DATE=5/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LOCKERBIE TRIAL (L)
NUMBER=2-261979
BYLINE=RON PEMSTEIN
DATELINE=CAMP ZEIST
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The second day of testimony at the trial of 
two Libyans accused of bombing of a Pam Am airliner in 
December 1988 was devoted to the memories of the 
people of Lockerbie, Scotland, where the plane went 
down.  Ron Pemstein reports from Camp Zeist, the 
Netherlands, where the trial is being held.


TEXT:  It was compelling testimony.  Social worker 
Jasmine Bell heard a noise of distant thunder that 
became louder and louder.  Her brother told her to get 
down.  She told the court that she thought she was 
going to be burned by the fire that was coming down.  
Everything was burning, she says.  Ms. Bell says when 
she went outside, she saw what she was told was just 
"meat on the lawn." She learned later that these were 
bodies of residents of Lockerbie, Scotland.

Eleven residents of the town died in the crash of Pan 
Am flight 103 on December 21, 1988.  On board the 
airplane, 259 died in the explosion.

Another Lockerbie witness, Stuart Kirkpatrick, was 
reading a newspaper when he heard a loud noise and saw 
a great fireball.  Mr. Kirkpatrick compared the 
experience to pictures he has seen of the atomic bomb 
explosion in Hiroshima, Japan.  The wind and heat was 
coming up towards us, he said, like a vacuum effect.

Mr. Kirkpatrick helped to rescue a neighbor and then 
saw bits of garments and other objects he later 
learned were suitcases from the airliner.

The defense lawyers for the two Libyans suspected of 
planting an explosive device aboard Pan Am 103 did not 
cross-examine the witnesses from the town of 
Lockerbie.  The defense has agreed with the 
prosecution to read out the names of the 270 victims 
of the explosion.

Law professor John Grant believes the purpose of the 
testimony is to please the victim's relatives who are 
watching the trial.

            /// Grant Act ///

      I don't think there is any real need, certainly 
      no legal need, for the prosecution to be calling 
      all day today local residents who witnessed 
      events surrounding the disaster.  Likewise, 
      tomorrow's (Friday's) evidence from the police 
      of the initial investigation is not strictly 
      legally necessary.  I think it is to do with 
      sensitivity to the family members who are 
      attending the trial.

            /// End Act ///

The prosecution has moved from the technical evidence 
of civil aviation officials on the first day to these 
more human descriptions of the fall of the airliner 
from the sky.

Lockerbie resident Roland Stephenson recalls a rolling 
ball of fire and a silver door panel shimmering down 
from the evening sky.

Professor Grant says it would be callous to move 
directly from Wednesday's dry descriptions of the 
disappearance of the airliner from radar screens to 
reading the names of the 270 victims.  He says the 
connection of the deaths with the two accused Libyan 
intelligence officers is still to come.

            /// Grant Act ///

      The prosecution has to establish that 270 lives 
      were lost.  That has been agreed.  The next 
      stage in the trial will be the establishment 
      that the deaths were the result of a criminal 
      act, an act of murder.

            /// End Act ///

The defense has suggested that radical Palestinian 
groups may have planted the explosive on the airliner 
instead of the two Libyans on trial for murder, 
conspiracy to murder and destruction of an aircraft.   
(Signed)

NEB/RP/GE/JP




04-May-2000 09:51 AM EDT (04-May-2000 1351 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.