Schumer: Increase Reward To Bring New Suspects To Justice & Peace of Mind To Families of Victims

Press Release

Along with a group of his colleagues, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer today introduced legislation that would increase the minimum reward offered under the U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice Program for any new information that could lead to the arrest or conviction of suspects wanted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Amidst reports that new suspects have been identified and will be interviewed about the bombing, which killed 270 people, Schumer is proposing an increase in the minimum reward for new information from $5 million to $10 million. Among those killed in the bombing included 14 people with ties to the Capital Region, two of whom were part of the group of 35 Syracuse University students, who also perished when they were returning home from a semester abroad. Schumer said this will allow State Department investigators to gather addition intelligence on new suspects and bring them to justice. The legislation was co-sponsored by Senators Bob Menendez [D-NJ], Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] and Cory Booker [D-NJ].

"We owe it to the victims and their families to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice," said Schumer. "To know that other accomplices are out there, after taking the lives of so many Americans, must be painful and galling for the families of the victims. We need to increase the reward to gather more information about these newly identified suspects so we can assess their guilt and help bring them to justice if they had anything to do with the Lockerbie bombing."

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