A lawyer for the family of the late Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, convicted in the 1988 plane bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, argues there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
Nov 25, 2020
The family of the Libyan man convicted in the Lockerbie bombing presented their appeal case to British court Tuesday.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi’s family posthumously appealed his conviction in relation to the 1988 deadly plane bombing in Scotland’s High Court, Reuters reported.
Lockerbie is the Scottish town over which Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in 1988. All the 259 occupants, most of whom were Americans, perished. Eleven people in the town where the plane crashed also died. The flight was heading to New York from London.
Megrahi was a Libyan intelligence officer during the reign of Moammar Gadhafi. Megrahi was convicted of murder in relation the bombing in 2001. In 2009, he was released from prison for health reasons and returned to Libya, where he died in 2012.
In court Tuesday, one of the family’s lawyers said there was insufficient evidence to convict Megrahi. Claire Mitchell argued there was no explanation how the suitcase with the bomb, which apparently had clothing traced to Megrahi, ended up on the plane. She also contested whether Megrahi purchased the clothes, according to Reuters.
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Megrahi maintained his innocence up until his death and appealed his conviction several times while still alive.
It is unclear when the court will announce a decision on the appeal.
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