American Prosecuting Attorneys Claim Libyan National Freely Confessed to Lockerbie Bombing
US government attorneys have asserted that a Libyan national suspect voluntarily confessed to taking part in terrorist acts against US citizens, encompassing the 1988's Lockerbie bombing and an failed attempt to target a American government official using a booby-trapped overcoat.
Statement Information
Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is said to have acknowledged his role in the killing of 270 individuals when the aircraft was destroyed over the Scotland's town of Lockerbie, during interviewing in a Libya's prison in the year 2012.
Known as the suspect, the senior individual has stated that several disguised individuals pressured him to provide the admission after menacing him and his loved ones.
His attorneys are attempting to stop it from being employed as testimony in his legal proceedings in DC next year.
Judicial Dispute
In response, lawyers from the American justice department have said they can establish in court that the confession was "unforced, credible and correct."
The existence of the suspect's alleged confession was originally revealed in the year 2020, when the United States stated it was charging him with creating and priming the bomb used on the aircraft.
Defendant's Assertions
The father-of-six is alleged of being a ex- high-ranking officer in Libyan intelligence service and has been in American confinement since 2022.
He has entered not responsible to the accusations and is expected to stand trial at the US court for the Washington DC in April.
Mas'ud's legal team are working to stop the court from being informed about the admission and have submitted a request asking for it to be withheld.
They argue it was secured under coercion following the uprising which removed the former dictator in the early 2010s.
Alleged Coercion
They assert previous officials of the dictator's administration were being targeted with wrongful murders, kidnappings and abuse when the defendant was taken from his residence by hostile individuals the following period.
He was taken to an unofficial detention center where additional prisoners were allegedly assaulted and mistreated and was alone in a cramped cell when multiple masked men gave him a single document of material.
His legal representatives stated its handwritten information started with an order that he was to admit to the Lockerbie attack and another violent act.
Significant Terror Attacks
The suspect asserts he was ordered to memorise what it said about the incidents and recite it when he was questioned by someone else the next day.
Fearing for his security and that of his children, he stated he felt he had no choice but to obey.
In their answer to the defense's motion, lawyers from the federal prosecutors have said the judge was being requested to withhold "very relevant testimony" of the defendant's culpability in "two major terror incidents targeting US citizens."
Government Counterarguments
They say Mas'ud's story of incidents is implausible and untrue, and contend that the contents of the statement can be supported by trustworthy external evidence gathered over several decades.
The prosecutors say the defendant and additional former members of the former leader's intelligence agency were kept in a covert detention facility run by a armed group when they were interrogated by an seasoned Libya's investigator.
They argue that in the chaos of the aftermath period, the facility was "the protected place" for the defendant and the other agents, given the conflict and opposition sentiment dominant at the moment.
Questioning Information
Based to the law enforcement official who interviewed the suspect, the location was "well run", the detainees were not restrained and there were no signs of torture or coercion.
The official has stated that over two days, a confident and well Mas'ud described his role in the bombings of the aircraft.
The FBI has also claimed he had admitted creating a bomb which exploded in a West Berlin club in the mid-1980s, causing the deaths of three people, including multiple US servicemen, and injuring numerous others.
Other Allegations
He is also alleged to have recounted his involvement in an conspiracy on the lives of an unnamed American foreign minister at a official ceremony in the Asian country.
Mas'ud is reported to have explained that someone accompanying the American politician was bearing a rigged coat.
It was the suspect's task to detonate the device but he chose not to proceed after discovering that the man carrying the item did not understand he was on a deadly operation.
He decided "not to activate the device" although his commander in the intelligence service being alongside at the period and asking what was {going on|happening|occurring