Quoted from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/02/abdelbaset-megrahi-documents-lockerbie-witness:

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi documents claim key witness received payments | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi documents claim key Lockerbie witness received payments from US

Claim refers to concerns raised about safety of Libyan's conviction for Lockerbie bombing in 1988

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing released evidence today claiming to show that a key witness at his trial received payments from the US after giving evidence.

The claim is made in documents published online by Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in support of his attempt to clear his name of involvement in the worst terrorist attack on British soil.

It refers to concerns raised by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) about the safety of Megrahi's conviction for killing 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing on 21 December 1988.

The documents would have formed part of an appeal, which Megrahi, who is terminally ill, agreed to drop in return for his release on compassionate grounds.

The commission found police memos suggesting that Tony Gauci, the only witness to link the Libyan to the alleged plot, expressed an interest in being paid to give evidence. He also received payments from the US department of justice after the trial, the new documents claim to show.

The commission said the documents should have been disclosed to Megrahi's defence team, and that the failure to do so made Megrahi's conviction unsafe. The papers allege that Gauci was paid $2m (£1.2m) after Megrahi's conviction, and his brother Paul $1m.

In a statement Megrahi continued to protest his innocence. He said: "In releasing this information I have no desire to add to the upset of many people I know are profoundly affected by what happened in Lockerbie. My intention is only for the truth to be made known."

The new documents, published on a website set up for the purpose, constitute the convicted bomber's attempt to prove his innocence after his controversial release from Greenock prison on compassionate grounds in August. Megrahi is in the terminal stages of prostate cancer, and Scottish ministers believe he has less than three months to live.

Last month Megrahi released 298 pages of legal papers, which appeared to suggest the commission regarded Gauci's evidence as "unreasonable" .

The crucial mistake, the SCCRC said, was believing prosecution claims that Megrahi had bought clothes at Gauci's shop on 7 December 1988, allegedly later found in the suitcase used for the bomb. This evidence was "unreasonable", the SCCRC said, and was alone grounds for belief that Megrahi was wrongly convicted.

The new dossier presents what is said to be fresh and undisclosed evidence, suggesting that the clothes found in the suitcase were not purchased on 7 December 1988. It also claims there was potentially another independent witness who saw other Libyans, not Megrahi, purchasing the clothes.