.

She said no other Libyans were part of the line-up and four of the participants were in their 30s and one was five feet three inches tall. "Four people were quite unreasonably young and one was unreasonably short," she told the court.

Mr Gauci picked out Megrahi at the parade as a man "who look a little bit like exactly" the clothes buyer.

The defence counsel said: "It is quite clear there has been no positive identification of the appellant as the purchaser. At best the witness makes a form of resemblance identification."

The hearing before five judges continues.

Big Wullie · Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 1149 Location: Glasgow

Well done Scotkaz for highlighting this article which points out exactly what I have been saying for ages "Megrahi has never been Identified Positively" as the buyer of these items from Gauci's shop.

At best he claimed he was similar but needed to be older.

Why our courts have used this as concrete evidence for the basis of a conviction I will never know.

Pat that ocean has a name "Holyrood"

I believe there should be some sort of enquiry into how ID Parades work.

My own saw a stand in Identified Once Positive and Three Times Resembling.

This being the case and considering Gauci's evidence in Megrahi why wasn't this stand in charged.

I also remember an article years ago which saw an Archie McHale (A stand in at an ID Parade in Glasgow) Identied twice Positively.

The Sunday mail ran the story but cannot find it online.

I feel people attending ID Parades would pick someone even if the suspect was not in the line-up.

They feel compelled to pick someone I feel.

There was also a case referred by SCCRC where the police had said to a witness they hadn't done too well at the ID Parade.

As for Harry Bell Iain, I hope his days are numbered at SCRO or SPSA now.
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scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 526

Al Megrahi ID parade 'flawed'

By DAVE FINLAY

Published: Today
THE ID parade that nailed Abdelbaset Al Megrahi as the Lockerbie bomber was flawed, judges heard yesterday.

The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh was told there was a “significant risk of error” in evidence from a senior witness.

Al Megrahi’s lawyer Margaret Scott QC questioned the testimony of shopkeeper Tony Gauci.

He said Al Megrahi, 57, had bought clothes from him in Malta before the December 1988 atrocity.

The clothes were found in a suitcase with the bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103.

But yesterday Miss Scott said during the 1989 investigation the shopkeeper described his customer as aged around 50 and 6ft tall.

Megrahi was aged 36 at the time and just 5ft 8in.

She said: “The initial description by the witness is substantially different to the appellant.”

And the lawyer slammed an ID parade which Mr Gauci attended at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 1999.

Al Megrahi was the only Libyan in the line-up, while four of the men were in their 30s and one was only 5ft 3in tall.

Ms Scott added: “Four people were quite unreasonably young and one was unreasonably short.

“It is quite clear there has been no positive identification.”

Al Megrahi was jailed for life and ordered to serve 27 years for the death of 270 people at Lockerbie.

The bomber — suffering from prostate cancer — is desperate to return home. He claims he suffered a miscarriage of justice.

His case was referred back to the appeal court by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. The hearing continues.

Big Wullie · Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 1149 Location: Glasgow

Big Wullie · Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 1149 Location: Glasgow

SPS have joined the cover up in Megrahi by refusing to allow Chritine Graham to visit Al Megrahi in prison:

http://www.firmmagazine.com/news/...ruth_of_Pan_Am_103,_says_MSP.html

What right does the SPS have to block any visit ?

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NEWS
05 May 2009
British Government blocking the truth of Pan Am 103, says MSP
MSP Christine Grahame has claimed there is evidence to suggest that senior officials and British Ministers are preventing the truth about the destruction of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie reaching the public domain.

Her comments come after she was refused entry to meet with Megrahi, despite the visit being prearranged.

“From the evidence I have seen I think there is an indication that very senior officials and British Ministers do not want the truth about this case to enter the public arena," she said.

"I believe that is why the British Government has rushed through the Prisoner Transfer Protocol with Libya, in the hope Mr Megrahi will drop his appeal, as he must do under the terms of the protocol arrangement to be eligible to be transferred back to his homeland. That would ensure that the details about the unsafe nature of this conviction and the manner in which the investigation was carried out by both Scottish and US investigators will be covered up.”

