Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi

[Hiro]

I don't think he was guilty so it was the correct decision , however if he had been guilty I would have been totally against his release, whoever carried out the bombing showed no compassion and if found should have spent their last days rotting in jail.

Correct. If I felt he was guilty I would have been furious at his release.

[absent friend]

It is obvious from the postings on here that this issue is seen in a different light by contributers - a very healthy response.

However, I do feel proud of the Executive and KM for their handling of this difficult issue.

They, unlike Westminster, did not bow to the US pressure nor, I feel sure, the pressure from within Westminster but took stock of the situation, made up their own mind and KM delivered a superb speech, backing their actions.

Right or wrong, a job well done.

[old caley girl]

As far as I know all prisoners in Scotland with less than 3 months to live can apply to be released on compassionate grounds. The problem really is that the Scottish Prison Service has no health care provision for these kind of people. Actually after seeing the celebrations on the news last night when this man returned to Libya I kinda think I've changed my mind a bit on this. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate if he had been moved out of prison to somewhere local to die. I'm sure this would have made it easier to provide medical care and there would probably not have been all this fuss.

[Johnboy]

As far as I know all prisoners in Scotland with less than 3 months to live can apply to be released on compassionate grounds. The problem really is that the Scottish Prison Service has no health care provision for these kind of people. Actually after seeing the celebrations on the news last night when this man returned to Libya I kinda think I've changed my mind a bit on this. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate if he had been moved out of prison to somewhere local to die. I'm sure this would have made it easier to provide medical care and there would probably not have been all this fuss.

The celebrations last night were regretable... The Scottish Government had been assured by Libya that this would not happen...

Unfortunately, for reasons of recent history, America is the most despised nation on the planet, by virtually the whole of the Middle East... The reasons for that are not hard to understand.

It might have been better if Obama hadn't appealed to the Libyans to behave in a more dignified manner on al Megrahi's arrival in Tripoli.

Regarding medical care for al Megrahi in this country, it was said last night he has, for several weeks now, been escorted to and from Inverclyde Hospital, Greenock, almost on a daily basis.

[maimie]

i'm with sorted, hiro and kingsmills on this one.

i'm glad the scottish government didn't fold under the pressure from afar (and maybe not so far).

i believe that we are a compassionate nation.

of course the yanks would want him dead in prison - if he was there they'd have had him strapped to a chair and electrocuted! and then when he was proven innocent?

the celebrations in my view were regretable but if you watch closely he seemed to be pulled in to it by the others there.

what i do think is a bit regretable though is the fact that the government did not meet with the other parties prior to his release in order to show a united front and i hope that the questioning of kenny next week will show that. no points scoring - just think what they would have done if they'd been in power... it was probably the most difficult decision that any politician anywhere will have had to make.

[Yngwie]

The celebrations last night were regretable... The Scottish Government had been assured by Libya that this would not happen...

The celebrations last night were entirely predictable, to everyone except our naive Scottish Government it would seem. Out of their depth on matters like this.

[DAM]

The celebrations last night were regretable... The Scottish Government had been assured by Libya that this would not happen...

The celebrations last night were entirely predictable, to everyone except our naive Scottish Government it would seem. Out of their depth on matters like this.

Of course it was predictable, that's the way of the excitable Arab world. If the boot was on the other foot do you honestly believe there would be no welcoming party on whoever's arrival in London?

[Yngwie]

Oh how we celebrated when Kenny Ritchie returned!

[Sorted]

Oh how we celebrated when Kenny Ritchie returned!

Of course we didn't because it wasn't the right thing to do.

Relfecting on matters for a bit, I am now 100% certain this was the correct and proper decision to make based on the evidence given. From what I now understand there have been 30 applications for similar release in recent times and all but 7 have been granted. Requests refused have been made on the grounds that there was a lack of substantive medical certainty. Scottish law, a justice system which is rightly recognised as one of the finest, has been applied fairly and squarely.

Predictably this has now become a political football with Labour in Scotland (though the scilence from London Labour is deafening), the Tories and amazingly our Liberal Party all taking potshots at the SNP. Really amusing to hear Radio Scotland this morning when Bill "Rudolph Hess" Aitken was being supported by Ian Gray. Gray's answer when asked why this decision was any different to other similar requests was ridiculous. Perhaps he should draw up a list of crimes/offences to which our legal system applies and those that it doesn't!

Decisions like the difficult one taken by Kenny MacAskill will do more to influence the spread of fundamentalism throughout the world than any war waging political leader can ever do. If we demonstrate ourselves to be a fair, humane, compassionate democracy then our opinions may be respected much more than they are at present.

Mahatma Gandhi - "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind"

Edited August 21, 2009 by Sorted

[Glen Mhor]

I have always been pretty dubious of al-Megrahi's guilt given the events of earlier in 1988 when the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air Airbus over the Straits of Hormuz in error. 290 people were killed in that incident but we heard precious little about that in the intervening years and after the Pan Am 747 was blown up over Lockerbie. The Iranians had a greater motiviation at the time to be involved in any revenge attack on US interests. There is so much on Lockerbie which will probably now never see the light of day that it could be 50 or 100 years before the truth will be revealed - if ever.

