Citation

Kash D. Stud. Conflict Terrorism 1994; 17(1): 23-38.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10576109408435941

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103, departing from London's Heathrow Airport, exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew were killed, as were 11 people on the ground. Almost three years later, after an investigation that took law enforcement and intelligence agents to 52 countries to conduct over 14,000 interviews, two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted in the United States for the bombing. To date, the Libyan government, which is alleged to have been involved in the bombing, has steadfastly refused to surrender the suspects to either England or the U.S. for prosecution. Without a proper trial, this case remains a classic example of how a terrorist can literally, and figuratively, get away with murder. The following article is a legal analysis discussing the legality of and justification for the ability of the U.S. and England to assert jurisdiction over the suspects. Issues such as: terrorism legislation, extradition, principles of international concurrent jurisdiction, and the political offense exception to extradition will be viewed in a legal and political perspective.

Language: en