Scottish Justice Department whistleblower claims Al Megrahi forced to abandon his appeal by Justice officials; full public inquiry needed

Dear All

The argument which is used by various political parties for an independent Scotland is the economic argument.

The economic argument isn’t enough in order to secure that goal, the issue of justice and fairness takes centre stage in my opinion.

How will an independent Scotland operate?

Will an independent Scotland be as corrupt as the current unionist one?

I want an independent Scotland but in order to secure this justice must be at the heart of it, from top to bottom, everyone must know and believe that rights and equality apply to everyone.

Much has been written about Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

The latest piece of news to make its way into the public domain is that he was forced to abandon his appeal to secure compassionate release on the grounds of his terminal cancer.

A justice department whistleblower is effectively claiming that the Scottish Justice Department has tampered with a witness.

It has been claimed at the time that the government had made the dropping of the appeal a condition of his release.

So, questions now arise who was involved in tampering with Al Megrahi, a witness in his own appeal?

Was the tampering authorised and if so by whom and how far up in the Scottish Justice Department does this go?

What is clear is that there has to be a full public inquiry headed up by a Judge, preferably from the UK Supreme Court or another legal body independent of the Scottish legal system.

Three senior sources close to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi have confirmed the whistleblower's version of events.

The reason which is mooted for forcing Al Megrahi into dropping his appeal was to spare any damage to the reputation the Scottish justice system.

The government is denying the allegations.

The whistleblower is said to be someone "very senior" who had access to the top level discussions on Megrahi within the Scottish Justice Department.

The e-mail allegedly reads:

"The minister seemed set to do the decent thing, allow a dying man to go home and the appeal to continue. However the department has strongly intimated to the Libyans that if Megrahi is to be granted compassionate release he must first drop his appeal. This was the (sic) rammed home to the Libyans at their meeting with the minister yesterday”.

It seems that the attempts by officials to spare any damage to the reputation the Scottish justice system has failed and now this story is in the public domain, it has done incredible damage.

I say on this blog that Britain and Scotland are corrupt, that individuals are denied their basic human rights.

It seems this is another incident which supports that conclusion.

The fact that the Scottish Justice Department have allegedly tampered with a witness during a live appeal is untenable.

Al Megarhi has the right to be treated fairly even the worse individual should be allowed their day in Court, not for their sake but for the sake of a tolerant and civilised society. Upholding his human rights is the cornerstone of what makes a democracy.

The SCCRC found there were six grounds for believing that Megrahi's conviction might have been a miscarriage of justice.

I believe that Al Megrahi would have won his case in the Court of Appeal and Scottish Justice would have been enhanced.

Now, it seems that you cannot trust officials in the Scottish Justice Department in the heart of Government.

A full public inquiry is needed which covers every aspect of the case and beyond, up to and including the whistleblower’s evidence.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University