A U.S. judge has rejected a bid by a Libyan man accused in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to have his case thrown out, ruling that his transfer into American custody did not violate his rights.
Abu Agila Mas'ud al-Marimi, who faces charges of destruction of an aircraft and terrorism, had argued that he was the victim of an illegal rendition. The judge cited a long-standing American legal doctrine that permits courts to hold trials even if a suspect has been forcibly abducted.
"There's nothing in the Constitution that requires a court to permit a guilty person rightfully convicted to escape justice because he was brought to trial against his will," the judge stated in her ruling. The doctrine holds that due process is satisfied when a defendant is present in court for a fair trial with constitutional safeguards.
The judge identified two exceptions to this doctrine. The first would apply if U.S. officials engaged in a "deliberate, unnecessary and unreasonable invasion" of al-Marimi's constitutional rights. However, the judge found that al-Marimi's allegations "at best suggest that US government officials exerted pressure on Libyan officials to facilitate a rendition, not that US government officials directed or controlled the challenged conduct."
The second exception would apply if the U.S. government had violated an extradition agreement that was the sole means for transferring a suspect between countries. In this case, the judge noted that the U.S. invoked two conventions to secure al-Marimi's appearance but neither convention stipulated it was the only method for transferring a national of another country for prosecution. Therefore, Libya was free to transfer al-Marimi to the United States by any method it chose.
Al-Marimi's trial is now scheduled to begin on January 19, following three postponements. In a separate ruling, the judge dismissed a defense motion to suppress a confession that al-Marimi allegedly made in 2012 while in Libyan custody. The FBI claims al-Marimi admitted to building the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103, an act carried out by Libyan intelligence. Al-Marimi maintains the confession was false and coerced.
The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, killed all 259 people on board, most of them Americans. The flight was en route from Frankfurt to New York City when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. This was the deadliest terrorist attack in British history until the July 7, 2005, London bombings.
The only prior criminal trial related to the Lockerbie bombing occurred between May 2000 and January 2001. Three Scottish judges convicted Libyan intelligence agent Abdulbasset al-Megrahi of playing a key role in the plot. He was sentenced to life in prison but was released on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died in Tripoli three years later.