PUTNEY DEBATER
A personal blog
Lockerbie on film
The Times reports today that the withdrawal of his appeal by the supposed Lockerbie bomber, Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his expected repatriation on compassionate grounds (he is terminally ill), looks like part of a deal, indeed a cover-up, designed to avoid the courts having to reconsider the evidence.
Christine Grahame, a member of the Scottish Parliament, said: “There are a number of vested interests who have been deeply opposed to this appeal because they know it would go a considerable way towards exposing the truth behind Lockerbie.”
Arraigned against these interests are numerous relatives of the victims and assorted experts who
have long doubted the evidence used to convict al-Megrahi and asked how a single man could have carried out such a deadly attack. They have questioned whether Syria or Iran was really responsible. Some even suspect that the CIA tampered with the evidence.
And perhaps they did more than tamper. I refer you to my review of Alan Francovich’s film on the subject back in 1994.
Unlock the Camps in Sri Lanka
Posted at the behest of a friend, this from Amnesty International on 7th August:
Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the recent war in North East Sri Lanka and living in camps are being denied basic human rights including freedom of movement, said Amnesty International on Monday. The organization’s Secretary General, Irene Khan, launched the Unlock the Camps campaign at the start the organization’s International Council Meeting, a gathering of international delegates in Turkey.
There is more, including videos.
Another film on Che Guevara
Here comes another film on Che Guevara. This time it’s a documentary with the somewhat naff title of Chevolution, directed by Trisha Ziff and Luis Lopez, opening at the ICA in London on 18th September. In fact there’s been a constant stream of films, both dramas and documentaries, about el Che for several years now, and the only other twentieth century historical figure who has possibly had more films devoted to him over the same period is Hitler. Which makes you think. Read more