Lockerbie: A Search for Truth (2025) s01e03 Episode Script
Episode 3
1
Go and have the time of your life.
Plane's gone down.
CHANNON: Who was it you lost?
JANE: Our daughter, Flora.
I have nightmares.
(SCREAMS)
Your government knew, they all knew.
The arrest of two Libyan nationals
Libya? I thought Iran did it.
(BOTH SPEAKING IN ARABIC)
This is absolutely central
to the Crown's prosecution case.
ROBERT: We are proposing the trial
be held in a neutral country.
I only want to know
who killed my daughter.
JANE: You accept the verdict,
whatever it is,
and we get you back.
I promise.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(HELICOPTER HOVERING)
NEWSCASTER:
The top stories in Scotland today.
Trial of the century opens
NEWSCASTER 2: It's being
called the trial of the century.
(SPEAKING IN FRENCH)
(SPEAKING IN ITALIAN)
finally are standing trial
REPORTER: Behind me is Camp Zeist,
a former military base
outside Utrecht,
converted at a cost of £12 million.
REPORTER 2: On a tiny patch of
Dutch soil, designated as Scotland.
REPORTER 3: There is no jury.
Instead, four Scottish Law Lords
will pass judgment
REPORTER 4:
27 American families are here,
- along with a smaller group
- This is our daughter, Theo Cohen.
She was only 20 years old
when her plane
was blown up over Lockerbie.
BERT: It's going to be difficult
to prove the case against two Libyans,
but that is not important to me.
I'll just be happy
to see them in court.
It's important that we live in
a society where the legal system
cannot be manipulated
for political ends.
My brother and the others killed
cannot demand the justice
they are due.
So we must speak for them.
The prosecution must prove
beyond all reasonable doubt
that they were responsible
for the bombing of Flight 103.
'I have every faith
that they will do so.'
(REPORTERS SHOUTING)
(HELICOPTER HOVERING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
So good to see you.
MURTAGH: Your attention
for a moment, folks.
Uh, Brian Murtagh,
US Department of Justice.
Uh, my colleague Dana is right now
handing around copies
of the prosecution witness list.
One thousand witnesses to get through.
Any questions, we're right here.
- Honour to meet you, sir.
- Pleasure.
Um, how often will
you be coming to the trial?
John and I are here representing
the UK Families Group.
We'll be here every day
until the verdict is announced.
I admire your dedication.
How long do you think
the trial will take?
It's hard to say, ma'am. Uh
Six months maybe more.
But be in no doubt,
no matter how long it takes,
these men are guilty,
and we will get a conviction.
- Excuse me.
- MAN: Ladies and gentlemen,
the court will shortly be convening.
The press gallery is to the left,
ladies and gentlemen.
(TENSE MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(DOOR OPENS) (PEOPLE MURMURING)
WOMAN: Sick!
CLERK: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi
and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah,
you are both charged
with conspiring together
to place onboard Pan Am Flight 103
a suitcase containing
an improvised explosive device.
Having tagged the suitcase
to travel unaccompanied
from Malta airport
to Frankfurt airport,
via London Heathrow to New York,
which exploded in mid-air
over Lockerbie, Scotland,
resulting in the murder
of 259 passengers and crew,
and 11 people on the ground.
My Lord, the accused plead not guilty.
The witness schedule
reads as follows. Number one
(DOG BARKING)
TAXI DRIVER: Well, enjoy your stay.
JANE: Thank you.
Alright.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Can I now take you back to the events
of the 21st of December, 1988?
ROLAND: I-I saw a wing,
the whole of the wing.
A silhouette against the skies
coming towards us.
I followed it all the way
until it, uh
disappeared behind the buildings,
and I saw the
explosion of flames rise up.
ELLEN: It was like
the world was on fire.
Uh, thick smoke, fire everywhere.
The overpowering smell of engine fuel.
The sound of screaming and, uh
objects and
people falling out of the sky.
FERRIE: We had, first of all,
to look for any passengers
that might be in need
of medical attention.
There were none.
Bodies were recovered and
body parts.
Many.
STUART: If-If you come out my house,
you go down some steps, and
just to the left of it, four
or five feet away from the steps
there was a young lady lying there.
VALERIE: There were bodies
everywhere
Men, women, children.
There was one outside my house
a baby.
There were more
on the pavement
on the golf course
in hedges.
They were unrecognizable.
The whole town
was in shock for a long time.
I know one young man
done away with himself.
It affected a lot of people
for a long time.
ELLEN: People come from
across the world to
visit the memorial,
to remember their parent or
Uh (TEARFULLY) sister
or a child.
And some of them ask to visit the place
where their loved one, um
where the body was found.
And so you find yourself
taking someone you don't know
a stranger
to show them the place.
But in a way, they're not strangers.
It's our duty
to welcome them, to say
"..We know what it feels like."
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(DISHES CLINKING)
(GRUNTS)
You alright?
Hearing all that today
what she must have gone through.
And I still don't know where she fell.
Where she was found.
I'm not sure what good it would do.
Why didn't I come
to the ice rink with you?
How cowardly was I?
Those poor people in Lockerbie.
They never asked for any of this.
Did they do it?
I watched them so closely.
Not a flicker of anything.
Yes, I think they did.
Everything points to them.
Thank you.
Give my love to Catherine and William.
Why don't you do it yourself, Jim?
Just pick up the phone.
(CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)
- Look after yourself.
- You, too.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(KEYS JINGLE)
(SIGHS)
The press centre's like a desert.
Thought I'd get closer to the action.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
He's looking mighty confident.
HAYES:
When a bomb explodes, it generates
intense heat and
sends out tiny shards
from whichever housing
it is lodged in.
That is what we were
initially searching for.
Parts of the explosive device lodged
in charred and damaged clothing
that would have been
near or around the bomb.
After several months examining debris,
I found a blast-damaged
electronic fragment
lodged inside
the charred remains of a shirt.
My Lords, the fragment
is on the evidence table
but for the purposes of clarity,
we will now show
an enlarged image of it.
Dr Hayes, you identified
this fragment as being significant.
I understood it to be significant. Yes.
But I had left RARDE
before it was identified.
I was succeeded by my colleague,
Allen Feraday
with whom I published
the final forensic report.
This fragment
seemed to be the only part
of the circuit board from the timer
which detonated the bomb
aboard Flight 103.
Were you able to identify
what kind of timer it was from?
Not initially. No.
It was a bit of a needle in a haystack.
There are thousands
of companies worldwide
which manufacture circuit boards.
But finally, a year later,
another forensic colleague
in the United States,
Thomas Thurman of the FBI,
found a match.
Can you tell the court how exactly
the circuit board was identified?
The fragment materials
and tracking pattern
were extensively compared
with circuit boards within timers,
which the FBI had recovered
a few years previously,
of a type called MST-13,
which was designed and manufactured
by a Swiss company called MEBO,
based in Zurich.
