ROBERT BLACK QC, a professor of law at the University of Edinburgh and a key figure in setting up the Lockerbie bombing trial, has called for the release of the only man convicted for the attack.

ROBERT BLACK QC, a professor of law at the University of Edinburgh and a key figure in setting up the Lockerbie bombing trial, has called for the release of the only man convicted for the attack.

In light of the announcement this month that Libyan citizen Abdelbaset al-Megrahi had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the law professor spoke out against government treatment of his appeal case.

Black, Professor Emeritus of Scots Law at the university, has accused prominent Scottish legal figures of deliberately obstructing attempts to overturn what he cites as “the worst miscarriage of justice perpetrated by a Scottish criminal court”.

Alongside lobbyists including former Labour MP and University of Edinburgh rector Tam Dallyell, and Dr. Jim Swire, spokesman for the UK Families Flight 103 Group, Black is pressing for the swift release of al-Megrahi, the Libyan agent convicted for the 1988 bombing in which 270 people died.

Black argues that the early release is justified due to the “stark fact that he shouldn’t have been convicted in the first place,” adding that it should also be considered for the sake of the terminally-ill Megrahi and his family.

Speaking to Student, the Professor called the delay in bringing the case to appeal “disgraceful”.

“The Scottish Government has an opportunity now to treat him with compassion and dignity,” he added.

However for many, in particular vocal relatives of the American victims of the disaster, talk of al-Megrahi’s release is unacceptable. As yet, al-Megrahi’s legal team have not made a formal request for release.

Prof. Black highlights what he sees as efforts by the crown to delay the appeals process. Last month, al-Megrahi’s legal team secured a victory to admit evidence at his new appeal, due in 2009, that was not put before the court at his previous appeal in 2002. This development followed months of legal wrangling.

It is this type of “delaying tactic” that Black believes has been employed by both the Lord Advocate and Advocate General of Scotland to delay any such appeal reaching court.

Al-Megrahi was originally tried on neutral territory in the Netherlands under Scots law in 1999, following years of concerted diplomatic effort to secure his extradition from Libya.

The Libyan regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was linked with various terrorist causes throughout the 1970s and 80s, and recently agreed to pay $1.5bn into a fund to compensate US victims of attacks, although it still refuses to take responsibility.

>>Read Professor Rober Black's argument for freeing Al-Megrahi in this week's Comment section