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Lockerbie bomber's appeal begins Bomb appeal hears evidence claims
(about 3 hours later)
Five judges have begun hearing the second appeal by the Lockerbie bomber against his conviction. The legal team for the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has told judges that the evidence against him was "wholly circumstantial".
Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, who is being treated for prostate cancer, is not in court but can follow proceedings via live video link to Greenock Prison. Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, who has prostate cancer, was not in court as his second appeal got under way.
His QC, Maggie Scott told the Appeal Court in Edinburgh no reasonable jury, properly directed, could have convicted him beyond all reasonable doubt. However his QC, Maggie Scott, said he could follow proceedings via live video link to Greenock Prison.
The appeal hearing is expected to last at least four weeks. She told the Court of Appeal that it remained Megrahi's view that he had suffered a "miscarriage of justice".
A total of 270 people died when the plane exploded over Lockerbie in 1988. The second appeal is being heard by five judges in Edinburgh, headed by Scotland's senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton.
They included 11 people on the ground as wreckage from Pan Am Flight 103, which had been heading from London to New York, fell from the sky. Miss Scott said that because of his cancer Megrahi would need to take breaks due to the pain and was set to see doctors later this week for a new course of treatment.
Megrahi has already lost one appeal, which was heard in a special Scottish Court in the Netherlands a year after his conviction in January 2001. In this wholly circumstantial case the critical inferences are not the only reasonable inferences that could have been drawn from the accepted evidence Maggie Scott QC
She told the court: "The appellant's position is that there has been a miscarriage of justice.
"The trial court, on the basis of wholly circumstantial evidence, concluded beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant was involved in the commission of this crime.
"Our submission is it was wrong to do so".
She argued that the guilty verdict against Megrahi depended upon four "critical inferences" drawn at his trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
Miss Scott said these included that Megrahi was the buyer of clothing remnants of which were found in the suitcase containing the bomb and that the purchase was made on 7 December, 1988.
She said it was also inferred that the purchaser knew the purpose for which the clothing was bought and that the suitcase containing the improvised explosive device was "ingested" at Luqa airport in Malta.
The defence counsel argued that they were not sufficiently supported by accepted evidence and relied on defective reasoning.
APPEAL TIMELINE January 2001: Megrahi convictedMarch 2002: Appeal rejectedJune 2007 "Conviction unsafe"October 2008: Cancer diagnosed
She said: "In this wholly circumstantial case the critical inferences are not the only reasonable inferences that could have been drawn from the accepted evidence."
She said they were insufficient in law to support the guilty verdict returned against Megrahi.
The first part of his hearing is expected to last four weeks with further stages in the process taking it into next year.
He has already lost one appeal against his conviction for the 1988 atrocity in which 270 people died.
Since then he has been in prison in Scotland, and must remain in jail until at least 2026.Since then he has been in prison in Scotland, and must remain in jail until at least 2026.
In 2007, after a four-year investigation, a second appeal was ordered by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which said his conviction "may be unsafe". In 2007, after a four-year investigation, a second appeal was ordered by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which said Megrahi's conviction "may be unsafe".
Currently he is held in Greenock Prison, where he was diagnosed as suffering from terminal prostate cancer. He is currently held in Greenock Prison, where he was diagnosed as suffering from terminal prostate cancer.
In October 2008, appeal court judges rejected his plea to be released from jail on compassionate grounds.In October 2008, appeal court judges rejected his plea to be released from jail on compassionate grounds.
APPEAL TIMELINE January 2001: Megrahi convictedMarch 2002: Appeal rejectedJune 2007 "Conviction unsafe"October 2008: Cancer diagnosed
Megrahi's legal team argue the three judges who presided over his trial at Kamp van Zeist near Utrecht were presented with insufficient evidence to be able to find him guilty.
They will also say evidence brought forward by the Crown at the trial was rejected by the judges - even though it was crucial to cast doubt on the prosecution case.
The second appeal will be heard by five judges, headed by Scotland's senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton.
If Megrahi is unsuccessful in this stage of the appeal process, further grounds will be brought forward.
These will cast doubt on vital prosecution witnesses, in particular, a Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci, who identified Megrahi as a man who bought clothes in which the bomb was said to have been wrapped.
Defence lawyers will bring forward new evidence about the fragment of circuit board from the bomb timer, which was a crucial part of the prosecution case.
And they will also argue documents sent to the UK government by a foreign power - and seen by prosecutors - were not revealed to Megrahi's lawyers.
The foreign secretary has tried to keep the documents secret and a security-cleared special advocate has been appointed to represent Megrahi's interests in arguments about whether they should be revealed.