And from whom were those timers seized?
Agents of the JSO.
The Libyan Intelligence agency.
And you were entirely satisfied
they were the exact same model
of circuit board?
It was conclusively established
that the tracks
present on the fragment are of copper,
covered by a layer of pure tin.
Similar in all respects
to the sample boards
obtained from MEBO.
It was truly amazing
what the police did, Jane,
to find something so critical
among millions and millions
of pieces of debris.
- JANE: That's amazing.
- It's incredible.
That fragment of circuit board is
the first crucial link to Libya.
The prosecution will just have to prove
the fragment came from the same
batch of timers sold to Libya.
(DISTORTED)
It's all about joining the dots.
The prosecution
have to make a connection.
(MUFFLED POP MUSIC PLAYING)
(WIND HOWLING) Jim
(RUMBLING) (STAMMERING) Jim
and prove them.
Oh, yes, I see.
How are you?
Are the kids OK at uni?
Yeah. No, I'm fine.
Everyone's fine. Um
So how's Um, what's next?
Star witness number one, Edwin Bollier.
He's basically an arms dealer.
The prosecution need
to get it on record
that the timers
were supplied by his company.
BOLLIER: I am the co-owner of MEBO,
a company which manufactures and sells
electronic and electrical components.
Does that include timers such as
the MST-13 that we see here?
Yeah, that's correct. Yeah.
Did your company manufacture
and sell timers
such as these to the Libyan
Intelligence agency?
I am a legitimate businessman.
What I do is perfectly legal.
If you could just stick to answering
the question, Mr Bollier.
Yes, we supplied Libya
with 20 of these timers.
Libya are one of our best customers.
Mr Bollier, do you recognise either
of the two men sitting in dock?
I do not know the man on the right,
but the man on the left,
I know he was a partner in ABH,
which is a Libyan company
based in Zurich.
I see.
And is it true Mr Megrahi's company
was based in the same building
as your company?
Yeah. They rented office space from us.
We were on the same floor.
Mr Bollier,
did Mr Megrahi personally order
the MST-13 timers from you?
No. My dealings were
with friends of Megrahi.
But Megrahi had a
had a high position, I'm sure of it.
He was always moving, you know.
Zurich, Tripoli, Malta.
He was well-connected.
Can we bring up the timer fragment
image PT35-B again, please?
Mr Bollier?
LORD SUTHERLAND: Mr Bollier.
Could the Crown counsel
- have your full attention?
- What is this?
This is the fragment found
at the Lockerbie crash.
No, this is not the same fragment.
Mr Bollier, it was confirmed
by two forensic scientists.
- One from RARDE, one from the FBI.
- No, it looks similar,
but this is not the same fragment.
My company did not sell this,
I can assure you.
So, maybe it's a counterfeit?
How can it be a counterfeit?
It's been in police custody
since it was discovered.
May I examine
the actual physical fragment?
Hm?
(INDISTINCT WHISPERING)
There.
Well, Mr Bollier?
I am right.
This is not the same fragment
that I was shown in Scotland.
- What's he doing?
- He's trying to distance himself.
- Of course he is.
- Clearly panicking.
Probably afraid he'll get sued.
All he's bothered about
is his company's reputation
and saving his own skin.
in 1999,
as being made by your company.
Bearing in mind
that scientific tests were made,
can you confirm that
this fragment of circuit board
was part of a batch of 20 timers
bought by the Libyans?
A batch of timers you delivered
to Libyan Intelligence personally.
I remind you, you're under oath.
Yes.
You travelled to Tripoli
with them in your possession?
- Yes.
- You took them to the headquarters
- of Libyan Intelligence in Tripoli?
- Yes.
And whilst you were there,
you witnessed
trials involving some of those timers.
Correct, Mr Bollier?
Yes.
Hm. Thank you, Mr Bollier.
(SIGHS)
Big day tomorrow.
Star witness number two.
Yep.
Tony Gauci. Owns a clothes shop.
Mary's House. Sliema, Malta.
The indictment states that
the clothes wrapped around the bomb
which brought down Flight 103
were bought from his shop.
And in the collar of the shirt,
the forensics guy,
Hayes, found this.
When they interviewed him,
Gauci remembered the Libyan customer
he'd sold the clothes to.
The prosecution need Tony Gauci to link
one of the suspects to the bomb.
CAMPBELL: Mr Gauci
at the beginning of September, 1989,
did Scottish police
visit your shop in Sliema, Malta?
Yes. Detective Harry Bell
from Scotland came to see me.
And were you asked about
a particular sale of clothing
you had made in December, 1988?
Yes, I told them about a man
A customer who had bought
clothes from my shop.
And were you able to remember when
that particular sale had taken place?
Uh
It was slightly before Christmas.
It was raining.
I do not remember the exact date.
It was so long ago.
Of course, I understand.
Now, this man to whom
you sold the clothing
did you recognise his nationality?
Oh.
To me, he was a Libyan.
Are you familiar from experience in
your shop and in Malta with Libyans?
Oh. (CHUCKLES)
Many Libyan men fly to Malta
for business and for pleasure.
They are able to do things in Malta
that are forbidden in Libya.
Mr Gauci, where do you source
these shirts from?
Malta. Only Malta.
I have dealt with Slalom,
the manufacturer, for many years.
Now, Mr Gauci, I want you
to take a moment to look around
the courtroom and tell me
if you see the man
who bought the clothes from you
in December, 1988.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
He is the man on this side.
Which man are you pointing at?
Uh, not that one. The one on the left.
That is the man who resembles
the man who came to my shop.
You're certain about this?
This man here on the left
is the man you identified
for Detective Harry Bell?
Yes, I identified this man from
photographs and in identity parades.
And I remember,
it did not seem important
to him what he was buying.
He said to me,
"None of these clothes are for me."
Thank you, Mr Gauci.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Four months in,
and you haven't missed a day.
You're as good as your word, Jim.
You don't think it's odd?
The DOJ is not part of the trial,
yet they're here every single day.
They have every right.
They dropped the indictment.
There are Libyan officials here, too.
A bit too pally with
the prosecution, if you ask me.
Mr Gauci, I noticed
during the Crown's questioning,
Mr Campbell omitted to mention
exactly how many interviews
you conducted with Detective
Harry Bell and the Scottish police.
Can you remember?
Uh no, I cannot.
Eighteen interviews
- and 19 statements, Mr Gauci.
- Eighteen?
You gave 19 sworn statements.
In truth, Mr Gauci,
you've had considerable difficulty
identifying Mr Megrahi before,
haven't you?
- No, I
- In the statement I have here
you described the clothes
purchaser as, I quote
"..Around 50, and six feet tall."
Of course, Mr Megrahi is 48.
Which means that in December, 1988,
when you say
you sold him the clothes, he was
36 years old.
And here you list the items
you claim the clothes purchaser
bought from you.
Trousers, pullover, jacket, babygro
but no shirt.
