US Prosecutors Allege Libyan Voluntarily Admitted to Lockerbie Attack
American prosecutors have asserted that a Libyan national man freely confessed to being involved in attacks directed at US citizens, comprising the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 incident and an failed attempt to kill a American public figure using a rigged overcoat.
Admission Information
Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is reported to have confessed his role in the murder of 270 victims when Flight 103 was exploded over the Scotland's area of the region, during interrogation in a Libya's prison in the year 2012.
Known as the suspect, the senior individual has stated that three masked individuals pressured him to provide the admission after threatening him and his relatives.
His legal representatives are attempting to block it from being employed as testimony in his court case in the US capital next year.
Legal Battle
In answer, legal counsel from the American justice department have stated they can prove in the courtroom that the confession was "voluntary, credible and truthful."
The presence of the suspect's purported statement was initially disclosed in the year 2020, when the United States declared it was charging him with constructing and activating the explosive device employed on Flight 103.
Defendant's Allegations
The family man is charged of being a ex- high-ranking officer in Libyan secret service and has been in American confinement since 2022.
He has entered not responsible to the charges and is expected to face trial at the US court for the District of Columbia in April.
His legal team are attempting to prevent the trial from learning about the admission and have presented a petition asking for it to be withheld.
They argue it was obtained under pressure following the uprising which removed the Libyan leader in 2011.
Claimed Coercion
They claim ex- officials of the ruler's government were being targeted with illegal killings, abductions and torture when the defendant was abducted from his residence by armed persons the next period.
He was transported to an unofficial holding location where fellow prisoners were allegedly assaulted and harmed and was by himself in a tiny space when three hooded individuals presented him a single document of material.
His attorneys claimed its manually written contents started with an command that he was to admit to the Lockerbie bombing and an additional terrorist incident.
Significant Terror Events
Mas'ud states he was ordered to memorise what it said about the incidents and repeat it when he was questioned by someone else the following day.
Fearing for his security and that of his children, he stated he felt he had no option but to acquiesce.
In their reply to the legal team's request, attorneys from the American justice department have stated the court was being petitioned to exclude "extremely relevant testimony" of the suspect's guilt in "two significant terrorist incidents directed at Americans."
Prosecution Rebuttals
They say the defendant's version of events is implausible and inaccurate, and contend that the contents of the confession can be verified by credible separate evidence gathered over many periods.
The government attorneys say Mas'ud and fellow previous personnel of Gaddafi's secret service were held in a hidden prison operated by a militia when they were interviewed by an seasoned Libya's law enforcement official.
They argue that in the disorder of the post-revolution time, the center was "the safest place" for Mas'ud and the additional agents, considering the conflict and opposition feeling dominant at the moment.
Questioning Details
According to the police officer who questioned Mas'ud, the facility was "efficiently operated", the detainees were not bound and there were no signs of abuse or pressure.
The investigator has claimed that over 48 hours, a confident and well suspect described his role in the explosions of Flight 103.
The federal authorities has also stated he had admitted creating a explosive which detonated in a German venue in 1986, claiming the lives of multiple individuals, including several American soldiers, and harming numerous more.
Additional Accusations
He is also alleged to have detailed his participation in an conspiracy on the safety of an unidentified US foreign minister at a public event in the Asian country.
Mas'ud is said to have explained that an individual with the US official was carrying a rigged garment.
It was the defendant's mission to trigger the bomb but he chose not to do so after discovering that the individual carrying the garment did not realize he was on a fatal assignment.
He decided "not to push the button" even though his supervisor in the intelligence service being present at the period and inquiring what was {going on|happening|occurring