Pre-trial hearing at Camp
Zeist begun.
Camp
Zeist (Holland) - The two suspects in the upcoming Lockerbie incident trial
have appeared in front of a Scottish judge for the first time today, and
also for the first time in public. Four other pre-trial hearings have taken
place since the pair were handed over to Scottish authorities at Kamp van
Zeist in the central Netherlands in April this year.
The pre-trial hearing is highly technical
and will be heard in what is called a "preliminary diet". The pre-trial
case started last month, when the lawyers of the two suspects lodged papers
in the High Court in Edinburgh claiming that the Scottish High Court
cannot hear charge 1, which is a charge of conspiracy to murder. They claim
the court has no jurisdiction because the conspiracy is alleged by the
Crown to have taken place in various countries across the world, but not
in Scotland. They go on to claim as an alternative that it is oppresive
for them to face both a charge of conspiracy to murder and a charge of
murder on the same indictment when the only justification for the two charges
standing together is that the court has jurisdiction over the second charge.
The defense lawyers also say that
the charges link the alleged conspiracy with the murder is "unfair, oppressive
and incompetent".
In addition to challenging the validity
of the conspiracy charge, the defence argues it is oppressive to charge
the accused with conspiracy as well as murder. The defence is also seeking
to strike from the indictment references to the two being members of the
Libyan intelligence service. A secondary matter the judge must consider
is whether the prosecution has provided the defence with enough information.
Defence lawyers had accused Britain's Crown Office of dragging its feet
in handing over documents from Germany related to the case, although they
received a number of files last month.
Documents
from the initial German investigation are considered vital because it was
originally believed a Palestinian guerrilla group -- the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command -- was responsible for
the bombing instead of the Libyans. The defence is rumoured to be planning
to incriminate Mohammed Abu Talb, one of the original suspects in the case
and a member of the guerrilla group.
Another rumour circles around the
prosecution team, led by Lord Hardie. It has not been confirmed yet, but
it is believed the prosecution will make a motion toward a postponement
of the upcoming trial, which was scheduled to begin early February next
year. No television cameras, tape-recorders or photographers have be permitted
in the court.
As the purpose-built court house
is not yet complete, the hearing is being held in the temporary facility
of a gymnasium at Camp Zeist. The court hearings opened to the sound of
machines next door, building the maximum security courthouse for the upcoming
trial. Wearing tweed jackets and ties, the suspects appeared relaxed and
shook hands with their defense team after being led in without handcuffs
by officers of the Royal Scottish Constabulary.
As proceedings began, William Taylor
QC, for Megrahi, told the judge Lord Sutherland: "Charge one narrates in
the first paragraph a considerable number of locations, none of which are
in Scotland. "There is no allegation that any agreement took place
in Scotland, there is no allegation that any overt actings took place in
Scotland, and no allegation that the accused were ever within Scottish
jurisdiction."
Observers
said they were puzzled by why the two accused have elected to be present
at this pre-trial hearing, since it was expected to be extremely complex.
Much of the previous pre-trial business has been handled in Edinburgh.
Taylor, who told the press his clients
were extremely well, said the court was ``not competent'' to try the two
for conspiracy because the alleged conspiracy was not hatched in Scotland.
Taylor said it was ``plump and plain'' that the prosecution was trying
to bring in a much wider body of evidence than if it were only a charge
of murder. His arguments to Sutherland were based on obscure precedents
in Scottish law relating to diverse cases such as conspiracy to deal in
drugs and the case of a man who plotted to kill his wife for insurance.
Arabic interpreters must have savoured the challenge at some moments, as
when Bill Taylor QC said it was ``plump and plain'' what the prosecution
was up to, and it would be ``widdershins'' (the wrong way) to try the two
on two cumulative charges.
Legal experts, speaking to reporters
during a brief adjournment to correct the court's sound system, said the
charge of conspiracy might be considered easier to prove than murder.