No mention of a shirt,
Slalom or otherwise.
In fact, no mention of any shirt
until statement number 17.
What are we to make of that?
Did the clothes purchaser
buy a shirt from you or not?
It was a long time ago to remember.
Of course. Mr Bell was
interviewing you a whole two years
after the tragedy happened.
Anyone would have difficulty
remembering anything
after that long, would they not?
Yes, that is it. Exactly.
(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)
Thank you, my Lord.
'The man was nervous.
And clearly muddled.
MURRAY: Yet there he was,
billed as a star witness. Christ!'
Eighteen interviews, 19 statements.
Did the police just keep going back to
him until they got the story they wanted?
I don't know what the hell
the prosecution were doing.
Did they just hope the defence
wouldn't bring all that up?
It just smacks of incompetence.
Yeah. Well, I did a bit more digging
when I went back to my hotel room.
It was not only Megrahi
that Gauci identified to Detective Bell
as the man that he sold the clothes to.
So, a year and a half
before he identified Megrahi
(SCOFFS) ..Gauci mentioned
a Mr Mohammed Abu Talb,
a convicted Palestinian terrorist
and one of the Scottish police's
initial suspects for the bombing.
Now, is there an Iranian connection?
A Syrian connection?
A Palestinian connection?
Has there always been?
You need to get a picture of
Talb up there, by the way.
Look, I'm just asking
the question, Jim
because suddenly there's
a whole lot more of them.
Megrahi, he's linked to Bollier,
and the MEBO timer.
Timers are sold to Libya by MEBO.
Megrahi's probably JSO.
Megrahi was Head of Airline Security
for Libyan Arab Airlines.
Fhimah their station manager on Malta.
Megrahi travelled to Malta,
using a passport under a false name
issued to him by the Libyan government.
And then he lied about
ever having been there.
Fhimah wrote in his diary
to procure Air Malta tags
for Megrahi on December 15th.
There's still a hell of
a lot stacked against them.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
(CLOCK TICKING)
(ON VOICEMAIL)
You've reached the Swire household.
We're not home to take
your call at the moment.
Please leave a message after the beep
and we'll get back to you.
(BEEP)
'Hello, Jane, it's me.
I suppose you must be out somewhere.
We are four months
into the trial now, and
and things have
Well, things could be going better.'
(WIND HOWLING)
(WOMAN SCREAMS)
(ENGINE STARTS)
(DOG BARKING)
Mrs Walker, I'm Jane
I know who you are.
Then you'll know why I've come.
Here.
This is Beechgrove.
This is where they found Flora.
I'll let you
(MELANCHOLY MUSIC)
(SOBBING)
I love you so much. I love you so much.
I love you. I love you, Flora.
I love you so much.
(CONTINUES SOBBING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MURRAY SIGHS)
(GRUNTS)
Star witness number three.
The super grass.
My Lords, every precaution must be
taken to ensure Mr Giaka's safety.
Therefore, the recording of
his voice will be distorted,
so as to avoid recognition
and the operator of the closed
circuit television cameras
has been directed
not to film at any time
whilst he is giving evidence.
I became a CIA informant,
because I no longer wanted to work
for the Libyan Intelligence.
Because of their involvement
in terrorism.
I wanted to get out of Libya
and live a normal life.
CAMPBELL: Mr Giaka, in March 1986,
you were an employee of Libyan
Arab Airlines at Malta airport,
where you worked under
Mr Megrahi and Mr Fhimah. Yes?
Yes. Megrahi was
the head of security for LAA,
and Fhimah was the station manager.
Now, you told your CIA handler
that you wrote an intelligence
report for the JSO,
the Libyan Intelligence service,
around that time.
Yes, I did.
What was this
intelligence report about?
Well, it outlined in detail
how a person could place
an unaccompanied bag
onboard an airline flight.
That was two to three months after
the US attack on Tripoli in 1986.
Many civilians and soldiers were
killed, and the JSO were furious.
They declared that Libya
would have revenge.
And what did your report conclude?
It concluded that, yes,
it could be easily done.
To whom did you submit this report?
To the Head of Airline Security,
Abdelbaset Megrahi.
You shared an office with
Mr Fhimah at Malta airport.
- Is that correct?
- Yes. I did.
Could you tell the court
what Mr Fhimah showed you
was hidden inside
his desk in March 1986?
Ten kilos of TNT, brought to
the airport office by Mr Megrahi.
And LAA rush tags.
Could you explain to the court
what rush tags are?
Certainly. Rush tags are used to allow
baggages onto planes unaccompanied.
I see.
Now, if we could move forward to
the evening of December 20th, 1988,
the night before the crash.
I saw Megrahi with Fhimah
in the baggage arrival area
at Malta Airport.
And where did they take this suitcase?
- Towards Customs.
- And was the suitcase
- opened for inspection?
- No, it was not.
So they just walked through?
- Yes.
- Thank you, Mr Giaka.
The JSO are a merciless organization.
- Would you agree?
- Oh, yes.
Are you in fear of your life
because of them, Mr Giaka?
Yes, I am.
Little wonder then
you wanted to get out of Libya
to live a normal life elsewhere.
In fact, you wanted to live a normal
life in America, did you not?
- Yes.
- You asked the CIA several times
for money to help you emigrate.
Yes, I did.
What was their answer?
They said no.
But you were a valued informant.
Did you demand an explanation why?
Well, let me read to you what your
CIA case officer wrote about you.
It might explain
their heartless decision.
"Giaka will be advised
in no uncertain terms
on the 4th of September
that we will not provide
any additional financial
assistance to him.
We will only continue
his $1,000 per month salary
through to the end of 1989.
If Giaka is not able to demonstrate
sustained and defined access
to information of intelligence value
by January of 1990, the CIA will cease
all salary and financial support."
It seems the standard of information
that you were giving them
just was not good enough.
You had to do better,
otherwise you were a waste of money.
I'm so sorry.
Is something amusing you, Mr Giaka?
You seem to be smiling.
Is it forbidden to smile?
(SCOFFS) That is entirely up to you.
But I do notice you keep looking
to the back row
of the prosecution benches to
the two American gentlemen there.
Why is that?
There's a man sitting there
wearing spectacles. Do you know hm?
What the hell is going on?
Brian Murtagh.
So, whose evidence
have we been hearing today?
Yours or your friend's, Brian Murtagh?
Holy shit.
Why is the CIA informant
on first name terms
with the Department of Justice?
Who's pulling Giaka's strings here?
- Fucked up.
- See, I put it to you, Mr Giaka,
that all this security protection
is a charade to deceive us into
thinking that you are genuine.
Those screens around you
obscure the truth.
- My Lords, Mr Keen is going too far.
- You didn't come forward
with this evidence after Flight 103
came down, did you?
No. You came forward years later,
after your friends at the CIA told
you to give them something bigger.
TNT, rush tags,
Fhimah and Megrahi taking
a Samsonite suitcase through security.
