In the US, Lockerbie bombing trial schedule will take Ramadan into account — The National

Ramadan is being taken into account in planning the US trial of Libyan national Abu Agila Mohammad Masud al-Marimi, who is accused of making the bomb for the 1988 Lockerbie attack. As The National reports, the Muslim fasting month is likely to begin on February 7, 2027, and several prosecution witnesses observe it.

Testimony schedule

Washington District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich had previously set January 2027 as a target for the start of jury selection. A joint update by the parties states that if testimony begins around January 19, the prosecution will have three weeks to hear witnesses whose availability may be affected by Ramadan.

If jury selection is instead moved to January 19, 2027, testimony may not begin until January 25. In that case, about ten days would remain before the likely start of Ramadan.

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Charges and evidence

Al-Marimi is accused of making the explosive device used in the attack on Pan Am Flight 103. The blast on December 21, 1988, killed all 259 people aboard the aircraft and 11 people on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie, where debris fell. Of the 270 people killed, 190 were US citizens.

The US government charged al-Marimi in 2020 and arrested him in 2022. In 2023, he pleaded not guilty. The start of the trial was delayed due to the defendant's health problems, changes in the defense team, lengthy pretrial discussions, and the emergence of new evidence.

US prosecutors plan to call Libya history expert Alison Pargeter, author of the book Libya: The Rise and Fall of Qaddafi. The court is expected to be presented with about 150 pieces of evidence related to the disaster, as well as passports, hotel records, receipts, telegrams, baggage tags, and letters from Libya, the United Kingdom, the United States, Malta, and what was then Czechoslovakia.