Lockerbie: A Search for Truth— Statement by an American Widow

The upcoming TV series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth—scheduled for multinational release in January 2025, on the cusp of the U.S. criminal trial of the alleged Libyan bombmaker Mas’ud Al-Marimi—is a myopic, strategic, and egregious effort, cloaked as entertainment, to influence the sentiments of uninformed audiences, instill doubt in potential jurors, and undermine the course of U.S. criminal justice.

I feel that the casting of award-winning actor Colin Firth as Jim Swire, depicted as the lone, courageous champion of truth and justice, will elevate Swire’s story, filled with unproven conspiracy theories and politically biased interpretations, about the bombing of Pan Am 103. The series tells an amazing tale in which Swire, a father and English doctor, becomes the hero and undeniable authority of “real truth.” It is based on his misnomered memoir (no one bombed Lockerbie), The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice, in which he singlehandedly solves the deadliest terrorist attack in U.K. history, denying all the facts and concluding with the vindication of the Qaddafi regime from its key role in the multi-state-sponsored terrorist attack that murdered 270 of our loved ones.

Largely taken out of historical context, the series glorifies one man’s distorted interpretation while deliberately censoring any contrasting narratives and divergent facts, which have been chronicled in the stories of hundreds of other victims’ family members for more than 35 years.

Ours are stories filled with tremendous personal sacrifice and a lifetime of dedication to uncovering the truth. We have struggled and worked with tenacity to compel the U.S. government, over the course of six presidential administrations, to demonstrate the political will and dedicate adequate funding and resources to investigate the second deadliest terrorist attack against the U.S.

The showrunners mindfully omitted the stories of the numerous meetings and trips that I, my attorneys, or Ken Dornstein had with Qaddafi regime members in Libya, Paris, Washington and New York, which revealed incriminating witnesses and evidence. These omissions are a coldhearted affront against the profound and impactful efforts of hundreds of victims’ loved ones, who have been striving, until our last breaths, to uncover the unvarnished truth and bring to justice all those who played a part in this heinous act of mass murder.