Every single word you have said
is made up.
You are, in the CIA's own words,
a shirker and a fantasist
who is just not worth investing in.
You're a fake and a liar.
Thank you, my Lord.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
It was always going to be a risk.
A risk?
This is a court of law.
Giaka was paid for his evidence.
Let's let the judges decide.
He lied under oath.
This will be declared a mistrial.
- No, it won't.
- It damn well should be.
- What do you want from this, Jim?
- Justice.
We all want justice.
Everybody wants justice.
How are you gonna get that
without a fair trial?
I don't call murdering 270
innocent people fair. Do you?
Doesn't matter how you get a conviction
as long as you get one. Is that it?
Those two men may be
small cogs in a big machine,
but I am telling you,
they were part of this.
Because our governments
decided they were?
This trial only happens once.
We got one shot
to take down these Libyans.
Do you want to come away
from this with nothing?
REPORTER: There's no doubt that
the clothes in the suitcase
containing the bomb were bought
at this shop
called Mary's House, here in Malta.
The question is, who bought them?
Mr Gauci won't talk to reporters,
but his identification of al-Megrahi
is anything but convincing.
REPORTER 2: The prosecution case
has taken a further blow
after the eyewitness testimony
of a former intelligence agent,
who was previously employed
by Libyan Arab Airlines,
here at Malta airport.
Questions are now being asked
as to what he stands to gain
by testifying,
with claims being circulated
that he could receive up to $4 million.
The amount of the reward put up
by the American government
for evidence which leads to
a conviction of Megrahi and Fhimah.
(ON VOICEMAIL) ..at the moment.
Please leave a message after the beep
and we'll get back to you.
(BEEP)
Hello, it's me.
I'm just calling to see
how you all are.
And, um
to let you know how things are here.
(PHONE HANGS UP)
(OMINOUS WHOOSHING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOHN: First up today,
witness for the prosecution.
John Bedford,
a baggage handler from Heathrow.
The prosecution believe that Bedford
loaded the unaccompanied
suitcase from Malta
containing the bomb.
TURNBULL: Were you on duty
on the afternoon of
the 21st of December, 1988, Mr Bedford?
- Yes, sir.
- And do you remember
if any luggage arrived
that was destined for Flight 103?
Yes. Yeah, it did. But not till
later at the end of my shift.
I remember,
cos I had my tea break first.
And how long were you
away from the area?
No more than half an hour.
And then you returned to resume work?
Yeah. Yeah. And that's when I saw them.
Them? What do you mean, Mr Bedford?
There was two new suitcases
lying in the container when I
when I got back from my tea break.
I didn't put them there.
Two other suitcases?
I don't understand.
Did the prosecution
not check this out before?
Did you see who put those two
other suitcases into the container?
No. No, I didn't.
TAYLOR:
Mr Bedford, is it conceivable
that persons other than you
or your colleagues
could have put those suitcases
into that container?
Yeah. I mean,
anyone that works at the airport.
Anyone? You are saying that anyone
who was airside could have done that?
- Yeah.
- For the avoidance of doubt,
these cases appeared before
the Malta-Frankfurt flight arrived.
Yes, sir.
Can you describe these
suitcases to the court?
Yeah.
One was a brown colour.
The other one, it was darker.
They were hard-shelled suitcases,
same type that Samsonite make.
That's the same as the Malta suitcase.
Bedford said his tea break
lasted half an hour.
Which means there was no one
around that container.
No security guards.
For all that time.
How did those cases get in there?
Who put them there?
Did Bedford maybe see
the actual suitcase?
He can't have done. The Frankfurt
flight hadn't arrived yet.
Unless there was no bomb suitcase
on that Frankfurt flight.
Well, that would destroy
the whole case.
The entire basis of the trial.
After you.
JOHN: Why are the Crown bringing in
a German explosives expert?
I thought that was all done with?
So they can discredit
the defence's theory.
Palestinian terrorists.
The Crown are running scared.
They've got to shut it down.
CAMPBELL: Mr Gobel
In October 1988,
you examined some explosive devices
that had been seized in a raid
on the Palestinian terrorist
organization PFLP-GC.
- Is that correct?
- Yes, that is correct.
And it has been claimed
in various corners
that, in fact, one of those devices
may have brought down Flight 103.
Yes, this was an early theory
with the German police,
but we came to believe that Flight 103
could not have been brought down
by a PFLP-GC device.
Can you tell us why?
The PFLP-GC use air pressure
sensitive equipment.
A combination of a barometric switch
In layman's terms,
if you could, Mr Gobel.
Yeah. The PFLP-GC bombs
were made up of three components:
a switch, a timer, and a detonator.
The switch's only job
is to turn the timer on.
And what triggers this
is a fall in air pressure
as a plane gains altitude.
It takes about seven minutes
to detect this change.
The PFLP-GC at this time
were known to use ice cube timers,
so called because
they resembled ice cubes.
Yeah. Once the switch turns them on,
the timer has an approximate
run time of 30 minutes,
after which it triggers the detonator,
which then causes the Semtex
within the device to explode.
If a PFLP-GC device had been
used to destroy Flight 103,
it would have exploded between
35 and 45 minutes
into its first flight.
Flight 103 could only have been
brought down by this type of device
if it had been primed
or put on board at Heathrow.
(PEN SCRIBBLING)
The plane left Heathrow at 18:25
and it exploded at 19:03.
It did explode
38 minutes into the flight.
It must have been
put onto the plane at Heathrow.
One of Bedford's suitcases?
Why is no one challenging this?
It's too much of a coincidence.
Surely it was an ice cube timer.
T-13 would be much more
accurate, because
The plane exploded after
(INAUDIBLE)
What on earth is going on?
It must have been an ice cube timer.
What about Bedford's suitcases?
Jim, Jim, sit down.
Come on.
LORD SUTHERLAND:
Will the court please disregard
this unfortunate interruption?
- Come back.
- Please continue.
CAMPBELL: Thank you, my Lord.
You're OK.
(VACUUM WHIRRING)
(VACUUM STOPS)
(INTENSE MUSIC)
Thomas Thurman,
FBI forensic scientist
Similar in all respects.
I clearly remember Murtagh telling us
we will get a conviction.
Abu Talb now in prison in Sweden,
for a bombing attempt.
Found in the cover. Affiliated to
the PFLP-GC, who wanted revenge.
The bomb would've exploded on the first
flight. Malta, Frankfurt, Heathrow.
I keep coming back to Heathrow.
Two new suitcases.
Was it put on board
the plane at Heathrow?
What happened to meeting me
at the airport?
Jane
What's wrong?
(CHUCKLES)
Where do I start?
They didn't do it. They didn't
put that bomb on the plane.
Of course they did.
What are you talking about?
We've gone through
the whole case over and over.
We've torn it apart,
put it back together.
Worked it all out.
They've been set up.
They've been framed.
The whole case against them
is a fiction. It's a lie.