[Johnboy]

I have always been pretty dubious of al-Megrahi's guilt given the events of earlier in 1988 when the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air Airbus over the Straits of Hormuz in error. 290 people were killed in that incident but we heard precious little about that in the intervening years and after the Pan Am 747 was blown up over Lockerbie. The Iranians had a greater motiviation at the time to be involved in any revenge attack on US interests. There is so much on Lockerbie which will probably now never see the light of day that it could be 50 or 100 years before the truth will be revealed - if ever.

Excellent article here on these points

[ICTBTTH]

I personally dont think he should have got out. If he had nothing to do with the bombing then why was the radio traced back to him.

If it was the likes of Ian Huntly or even Joef Fritzel they would have been told to F*** off and die in prison bassically.

Yes sure i applaud Kenny for not bowing to pressure from the likes of the US but after seeing those celebrations on TV i felt disgusted by it. The Libyans could have dealt with it alot better.

[AJS]

Regardless of whether he is guilty or not in the eyes of the law he was convicted of murdering over 200 people and no one should be allowed to see the light of day again for a crime like that.

But having looked into the whole case in some depth i have to say i would question his guilt and the way it was all handled at the time.

Who knows how many people actually got away with this 20 years ago.

[davie]

I am glad that we let him go. Dying thousands of miles away from your family would hve been tortuous, but precisely what befell his victims. In terms of the anti mercy (particularly US led response)All we have done is demonstrate that we are better than that. the celebrations etc. are for the Libyans to answer for.

The only thing I would agree with is that I think that KM's speech was sactimonious. We don't need to involve the UK, US or higher powers. We're just demonstrating mercy, and are always liable to do so given that our judicial system is inherently less vengeful than either the US or Libya's.

Let Megrahi die in obscurity.

[Yngwie]

What happens if he lives for many years to come? It's far from unheard of in people who gave been given months to live.

Anyway, where did the Libyans get all those Scottish flags from at such short notice? I can't imagine they are widely available in the shops in that part of the world in the same way that American flags seem to be (and which are made from highly flammable material!).

[old caley girl]

According to the news the flags were handed out to the crowd. As to the man himself he looked very frail and though he may live longer than 3 months I cannot see him managing years.

[Johnboy]

What happens if he lives for many years to come? It's far from unheard of in people who gave been given months to live.

Anyway, where did the Libyans get all those Scottish flags from at such short notice? I can't imagine they are widely available in the shops in that part of the world in the same way that American flags seem to be (and which are made from highly flammable material!).

Hardly likely to live for many years to come, given the standards of medical care available in Libya....Cancer sufferers there tend to come here, seeking treatment!

Good question about the Scottish flags.... Having watched MacAskill being "grilled" by MSPs this afternoon, I was very surprised no one - from Annabel Goldie to that ghastly Margaret Curran woman, thought to ask him that.

Well done the SNP government and K.Mac... You're doing Scotland proud!

[CaleyD]

What makes me laugh is the media outrage at the celebrations.....I mean, none of us would have been any the wiser to the fact that their was crowds there waiving Scottish Flags if they hadn't broadcast it to the world via TV and Newspapers. Scandal sells, and the media are the ones creating it for their own means.

We'll never likely know the real reasons for his release, but their seems to be a general consensus among the Scots that it was the right thing to do....the process leading to that almost becomes secondary and unimportant so long as the outcome is right.

[dead_ball_specialist]

Stupid yanks

http://www.boycottscotland.com/

[CaleyD]

Amazing how quick the USA are to forget Iran Air Flight 655.....where was the justice there?

[DAM]

Stupid yanks

http://www.boycottscotland.com/

I'll give the boycott six months at the most then all will be back to normal. Did you see the stupid yank who was pouring his whisky down the sink in protest. Bet he'll be back to Walmart for more before the week's out.

[dead_ball_specialist]

To be fair that petition only had like 300 names on it when I read it, less than the 'give marius a work permit!' petition.

Incredible how some americans fully support their country giving billions of dollars to israel (with it's appaling human rights abuses) but will initiate 'collective punishment' on an entire nation because it's legal system is too compassionate to the terminally ill. Where is the logic with these people? They're every bit as bad as the flag burning muslims boycotting denmark over a cartoon.

[TSTtiger]

the yanks and uk government are trying to do the scottish government and scotland up like a kipper.

hope it blows up in their faces

[DornochCaley]

The Yanks should get to feck.. It was the Scottish Goverments decision. Not theres. I am really proud of our goverment making this move. But i also think it was made with pressure from the British Goverment as i think possible secrets might have came out at his second appeal........

[TSTtiger]

The Yanks should get to feck.. It was the Scottish Goverments decision. Not theres. I am really proud of our goverment making this move. But i also think it was made with pressure from the British Goverment as i think possible secrets might have came out at his second appeal........

yes , gordon brown the political coward is still silent, no doubt couped up with mandelson desperately trying to wriggle out of this.

labour in scotland meanwhile do what they always do, cheap digs, talk scotland down.

dont remember there being quite such a fuss down south or in the u.s when the british government released a large band of convicted i.r.a murderers in their best of health??