Taylor
said the indictment was ``peppered'' with references to the Libyan intelligence
service which he said were ``irrelevant'' and clearly aimed at blackening
the characters of the accused. ``The references could just as well
be to the boy scouts or the Church of Scotland,'' he told the court.
He said it was ``very, very important... to give these two men a fair trial''
and it would be a gross travesty to turn proceedings into a trial of the
Libyan intelligence service.
Mr Richard Keen QC, for Khalifa Fhima,
also argued that the conspiracy charge should be thrown out as incompetent.
The hearing required the presence
of 23 court officials and lawyers. The four QCs for the Libyans sat at
plain tables facing the four QCs for the Crown, led by Colin Boyd, the
Solicitor General for Scotland. The Libyans deny charges of conspiracy,
murder and breaching an aviation security Act. Every journalist, lawyer
and court official was frisked after passing through airport-style security
checks. Coats and jackets were screened and only solicitors were allowed
to carry baggage into the court. Megrahi's brother and Fhimah's cousin
sat at the front of the court, but relatives of the victims did not attend
the hearing.
Afternoon session
After a midday break the court continued
in its afternoon session to hear the prosecution. Scottish Solicitor General
Colin Boyd, for the prosecution, said there was no reason why the charge
of conspiracy should not be tried in a Scottish court, adding ``it would
be a surprising result'' ifthat were denied. ``The game is up for the learned
Solicitor General,'' said Bill Taylor for the defense. ``Murder is included
in the first charge merely to confer jurisdiction.''
``It is very, very important to give
these two men a fair trial,'' Taylor said. It would be ``a gross travesty''
to turn proceedings into a trial of the Libyan intelligence service. Legal
experts said if this submission were granted, it could further limit the
scope of evidence brought by the prosecution. The Libyan intelligence connection
was ``in some ways the glue that holds the conspiracy together,'' said
Boyd.
However,
Scotland's Solicitor General, Colin Boyd QC, said the question of Libyan
intelligence involvement was relevant to the evidence that the Crown planned
to put at the trial on 2 February. At one point, Boyd said the crime of
conspiracy to murder had ``already been completed'' when the alleged plot
to blow up the airliner was agreed in another place, but was ``continuing''
until the moment the bomb blew the plane apart over Scottish territory,
therefore the court had jurisdiction. Taylor said it was ``plump and plain''
that the prosecution was attempting to bring inadmissible evidence.
"I do not understand the suggestion
that this is an attempt to lead evidence of bad character," QC Boyd said,
referring to the prelimenary diet motion. "If it is the case that the Libyan
intelligence service is a legal organisation, how can it possibly be said
that leading evidence of a particular individual's own membership of the
Libyan intelligence service is evidence of bad character?"
`The O.J. trial it isn't,'' whispered
one legal expert from Glasgow, contrasting the sobriety, not to say dourness,
of the proceedings with the televised theatricality of the Los Angeles
murder trial of star footballer-actor O.J. Simpson. The Scottish heraldic
seal was fixed to the wall above the head of judge Sutherland, with the
inscription ``Nemo me impune lacessit,'' roughly translated as ``no one
shall harm me with impunity'' -- the vow that justice will be done.
Presiding Judge Lord Ranald Sutherland
adjourned the pre-trial hearing until Wednesday and gave no indication
whether he would rule then on the defense submissions or require more time
for study.
Background info:
The
petition for the upcoming pre-trial hearing
Above document made available by
Glasgow
University Law Faculty
.
The full
Lockerbie trial petition/indictment
In-dept coverage
of Lockerbie suspects handover, April 1999
TV-interview with
Megrahi and Fhima, September 1997
TV-interview
with Megrahi and Fhima, October 1998
Media files:
You need Real
Audio/Video Player in order to view these files.
