Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing - Lockerbie, Scotland - December 21, 1988
On December 21, 1988, a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 103. The explosion tore apart the plane’s fuselage, killing all 259 people aboard the flight as well as 11 others on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. The attack was orchestrated by agents of the Libyan government.
On January 31, 2001, Abdel Baset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi was convicted of murder of the 259 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103 by a panel of three Scottish judges. His suspected accomplice, al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted.
Al-Megrahi was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Al-Megrahi's appeal was denied on March 14, 2002, and his application to the European Court of Human Rights was declared inadmissible in July 2003.
On September 23, 2003, al-Megrahi applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) for his conviction to be reviewed, and for his case to be referred back to the High Court for a fresh appeal. On June 28, 2007, the SCCRC announced its decision to refer the case to the High Court.
Al-Megrahi is serving his sentence in Greenock Prison near Glasgow, where he continues to profess his innocence.
