Judicial Watch, a conservative pressure group that campaigns for transparency, fights government corruption and was opposed to the early release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi last August, has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit in the US to obtain important papers relating to the decision to allow him to return to Libya.
The watchdog said it wanted to shed light on what role, if any, the US had in his release.
It made the request in September 10, 2009 and says that, by law, the FBI was required to respond by October 8. However, the group said that the FBI, while acknowledging receipt of the request, provide neither documents nor any explanation as to why they had been withheld.
Legal documents lodged with the US District Court for the District of Columbia claim the FBI “violated the FOIA by failing to produce any and all non-exempt records”.
The news comes after The Herald revealed that vital documents in Britain relating to the Lockerbie conviction may never see the light of day.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) has begun to write to hundreds of people for permission to disclose information in its dossier relating to its review of the case that resulted in the conviction of Megrahi.
However, without the agreement of key players in the case, it is unlikely that much the previously secret material will be available for public scrutiny. Many such individuals are expected to decline.
A £1.1 million investigation by the SCCRC led to a finding in June 2007 of six grounds -- some put forward by the defence, others as a result of its own investigations -- on which it believed a miscarriage of justice may have occurred. It opened the door to Megrahi’s second appeal against his conviction.
However, the Libyan, jailed for 27 years over the 1988 atrocity that killed 270 people, dropped his appeal to the High Court in Edinburgh. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill decided to release him from Greenock Prison on compassionate grounds as he was suffering from terminal cancer.
The plan to drop the appeal worried those who believe Megrahi was wrongly convicted and that there are more facts that should be made public.
The US pressure group’s action seeks “all communications with/between the FBI and the UK concerning the release of Megrahi.
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said: “Not only was the decision to release Megrahi from prison an affront to justice and an insult to the families of the victims of the Pan Am tragedy, but it also served to rally terrorists around the world.
“And given the fact that most of the people on board that flight were Americans, we deserve to know what the US Government knew about this horrible decision to release a known terrorist from prison.
“The FBI has an obligation to the American people and the victims’ families to release all relevant documents as soon as possible.
“Frankly, given its lackadaisical and ideological approach to the terrorist threat, I’m concerned the Obama administration did not do enough to prevent this terrorist’s release.”