Sound-files:
The
BBC's Barnaby Mason reports
Andrew
Cassel reports from Camp Zeist
Joshua
Rosenberg with in-deep coverage from Camp Zeist
Video-files:
Joshua
Rosenburg reports on BBC World TV
Joshua
Rosenburg reports on BBC World TV 08/12
Andy
Thige from Camp Zeist for BBC World TV
Reuters
movie from Camp Zeist 07/12/99
British
ITN TV reports 08/12
Transcripts, articles and other files:
CNN Newsday-transcript
07/12/99
Full
report on hearing from Glasgow Law School's Lockerbie Trial Unit 08/12/99
... and Update report on the first hearing 09/12/99
Scotland on Sunday: Holding the scales of justice 12/12/99
The Sunday Herald: Why no cameras are allowed at the Lockerbie trial 12/12/99
Legal explenation - what is happening in court
?
``I
expect the arguments are going to be so complicated that not many Scottish
lawyers
themselves will understand,''
says Alastair Bonnington, a Scottish law expert and advocate.
A prelimenary diet is just what it
sounds like: trying to make the petition/indictment to loose "weight".
In other words, the defense team is trying to "cut some of the charges"
from the petition.
Basically Megrahi and Fhimah are
facing three alternative charges in their petition:
Conspiracy to murder
murder
destroying an aircraft
A person can be charged with
conspiracy to commit a crime even if he does not carry out the crime itself.
All that is needed is for the accused to agree with at least one other
person to commit the crime. But lawyers for the two accused say a Scottish
court has no jurisdiction to try them for conspiracy to murder because
the conspiracy is not alleged to have taken place in Scotland.
If
that argument is rejected, they will argue that if the accused are eventually
cleared of murder the court will still not be able to convict them of conspiracy.
They say the conspiracy charge requires the prosecution to prove that they
killed people in Scotland: if there is no proof that they murdered the
people who died as a result of the Lockerbie explosion then there is no
jurisdiction to convict them of conspiring to kill.
The accused also object to allegations
in the indictment that they were members of the Libyan intelligence services.
They say those claims are irrelevant, presumably because being an intelligence
agent is not, in itself, a crime. Both Megrahi and Fhima have always
underlined in several interviews that they had never been ntelligence agents
as claimed by the prosecution. They also say allegations in the indictment
that they arranged for another agent to travel on a false passport and
that they obtained timers for detonating explosives are also irrelevant
because they do not amount to crimes in Scottish law.
The best that the two accused can
hope for is that Lord Sutherland will throw out the charge of conspiracy
and order the remaining two charges to be re-worded. But that would still
leave the accused facing 270 charges of murder and charges of destroying
an aircraft in service. "It is much easier for the prosecutor to prove
that they planned the murder than that they actually carried it out," said
Alistair Bonnington, a Glasgow University criminal law expert.
Whatever
the ruling, either side would have the right to lodge an appeal, with the
possibility that the trial itself could be delayed, perhaps until May,
2000.
Reactions from relatives:
David Ben Aryeh, a spokesman for British
relatives of the victims, said today: "They want truth, they want
justice. Nothing more, nothing less." He called Wednesday's proceedings
legal jockeying. "The only charge that matters is the murder of 270 people,"
he said.
Ben Aryeh can be reached thru his office for more comments, call
+44/ 131-346-7983. .
A brother of suspect Abdelbaset al Megrahi told the press at Camp Zeist
that he wanted justice for his brother, whom he believed was innocent of
all charges. "I have come here to support my brother. I know he is innocent
and I am confident that justice will be done," said Mohamed
al-Megrahi.
