World

Feb. 2, 2000: Suspects Plead Innocent

February 2, 2000 / 7:00 AM EST / AP

The two Libyans accused of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 pleaded innocent Wednesday (Feb. 2, 2000)at a pretrial hearing, as both sides agreed to speed up a trial that will cap one of the most extensive international terrorism investigations on record.

Defendants Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, in custody in the Netherlands, did not enter the pleas before Scottish High Court judge Lord Ranald Sutherland in person.

Instead, the pleas were relayed by their attorneys, Bill Taylor and Richard Keen, at the close of a one-hour session called to resolve lingering differences over witness protection measures.

The move was unusual in a Scottish court of law, where pleas are generally entered several days before the start of a trial with the accused present.

Yet its acceptance by the court was an indication that all parties are eager to see the trial begin on May 3 as scheduled. The trial has faced repeated delays since the suspects, alleged Libyan intelligence agents, were surrendered for trial last April.

The trial will be held without a jury at Camp Zeist, a former U.S. military base in the Netherlands, under an unprecedented agreement between Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and the U.S. and British governments.

Al-Megrahi and Fhimah could face up to life in a Scottish prison if convicted on charges of murder, conspiracy to murder and contravention of the British Aviation Security Act. The airliner exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, killing 259 passengers and crew -- including 189 Americans -- and 11 people on the ground. Thirty-eight of the victims were from New Jersey.

In an overall spirit of consensus, Scottish Crown Solicitor-General Colin Boyd and the defense counsels said they would accept measures to conceal the identities of CIA and European secret agents who refuse to appear as public witnesses.

They said measures could be considered on a "witness-by-witness" basis and include opaque screens that would shield the witness stand from the public but keep it in full view of the court.

They also promised to agree on "non-controversial evidence," such as the number of fatalities and other established facts, before the start of the trial. Taylor said the agreement could spare the court months of testimony because "hundreds of witnesses won't have to appear."

During a hearing Dec. 8 at Camp Zeist, Taylor reported receiving a list with the names of 1,172 prosecution witnesses and 2,347 pieces of evidence collected during an 11-year inquiry into the bombing by investigators from the United States, Britain and several European countries.

"It does appear that since Zeist, there has been a lot of discussion between the crown and the defense on logistics and the actual procedure of the court," said Andrew Fulton, coordinator of the Lockerbie study unit at Glasgow University School of Law. He said the tria could be over in as little as six months.

Despite the agreements, arrangements for broadcasting trial proceedings remained unresolved.

Normally, Scottish trials are not televised live. However, a solicitor for the British Broadcasting Corp., who showed up uninvited, argued that there was a precedent in Scottish law. He was summarily kicked out by the judge, who told him to submit his case to the administrative offices.