Al-Megrahi et al. (Lockerbie trial) fr

The Scottish court in the Netherlands was the name given to the special High Court of Justiciary set up under Scots law in a disused United States Air Force base called Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. The court was established in a neutral country, though in the sovereign territory of the United Kingdom, as part of a deal between Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and the British government in order for the extradition to take place.Country of proceedings: United Kingdom
Context of crimes:  United Kingdom, Libya
Date: 1991 - present
Keywords: Terrorism, judicial cooperation (extradition), jurisdiction

Court documents
31-01-2001 - Opinion of the Court
14-03-2002 - Court of Appeal: Opinion of the Court
28-06-2007 - SCCRC referral of Al-Megrahi case

Presentation of the case

On 31 January 2001, Al Megrahi was convicted of 270 counts of murder for his part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and sentenced to life imprisonment. After a failed first appeal in 2002, he is now waiting for the review of his judgment by a five-Judge Scottish panel.


On 21 December 1988, a bomb exploded in the Pan Am Flight 103, over the town of Lockerbie, in Scotland, killing all 259 passengers and crew, as well as eleven residents of the town of Lockerbie. Among the victims were 180 American citizens returning to the US before Christmas.

Three years after the bombing, in November 1991, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and Ali Amin Khalifa Fhimah, two men accused of being Libyan intelligence agents, were indicted by the US Attorney General and the Scottish Lord Advocate for the bombing.

Libya refused to extradite the two accused, but held them under arrest in Tripoli. It was only in April 1999, after years of negotiations and diplomatic maneuvering, that Libya surrendered the two Libyan officials.

A three-month trial in Camp Zeist in the Netherlands

It was agreed that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and Ali Amin Khalifa Fhimah would be transferred for trial in the Netherlands before a panel of Scottish judges at a former US military base known as Camp Zeist.

The trial began on 3 May 2000. Following a three-month trial conducted under Scottish law, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was found guilty on 31 January 2001. He was convicted of 270 counts of murder for his part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and sentenced to life imprisonment.  His co-accused, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah was found not guilty and released.

On 14 March 2002, Al Megrahi’s appeal was rejected. However, a team of lawyers and investigators has continued working on the case. On 28 June 2007, following the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission’s (SCCRC) finding that Megrahi “may have suffered a miscarriage of justice”, he was granted leave for a second appeal against his conviction.

Al Megrahi awaits final verdict

The appeal judgment should be delivered at the High Court of Justiciary of Scotland by a five-Judge panel in 2008 although no date has been set as yet. One of the main issues the Appeals Court will have to rule on concerns documents that were shown before the trial to the Prosecution, but were not disclosed to the Defense.

Megrahi is serving his sentence in Greenock Prison, near Glasgow, where he continues to profess his innocence.

Whether a definitive judgement will be delivered in the case before the twentieth anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing on 21 December 2008 remains to be seen.

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