Daniel Cohen from Cap May who lost his
daughter Theodora on Pan Am 103 said: "I am gratified that the Judge has
ruled to keep the conspiracy charges and the information about the defendants
membership in the Libyan intelligence services. These are at the
core of the case. This is after all not a case about two fellows
who happen to be Libyan committing murder, it is at it's core a case
about state-sponsored terrorism. The pre-trial rulings help to keep
the focus where it belongs. I am a bit disappointed about the
start of the trial being delayed. "
Helen Englehardt, whose husband Tony Hawkins died Dec. 21, 1988 along with 258 other passengers, 35 of which were Syracuse University students returning home for the holidays from a semester abroad in London, will travel with her son to the Netherlands this summer to attend part of the trial. "I’m only interested in being present during the prosecution’s part, Englehardt said. So the postponement works out great. I certainly want to be a physical presence in the courtroom representing the families," said Englehardt, who writes and distributes a newsletter informing the families about developments in the case. "The postponement is understandable because of the complexity of the case, she said. Waiting for the trial is the easy part, "said Englehardt, who waited more than three years before a judge handed down indictments to the two men, she added.
"The more they postpone it, the less chance they have to claim they didn’t have a fair trial, " Englehardt said. "(The defense) needs all the time they can get because they don’t have a strong case." Englehardt, a Brooklyn native, said she will also watch the downlink live video feeds that will be available in New York City to allow the victim's families to watch the trial proceedings. The downlinks, also available in London and Washington, D.C., will help families who can not make the journey overseas, she said.
But Syracuse University freshman Melissa Dios, whose aunt was one of the two SU graduate students on the plane, will take a leave of absence during her Fall 2000 semester in order to attend the trial in Scotland, she said. Only 7 years old at the time of the bombing, Dios said the incident had a profound affect on her family. The trial’s postponement is frustrating for the family, which has closely followed the case for 11 years, she said. "Terrorism is a big part of my life," said Dios, a management major. Dios participated in this year’s Remembrance Week at SU wearing a pin for her mother’s sister, Suzanne Miazga. She also helped break ground behind SU’s Place of Remembrance for a new Garden of Remembrance, she said. In order to attend the trial, Dios plans to go to Amsterdam in the summer then attend the University of Amsterdam in the fall of 2000. It is vital to consistently have family members of the victims in the courtroom, she said. "If no one shows up one day, that shows a lack of support on behalf of the families," she said.
Who is who ?
Mr William
Taylor, aged 55, has been an advocate since 1971 and a QC since
1986. He has also been a barrister in England and Wales since 1990 and
a QC there since 1998. He is also a temporary sheriff and member of the
Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and has been standing junior counsel
for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the DHSS. He has specialised
in criminal defence work since the 1980s and is appointed member of the
Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission. Member of the defence
team for Fhima and Megrahi.
Mr Alistair
Bonnington, aged 47, has been the Solicitor in Scotland to the BBC
since 1992. Prior to that he was in private practice from 1974, during
which time he had extensive experience of working in the criminal courts.
Since 1989 he has been a part-time lecturer in criminal procedure at Glasgow
University and since 1996 a part-time lecturer in media law at Strathclyde
University. He was on the Council of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in
Glasgow from 1995-98 and is Secretary of the Scottish Media Lawyers Society.
He now heads the Lockerbie
Trial Unit.
Colin
Boyd QC is Solicitor General and assists the Lord Advocate, with
particular responsibility for prosecutions. Called to the Scottish Bar
in 1983, he was an advocate depute from 1993 to 1995 and took silk in 1995.
Mr Boyd is a legal associate of the Royal Town Planning Institute and contributed
to a book, The Legal Aspects of Devolution, which was published just before
the 1997 General Election. He is married with three children and lives
in Edinburgh. Member of the prosecution.
....more information on defence team,
prosecution and judges, go to the Lockerbie
Trial Website
For
more information on the up-coming Lockerbie trial, go to THE LOCKERBIE
TRIAL WEBSITE, featuring contact information, interviews, special coverages,
schedules and trial news updates. Reactions from relatives etc. on end
of page.
He
said if its purpose was to offend against the peace of Scotland it could
be tried there. "Such an assumption of jurisdiction would not in any way
offend against international polity," added Lord Sutherland. The judge
said: "I am satisfied that on the basis of what is set out in the charge
of this indictment, that Scots courts do have jurisdiction in this matter."