Grahame had been offered a private meeting with the Megrahi, who had agreed to the meeting, at Greenock Prison. However officials at the Scottish Prison Service "blocked" the visit, refusing to give an explanation.

“I was offered a private visit last week to speak to Mr Megrahi directly and I intended to meet with him on Sunday morning. On Saturday evening however the prison Governor contacted my office to advise that the meeting would not be able to proceed due to unspecified reasons. Despite several attempts to seek clarification from the Scottish Prison Service no satisfactory explanation has been offered,” she said.

“I believe, as many campaigners and relatives of Lockerbie victims believe, that the conviction against Mr Megrahi is unsafe and, like the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, I think there is evidence that a miscarriage of justice has taken place. If that is the case it is not only an injustice for Mr Megrahi but also for the 270 victims of Pan Am 103."

Grahame has been working with the Justice for Megrahi campaign.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said it could not comment on individual prisoner circumstances.

“The Scottish Prison Service has established procedures for organising visits which involve appropriate notice and adherence to appropriate booking procedures. Whilst we try to accommodate all visits this is not always possible, especially at weekends,” he said.
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scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 526

In the dock: Lockerbie witness Gauci

The defence of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi wants to attack the central plank of his prosecution – Malta shopkeeper Tony Gauci. MATTHEW VELLA looks at the mounting evidence.

Pressure is mounting on the key witness who secured the Lockerbie prosecution’s conviction of Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi.
Tony Gauci is the Maltese shopkeeper whose identification of Megrahi as the purchaser of clothes at his shop, allegedly packed in the suitcase carrying the Lockerbie bomb, was central to his conviction. During the investigation, clothing fibres with a label “Made in Malta” were traced to fragments of a Samsonite suitcase believed to have contained the bomb. The clothes were traced to Tony Gauci, who then became a key prosecution witness.
But a three-year investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission into whether Megrahi suffered a miscarriage of justice has now sent his case back into appeal, and the Libyan’s lawyers claim there is now substantial evidence undermining the credibility of Gauci’s testimony.
Their allegations are central to the appeal against his conviction for the murder of 270 passengers, crew and townspeople when Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie on 21 December, 1988 – a case which sealed Libya’s pariah status as a sponsor of terrorism, and which could now turn into nothing less than a massive farce that wrongly convicted Megrahi, a former security official with the Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA) based in Malta.

Apple short of a picnic
It seemed a concluded affair. Megrahi had been convicted by a special court in the Netherlands of murder on 31 January, 2001 and sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment. His co-accused, an LAA station manager at Luqa airport, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah was acquitted.
But Megrahi’s lawyers then successfully won the right to have the case reviewed for a new appeal, in an investigation that would produce some astounding revelations. Lockerbie, it seemed, was about to return to haunt the “tricky” Malta witness.
In October 2005, new doubts were cast over Gauci’s testimony when the former Lord Advocate – the man who issued the arrest warrant for the Libyans, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie – described Gauci as “not quite the full shilling” and “an apple short of a picnic” in an interview with the Times of London.
“Gauci was not quite the full shilling. I think even his family would say he was an apple short of a picnic. He was quite a tricky guy, I don’t think he was deliberately lying but if you asked him the same question three times he would just get irritated and refuse to answer,” Fraser said.
The admission attracted grave reactions. William Taylor QC, the man who leads Megrahi’s defence, said it was “scandalous” that Fraser had accepted to present a witness whose credibility he doubted.
“A man prosecuting in the criminal courts in Scotland has a duty to put forward evidence based upon people he considers to be reliable. He was prepared to advance Gauci as a witness of truth in terms of the identification and if he had these misgivings about him, they should have surfaced at the time. The fact he is now coming out many years later after my former client has been in prison for nearly four and a half years is nothing short of disgraceful. Gauci’s evidence was absolutely central to the conviction and for Peter Fraser not to realise that is scandalous.”
When MaltaToday had contacted Gauci back then, the witness sounded annoyed at the new revelations, clearly not eager to rekindle the ordeal he had been through. “I am not interested in what this man said. What matters to me is what the Court said and that’s it…. He can say what he likes. They know what was said in Court. The case is closed and that’s it now.”

