US Prosecutors Assert Libyan Voluntarily Admitted to Lockerbie Attack
US legal authorities have stated that a Libyan national man voluntarily admitted to participating in terrorist acts directed at US citizens, comprising the 1988's Pan Am Flight 103 attack and an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate a American public figure using a explosive-laden garment.
Confession Information
Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is said to have confessed his involvement in the murder of 270 people when Pan Am 103 was brought down over the Scotland's area of Lockerbie, during questioning in a Libyan prison in the year 2012.
Known as Mas'ud, the 74-year-old has stated that three hooded persons pressured him to make the confession after menacing him and his loved ones.
His attorneys are working to stop it from being used as testimony in his trial in DC next year.
Judicial Battle
In reply, lawyers from the federal prosecutors have declared they can demonstrate in legal proceedings that the admission was "unforced, trustworthy and correct."
The presence of the suspect's alleged confession was originally revealed in the year 2020, when the United States announced it was indicting him with creating and activating the bomb employed on the aircraft.
Defendant's Claims
The defendant is accused of being a ex- official in Libya's intelligence service and has been in US detention since 2022.
He has pleaded innocent to the allegations and is expected to face trial at the District Court for the District of Columbia in spring.
Mas'ud's lawyers are attempting to block the trial from learning about the confession and have filed a motion asking for it to be suppressed.
They assert it was obtained under pressure following the overthrow which toppled the former dictator in the early 2010s.
Claimed Pressure
They say ex- officials of the dictator's government were being singled out with unlawful murders, seizures and torture when the suspect was taken from his dwelling by weapon-carrying men the next period.
He was taken to an informal holding location where additional detainees were allegedly assaulted and harmed and was alone in a cramped space when multiple disguised persons presented him a solitary document of material.
His lawyers said its manually written contents commenced with an command that he was to acknowledge to the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing and another terrorist incident.
Major Extremist Attacks
The suspect asserts he was ordered to memorise what it stated about the occurrences and recite it when he was questioned by someone else the subsequent time.
Worrying for his security and that of his offspring, he said he believed he had no choice but to comply.
In their reply to the defense's motion, attorneys from the federal prosecutors have declared the tribunal was being asked to withhold "very significant testimony" of the defendant's responsibility in "multiple major terror incidents targeting American people."
Prosecution Responses
They assert the defendant's story of incidents is implausible and false, and argue that the details of the confession can be corroborated by trustworthy independent proof assembled over several years.
The legal authorities claim the defendant and fellow ex- personnel of Gaddafi's secret service were held in a covert prison operated by a militia when they were questioned by an experienced Libyan police officer.
They contend that in the disorder of the post-uprising time, the location was "the most secure place" for the suspect and the additional personnel, accounting for the conflict and resistance sentiment dominant at the moment.
Investigation Particulars
Based to the investigator who questioned the suspect, the center was "well run", the inmates were not restrained and there were no evidence of coercion or intimidation.
The official has said that over multiple sessions, a composed and fit Mas'ud described his role in the attacks of Flight 103.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also asserted he had admitted creating a explosive which went off in a Berlin club in the mid-1980s, claiming the lives of several individuals, including multiple American servicemen, and harming dozens others.
Other Allegations
He is also alleged to have detailed his role in an conspiracy on the life of an anonymous American Secretary of State at a public event in the Asian country.
Mas'ud is reported to have described that an individual travelling the American politician was carrying a explosive-laden garment.
It was the suspect's mission to detonate the bomb but he decided not to proceed after finding out that the individual bearing the garment did not understand he was on a fatal assignment.
He chose "not to activate the device" despite his commander in the intelligence service being alongside at the time and questioning what was {going on|happening|occurring