{"id":767,"date":"2013-07-01T09:57:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T09:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net\/?p=767"},"modified":"2013-07-11T08:04:57","modified_gmt":"2013-07-11T08:04:57","slug":"information-is-free-but-everywhere-it-is-in-chains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"Information is free but everywhere it is in chains"},"content":{"rendered":"<style><!--\n\/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Calibri;\n\tpanose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Cambria;\n\tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:\"Lucida Grande\";\n\tmso-font-charset:0;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-pitch:variable;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:AL%\u00ae\u203a\u02c7\u00f8\u00da\u2039;\n\tpanose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;\n\tmso-font-alt:Cambria;\n\tmso-font-charset:77;\n\tmso-generic-font-family:auto;\n\tmso-font-format:other;\n\tmso-font-pitch:auto;\n\tmso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;\n\tmso-ansi-language:EN-US;}\np.MsoAcetate, li.MsoAcetate, div.MsoAcetate\n\t{mso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-link:\"Balloon Text Char\";\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:9.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:\"Lucida Grande\";\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:\"Lucida Grande\";\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;\n\tmso-ansi-language:EN-US;}\nspan.BalloonTextChar\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Balloon Text Char\";\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-locked:yes;\n\tmso-style-link:\"Balloon Text\";\n\tmso-ansi-font-size:9.0pt;\n\tmso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Lucida Grande\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:\"Lucida Grande\";\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:\"Lucida Grande\";}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;\n\tmargin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:36.0pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:36.0pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n--><\/style>\n<p>On 18 February this year I sent the following request to the Crown Office press office, which forwarded it to the CO\u2019s freedom of information unit:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>I am writing about the Lockerbie bombing and would be grateful if the Crown Office would answer some questions about the following important items of documentary evidence.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><b><i><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">PT\/82 and PT\/88<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>These documents contain the results of tests conducted on various pieces of Lockerbie debris at the Royal Armaments Research and Development Establishment (RARDE). PT\/82 contains, inter alia, results of metallurgy tests conducted on the fragment of circuit board PT\/35b, while PT\/88 contains, inter alia, the results of similar tests conducted on a control sample circuit board, DP\/347a, which the police had obtained from the Swiss company Mebo and which was from the same manufacturing batch as those used in the Mebo timers that were supplied to Libya. The tests established that there was a very significant dissimilarity between the two items, namely, that the circuitry of PT\/35b was plated with pure tin, whereas the circuitry on DP\/347a was plated with an alloy of 70% tin and 30% lead. The documents each contain a handwritten note by RARDE scientist Allen Feraday, dated 1.8.91, which confirm the results. The pure tin plating of PT\/35b would have required an entirely different manufacturing process to that used to plate DP\/347a. Together the two documents contradict Mr Feraday\u2019s claim, which he made in his forensic report for the Crown and repeated in evidence at trial, that PT\/35b\u2019s \u2018materials and tracking pattern\u2019 were \u2018similar in all respects\u2019 to those of DP\/347a. The documents each have a Dumfries and Galloway police label dated 8 November 1999.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>Questions:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>1) Were the documents passed\u00a0by the police\u00a0to\u00a0the prosecution team prior to the trial of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Fhimah?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>2) If they were, why were they not disclosed to the defence?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>3) Who made the decision not to disclose the documents to the defence?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><b><i><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">D8624<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>This document contains, inter alia, two versions of a memorandum from Detective Inspector William Williamson to Senior Investigating Officer Stuart Henderson, the first dated 16.3.90 and the second 3.9.90. Both of these reported upon scientific tests conducted on PT\/35b as part of the investigation of its origin. Both state:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>\u2018Without exception it is the view of all experts involved in the PCB [printed circuit board] Industry who have assisted with this enquiry that the tin application on the tracks of the circuit was by far the most interesting feature. The fact that pure tin rather than a tin\/lead mixture has been used is very unusual.\u2019\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>None of the material disclosed to the defence pre-trial contained similar references to the fact that PT\/35b\u2019s pure tin plating was \u2018very unusual\u2019.\u00a0 <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>Questions:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>4) Was D8624 passed by the police to the prosecution team pre trial?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>5) If it was, why was it not disclosed to the defence?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>6) Who made the decision not to disclose it to the defence?