The dad of a schoolgirl killed in the Lockerbie disaster 36 years ago, while flying home after school term, is still fighting for justice but fears the alleged bombmaker may never be put on trial.
Libyan Abu Agila Masud, 71, has been accused of making the bomb which killed 270 victims over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.
He was due to go on trial in Washington in May next year but it has been delayed for up to four months due to an ‘unspecified medical condition’.
Melina Hudson, 16, was on Pan Am flight 103 when it was tragically blown up by terrorists over the Scots town in 1988, killing her, 258 other passengers and 11 people on the ground. The girl was flying home for the Christmas break after spending the term at Exeter School as part of an exchange programme with her high school back home in New York, the Albany Academy for Girls.
She was the first American girl to attend Exeter School. Heartbreakingly, she had originally been scheduled to fly home on December 22, but her travel plans were changed at the last minute.
Melina’s dad Paul Hudson, who now lives in Florida, has been a leading campaigner seeking justice for his daughter and the other victims, including 190 American citizens – making it the worst terror attack against the US until 9/11.
Mr Hudson said he has learned this week of a trial delay of ‘between 90 to 120 days’ and was delivered the bombshell as he prepared to mark the 36th anniversary of the crash.
Masud was due to stand trial at a federal court in Washington next May accused of two counts of destruction of an aircraft resulting in death. He has denied all three charges.
The notification of the delay was sent by the US Department of Justice on Thursday last week leaving relatives concerned whether it will ever go ahead.
Mr Hudson said: “I only just found out he had an unspecified medical condition that requires treatment. The message from the prosecution was that it will delay everything by between 90 to 120 days that will push the trial back.
“It is odd. There was a secret hearing earlier this month and it was not disclosed to the public. I’ve only now had official notice it could be three to four months delayed as a result.
“The longer time goes by the more difficult it becomes to get justice. We will just have to see what happens now. I believe he is in his early to mid 70s so it could be for a number of things.
“I guess we will know more in the next month as these things have a way of coming out. But that’s all we’ve been told for now and it is obviously very disappointing.
“The longer the delay there is less chance we will see any form of justice.”
Libyan intelligence agent Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi was found to have played a key role in the bombing and convicted of the murder of 270 people in 2001. He was jailed for life but had terminal cancer and was eventually freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government in 2009. He died in Libya three years later while still insisting upon his innocence.
Mr Hudson has been an active campaigner for justice since the tragedy and co-founded and became the initial leader of two victim family relative organizations, the Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 and then the Families of the Pan Am 103/ Lockerbie.
He is presently a board member of the Pan Am 103/ Lockerbie Legacy Foundation and said he had spent the anniversary marking it with his close family.
He added: “Of course we always remember and do something every year. This year the family is scattered but we gathered together remotely tomorrow to commemorate it.
“I am in Utah with my wife’s family and my sons are spread around the US but with the wonder of modern electronics it is all possible. It changes in the sense that time goes by but the memories are always there. I would say it has become a tradition and one that we are now letting our grandchildren join.”
Mr Hudson said they were also facing an ongoing battle to provide remote access to the court case.
He added: “We are still looking for a final decision from the judge. The defence is against it and the judge is not in favour but there was a law passed by congress.”
Mr Hudson had hosted students from Exeter at his then home in Albany, New York, in the spring of 1988.
Having made friends, his daughter Melina decided to study alongside A-level pupils for the autumn term. Well-liked by both staff and fellow students, she was considering seeing out the remainder of the academic year at Exeter School after Christmas. But she never had the chance to decide.
Mr Hudson visited Exeter School a few years after her death with his son David and met some of Melina’s friends and teachers. They set up a bursary in her memory.
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