Lockerbie bomber's family join vigil after 'justice walk'

THE wife and children of the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber yesterday pleaded for compassion from the people of Scotland during an unprecedented "walk for justice" in Edinburgh.

Aisha al-Megrahi and her four sons joined about 100 family members and friends of others who believe that their loved ones have been the victims of a miscarriage of justice.

After marching down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament during the "Silent Walk for Justice", the crowd held a candle-lit vigil for a variety of people, including Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Libyan whose appeal against his conviction for the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, in which 270 people died, will be heard next year.

Mrs al-Megrahi's sons, Khalid, Mohamed, Ali and Moutasim, carried placards with messages of support for their father.

And a statement was read on her behalf outside the Scottish Parliament by al-Megrahi's lawyer, Tony Kelly.

"My children and I are here today to give support to my husband, Abdelbaset, who is a victim of a miscarriage of justice and terminally ill, and also to give support to all those other victims of miscarriages of justice, " the statement read.

"We are here for the sake of all these innocent souls who are suffering in silence.

"I would like to thank all those who continue to support him, pray for him and express sympathy with him."

She also called on the people of Scotland, whom she described as "compassionate", to "consider the suffering of my husband".

She said: "He is an innocent and very ill man who is suffering every day from the psychological and physical stress. Let us pray for justice and the accomplishment of the truth."

Others taking part in the walk included the family of champion cyclist Jason MacIntyre, who was killed after being knocked from his cycle in January. His mother, Angela, 52, voiced anger that the driver of a van, Robert McTaggart, was banned for six months for careless driving. "He should have been charged with death by dangerous driving and punished accordingly," she said.

The walk was organised by the mother of Swede Annie Börjesson, whose body was washed up on the foreshore at Prestwick in December 2005, and Annie's best friend, Maria Jansson, who has led a campaign for a fatal accident inquiry into the death.

Ms Jansson insisted the march was not about individual cases and more about people who felt let down by the legal system.

"We are not here to judge each other or measure each other – we are here because we are humans," she said.

WHAT NEXT

LUKE Mitchell's mother yesterday claimed "new evidence" would see her son cleared of murdering his teenage girlfriend Jodi Jones.

Corinne Mitchell, 48, (above) is protesting her son's innocence after he was found guilty in 2005 of the murder of Jodi, 14.

Yesterday, she carried a poster of her son through Edinburgh with the message "miscarriages of justice have no voice". Mrs Mitchell maintained there was fresh evidence to launch an appeal and a new legal team had been appointed to the case.