Lockerbie: Megrahi Publishes His Defence

The Lockerbie case is back in the news with the publication of Megrahi: You Are My Jury by John Ashton, a member of Abdelbaset ali al-Megrahi’s defence team. That Megrahi remains alive, if only just, two and a half years after he was released on compassionate grounds is, plainly, an embarassment and all the evidence required to demonstrate that Kenny Mackaskill’s decision to release him on license was mistaken. It has been contradicted by events.

Worse for Mr MacAskill, however, is Megrahi’s suggestion that MacAskill advised him that his chances of being released on compassionate grounds would be enhanced if he dropped his appeal against his conviction for the bombing. There was no legal need for this kind of quid pro quo; the status of Megrahi’s wrestling match with the Scottish authorities was – or was supposed to be – entirely separate from his health issues. (The UK-Libya Prisoner Transfer Agreeement negotiated by Tony Blair, which covered Megrahi despite the protests of the Scottish government, was a different matter: Megrahi could not be transferred to a Libyan prison while his appeal was continuing.