They're innocent.
Sub extracted from file & improved by
Go and have the time of your life.
Plane's gone down.
CHANNON: Who was it you lost?
JANE: Our daughter, Flora.
I have nightmares.
(SCREAMS)
Your government knew, they all knew.
The arrest of two Libyan nationals
Libya? I thought Iran did it.
(BOTH SPEAKING IN ARABIC)
This is absolutely central
to the Crown's prosecution case.
ROBERT: We are proposing the trial
be held in a neutral country.
I only want to know
who killed my daughter.
JANE: You accept the verdict,
whatever it is,
and we get you back.
I promise.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(HELICOPTER HOVERING)
NEWSCASTER:
The top stories in Scotland today.
Trial of the century opens
NEWSCASTER 2: It's being
called the trial of the century.
(SPEAKING IN FRENCH)
(SPEAKING IN ITALIAN)
finally are standing trial
REPORTER: Behind me is Camp Zeist,
a former military base
outside Utrecht,
converted at a cost of £12 million.
REPORTER 2: On a tiny patch of
Dutch soil, designated as Scotland.
REPORTER 3: There is no jury.
Instead, four Scottish Law Lords
will pass judgment
REPORTER 4:
27 American families are here,
- along with a smaller group
- This is our daughter, Theo Cohen.
She was only 20 years old
when her plane
was blown up over Lockerbie.
BERT: It's going to be difficult
to prove the case against two Libyans,
but that is not important to me.
I'll just be happy
to see them in court.
It's important that we live in
a society where the legal system
cannot be manipulated
for political ends.
My brother and the others killed
cannot demand the justice
they are due.
So we must speak for them.
The prosecution must prove
beyond all reasonable doubt
that they were responsible
for the bombing of Flight 103.
'I have every faith
that they will do so.'
(REPORTERS SHOUTING)
(HELICOPTER HOVERING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
So good to see you.
MURTAGH: Your attention
for a moment, folks.
Uh, Brian Murtagh,
US Department of Justice.
Uh, my colleague Dana is right now
handing around copies
of the prosecution witness list.
One thousand witnesses to get through.
Any questions, we're right here.
- Honour to meet you, sir.
- Pleasure.
Um, how often will
you be coming to the trial?
John and I are here representing
the UK Families Group.
We'll be here every day
until the verdict is announced.
I admire your dedication.
How long do you think
the trial will take?
It's hard to say, ma'am. Uh
Six months maybe more.
But be in no doubt,
no matter how long it takes,
these men are guilty,
and we will get a conviction.
- Excuse me.
- MAN: Ladies and gentlemen,
the court will shortly be convening.
The press gallery is to the left,
ladies and gentlemen.
(TENSE MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(DOOR OPENS) (PEOPLE MURMURING)
WOMAN: Sick!
CLERK: Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi
and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah,
you are both charged
with conspiring together
to place onboard Pan Am Flight 103
a suitcase containing
an improvised explosive device.
Having tagged the suitcase
to travel unaccompanied
from Malta airport
to Frankfurt airport,
via London Heathrow to New York,
which exploded in mid-air
over Lockerbie, Scotland,
resulting in the murder
of 259 passengers and crew,
and 11 people on the ground.
My Lord, the accused plead not guilty.
The witness schedule
reads as follows. Number one
(DOG BARKING)
TAXI DRIVER: Well, enjoy your stay.
JANE: Thank you.
Alright.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Can I now take you back to the events
of the 21st of December, 1988?
ROLAND: I-I saw a wing,
the whole of the wing.
A silhouette against the skies
coming towards us.
I followed it all the way
until it, uh
disappeared behind the buildings,
and I saw the
explosion of flames rise up.
ELLEN: It was like
the world was on fire.
Uh, thick smoke, fire everywhere.
The overpowering smell of engine fuel.
The sound of screaming and, uh
objects and
people falling out of the sky.
FERRIE: We had, first of all,
to look for any passengers
that might be in need
of medical attention.
There were none.
Bodies were recovered and
body parts.
Many.
STUART: If-If you come out my house,
you go down some steps, and
just to the left of it, four
or five feet away from the steps
there was a young lady lying there.
VALERIE: There were bodies
everywhere
Men, women, children.
There was one outside my house
a baby.
There were more
on the pavement
on the golf course
in hedges.
They were unrecognizable.
The whole town
was in shock for a long time.
I know one young man
done away with himself.
It affected a lot of people
for a long time.
ELLEN: People come from
across the world to
visit the memorial,
to remember their parent or
Uh (TEARFULLY) sister
or a child.
And some of them ask to visit the place
where their loved one, um
where the body was found.
And so you find yourself
taking someone you don't know
a stranger
to show them the place.
But in a way, they're not strangers.
It's our duty
to welcome them, to say
"..We know what it feels like."
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(DISHES CLINKING)
(GRUNTS)
You alright?
Hearing all that today
what she must have gone through.
And I still don't know where she fell.
Where she was found.
I'm not sure what good it would do.
Why didn't I come
to the ice rink with you?
How cowardly was I?
Those poor people in Lockerbie.
They never asked for any of this.
Did they do it?
I watched them so closely.
Not a flicker of anything.
Yes, I think they did.
Everything points to them.
Thank you.
Give my love to Catherine and William.
Why don't you do it yourself, Jim?
Just pick up the phone.
(CAR DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)
- Look after yourself.
- You, too.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(KEYS JINGLE)
(SIGHS)
The press centre's like a desert.
Thought I'd get closer to the action.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
He's looking mighty confident.
HAYES:
When a bomb explodes, it generates
intense heat and
sends out tiny shards
from whichever housing
it is lodged in.
That is what we were
initially searching for.
Parts of the explosive device lodged
in charred and damaged clothing
that would have been
near or around the bomb.
After several months examining debris,
I found a blast-damaged
electronic fragment
lodged inside
the charred remains of a shirt.
My Lords, the fragment
is on the evidence table
but for the purposes of clarity,
we will now show
an enlarged image of it.
Dr Hayes, you identified
this fragment as being significant.
I understood it to be significant. Yes.
But I had left RARDE
before it was identified.
I was succeeded by my colleague,
Allen Feraday
with whom I published
the final forensic report.
This fragment
seemed to be the only part
of the circuit board from the timer
which detonated the bomb
aboard Flight 103.
Were you able to identify
what kind of timer it was from?
Not initially. No.
It was a bit of a needle in a haystack.
There are thousands
of companies worldwide
which manufacture circuit boards.
But finally, a year later,
another forensic colleague
in the United States,
Thomas Thurman of the FBI,
found a match.
Can you tell the court how exactly
the circuit board was identified?
The fragment materials
and tracking pattern
were extensively compared
with circuit boards within timers,
which the FBI had recovered
a few years previously,
of a type called MST-13,
which was designed and manufactured
by a Swiss company called MEBO,
based in Zurich.
And from whom were those timers seized?
