UN Special Observer to Lockerbie Trial compares recent Megrahi appeal to intelligence operation.

As with anything involving Scots justice these days, scandals are easily pointed out being so visible and obvious even the most uninterested Scot can see a lack of justice, common sense, even perhaps .. honesty ? in the process ...

So, bearing that in mind, Dr Hans Köchler, the UN special observer in the Lockerbie trial has criticised the recent appeal of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi in the Scottish Courts, equating events to something more akin to an "intelligence operation" than a judicial process ...

Dr Köchler .. it happens so often in Scots law these days, many people have lost count !

Scotland on Sunday reports :

UN observer slams Megrahi appeal process

By Murdo MacLeod

A UNITED Nations observer has condemned UK and Scottish politicians for the "totalitarian" appeal process in the Lockerbie bombing case.

Dr Hans Köchler, the UN-appointed special observer to the Lockerbie trial, said the appeal by Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi had more in common with an "intelligence operation" than a judicial process.

Köchler, in a letter to a legal magazine, also argued that Megrahi's current appeal should be held outside Scotland, as was the original trial.

The Lockerbie disaster, on December 21, 1988, claimed the lives of 270 people, both in the aircraft and on the ground.

Megrahi was found guilty in January 2001 after a three-month trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands and lost an appeal the following year.

But a team of lawyers and investigators has continued working on the case and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred it back to the Court of Criminal Appeal.

In his letter, which was sent to the Scottish legal magazine The Firm, Köchler attacked the UK Government for refusing to hand over documents which the defence claims are vital to their case.

The documents were provided by a foreign country and potentially undermine the prosecution case that the bomb timer was only provided to Libyans. The Government has claimed the handover of the documents could potentially damage national security.

Köchler wrote: "A fair trial requires the availability of evidence to both the prosecution and defence. Only in a totalitarian system would the executive power interfere in court proceedings and order the withholding of evidence and/or replace defence lawyers by approved lawyers."

He added: "The fact that the new appeal proceedings take place in Scotland is not in conformity with the original intergovernmental agreement on the Lockerbie trial, which provided extraterritorial arrangements, with the presence of UN-appointed observers, also for the appeal.

"Under the present circumstances, there is a total lack of transparency of the proceedings. The entire procedure, with the Public Interest Immunity as core issue of the appeal, looks more like an intelligence operation than a genuine undertaking of criminal justice."

Köchler also criticised Scottish parliamentarians, civic society and the Scottish media for failing to challenge the verdict of the court.

Former MP and veteran Lockerbie campaigner Tam Dalyell backed Köchler.

Dalyell said: "Hans Köchler is a good man and he is absolutely right with his criticisms. The behaviour of the Crown in this case has been disgusting and a disgrace to Scotland. I personally feel very responsible because I was one of those, along with others, who helped persuade the Libyans to hand over one of their nationals for trial."

But former Lord Advocate Lord Peter Fraser hit back at the criticisms of Scots Law.

Fraser, who originally indicted Megrahi, said: "I think that Scots Law is the fairest and most rigorous system in Europe. There was a trial and an appeal and a second appeal – that is one indication of how fair and open a system we have."

The criminal justice authorities in Scotland declined to say anything in reply to Köchler. Spokesmen for the Scottish Government, the Crown Office and the Advocate General for Scotland – who is acting for the Government in blocking the release of key documents – all refused to comment.

Megrahi's defence team also declined to comment.

Scots Law failure gives Scotland a 'banana republic' reputation - UN observer to Lockerbie trial

Hans Köchler, the UN Observer to the Lockerbie trial, says Scotland has an international reputation lower than a 'banana republic' for it's handling of the Lockerbie case.

Given the current swathe of failures in the Scottish legal system, we would have to agree.

The Sunday Times reports :

THE SUNDAY TIMES OCTOBER 7, 2007

UN observer says Scots law is flawed
Mark Macaskill

THE United Nations observer at the Lockerbie trial, Hans Köchler, said that Scotland has the reputation of a "banana republic" because of its handling of the case.

The academic, who advises the European Commission on democracy and human rights, said Scotland does not deserve to be granted independence until it addresses the failings within its judicial system.

He was responding to reports that evidence that would have undermined the crown's case against Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the atrocity, was withheld from his defence lawyers. It has been alleged that evidence relating to a timer device was planted by investigators to implicate the Libyan as responsible for the bombing that claimed the lives of 259 people when Pan Am flight 103 was brought down in 1988.

Köchler said he believed the Crown Office regarded Megrahi as a "headache" and wanted him out of Scotland to avoid further embarrassment.

"They would prefer to have him out of the country and have the entire legal case collapse without asking any further questions." he said.

"But I think it won't be so easy because there are still some people in Scotland who are committed to the rule of law and who do not want the country to appear like a banana republic because that is what it is, for me, after I have followed [the case] over so many years.

"If they aspire to independence then they should show they can do things in the right way in the judicial domain, in devolved areas, and if they cannot do things in the right way and if they handle judicial proceedings like intelligence operations then in my view the aspirations towards independence are not very well founded."

Köchler's comments follow speculation that a US intelligence document, which disputes claims that Megrahi used a digital timer bought from a Swiss company and then planted the bomb on a flight from Malta to Germany — was shown to senior crown officials but never disclosed to Megrahi's defence team.

It is understood to be one reason why the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which spent three years considering the safety of Megrahi's conviction, decided last June to refer the case to Court of Appeal.

"My most serious concern is about the timer, because if something was indeed inserted, that would have devastating consequences for the entire judicial and political system of Scotland and of the United Kingdom " Köchler added.
Sources close to the case have claimed that evidence was fabricated to implicate Mohammed Abu Talb, a Palestinian terrorist, before the focus of the investigation switched to al-Megrahi and Libya in 1989.

Doubts have also been raised over evidence given at the trial by Tony Gauci, the Maltese shopkeeper who claimed he sold Megrahi clothing that was wrapped around the bomb. Last week, well-placed sources claimed that Gauci and his brother Paul were paid about £2.5m by the US intelligence services soon after Megrahi's

appeal collapsed in 2002. Details of the alleged payment emerged in 2005 when one of Gauci's relatives sought legal advice in an attempt to claim a share of the money.

Köchler's intervention will be a blow to the Crown Office, which is still reeling from the collapse of the World's End murder trial. In August, the trial judge Lord Clarke threw out the case against Angus Sinclair ruling there was not enough evidence for the jury to reach a verdict.

An unseemly public row ensued between Lord Hamilton, the lord justice general, and Elish Angiolini, the lord advocate, after she insisted there had been a strong enough case to put to the jury.

"The whole Lockerbie affair has not been a good advertisement for Scottish justice but there is now the opportunity to rectify what went wrong," said Professor Robert Black from Edinburgh University, who brokered Megrahi's trial at Zeist in the Netherlands.

"Provided the lessons are learned then the experience could yet prove to be a beneficial one. Köchler cast doubts over the quality of the evidence after the trial. He wasn't taken seriously at the time but all credit to him, they are now coming to the surface," said Black.

Alex Salmond, the first minister, dismissed Köchler's remarks.

"The strength of the legal system is in the processes it adopts to ensure justice is done and seen to be done. The fact that the Lockerbie conviction is going before the Court of Appeal is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength in our legal system.

A spokeswoman from the Crown Office, said: "It would be inappropriate to comment while the case is yet to come before the appeal court."