Lockerbie bombing suspect alleges illegal night-time abduction from Libya

Abu Agila Mohammed Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, a suspect in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, contends that a militia group stormed his Tripoli residence in December 2022, bound him, and transferred him to FBI custody while he was hooded and in poor health. He maintains that the secretive, night-time operation was illegal and has petitioned a Washington DC judge to dismiss the pending trial. The U.S. Department of Justice argues that under American law the manner of his capture does not impede the court’s jurisdiction, and that Libya could choose any method to send him to the United States.

Former Scottish Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC had earlier told the Scottish Parliament that the transfer was lawful. Al-Marimi, who was serving a Libyan sentence for actions during the 2011 uprising, was released on compassionate grounds in September 2021 before the alleged abduction. His defense warns that the rendition sets a dangerous precedent for extrajudicial kidnappings. The case, originally charged in 2020, is expected to proceed in January after a series of postponements.