Judge postpones Lockerbie bomber trial to Sept. 1 after new evidence found
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A federal judge postponed the trial of the man charged with crafting the bomb used in the Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist attack after discovering undisclosed new evidence, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin on Aug. 26 after being previously rescheduled due to “unforeseen circumstances” from both legal parties in January. The postponement means that the trial may not hear a verdict until next spring, the BBC reported.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich scheduled a Sept. 1 briefing to discuss the status of the case after the new evidence’s discovery.
The man accused, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, pleaded not guilty in 2023 after being taken into U.S. custody in 2022.
The 1988 attack targeted a flight from London to New York City over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, including 35 Syracuse University students. SU honors those killed through an annual remembrance scholarship which selects 35 students and two Lockerbie Academy residents for a week-long fellowship to honor each student killed.
In early August, a judge ruled that Mas’ud’s alleged confession while being held in a Libyan prison will be allowed as evidence in the trial, the BBC reported.
An FBI criminal complaint said he freely admitted his involvement when being questioned by a police officer in 2012. Mas’ud’s lawyers argued his confession was made under duress and should be ruled inadmissible in court.
Mas’ud’s trial comes after Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted in Scotland in 2001 and served eight years in prison for his involvement in the attack. Doubters of the case against al-Megrahi, including families of victims of the attacks, have fought to get the verdict overturned, The Times reported.
Mas’ud, who is now in his mid-7os, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
