New claims in case of Lockerbie bomber

A documentary to be broadcast on Al Jazeera tonight will “reveal the secret contents” of a Scottish legal review into the case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Lockerbie: Case Closed, gained access to the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission’s (SCCRC) investigations and also uncovered fresh scientific evidence which it claims is unknown to the commission and “comprehensively undermines” part of the case against Megrahi.

A total of 270 people were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.

Megrahi is the only man to have been convicted of the atrocity and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001.

He was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009 after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and returned to Libya. Doctors estimated he had three months to live, but he is still alive.

The documentary claims to disclose the “dramatic results” of new scientific tests that undermine forensic evidence used in the case.

Earlier this month campaigners fighting on behalf of Megrahi accused politicians, lawyers, civil servants and governments of an “orchestrated desire” to keep details of his case under wraps.

Members of the Justice For Megrahi group, who have called for an inquiry, said the Crown Office and civil service “will do anything” to stop disclosure.

On February 7 the campaigners gave evidence to The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee on the Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill.

The Bill aims to release SCCRC’s “statement of reasons for allowing an appeal against Megrahi’s conviction, which was abandoned before he was released.

The programme, to be broadcast at 8pm on Al Jazeera English, will feature an interview with Megrahi which was filmed in December.