Scotland’s Supreme Court rejected the request of the defense of Abdelbasset al-Megrahi to refer his case to the UK's Supreme Court.
The case dates back to December 21, 1988, when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie en route from London to New York, killing 270 people.
Megrahi, an intelligence officer who died in 2012, was found guilty in the case and jailed for life in 2001.
Libyan academic, Mustafa Fetouri said in a press statement that the Court of Scotland had justified its rejection, saying the agent of Megrahi’s family has no legal entitlement to file the case before the UK’s top court.
Fetouri, a loyalist of the regime of the late President Moammar al-Gaddafi, dismissed the rejection as “illogical,” indicating that Megrahi’s agent filed the case before the Scottish court of appeals.
The defense team and Scottish legal experts confirm that the defense does not need the approval of the Scottish judiciary to go to the London court, he said, adding that the case file is being prepared.
Fetouri went on to say that the defense team needed the support of Libya’s new Government of National Unity (GNU), describing it as its “biggest national test”.
He urged the GNU to end the negligence of previous cabinets, accusing former head of the Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, of obstructing the case, which he described as a national Libyan cause.
Local media quoted Amer Anwar, the lawyer of Megrahi’s family, as saying he would act according to the client’s wishes, revealing it plans on proceeding with the case so that he can be declared innocent.
Ali, Megrahi’s son, announced that he instructed the legal team to appeal directly to the UK Supreme Court, which is the final court of appeal in his father’s case.
“I regard my father, Abdelbasset al-Megrahi, as the 271st victim of Lockerbie,” he remarked.