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><b><i><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Statement S3743A by Detective Inspector Watson McAteer<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>In this statement DI McAteer reported:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>\u2018About 1000 hours on Friday, 22nd September, 1989, along with the B.K.A. Airport enquiry team and F.B.I. special agent Whittaker, I visited the V3 interline station, located within the airfield at Frankfurt Airport. During the course of this visit I observed two operators using Gate Number 206.\u00a0 These operators worked as a team with one unloading baggage from the wagon onto the conveyor belt which feeds through to his colleague who remains seated within the coding gate booth.\u00a0 The coder then examined the luggage Tags on each piece of luggage prior to keying the details into the computer system.\u00a0 After completing this task, when the wagon had been completely unloaded, the coder entered the details on a work sheet located next to the key board within the coding gate.\u00a0 When this particular operation had been completed both workers walked away from the gate leaving it completely unattended, with the computer switched on and operable.\u00a0 Within the space of one minute, I observed a V3 worker carry a single suitcase from a batch located some fifty yards from gate 206 to that particular gate.\u00a0 This worker entered gate 206 coding booth and after keying details into the computer sent the single piece of luggage into the system.\u00a0 This operation was started and completed in less than fifteen seconds with no entry being made on the work sheet which was still in situ\u00a0within the gate. Through F.B.I. agent Whittaker I questioned the F.A.G. supervisor Herr Zimmerman regarding this practice.\u00a0 Herr Zimmerman reluctantly agreed that\u00a0such a practice was not unusual.\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>At trial the defence called Mr Whittaker as a witness and questioned him about this incident. When asked if he mentioned the incident to anyone, Mr Whittaker said only that he had discussed it with DI McAteer and, within a day or two, the BKA.\u00a0\u00a0 Under cross-examination by Advocate Depute Alan Turnbull QC, he said he couldn\u2019t be certain that the baggage handler who keyed in the single item of baggage had not filled out the worksheet.\u00a0 Asked, \u2018Do I take it that you would not be close enough to see whether this particular worker made an entry in a notebook?\u2019 he replied, \u2018It would be very likely that that could have been missed, yes.\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>If the prosecution team had been in possession of S3743A, they should have been aware that: a) DI McAteer expressed no doubts that baggage handler who keyed in the single item had not recorded the transaction on the worksheet; b) according to DI McAteer, Mr Whittaker discussed the incident, not only, with the BKA, but also with a FAG supervisor; and c) according to DI McAteer, the supervisor described the practice as not unusual \u2013 a very significant admission when viewed in context.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>If the statement had been disclosed to the defence, they would have been able to challenge Mr Whittaker\u2019s evidence and make stronger submissions in respect of the possibility that the primary suitcase was ingested at Frankfurt airport.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>Questions:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>7) Was S3743A passed by the police to the prosecution team pre trial?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>8) If it was, why was it not disclosed to the defence either before, or after, Mr Whittaker testified?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>9) Who made the decision not to disclose it?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>I look forward to your response.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>Yours sincerely,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>John Ashton.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, the Crown Office should have responded within 20 working days, unless it needed to consider the public interest test, in which case it should have informed me within that 20-day limit. It failed to respond until 19 June, when it sent me <a href=\"https:\/\/www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/170613-Letter-to-John-Ashton1.pdf\">this refusal notice<\/a> from John Logue, the senior procurator fiscal for the East of Scotland, who was formerly a member of the Lockerbie prosecution team.\u00a0 The key passage reads:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>We do endeavour to provide information whenever possible. However, in this instance an exemption under section 34(1)(a) of the 2002 Act applies to all the information requested.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>The exemption covers information which has been held by a Scottish public authority for the purpose of an investigation into criminal matters whether the public body is the prosecuting authority or has an obligation to make a report to the Procurator Fiscal. In particular, it exempts information which at any time has been used for the purposes of:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>\u2022 an investigation an authority has a duty to conduct to ascertain whether a person should be prosecuted for an offence;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>\u2022 an investigation which may lead to a report to the procurator fiscal in connection with possible criminal proceedings; and<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>\u2022 criminal proceedings instituted in consequence of such a report.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>Your questions relate to the steps taken by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in relation to four documents during the preparation of the prosecution of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing and murder of 270 people. Information held in relation to the submission of evidence to the Procurator Fiscal and its consideration for disclosure is information which falls within the terms of section 34(1)(a).<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><i>As the exemption is conditional we have applied the \u2018public interest test\u2019. This means we have, in all the circumstances of this case, considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. While we recognise that there is some public interest in release because it relates to the Lockerbie bombing which remains a significant event in Scotland and to Mr Megrahi\u2019s conviction, this is outweighed by the public interest in withholding information because of the ongoing criminal investigation into the involvement of others with Mr Megrahi in the bombing and the possibility of further legal proceedings in relation to Mr Megrahi\u2019s conviction.