Lockerbie mum’s wish for Megrahi appeal

Nov 15 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

A MOTHER whose son was killed in the Lockerbie bombings last night said she hoped a fresh appeal would reveal the truth behind her son’s death.

Terminally-ill Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was yesterday refused bail at an Appeal Court hearing in Edinburgh.

He is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years for the 1988 atrocity in which 270 people died, including Alistair Berkley, 29, of Sandhoe, near Hexham, Northumberland.

The 56-year-old Libyan is appealing against his conviction, and in September he launched a bid for freedom after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

If he were to be granted an appeal, all the evidence surrounding the attack would be reinvestigated, a move supported by Alistair’s mother, Jean.

Last night she said she was confident Megrahi would receive the right medical attention while he was in prison.

She said: “I don’t have any strong feelings about whether he should get bail or not.

“In these circumstances I’m sure he will get the same medical treatment as if he was out of prison.

“The news that he has got a fatal illness obviously just makes us want what we’ve always wanted – for the appeal to go on.”

Alistair, a law lecturer, was on board the Pan Am Flight 103, travelling from his workplace in London to New York.

The American airliner blew up in mid-air over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. Eleven people on the ground and 259 people on the plane were killed.

The Berkley family have never been totally satisfied with the conviction of Libyan intelligence agent Megrahi in Holland in early 2001.

And last night Mrs Berkley, 78, said she was still looking for the truth behind her son’s death. She said: “I am not vindictive about the whole thing – I know that some people are, but I am not.

“We feel there is a lot more that we don’t know. We’ve been hoping there would be another appeal because it’s another opportunity to find out what happened.

“I’m co-ordinator of the UK’s family group and we all think there is a great deal that we should know. Everybody knows there were more people involved than just Megrahi.”

Megrahi is currently pressing to be able leave his cell at HMP Greenock and live with his family in Scotland while receiving medical treatment.

His lawyers applied to the Appeal Court in Edinburgh for him to be released on bail last month. But prosecutors argued the gravity of the offence means he must remain in jail.