Agents of the JSO.
The Libyan Intelligence agency.
And you were entirely satisfied
they were the exact same model
of circuit board?
It was conclusively established
that the tracks
present on the fragment are of copper,
covered by a layer of pure tin.
Similar in all respects
to the sample boards
obtained from MEBO.
It was truly amazing
what the police did, Jane,
to find something so critical
among millions and millions
of pieces of debris.
- JANE: That's amazing.
- It's incredible.
That fragment of circuit board is
the first crucial link to Libya.
The prosecution will just have to prove
the fragment came from the same
batch of timers sold to Libya.
(DISTORTED)
It's all about joining the dots.
The prosecution
have to make a connection.
(MUFFLED POP MUSIC PLAYING)
(WIND HOWLING) Jim
(RUMBLING) (STAMMERING) Jim
and prove them.
Oh, yes, I see.
How are you?
Are the kids OK at uni?
Yeah. No, I'm fine.
Everyone's fine. Um
So how's Um, what's next?
Star witness number one, Edwin Bollier.
He's basically an arms dealer.
The prosecution need
to get it on record
that the timers
were supplied by his company.
BOLLIER: I am the co-owner of MEBO,
a company which manufactures and sells
electronic and electrical components.
Does that include timers such as
the MST-13 that we see here?
Yeah, that's correct. Yeah.
Did your company manufacture
and sell timers
such as these to the Libyan
Intelligence agency?
I am a legitimate businessman.
What I do is perfectly legal.
If you could just stick to answering
the question, Mr Bollier.
Yes, we supplied Libya
with 20 of these timers.
Libya are one of our best customers.
Mr Bollier, do you recognise either
of the two men sitting in dock?
I do not know the man on the right,
but the man on the left,
I know he was a partner in ABH,
which is a Libyan company
based in Zurich.
I see.
And is it true Mr Megrahi's company
was based in the same building
as your company?
Yeah. They rented office space from us.
We were on the same floor.
Mr Bollier,
did Mr Megrahi personally order
the MST-13 timers from you?
No. My dealings were
with friends of Megrahi.
But Megrahi had a
had a high position, I'm sure of it.
He was always moving, you know.
Zurich, Tripoli, Malta.
He was well-connected.
Can we bring up the timer fragment
image PT35-B again, please?
Mr Bollier?
LORD SUTHERLAND: Mr Bollier.
Could the Crown counsel
- have your full attention?
- What is this?
This is the fragment found
at the Lockerbie crash.
No, this is not the same fragment.
Mr Bollier, it was confirmed
by two forensic scientists.
- One from RARDE, one from the FBI.
- No, it looks similar,
but this is not the same fragment.
My company did not sell this,
I can assure you.
So, maybe it's a counterfeit?
How can it be a counterfeit?
It's been in police custody
since it was discovered.
May I examine
the actual physical fragment?
Hm?
(INDISTINCT WHISPERING)
There.
Well, Mr Bollier?
I am right.
This is not the same fragment
that I was shown in Scotland.
- What's he doing?
- He's trying to distance himself.
- Of course he is.
- Clearly panicking.
Probably afraid he'll get sued.
All he's bothered about
is his company's reputation
and saving his own skin.
in 1999,
as being made by your company.
Bearing in mind
that scientific tests were made,
can you confirm that
this fragment of circuit board
was part of a batch of 20 timers
bought by the Libyans?
A batch of timers you delivered
to Libyan Intelligence personally.
I remind you, you're under oath.
Yes.
You travelled to Tripoli
with them in your possession?
- Yes.
- You took them to the headquarters
- of Libyan Intelligence in Tripoli?
- Yes.
And whilst you were there,
you witnessed
trials involving some of those timers.
Correct, Mr Bollier?
Yes.
Hm. Thank you, Mr Bollier.
(SIGHS)
Big day tomorrow.
Star witness number two.
Yep.
Tony Gauci. Owns a clothes shop.
Mary's House. Sliema, Malta.
The indictment states that
the clothes wrapped around the bomb
which brought down Flight 103
were bought from his shop.
And in the collar of the shirt,
the forensics guy,
Hayes, found this.
When they interviewed him,
Gauci remembered the Libyan customer
he'd sold the clothes to.
The prosecution need Tony Gauci to link
one of the suspects to the bomb.
CAMPBELL: Mr Gauci
at the beginning of September, 1989,
did Scottish police
visit your shop in Sliema, Malta?
Yes. Detective Harry Bell
from Scotland came to see me.
And were you asked about
a particular sale of clothing
you had made in December, 1988?
Yes, I told them about a man
A customer who had bought
clothes from my shop.
And were you able to remember when
that particular sale had taken place?
Uh
It was slightly before Christmas.
It was raining.
I do not remember the exact date.
It was so long ago.
Of course, I understand.
Now, this man to whom
you sold the clothing
did you recognise his nationality?
Oh.
To me, he was a Libyan.
Are you familiar from experience in
your shop and in Malta with Libyans?
Oh. (CHUCKLES)
Many Libyan men fly to Malta
for business and for pleasure.
They are able to do things in Malta
that are forbidden in Libya.
Mr Gauci, where do you source
these shirts from?
Malta. Only Malta.
I have dealt with Slalom,
the manufacturer, for many years.
Now, Mr Gauci, I want you
to take a moment to look around
the courtroom and tell me
if you see the man
who bought the clothes from you
in December, 1988.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
He is the man on this side.
Which man are you pointing at?
Uh, not that one. The one on the left.
That is the man who resembles
the man who came to my shop.
You're certain about this?
This man here on the left
is the man you identified
for Detective Harry Bell?
Yes, I identified this man from
photographs and in identity parades.
And I remember,
it did not seem important
to him what he was buying.
He said to me,
"None of these clothes are for me."
Thank you, Mr Gauci.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Four months in,
and you haven't missed a day.
You're as good as your word, Jim.
You don't think it's odd?
The DOJ is not part of the trial,
yet they're here every single day.
They have every right.
They dropped the indictment.
There are Libyan officials here, too.
A bit too pally with
the prosecution, if you ask me.
Mr Gauci, I noticed
during the Crown's questioning,
Mr Campbell omitted to mention
exactly how many interviews
you conducted with Detective
Harry Bell and the Scottish police.
Can you remember?
Uh no, I cannot.
Eighteen interviews
- and 19 statements, Mr Gauci.
- Eighteen?
You gave 19 sworn statements.
In truth, Mr Gauci,
you've had considerable difficulty
identifying Mr Megrahi before,
haven't you?
- No, I
- In the statement I have here
you described the clothes
purchaser as, I quote
"..Around 50, and six feet tall."
Of course, Mr Megrahi is 48.
Which means that in December, 1988,
when you say
you sold him the clothes, he was
36 years old.
And here you list the items
you claim the clothes purchaser
bought from you.
Trousers, pullover, jacket, babygro
but no shirt.
No mention of a shirt,
Slalom or otherwise.