Iranian origins
In 2007, a top-secret document passed to the Scottish review commission was revealed to have confirmed beyond doubt the bomb timer was supplied to countries other than Libya, and that the attack was more likely the work of Palestinian terrorists, again raising questions on the testimony of Malta key witness Tony Gauci.
The document, passed to the Commission by a foreign power, gives “considerable detail” on how the use of a small bomb concealed inside a radio-cassette recorder was consistent with Palestinian terrorists rather than Libyans.
According to newspaper Scotland on Sunday, the documents contained considerable detail about the method used to conceal the bomb, which is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), the first suspects in the case.
It is believed that Lockerbie’s Semtex bomb was stolen from a PFPL-GC cell operating in Neuss, Germany. The cell was cracked by German secret police, who were told by the Jordanian bomb maker Marwan Khreesat, that a fifth device had been removed from the flat. Iranian defector Abolghasem Mesbahi, who provided Germans with intelligence, had already claimed in 1996 that the bombing been ordered by Tehran, not Tripoli.
Megrahi’s lawyers were now claiming a retired Scottish police chief had signed a statement saying the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting the Libyan.

A $2 million deal?
Once again, new revelations in 2007 alleged that Gauci was offered a $2m reward in return for giving evidence. Megrahi’s defence team said they believed Gauci may have received payments and that they would be pressing for full disclosure of these payments, and the release of a potentially vital US document which is thought to cast doubt on official accounts about the timer allegedly used in the bombing, at an appeal hearing next week.
The secret document is believed to dispute prosecution claims that al-Megrahi used a digital timer bought from a Swiss company, Mebo, and then planted the bomb on a flight from Malta to Germany – a disclosure which would fatally undermine his conviction.
In a rare comment to the press, the brother of Tony Gauci broke his silence, according to a report by The Scotsman in which he claimed their lives have become “intolerable” amid growing interest by the press. “We are under very heavy pressure here. The press want to photograph us, everybody wants to interview my brother, we have no privacy. When we step out the door, there are people with cameras. Our lives are intolerable here,” Paul Gauci had said.
The newspaper even reiterated the popular claim that Gauci was planning a move to Australia with his brother, who was also on the witness list but was not called to give evidence. Today, Gauci is still apprehensive about the sensation surrounding the Lockerbie case after his evidence was last year called in question. The Gauci family had stepped up security with CCTV surveillance around the house and has refused to answer any questions from the press.

A coached witness
This week, Megrahi’s lawyers announced that their new evidence showed Gauci had been “coached and steered by Scottish detectives” into wrongly identifying the Libyan, claiming Gauci was interviewed 23 times by Scottish police before giving the evidence that finally led to the conviction for the bombing.
Megrahi’s lawyers will claim that in nearly two dozen formal police interviews, Gauci gave contradictory dates of purchase, changed his account of the sale, and on one occasion appeared to identify the Palestinian terrorist leader Abu Talb as the purchaser. Gauci’s evidence is made unreliable by “undisputed factors”, the appeal court will hear. They include an “extraordinary” delay in Gauci recalling the events of December 1988 and naming Megrahi; the “extraordinary amount of post-event suggestion to which the witness was subjected”; and his exposure to photos of Megrahi.
The case against Megrahi also hinges on Gauci’s claim that the clothes allegedly packed into the suitcase bomb were bought on 7 December – the only day when Megrahi was in the area. Megrahi’s lawyers say they can now prove they were bought up to two weeks before then, when the Libyan was not in the country.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt