Use of words 'terrorist' and 'terrorism' will be limited in Pan Am Lockerbie trial
Use of the word “terrorism” will be limited during the trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Masud , who is accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988. US District Judge Dabney Friedrich made the decision at the request of Mr Masud's court-appointed defence team during a pre-trial hearing on Monday. Ms Friedrich said that in addition to…
US District Judge Dabney Friedrich has decided to limit the use of the words "terrorism" and "terrorist" during the trial of Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, accused of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie. The judge made this ruling during a pre-trial hearing on Monday to prevent potential jury bias. However, the words will still be allowed in specific contexts like witness job titles and areas of expertise.
The bomb that brought down the flight killed 259 people, with 190 being US citizens. Only one person, former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, has been convicted for the bombing, which he died from in 2012. Masud, who stands accused of making the bomb, has been in custody since 2022 after being charged in 2020. His trial will begin in August, with jury selection scheduled for the same month.
Netflix recently released a mini-series about the events leading up to the incident, which has gained popularity. Prosecutors plan to introduce around 150 pieces of crash evidence during the trial, much of which has been stored in Scottish warehouses for decades.
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