In fact, no mention of any shirt
until statement number 17.
What are we to make of that?
Did the clothes purchaser
buy a shirt from you or not?
It was a long time ago to remember.
Of course. Mr Bell was
interviewing you a whole two years
after the tragedy happened.
Anyone would have difficulty
remembering anything
after that long, would they not?
Yes, that is it. Exactly.
(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)
Thank you, my Lord.
'The man was nervous.
And clearly muddled.
MURRAY: Yet there he was,
billed as a star witness. Christ!'
Eighteen interviews, 19 statements.
Did the police just keep going back to
him until they got the story they wanted?
I don't know what the hell
the prosecution were doing.
Did they just hope the defence
wouldn't bring all that up?
It just smacks of incompetence.
Yeah. Well, I did a bit more digging
when I went back to my hotel room.
It was not only Megrahi
that Gauci identified to Detective Bell
as the man that he sold the clothes to.
So, a year and a half
before he identified Megrahi
(SCOFFS) ..Gauci mentioned
a Mr Mohammed Abu Talb,
a convicted Palestinian terrorist
and one of the Scottish police's
initial suspects for the bombing.
Now, is there an Iranian connection?
A Syrian connection?
A Palestinian connection?
Has there always been?
You need to get a picture of
Talb up there, by the way.
Look, I'm just asking
the question, Jim
because suddenly there's
a whole lot more of them.
Megrahi, he's linked to Bollier,
and the MEBO timer.
Timers are sold to Libya by MEBO.
Megrahi's probably JSO.
Megrahi was Head of Airline Security
for Libyan Arab Airlines.
Fhimah their station manager on Malta.
Megrahi travelled to Malta,
using a passport under a false name
issued to him by the Libyan government.
And then he lied about
ever having been there.
Fhimah wrote in his diary
to procure Air Malta tags
for Megrahi on December 15th.
There's still a hell of
a lot stacked against them.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
(CLOCK TICKING)
(ON VOICEMAIL)
You've reached the Swire household.
We're not home to take
your call at the moment.
Please leave a message after the beep
and we'll get back to you.
(BEEP)
'Hello, Jane, it's me.
I suppose you must be out somewhere.
We are four months
into the trial now, and
and things have
Well, things could be going better.'
(WIND HOWLING)
(WOMAN SCREAMS)
(ENGINE STARTS)
(DOG BARKING)
Mrs Walker, I'm Jane
I know who you are.
Then you'll know why I've come.
Here.
This is Beechgrove.
This is where they found Flora.
I'll let you
(MELANCHOLY MUSIC)
(SOBBING)
I love you so much. I love you so much.
I love you. I love you, Flora.
I love you so much.
(CONTINUES SOBBING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MURRAY SIGHS)
(GRUNTS)
Star witness number three.
The super grass.
My Lords, every precaution must be
taken to ensure Mr Giaka's safety.
Therefore, the recording of
his voice will be distorted,
so as to avoid recognition
and the operator of the closed
circuit television cameras
has been directed
not to film at any time
whilst he is giving evidence.
I became a CIA informant,
because I no longer wanted to work
for the Libyan Intelligence.
Because of their involvement
in terrorism.
I wanted to get out of Libya
and live a normal life.
CAMPBELL: Mr Giaka, in March 1986,
you were an employee of Libyan
Arab Airlines at Malta airport,
where you worked under
Mr Megrahi and Mr Fhimah. Yes?
Yes. Megrahi was
the head of security for LAA,
and Fhimah was the station manager.
Now, you told your CIA handler
that you wrote an intelligence
report for the JSO,
the Libyan Intelligence service,
around that time.
Yes, I did.
What was this
intelligence report about?
Well, it outlined in detail
how a person could place
an unaccompanied bag
onboard an airline flight.
That was two to three months after
the US attack on Tripoli in 1986.
Many civilians and soldiers were
killed, and the JSO were furious.
They declared that Libya
would have revenge.
And what did your report conclude?
It concluded that, yes,
it could be easily done.
To whom did you submit this report?
To the Head of Airline Security,
Abdelbaset Megrahi.
You shared an office with
Mr Fhimah at Malta airport.
- Is that correct?
- Yes. I did.
Could you tell the court
what Mr Fhimah showed you
was hidden inside
his desk in March 1986?
Ten kilos of TNT, brought to
the airport office by Mr Megrahi.
And LAA rush tags.
Could you explain to the court
what rush tags are?
Certainly. Rush tags are used to allow
baggages onto planes unaccompanied.
I see.
Now, if we could move forward to
the evening of December 20th, 1988,
the night before the crash.
I saw Megrahi with Fhimah
in the baggage arrival area
at Malta Airport.
And where did they take this suitcase?
- Towards Customs.
- And was the suitcase
- opened for inspection?
- No, it was not.
So they just walked through?
- Yes.
- Thank you, Mr Giaka.
The JSO are a merciless organization.
- Would you agree?
- Oh, yes.
Are you in fear of your life
because of them, Mr Giaka?
Yes, I am.
Little wonder then
you wanted to get out of Libya
to live a normal life elsewhere.
In fact, you wanted to live a normal
life in America, did you not?
- Yes.
- You asked the CIA several times
for money to help you emigrate.
Yes, I did.
What was their answer?
They said no.
But you were a valued informant.
Did you demand an explanation why?
Well, let me read to you what your
CIA case officer wrote about you.
It might explain
their heartless decision.
"Giaka will be advised
in no uncertain terms
on the 4th of September
that we will not provide
any additional financial
assistance to him.
We will only continue
his $1,000 per month salary
through to the end of 1989.
If Giaka is not able to demonstrate
sustained and defined access
to information of intelligence value
by January of 1990, the CIA will cease
all salary and financial support."
It seems the standard of information
that you were giving them
just was not good enough.
You had to do better,
otherwise you were a waste of money.
I'm so sorry.
Is something amusing you, Mr Giaka?
You seem to be smiling.
Is it forbidden to smile?
(SCOFFS) That is entirely up to you.
But I do notice you keep looking
to the back row
of the prosecution benches to
the two American gentlemen there.
Why is that?
There's a man sitting there
wearing spectacles. Do you know hm?
What the hell is going on?
Brian Murtagh.
So, whose evidence
have we been hearing today?
Yours or your friend's, Brian Murtagh?
Holy shit.
Why is the CIA informant
on first name terms
with the Department of Justice?
Who's pulling Giaka's strings here?
- Fucked up.
- See, I put it to you, Mr Giaka,
that all this security protection
is a charade to deceive us into
thinking that you are genuine.
Those screens around you
obscure the truth.
- My Lords, Mr Keen is going too far.
- You didn't come forward
with this evidence after Flight 103
came down, did you?
No. You came forward years later,
after your friends at the CIA told
you to give them something bigger.
TNT, rush tags,
Fhimah and Megrahi taking
a Samsonite suitcase through security.
Every single word you have said
is made up.
