Dr Hans Kochler, the United Nations appointed special observer to the Lockerbie trial has written to the Firm widely criticising the current court proceedings following the referral of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmad Al Megrahi’s case back to the High Court for a further appeal.

Kochler criticises the fairness and objectivity of the present hearings, which he says appear more like an intelligence operation, rather than the undertaking of criminal justice. He also criticises the Scottish Parliamentarians and journalists for failing to undertake objective inquiries into the downing of Pan Am 103 and its judicial aftermath.

He adds that the second appeal, now underway following the Scottish Criminal Cases Review commission’s referral in the light of a possible miscarriage of justice, should be held outside Scotland as the original trial was. The present proceedings are in breach of the original intergovernmental agreement which saw two Libyans brought to trail at Camp Zeist in Holland, he says.

Dr Kochler’s letter, part of an ongoing correspondence with judicial campaigner Robbie the Pict and cleared for publication in the Firm, can be read below.



Vienna, 6 June 2008
P/RE/20120



I have commented on the PII "problem" last February (http://i-p-o.org/Lockerbie-statement-koechler-25Feb08.htm) and have nothing to add in terms of legal substance. It is almost trivial to say that a fair trial requires the availability of evidence to both the Prosecution and Defense. Only in a totalitarian system would the executive power interfere in court proceedings and order the withholding of evidence and/or replace defense lawyers by MI-approved lawyers (which I hope will not happen in the present case).

My "extra-legal" questions at this stage are:

- where are Scotland's investigative journalists? (I know positively that several journalists shied away from questoning the official story);
- where are the Scottish parliamentarians who defend the rule of law (which includes the independence of the judiciary)?;
- where is Scottish civil society?

Why was the setting up of a Lockerbie Truth Commission never considered by civil society groups? Such a Commission could have organized lectures, hearings, press conferences, etc.

Furthermore: The fact that the new appeal proceedings take place in Scotland is not in conformity with the original intergovernmental agreement on the Lockerbie trial (which provided extraterritorial arrangements, with the presence of UN-appointed observers, also for the appeal). Under the present circumstances, there is a total lack of transparency of the proceedings. The entire procedure (with the PII as core issue of the appeal) looks more like an intelligence operation than a genuine undertaking of criminal justice.

Dr Hans Kochler – United Nations Appointed Special Observer
President, International Progress Organisation