American Prosecuting Attorneys Allege Libyan National Voluntarily Admitted to Lockerbie Terrorist Incident
American legal authorities have asserted that a Libyan national individual voluntarily admitted to being involved in attacks directed at American targets, comprising the 1988's Lockerbie incident and an unsuccessful plot to target a US public figure using a rigged overcoat.
Confession Particulars
Abu Agila Mas'ud Kheir al-Marimi is said to have confessed his participation in the deaths of 270 people when Flight 103 was exploded over the Scotland's area of Lockerbie, during interviewing in a Libyan prison in the year 2012.
Identified as Mas'ud, the 74-year-old has claimed that several hooded persons compelled him to make the admission after menacing him and his relatives.
His lawyers are trying to block it from being employed as testimony in his legal proceedings in Washington in 2025.
Legal Conflict
In reply, attorneys from the federal prosecutors have declared they can establish in the courtroom that the confession was "voluntary, reliable and truthful."
The presence of the defendant's claimed confession was originally made public in 2020, when the American authorities stated it was accusing him with building and activating the explosive device used on the aircraft.
Defense Assertions
The family man is charged of being a former colonel in Libyan secret service and has been in US confinement since 2022.
He has pleaded not responsible to the charges and is due to appear in court at the District Court for the Washington DC in spring.
Mas'ud's legal team are working to prevent the trial from learning about the admission and have submitted a request asking for it to be withheld.
They contend it was secured under duress following the uprising which overthrew the former dictator in 2011.
Claimed Coercion
They assert previous personnel of the ruler's government were being targeted with unlawful murders, kidnappings and mistreatment when the defendant was abducted from his home by armed individuals the subsequent period.
He was taken to an informal prison facility where additional detainees were reportedly beaten and harmed and was alone in a tiny cell when several disguised individuals handed him a solitary document of material.
His attorneys said its manually written contents commenced with an command that he was to acknowledge to the Lockerbie bombing and another terror attack.
Major Terror Events
Mas'ud claims he was instructed to memorise what it said about the incidents and restate it when he was questioned by another person the next time.
Fearing for his safety and that of his family, he said he felt he had no choice but to obey.
In their answer to the defense's request, legal counsel from the US Department of Justice have stated the tribunal was being asked to suppress "extremely relevant testimony" of Mas'ud's guilt in "several major extremist events directed at Americans."
Prosecution Counterarguments
They say Mas'ud's version of events is unconvincing and false, and contend that the contents of the admission can be verified by credible external proof collected over numerous periods.
The government attorneys claim the suspect and additional former officials of Gaddafi's secret service were held in a hidden holding center run by a armed group when they were questioned by an seasoned Libyan investigator.
They contend that in the turmoil of the post-revolution period, the location was "the safest environment" for Mas'ud and the fellow agents, accounting for the conflict and resistance sentiment prevailing at the moment.
Interrogation Information
According to the law enforcement official who interviewed the suspect, the facility was "properly managed", the detainees were not confined and there were no signs of abuse or coercion.
The officer has claimed that over 48 hours, a confident and well Mas'ud explained his role in the attacks of Flight 103.
The federal authorities has also stated he had confessed creating a bomb which went off in a German nightclub in 1986, causing the deaths of multiple individuals, including multiple US servicemen, and injuring numerous additional.
Other Accusations
He is also alleged to have described his involvement in an attempt on the lives of an unnamed US foreign minister at a official ceremony in the Asian country.
The defendant is reported to have described that an individual travelling the American politician was bearing a booby-trapped coat.
It was Mas'ud's task to detonate the bomb but he decided not to do so after finding out that the person wearing the item did not understand he was on a fatal assignment.
He decided "not to push the trigger" even though his commander in the secret service being present at the period and inquiring what was {going on|happening|occurring