DATE=5/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LOCKERBIE TRIAL (L)
NUMBER=2-261979
BYLINE=RON PEMSTEIN
DATELINE=CAMP ZEIST
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The second day of testimony at the trial of
two Libyans accused of bombing of a Pam Am airliner in
December 1988 was devoted to the memories of the
people of Lockerbie, Scotland, where the plane went
down. Ron Pemstein reports from Camp Zeist, the
Netherlands, where the trial is being held.
TEXT: It was compelling testimony. Social worker
Jasmine Bell heard a noise of distant thunder that
became louder and louder. Her brother told her to get
down. She told the court that she thought she was
going to be burned by the fire that was coming down.
Everything was burning, she says. Ms. Bell says when
she went outside, she saw what she was told was just
"meat on the lawn." She learned later that these were
bodies of residents of Lockerbie, Scotland.
Eleven residents of the town died in the crash of Pan
Am flight 103 on December 21, 1988. On board the
airplane, 259 died in the explosion.
Another Lockerbie witness, Stuart Kirkpatrick, was
reading a newspaper when he heard a loud noise and saw
a great fireball. Mr. Kirkpatrick compared the
experience to pictures he has seen of the atomic bomb
explosion in Hiroshima, Japan. The wind and heat was
coming up towards us, he said, like a vacuum effect.
Mr. Kirkpatrick helped to rescue a neighbor and then
saw bits of garments and other objects he later
learned were suitcases from the airliner.
The defense lawyers for the two Libyans suspected of
planting an explosive device aboard Pan Am 103 did not
cross-examine the witnesses from the town of
Lockerbie. The defense has agreed with the
prosecution to read out the names of the 270 victims
of the explosion.
Law professor John Grant believes the purpose of the
testimony is to please the victim's relatives who are
watching the trial.
/// Grant Act ///
I don't think there is any real need, certainly
no legal need, for the prosecution to be calling
all day today local residents who witnessed
events surrounding the disaster. Likewise,
tomorrow's (Friday's) evidence from the police
of the initial investigation is not strictly
legally necessary. I think it is to do with
sensitivity to the family members who are
attending the trial.
/// End Act ///
The prosecution has moved from the technical evidence
of civil aviation officials on the first day to these
more human descriptions of the fall of the airliner
from the sky.
Lockerbie resident Roland Stephenson recalls a rolling
ball of fire and a silver door panel shimmering down
from the evening sky.
Professor Grant says it would be callous to move
directly from Wednesday's dry descriptions of the
disappearance of the airliner from radar screens to
reading the names of the 270 victims. He says the
connection of the deaths with the two accused Libyan
intelligence officers is still to come.
/// Grant Act ///
The prosecution has to establish that 270 lives
were lost. That has been agreed. The next
stage in the trial will be the establishment
that the deaths were the result of a criminal
act, an act of murder.
/// End Act ///
The defense has suggested that radical Palestinian
groups may have planted the explosive on the airliner
instead of the two Libyans on trial for murder,
conspiracy to murder and destruction of an aircraft.
(Signed)
NEB/RP/GE/JP
04-May-2000 09:51 AM EDT (04-May-2000 1351 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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