Scots court for Lockerbie appeal
BBC 31 10 06
Judges have ruled that an appeal in the Lockerbie bomber case can be heard in Scotland rather than the Netherlands.
The High Court in Edinburgh had considered hearing the appeal where the original trial of Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi took place.
The Greenock Prison inmate has called for his 27-year sentence to be reduced while the Crown has claimed that it is too lenient.
The appeal is unlikely to be heard before February next year.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is also currently looking at the trial and its decision is expected before March 2007.
Postponement call
Defence counsel Margaret Scott, QC, argued that the date of appeal against sentence should be postponed until after the commission ruling.
However, three judges have decided that it should go ahead as soon as possible.
Former Libyan intelligence officer al-Megrahi, 54, was jailed for life for downing Pan Am flight 103 with the loss of 270 lives in 1988.
He was told he must serve at least 27 years before being considered for release.
See also
Lockerbie - Anatomy - Section S
Lockerbie retrial demand - Anatomy / National News
An orthodox account of the PANAM103 tragedy
Lockerbie re-visited - was PANAM103 shot down from the ground?
Alternative theories into the bombing of PANAM103