Erwin Meister is a Swiss businessman who, with his partner Edwin Bollier

Edwin Bollier

Edwin Bollier and his partner, Erwin Meister, founded Mebo Telecommunications AG in Zürich, Switzerland in 1969.-Radio Nordsee International:...

, formed the company Mebo Telecommunications

Mebo Telecommunications

Mebo Telecommunications AG is owned by Swiss businessmen Erwin Meister and Edwin Bollier.-Radio Nordsee International – the Mebo I and II:...

 in 1969. They bought a Dutch freighter, renamed it Mebo II

Mebo II

The Mebo II was originally the Dutch freighter, "Silvretta," built in 1948 by De Groot en van Vliet, Slikkerveer. It had a weight of 630 tons and a length of 186 feet. In 1969, it was bought by Edwin Bollier and Erwin Meister, renamed and converted into an offshore radio station at the same...

, and converted it into an offshore radio

Offshore radio

Offshore radio is radio broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures, usually in international waters. The claimed first wireless broadcast of music and speech for the purpose of entertainment was transmitted from a Royal Naval craft, the HMS Andromeda, in 1907...

 station.

RNI

Mebo II

Mebo II

The Mebo II was originally the Dutch freighter, "Silvretta," built in 1948 by De Groot en van Vliet, Slikkerveer. It had a weight of 630 tons and a length of 186 feet. In 1969, it was bought by Edwin Bollier and Erwin Meister, renamed and converted into an offshore radio station at the same...

operated off the coasts of the Netherlands and of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 from 1970 to 1974, when it broadcast as Radio Nordsee International

Radio North Sea International

Radio North Sea International also known as Radio Nordsee International in German and Radio Noordzee Internationaal in Dutch, was a European offshore radio station, run by the Swiss firm Mebo Telecommunications, jointly owned by Swiss engineer, Edwin Bollier, and his business partner, Erwin Meister...

(RNI). Both countries having enacted legislation outlawing the supply of offshore radio

Offshore radio

Offshore radio is radio broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures, usually in international waters. The claimed first wireless broadcast of music and speech for the purpose of entertainment was transmitted from a Royal Naval craft, the HMS Andromeda, in 1907...

 stations, Meister and Bollier decided to lease the RNI vessel to Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

 in 1977.

Lockerbie bombing

Because a Mebo timing device was alleged to have been used to trigger the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103

Pan Am Flight 103

Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...

 over Lockerbie

Lockerbie

Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 on 21 December 1988 killing 270 people, Erwin Meister was summoned to give evidence in week 8 of the Lockerbie trial

Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial

The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988...

.

See also

• Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission
  Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission
  Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission stemmed from the dispute between the United Kingdom, the United States, and Libya concerning arrangements for the trial of two Libyans accused of causing the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988.The dispute was resolved on...
  
  
• Ulrich Lumpert