Edinburgh, 20th February 2008.
1. A secret document, said to have been prepared by the CIA, and regarding the only fragment of the bomb ever found, is the subject of a Public Interest Immunity Certificate signed by Foreign Secretary David Miliband. It has emerged that the document has been in the hands of the Dumfries and Galloway police force since 1996. Thus the confidentiality issue has long been rendered irrelevant, yet the British Government continues to fight a rear-guard action, apparently under pressure by the CIA and American government. Why a report relating to a criminal case which occurred twenty years ago is to be kept from the British public is not only puzzling, it suggests that Britain and America are determined to cover up a major aspect of the case which would be in some way embarrassing for them, or undermine the prosecution case. Interestingly, in spite of repeated claims in the media that the CIA wrote the report, and that it relates to the only fragment of the bomb ever found, no one in the Scottish Crown Office nor Whitehall has countered or denied such claims, in spite of ample opportunity to do so.
2. Scottish Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini has agreed that the secret report should be handed to the defence team, but has been over-ridden by Whitehall. This can only be seen as a slap in the face for the Scottish Legal system, and a display of contempt for natural justice for the accused. Miliband's signature on the gagging order effectively accuses a Scottish Lord Advocate of not having the competence to judge whether the report is, indeed, dangerous for the security of the United Kingdom. Whether Miliband's decision can be subject to a judicial review is unclear, but this point may well be explored in the coming weeks.
3. The event is reminiscent of that of Majid Giaka. As the CIA's star witness in the 2000 Lockerbie trial, Giaka would prove the prosecution's case. It emerged however, at a secret meeting between the CIA and two members of the prosecution team in the basement of the American Embassy in the Hague, that a secret record existed which would destroy Giaka's credibility. The prosecution attempted to keep the document from the defence and the court, but failed. Giaka was totally discounted as a witness.
4. The Lord Advocate's Office are also trying to prevent use in a second appeal of new evidence and witnesses emerging since 2002. (See our home page).
5. The Defence have asked the High Court to agree that full access be granted to the full range of forensic evidence and reports in a second appeal. Much of this, amazingly, was kept from the defence during the 2000 trial. The Lord Advocate's Office is attempting to block such access.
6. There remain at least two issues to be resolved.
Firstly. the judges intend to meet again (subject to all being available) in March 2008 to consider the issue of defence access to the secret document.
Secondly, they will consider whether the appeal shall be confined to the matters identified by the SCCRC, or shall be allowed to include all new evidence and witnesses emerging since the first appeal. Is has been said that this particular matter will be the subject of yet a third preliminary hearing in April 2008, but matters are uncertain.
We will update this page as soon as matters become clear.
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