Lockerbie prosecutor asks for murder convictions
The case against two Libyans accused of carrying out the Lockerbie bombing has been proved "beyond reasonable doubt", claims prosecutor Alastair Campbell QC.
Mr Campbell, starting his final legal argument on the 78th day of the hearing at Camp Zeist in Holland, asked the three trial judges to convict Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, 48, and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, 44, of murder.
Both men, who deny carrying out the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to murder, murder, and a breach of the 1982 Aviation Security Act.
The jumbo jet exploded over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, killing a total of 270 people.
Mr Campbell told the court: "I fully accept that the burden of proof lies on the Crown, and in my submission the Crown has discharged that onus.
"Your Lordships will require to be satisfied of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Mathematical certainty is neither necessary nor achievable. In my submission the Crown has proved the case against each accused beyond reasonable doubt."
Mr Campbell told the judges that a "reasonable doubt" had to be a doubt "based on reason and not on fanciful or speculative doubt".
He went on: "This is a circumstantial case: the evidence comes from a number of sources which, when taken together, provided a corroborated case both as to the commission of the crime and the identity of the perpetrators.
"I invite you to convict of murder."
Mr Campbell is expected to continue with his submission for the rest of the day.
