Lockerbie Charges Upheld
CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands — A Scottish court hearing the Lockerbie bombing case refused to dismiss charges Wednesday against one of the two Libyans accused of downing Pan Am Flight 103 and killing 270 people.
Defense attorney Richard Keen had moved Tuesday to have the case against Lamen Khalifa Fhimah dismissed, arguing that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to link his client to the 1988 bombing.
But presiding Judge Lord Sutherland ruled that the court had heard enough evidence against Fhimah to warrant a continuation of his trial.
The judge then adjourned the case until Tuesday, when defense presentations begin.
“We are unable to be satisfied that there is no case to answer and we must therefore refuse Mr. Keen’s motion,†Sutherland said.
The judge mentioned the defendant’s close relationship with co-defendant Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, referred to evidence in Fhimah’s diary and cited testimony from a Libyan CIA double agent.
If the court had granted the motion, it would have been tantamount to an acquittal under Scottish law, said legal expert Clare Connelly of Glasgow University.
Prosecutors describe Fhimah and Megrahi as Libyan intelligence agents.
The two men are on trial for murder and conspiracy to murder the 259 crew and passengers of the jetliner that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, and 11 people killed by debris on the ground Dec. 21, 1988.
The prosecution concluded its testimony last week after calling 230 witnesses since the trial opened May 3 at a former U.S. air base in the Netherlands.
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