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Defendants plead not guilty to Pan Am 103 bombing in first day of trial

May 3, 2000
Web posted at: 8:19 a.m. EDT (1519 GMT)

In this story: Air traffic controller first on stand High security, bulletproof glass RELATED STORIES, SITES

CAMP ZEIST, Netherlands (CNN) -- Two Libyans charged with bombing Pan Am Flight 103 entered pleas of not guilty Wednesday during the first day of trial in Camp Zeist, Netherlands.

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In a statement read by the court clerk, lawyers for Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima presented what is called a "special defense" -- blaming the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and the little-known Palestinian Popular Struggle Front for the bombing.

The defense statement named Mohammed Abu Talb, a Palestinian serving a life sentence in Sweden for earlier bombings in Denmark and the Netherlands, as one of 10 other alleged conspirators. Talb was an early suspect in the case, but investigators abandoned that line of inquiry.

Prosecutors accuse the two Libyan intelligence officers of planting plastic explosives on the plane, which exploded on December 21, 1988, over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people, including 11 on the ground.

Libya handed the men over to stand trial under Scottish law in the Netherlands after months of negotiations and years of United Nations sanctions.

The Libyans face three alternative charges -- conspiracy to murder, murder, or contravention of the 1982 Aviation Security Act. They can only be convicted of one charge and, while punishment for conspiracy is discretionary, the latter two carry mandatory life sentences.

Air traffic controller first on stand

The prosecution has listed more than 1,000 potential witnesses -- although it is not likely that all of them will be called. The defense has listed more than 100 potential witnesses, in a case so complex prosecutors have divided it into 18 "chapters".

The first portion of the trial is expected to deal with testimony about the night of the crash, and debris from the crash site. Eyewitnesses, specialists from civil aviation, and police are expected to testify.

Prosecutor Colin Boyd's first witness was Richard Ellis James Dawson, a 52-year-old air traffic controller who was on duty at London's Heathrow Airport the night the Boeing 747 came down in flames over Scotland.

The trial is expected to last at least a year. The court will hold sessions almost daily through July 28 before adjourning until August 22, officials said.

Media from more than 180 news organizations around the world -- including correspondents from Libya -- have arrived for the trial. Observers from the United Nations are also on hand.

High security, bulletproof glass

Many family members from several countries were expected to attend the early court sessions. Other relatives will watch the trial on closed-circuit television in Washington, New York, London and Dumfries, Scotland.

About a dozen relatives of the 189 American victims arrived in Amsterdam early Tuesday to attend the proceedings 65 kilometers (40 miles) away at Camp Zeist, a former U.S. Air Force base that was turned into an $18 million high-security courtroom and detention center.

The trial is being held in the Netherlands after a deal brokered by the United Nations last year. The base has been declared Scottish territory for the proceedings, which are expected to last at least a year.

Defense lawyers had successfully argued that potential jurors in Scotland would be biased by years of publicity surrounding the case.

The U.S. Justice Department paid the travel costs of the American relatives. They will be given priority seating in the courtroom's public gallery, behind bulletproof glass.

"I've got sort of a numb feeling and a good deal of anxiety over what might happen," said Daniel Cohen, whose 20-year-old daughter was one of the Americans killed in the terror attack. Cohen, of Cape May Courthouse, New Jersey, is attending the trial with his wife, Susan.

John Grant, a Scottish law professor following the case, cautioned against expecting too much from the trial. The panel of three judges must choose from among three verdicts: guilty, not guilty or not proven.

"One of the sad things is that families may not get the definitive answer some think they're going to get -- who instigated this particular bombing," Grant told Reuters. "This is not about who ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103, it's only about whether these two guys did it."

Correspondent Colleen McEdwards, producer John Fiegner,The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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