'We had a measure of justice. We thought it was over.'
Helen Engelhardt of Brooklyn holds up a picture of her husband, Tony Hawkins, who was killed on Pan Am Flight 103 22 years ago. Behind her is Sen. Charles Schumer, who was on the SU campus calling for a federal criminal investigation into BP's alleged oil-for-terrorist exchange regarding the release of the bomber last year. By Rick Moriarty and Mark Weiner
Staff writers
The release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi to a hero’s welcome in Libya last year opened old wounds for the families of his victims. Now, allegations that a British oil company might have played a role in his release are making those wounds hurt even more.
Several people who lost relatives on Pan Am Flight 103 visited Syracuse University Monday to join Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in calling for a criminal probe of British oil giant BP PLC’s role in al-Megrahi’s release from prison in August.
“If we are truly fighting a war on terror, we need to make sure terrorists are held accountable,” said Linda Smith, whose sister, Suzanne Miazga, of Marcy, was among the 270 people killed when the jumbo jet was torn apart by a bomb Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence agent, was the only person convicted in the terrorist attack, whose victims included 35 SU students returning from a semester abroad.
He was released from a Scottish prison and allowed to return to Libya after a Scottish doctor said he likely would die within three months from prostate cancer. Nearly a year later, al-Megrahi is still alive. A doctor that examined him says he could live for years.
The new information, coupled with new questions about the role of BP, has Schumer and others on Capitol Hill demanding answers.
Martha Alderman Boyer (left), of Liverpool, who lost her younger sister Paula on Pan Am Flight 103, and Helen Engelhardt, of Brooklyn, who lost her husband Tony Hawkins, listen to Sen. Charles Schumer call for a federal invesigation into BP's alleged oil-for-terrorist exchange.Martha Alderman Boyer, of Marietta, whose sister Paula Bouckley and brother-in-law Glenn Bouckley, of Clay, were killed in the bombing, said the investigations can’t begin soon enough.
Boyer, who attended al-Megrahi’s trial, said she felt satisfaction at his conviction, even though she believes others likely were involved, too. When he was released, she said, she felt “disgusted.”
“That was not a pleasant time, to see him walking out of the plane to a hero’s welcome,” she said.
The latest developments in the 21-year-old bombing case have set off a firestorm of debate on both sides of the Atlantic ahead of a visit to the United States today by new British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Cameron plans to meet today with President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A Senate aide told The Post-Standard that Cameron also agreed to meet with Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., but not the other New York and New Jersey senators who have asked for a formal inquiry.
Cameron Monday called al-Megrahi’s release a mistake, adding it was “completely and utterly wrong.” But he did not call for a British investigation into BP’s role.
BP is a British company, but Schumer said it could be prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act because the law applies to any corporation that does business in the United States and gives anything of value to foreign officials to influence them in their official capacity.
Schumer said there is strong circumstantial evidence that BP persuaded the British government to release al-Megrahi to seal a lucrative oil deal with Libya.
“It’s time for a criminal investigation,” Schumer said.
Smith, 48, said the families of the Lockerbie victims found some comfort in the fact that at least one person went to prison for the terrorist attack that took the lives of their loved ones. But she said she found it “beyond comprehension” that he was released early — and then got a hero’s welcome in Libya.
“It was painful to watch that, to know this man, who murdered so many people, was arriving home to cheers,” she said.
Smith said the small measure of justice she felt when al-Megrahi was convicted was “just taken away” when he was released.
Read more:
ABC News: Lockerbie families outraged over details of prison exchange deal
Associated Press: British PM to meet with US senators about bomber
Washington Post: U.S. asks for review of Lockerbie bomber release
“I would love to see him back in jail, but I don’t think that will happen,” she added.
Schumer and several families of Pan Am Flight 103 victims were joined Monday at SU’s Wall of Remembrance by U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.
Their united call for a criminal investigation came on a day when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asked the Scottish and British governments to review the decision to release al-Megrahi.
In a letter to Schumer and the three other senators, Clinton said the U.S. was encouraging the Scottish and British authorities to review the underlying facts and circumstances leading to the release.
Clinton’s spokesman, P.J. Crowley, told reporters Monday that such a review would provide reassurance about the credibility of the decision to free the Libyan on humanitarian grounds, but he doubted it would reverse the decision.
“Everybody has an interest in making sure that this was a decision that was made freely, based on the best information available and did not represent any inappropriate or skewed actions,” Crowley said.
Separately, Schumer and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have called for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to investigate. The committee has scheduled a public hearing on the subject July 29.
Back at SU, Helen Engelhardt, of Brooklyn, whose husband, Anthony Hawkins, was killed in the bombing, held up a photo of herself and her husband, taken at their summer cottage in the Adirondacks.
“From Day One, I only wanted justice, not revenge,” she said. “And we had a measure of justice. We thought it was over.”
Al-Megrahi’s release changed that.
Engelhardt said she always thought his release was part of a “deal” between the British government and the Libyan government. Now the possibility of a U.S. investigation into the deal “is very heartening to us,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Rick Moriarty at rmoriarty@syracuse.com or 470-3148 or Mark Weiner at mweiner@syracuse.com or 571-970-3751.