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The <i>\u2018possibility of further legal proceedings in relation to Mr Megrahi\u2019s conviction\u2019 <\/i>is presumably a reference to the current police investigation into the complaints of alleged criminal misconduct made by the committee of Justice for Megrahi. Revealing why the documents were not disclosed, and who made the decisions, could not possibly jeopardise \u2018<i>the ongoing criminal investigation into the involvement of others\u2019<\/i>.<i> <\/i>It might well, of course, jeopardise the reputations of the Crown Office and its officers.<\/p>\n<p>I am entitled to request an internal review of the refusal, but the likelihood of one of Logue\u2019s colleagues overturning his decision is minimal. Section 47(1) of the act allows a right to appeal internal review decisions to the Scottish Information Commissioner, however, handily for the Crown Office, section 48 exempts it from that provision. In other words, the Crown Office is the final arbiter of whether or not its information should be made public. No other Scottish public authority enjoys this privilege.<\/p>\n<p>The current issue of Private Eye carries the following article on the story:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>Nearly 25 years after the Lockerbie bombing, the Scottish authorities are still sitting on material which may help uncover the truth about the worst terrorist atrocity on UK soil, killing 270 people.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>Freedom of information requests to the Crown Office, aimed at uncovering how and why the trial of Abdelbasset al-Megrahi came to be seriously misled over the key piece of forensic evidence &#8212; a tiny piece of bomb fragment recovered from the Pan Am 103 crash site &#8212; have been turned down \u201cin the public interest\u201d.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>It is now 18 months since new scientific evidence came to light which, in effect, destroyed both the prosecution case against Megrahi and any direct link to Libya itself. \u00a0Two experts, Dr Chris McArdle and Dr Jess Cawley, showed that the fragment of bomb timing device circuitboard said at the trial to match those known to have been supplied to Libya was different. The plating metal on the debris fragment was of pure tin, while on the boards in Libyan timers it was a tin\/lead mix.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>Further police and prosecution documents released under disclosure to Megrahi\u2019s lawyers, just weeks before his controversial return to Libya, showed that it was known at the time that there was no match. \u00a0Yet government scientist Allen Feraday claimed on behalf of the Crown during the trial that the materials and tracking pattern on both boards were \u201csimilar in all respects\u201d.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>The documents suggesting otherwise were never disclosed to the trial, nor to Megrahi\u2019s defence team &#8212; as they should have been. Details only emerged in the book Megrahi: You are my Jury by John Ashton, a researcher, writer and one of the Libyan\u2019s defence team. Ashton has since been trying to find out whether the material gathered by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary was kept secret by the police or passed to the Crown and prosecution team.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>Last week Ashton\u2019s hopes that FOI legislation would provide some answers were dashed when the Crown Office cited an exemption under section 34 of the 2002 Act, protecting evidence gathered as part of a criminal investigation. It said the public interest in releasing the material was \u201coutweighed by the public interest in withholding information because of the ongoing criminal investigation into the involvement of others with Mr Megrahi in the bombing and the possibility of further legal proceedings in relation to Mr Megrahi\u2019s conviction\u201d.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>The hope is that the Scottish authorities are taking seriously allegations of misconduct levelled against some of those involved in the investigation and prosecution. \u00a0The allegations come in a report by the Justice for Megrahi campaign group that has been handed to Dumfries and Galloway police.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><em>The Scottish justice committee at Holyrood earlier this month asked ministers what resources had been committed to investigating the campaign\u2019s allegations. \u00a0The justice committee fell short of demanding a public inquiry into the conviction, but it did ask ministers to report back on their powers to appoint an independent investigator. \u00a0Watch this space.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #666699;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 18 February this year I sent the following request to the Crown Office press office, which forwarded it to the CO\u2019s freedom of information unit: I am writing about the Lockerbie bombing and would be grateful if the Crown &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net\/?p=767\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,8,7,11,14,5,6,12,9,13,10],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crown-office","tag-feraday","tag-freedom-of-information","tag-henderson","tag-john-logue","tag-lockerbie","tag-megrahi","tag-pt35b","tag-rarde","tag-watson-mcateer","tag-williamson"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Information is free but everywhere it is in chains - Megrahi: You are my Jury<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.megrahiyouaremyjury.net\/?p=767\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Information is free but everywhere it is in chains - Megrahi: You are my Jury\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On 18 February this year I sent the following request to the Crown Office press office, which forwarded it to the CO\u2019s freedom of information unit: I am writing about the Lockerbie bombing and would be grateful if the Crown &hellip; 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