Trial monitor calls on Malta to question key Lockerbie witness

Oct 25, 2009, 16:25 GMT

Valletta, Malta - The Maltese government should launch an inquiry into the Lockerbie case and question a key Maltese witness, the UN monitor of the original trial said in an interview published Sunday in Malta.

Hans Kochler was the expert picked by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to monitor the Lockerbie trial at Camp Zeist that found Abdel Basset al-Megrahi guilty of the bombing. Kochler's report after the trial said that a 'miscarriage of justice' had occurred.

The Austrian professor told The Sunday Times of Malta the government should defend Malta's reputation and probe the Maltese shopkeeper whose testimony was central to the conviction of al- Megrahi.

The witness, Tony Gauci, had identified al-Megrahi as the man to whom he had sold the clothes in which the bomb was wrapped and which is believed to have been put on the plane which killed 270 people over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

The prosecution's argument was that the bomb left on an Air Malta flight and was eventually transferred to the Pan Am flight via Germany.

Doubts have, however, always been cast on the testimony of the Maltese shopowner.

In al-Megrahi's second appeal - which he dropped after being released from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds - he was due to present evidence showing Gauci's testimony to be replete with inconsistencies.

Documents published recently by al-Megrahi's lawyers say that after the trial Gauci was paid a sum 'in excess of 2 million dollars', while his brother Paul was paid 'in excess of 1 million dollars' for their cooperation.

'As a member of the United Nations and of the European Union, Malta must demonstrate vis-a-vis the world that it is able and willing to act in the interest of her people,' Kochler told the newspaper.

'If they are committed to the rule of law, the Maltese authorities should open their own investigation and interrogate Gauci.'

Gauci's whereabouts are unknown, though some media reports suggested he is no longer on the Mediterranean island and was now living in Australia.

Kochler also urged the government to accept a request made to support an international attempt asking the UN to conduct an inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing.

A letter in this regard has been submitted to the President of UN General Assembly signed by a number of people, including families of the victims, politicians, as well as Archbishop Desmond Tutu - well known for his defence of human rights.

Malta Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg had said the government is 'considering' the request. Borg, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, insisted recently that the bomb never left from Malta.

The letter requesting Valletta's support was sent by Robert Black, the Scottish legal expert who was the architect of the Lockerbie trial. He too has always spoken out against the original guilty verdict.