Scotland defends Megrahi's release

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/20098222368517564.html


Scotland has rejected criticism from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over the release of the Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, while the British government strongly denied Tripoli's claims that the gesture was linked to trade deals.

In a letter to Kenny MacAskill , Scotland's justice secretary, released on Saturday, Robert Mueller, the FBI director, denounced his decision to free Abdel basset al-Megrahi.

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But the Scottish government hit back, saying that while compassionate release might not be part of the US justice system, it was a proper part of Scotland's.

'Proper procedures'

A Scottish government spokesman said the decision was reached following proper procedures.

"The justice secretary reached his conclusions on the basis of Scotland's due process, clear evidence, and the recommendations from the parole board and prison governor," the spokesman said.
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but its done. On to other matter now.

For each of his victims, this asshat served a mere eleven days in prison.

and although many in the British Parliament may disagree with this decision it had nothing to do with them. This was a Scottish decision, taken by Scottish Courts and Ministers. Fox is already telling lies about this, trying to suggest Obama could have "done something". As even the British Government was powerless over this, a US Government intervention would have been meaningless.

Lockerbie: Will the truth ever come out?

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds, although welcomed by many campaigners in Britain, means we are no further forward in terms of establishing the truth regarding the Lockerbie bombing.

For many, Megrahi was a convenient scapegoat, deflecting attention away from a wealth of evidence which would bring into question the official version of events.

This suspicion has deepened with the suggestion that Megrahi had been forced to withdraw his appeal against conviction or be refused leave to return to Libya to see out his dying days.

An estimated 600 pages of evidence, much of which may prove Megrahi's innocence, has been withheld from the public.

The families of British victims of the bombing are understandably dismayed that, with the withdrawal of the appeal, the best chance to have the evidence exposed has faded.

SNIP

Although we cannot know the exact details of what the withheld documents contain, there is enough evidence already in the public domain to raise serious questions over the Libyan's conviction and why he was fitted up for a crime he almost certainly did not commit.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/features/Lockerbie-Will-the-truth-ever-come-out

Other new evidence listed in the grounds for appeal would have called in new witnesses to prove that the fragment of circuit board from a timing device found near the crash and pointing to Libyan involvement simply could not have survived such an explosion.

Subsequent analysis carried out by an independent forensic scientist found no trace of explosive on the tiny piece.

A Swiss businessman would have given evidence that his company - which supplied the alleged timer - did not just do business with the Libyan intelligence service, as was claimed, but also with the Stasi, the East German secret police.

Also due to be called was a witness who would allegedly discredit the accepted account that the suitcase in which the bomb was placed had somehow travelled unchecked and unaccompanied from Malta to Frankfurt and on to the Pan Am flight.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208432/A-2m-witness-payment-bogus-forensic-evidence-Pentagon-memo-blaming-Iran-How-Lockerbie-bomber-threatened-Scottish-justice.html

Explosives analysis concludes semtex theory "scientifically implausible" in Pan Am 103 explosion

A scientific analysis of the Crown's discredited theory that approximately 1lb of semtex contained in a Toshiba radio caused the destruction of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, has concluded that the notion is "scientifically implausible."

The report, by Dr Ludwig de Braeckeleer agrees with the findings of John H Parkes, a former MOD contractor and explosives engineer who assisted in the rescue operations in Lockerbie, and subsequently submitted a report of his findings to the then Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind. Parkes was never called as a witness to the trial.

Dr de Braeckeleer's findings reiterate the initial findings from US sources, that the Crown theory does not stand up to forensic scrutiny.

"In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, researchers at the Centre of Explosives Technology Research in Socorro, New Mexico, estimated that up to thirty pounds of explosive was needed to destroy a Boeing 747, if the explosion had occured in the container. We agree with that estimate," the report says.

SNIP

Evidence of fragmentation observed on victims at the site and on the wreckage - which was not heard at the trial- indicate an explosives "signature" that was not consistent with a semtex blast close to the skin of the fuselage. Unbroadcast footage of the wreckage, and contemporaneous photographs of the crashed plane, shows puncture damage to parts of the plane far away from the claimed site of a semtex blast, and of a character indicating far more powerful explosives events on board.

http://www.firmmagazine.com/features/501/Explosives_analysis_concludes_semtex_theory.html