Lockerbie bomber’s family launches new bid to clear his name

Scottish court to receive dossier of evidence, set to rule on possibility of posthumous appeal for Abdel Baset al-Megrahi

By AP 24 April 2017, 2:10 pm

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Police and investigators look at what remains of the flight deck of Pan Am 103 in a field in Lockerbie, Scotland, December 22, 1988. (photo credit: AP)

LONDON — The family of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi is launching a fresh effort to posthumously clear his name.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar will be handing a dossier of evidence to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission as soon as this week. The commission will decide whether to hand the case to an appeals court.

Al-Megrahi was convicted of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.

The bomb shattered the New York-bound Boeing 747, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground. Many victims were American college students flying home for Christmas.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi (photo credit: AP/File)

Al-Megrahi lost one appeal and abandoned another before being freed in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He died of cancer in 2012, still protesting his innocence.