reporter: abdelbaset al-megrahi and al-amin khalifa fhimah are charged with conspiracy and murder. that was very surprising that they were turned over for trial. and we were very hopeful at that point that the truth would come out. two libyan suspects to be tried in a special court in the netherlands, but under the laws of the nation where the wreckage landed, the laws of scotland. because i'd always an interest in the lockerbie bombing, i put my hand up and volunteered to cover the lockerbie trial. the trial is expected to last more than one year. almost $20m have been spent building the court, prison and media center, on a tiny patch of dutch soil designated as scotland. this was going to be a scottish court inside a former us airbase inside of the netherlands, and that area would be declared scottish territory for the duration of the trial. so, they were tried under scottish law. because scottish judges were trying the case, my job was to assist the international press and news agencies in understanding the trial. victoria: there's quite a bit of difference between scottish law

as they pronounced abdelbaset al-megrahi guilty of murder, there was a sudden gasp. then, as they announced lamin fhimah was not guilty, a second gasp. i thought they would both be sent home not-guilty. the shock of the verdict initially, was so great, i collapsed. reporter: many people are left to wonder, how one of the accused could be guilty and the other not. fhimah's lawyer declared there was no evidence he was at malta airport on the day the bomb was allegedly loaded, and still less that he was aware of being part of a bomb plot. the judges apparently agreed. it seemed odd - the case was against both men - that one of them should not be proven to have been involved. i think that shocked a lot of people. my heart broke when mr fhimah was allowed to leave the courtroom, because clearly that bomb could not have gotten on the plane without his assistance. and in the case of megrahi, the judges obviously felt that despite some of the inconsistencies in the evidence, he could still be convicted. reporter: it's been a day of conflicting emotions. delight, at seeing at