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Interview
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A
twelve year search for the truth
The
deeper you dig, the less plausible the official version of the
Lockerbie tragedy looks.
Robert
Black, the brains behind Camp Zeist, tells MIRIAM DUNN
what he believes will happen when the trial finishes
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The end of
the Lockerbie trial is much more likely to be the beginning of
the next stage in the case than its conclusion, according to the
man who worked to bring the case to trial at Camp Zeist.
Professor Robert Black, who has been Professor of Scots Law at
Edinburgh University for 20 years and is himself a native of Lockerbie,
is currently in Malta for the launch of journalist Joe Mifsud's
latest book on the controversial subject, entitled ‘Lockerbie,
Qabel il-Verdett' (Lockerbie, Before the Verdict), which
came out on Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the tragedy.
Will we ever lay Pan Am 103 to rest? I ask him.
Robert, who makes no attempt to hide his scepticism over the ‘official'
version of the Lockerbie tragedy, certainly doesn't believe
the mystery is anywhere near solved yet. He also questions whether
we will now ever get to the bottom of what was behind the bomb
that caused Pan Am flight 103 to explode, killing 271 people.
"Certainly I don't think the British relatives will
allow the matter to be laid to rest because they want an open-ended
inquiry into Lockerbie," the legal expert explains. "Their
sentiments are the same as mine; that up till now, the official
inquiry has always been directed to a particular conclusion which
is the Libyan connection."
Robert explains that the British relatives suspect that any material
that didn't fit in with that scenario has been swept away
and that if, as he expects, the Camp Zeist trial produces a ‘not
guilty' or ‘not proven' verdict, the Lockerbie
case will be back at square one.
"And that's what the British relatives want as an outcome
of this trial," he stresses. "It's a beginning
rather than an end. If you like, this trial had become a roadblock
that the relatives had to get out of the way before they could
hope to come anywhere near finding the truth."
But Robert admits that if a new inquiry is launched into the explosion,
he is cynical about how much evidence could now be obtained.
"After 12 years, this must be questionable," he says.
"People have died and I'm sure that files have been
shredded. I am doubtful about whether one will ever get to the
truth."
Robert first became involved in the Lockerbie case when a group
of British businessmen who were feeling the effects of the sanctions
approached him.
"They wanted to do some trade with Libya and the UN sanctions
meant that they couldn't, so they asked if anything could
be done to resolve the dispute," he says. "Britain and
America were saying there had to be a trial either in Scotland
or America and the Libyans were refusing, so I eventually came
up with the idea of a trial that would be held outside of Scotland."
Robert explains that the Libyans quickly agreed with this proposal,
which he put forward in January 1994.
"The Libyan defence team accepted it, as did the Libyan government,"
he says. "It then took another four years and seven months
before Britain and the US accepted the idea."
The legal expert admits that when, eventually, all sides agreed
to the Camp Zeist trial, he experienced a great feeling of satisfaction.
"I was happy because the proposal was accepted by all parties,
but I think the feeling of satisfaction also came about because
I had made something concrete happen," he explains. "It
is a sad fact of life that in Britain it's very rare that
professors of law make things happen in the real world, so I was
able to say gosh, I've caused something to take place!"
So has the Lockerbie trial gone as Robert expected?
"Yes, I think it has largely," he answers. "As
far as I'm concerned, there have been no surprises emerging
from the trial. In some ways, I suppose that, in itself, has been
surprising. But I had always thought that the material about what
happened to Pan Am 103 didn't point in the direction of these
two Libyans, rather, it pointed in the direction of a Palestinian
organisation, and this trial has shown that really, there is no
material which points to Libya."
Robert explains that although he was highly sceptical about the
‘official' version of the Lockerbie tragedy, he had
always been prepared to believe that there might be other material
or evidence that he didn't know about, which would emerge
at the trial.
"Some of us had always felt that the material in the public
domain didn't seem to point to Libya, so we thought other
evidence might emerge at Camp Zeist," he says. "What
we found was that the only evidence existing is the material that
we've all known about from the beginning. There have been
no surprises, no mystery witnesses and no smoking guns."
And what are Robert's views on the Malta connection?
He stresses that the Maltese connection is absolutely crucial
to the prosecution case.
"The prosecution case is completely dependant upon the Maltese
connection," he explains. "It hinges on proving that
the bomb went on board the Air Malta flight 188 to Frankfurt,
was then offloaded to a feeder flight to Heathrow and then put
on Pan Am flight 103. If the prosecution doesn't prove that
connection they can't get a conviction. And my opinion is
that they haven't proved this."
Robert's own belief is that it is unlikely the bomb began
its journey from Malta, although it may be that clothes bought
in Malta were in the suitcase that contained the bomb.
"Having said that, I'm not convinced that those clothes
were in the suitcase that contained the bomb," he stresses,
"I've never been convinced of that. But even assuming
they were, it doesn't mean that the bomb itself started from
here. Malta is a major tourist destination and anyone from anywhere
in the world could buy material in Malta."
Robert praises Joe Mifsud for the sterling work he has carried
out in investigating the Maltese connection with Lockerbie and
showing the cracks that were under the surface of the ‘official'
version of events.
"Very few journalists internationally have been prepared
to dig deep into the case, but Joe is one of those few,"
he says. "I believe that his work has helped divert what
could have been a grave miscarriage of justice."
Asked whether he expected the US to follow the United Sanctions
and lift its sanctions against Libya, Robert confesses he is not
surprised that this has not yet happened.
"It was to be expected that the US would wait until the trial
finishes before reconsidering their stand in this respect,"
he answers. "The strength of the anti-Libyan propaganda from
the US state department has been absolutely unbelievable. I think
it would have been very difficult from the point of view of American
public relations and in particular the American government's
relations with the relatives of those killed on Pan Am flight
103 for them to have relaxed their hard-line attitude towards
the Libyans. When the trial is over, they can at least say they
did their best in maintaining their hard-line position."
And will Robert's work be done when Camp Zeist concludes?
"No, I don't think my work will end with this trial,"
he says with a smile. "I've now got a very close relationship
with some of the British relatives of the Lockerbie tragedy. And
I will do anything that I can to help them."
‘Qabel il-Verdett', by Joe Mifsud, is available in bookshops,
priced Lm3.50
Photo
by Paul Blandford
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