By Eyad Khalifa
Albawaba.com - Amman
Scotland’s Higher Court of Justice will allow the lawyers of Libyan Abdulbaset Al Migrahi, who was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing last January, six more weeks to prepare their documents for an appeal.
Earlier, Magrahi’s lawyers announced their intent to appeal the verdict before the Scottish court. Such an appeal requires a clear case file, supported by a range of key documents.
The lawyers submitted their first request for an extension on March 9, and were granted a six-week extension that ended Wednesdays.
Lawyer Ibrahim Al Gwail told Albawaba.com that Tripoli had gathered all the necessary evidence to prove that Migrahi is innocent. He expressed fears that external pressures on the court that might push it away from fairness, as he claimed happened in the last stages of the first trial.
“The previous verdict issued by the court has damaged the reputation of the Scottish justice system. Tripoli has begun to rally Arab and African pressure groups in Europe, including civil society institutions, to counteract any American-British pressure on the judges,” said the lawyer.
A Scottish court in Zeist Camp, Holland, on Jan. 31 handed down a verdict of life imprisonment for Migrahi in the Lockerbie case, while proclaiming the innocence of the second defendant, Al Amin Fehaimah.
Pan Am Flight 103 blew up in mid-air over Lockerbie in the Scottish Borders on December 21, 1988, resulting in a total of 270 deaths - Albawaba.com