You are, in the CIA's own words,
a shirker and a fantasist
who is just not worth investing in.
You're a fake and a liar.
Thank you, my Lord.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
It was always going to be a risk.
A risk?
This is a court of law.
Giaka was paid for his evidence.
Let's let the judges decide.
He lied under oath.
This will be declared a mistrial.
- No, it won't.
- It damn well should be.
- What do you want from this, Jim?
- Justice.
We all want justice.
Everybody wants justice.
How are you gonna get that
without a fair trial?
I don't call murdering 270
innocent people fair. Do you?
Doesn't matter how you get a conviction
as long as you get one. Is that it?
Those two men may be
small cogs in a big machine,
but I am telling you,
they were part of this.
Because our governments
decided they were?
This trial only happens once.
We got one shot
to take down these Libyans.
Do you want to come away
from this with nothing?
REPORTER: There's no doubt that
the clothes in the suitcase
containing the bomb were bought
at this shop
called Mary's House, here in Malta.
The question is, who bought them?
Mr Gauci won't talk to reporters,
but his identification of al-Megrahi
is anything but convincing.
REPORTER 2: The prosecution case
has taken a further blow
after the eyewitness testimony
of a former intelligence agent,
who was previously employed
by Libyan Arab Airlines,
here at Malta airport.
Questions are now being asked
as to what he stands to gain
by testifying,
with claims being circulated
that he could receive up to $4 million.
The amount of the reward put up
by the American government
for evidence which leads to
a conviction of Megrahi and Fhimah.
(ON VOICEMAIL) ..at the moment.
Please leave a message after the beep
and we'll get back to you.
(BEEP)
Hello, it's me.
I'm just calling to see
how you all are.
And, um
to let you know how things are here.
(PHONE HANGS UP)
(OMINOUS WHOOSHING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOHN: First up today,
witness for the prosecution.
John Bedford,
a baggage handler from Heathrow.
The prosecution believe that Bedford
loaded the unaccompanied
suitcase from Malta
containing the bomb.
TURNBULL: Were you on duty
on the afternoon of
the 21st of December, 1988, Mr Bedford?
- Yes, sir.
- And do you remember
if any luggage arrived
that was destined for Flight 103?
Yes. Yeah, it did. But not till
later at the end of my shift.
I remember,
cos I had my tea break first.
And how long were you
away from the area?
No more than half an hour.
And then you returned to resume work?
Yeah. Yeah. And that's when I saw them.
Them? What do you mean, Mr Bedford?
There was two new suitcases
lying in the container when I
when I got back from my tea break.
I didn't put them there.
Two other suitcases?
I don't understand.
Did the prosecution
not check this out before?
Did you see who put those two
other suitcases into the container?
No. No, I didn't.
TAYLOR:
Mr Bedford, is it conceivable
that persons other than you
or your colleagues
could have put those suitcases
into that container?
Yeah. I mean,
anyone that works at the airport.
Anyone? You are saying that anyone
who was airside could have done that?
- Yeah.
- For the avoidance of doubt,
these cases appeared before
the Malta-Frankfurt flight arrived.
Yes, sir.
Can you describe these
suitcases to the court?
Yeah.
One was a brown colour.
The other one, it was darker.
They were hard-shelled suitcases,
same type that Samsonite make.
That's the same as the Malta suitcase.
Bedford said his tea break
lasted half an hour.
Which means there was no one
around that container.
No security guards.
For all that time.
How did those cases get in there?
Who put them there?
Did Bedford maybe see
the actual suitcase?
He can't have done. The Frankfurt
flight hadn't arrived yet.
Unless there was no bomb suitcase
on that Frankfurt flight.
Well, that would destroy
the whole case.
The entire basis of the trial.
After you.
JOHN: Why are the Crown bringing in
a German explosives expert?
I thought that was all done with?
So they can discredit
the defence's theory.
Palestinian terrorists.
The Crown are running scared.
They've got to shut it down.
CAMPBELL: Mr Gobel
In October 1988,
you examined some explosive devices
that had been seized in a raid
on the Palestinian terrorist
organization PFLP-GC.
- Is that correct?
- Yes, that is correct.
And it has been claimed
in various corners
that, in fact, one of those devices
may have brought down Flight 103.
Yes, this was an early theory
with the German police,
but we came to believe that Flight 103
could not have been brought down
by a PFLP-GC device.
Can you tell us why?
The PFLP-GC use air pressure
sensitive equipment.
A combination of a barometric switch
In layman's terms,
if you could, Mr Gobel.
Yeah. The PFLP-GC bombs
were made up of three components:
a switch, a timer, and a detonator.
The switch's only job
is to turn the timer on.
And what triggers this
is a fall in air pressure
as a plane gains altitude.
It takes about seven minutes
to detect this change.
The PFLP-GC at this time
were known to use ice cube timers,
so called because
they resembled ice cubes.
Yeah. Once the switch turns them on,
the timer has an approximate
run time of 30 minutes,
after which it triggers the detonator,
which then causes the Semtex
within the device to explode.
If a PFLP-GC device had been
used to destroy Flight 103,
it would have exploded between
35 and 45 minutes
into its first flight.
Flight 103 could only have been
brought down by this type of device
if it had been primed
or put on board at Heathrow.
(PEN SCRIBBLING)
The plane left Heathrow at 18:25
and it exploded at 19:03.
It did explode
38 minutes into the flight.
It must have been
put onto the plane at Heathrow.
One of Bedford's suitcases?
Why is no one challenging this?
It's too much of a coincidence.
Surely it was an ice cube timer.
T-13 would be much more
accurate, because
The plane exploded after
(INAUDIBLE)
What on earth is going on?
It must have been an ice cube timer.
What about Bedford's suitcases?
Jim, Jim, sit down.
Come on.
LORD SUTHERLAND:
Will the court please disregard
this unfortunate interruption?
- Come back.
- Please continue.
CAMPBELL: Thank you, my Lord.
You're OK.
(VACUUM WHIRRING)
(VACUUM STOPS)
(INTENSE MUSIC)
Thomas Thurman,
FBI forensic scientist
Similar in all respects.
I clearly remember Murtagh telling us
we will get a conviction.
Abu Talb now in prison in Sweden,
for a bombing attempt.
Found in the cover. Affiliated to
the PFLP-GC, who wanted revenge.
The bomb would've exploded on the first
flight. Malta, Frankfurt, Heathrow.
I keep coming back to Heathrow.
Two new suitcases.
Was it put on board
the plane at Heathrow?
What happened to meeting me
at the airport?
Jane
What's wrong?
(CHUCKLES)
Where do I start?
They didn't do it. They didn't
put that bomb on the plane.
Of course they did.
What are you talking about?
We've gone through
the whole case over and over.
We've torn it apart,
put it back together.
Worked it all out.
They've been set up.
They've been framed.
The whole case against them
is a fiction. It's a lie.
They're innocent.
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