Scotland releases Lockerbie bomber Megrahi

Seems that Abdelbaset al Megrahi, the Libyan bomber of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland has been freed following a decision by the Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill,that he should be released on compassionate grounds to be with his family as he is in the terminal stages of cancer.

This decision is entirely consistent with Scottish law and the procedure of terminating the appeal process and releasing life prisoners just before death from a terminal illness is not at all unusual.

Yet it is being presented in the USA as if it is sopme sort of barbaric decision from a backwards legal system. The white house has condemned it and several commentators have opined that if it had been in the US 'justice would have been done'. But the fact is the attack occurred on Scottish soil and there were Scottish victims as well. Some other commentators have suggested that this was in order to secure deals over oil between Westminster and Libya. I should therefore point out that the Scottish government and the Justice Minister who made the decision are Scottish Nationalists with very little reason to do anything to help a Labour government in Westminster.

Personally, I think a lot of people in Scotland think that Megrahi was just the fall guy and that he was in fact not guilty of the crime. Who knows?

Not based on interviews performed by CNN in Glasgow. One man was overheard "live" saying "he is a fucking monster". I think he should have rotted in jail after murdering so many innocent people. But of course, everyone has their own opinion...

see Scotland is a civilised nation that does not deal in retributive justice in its legal system. Even the most evil prisoners have human rights and desrve compassionate release in the terminal stages of illness.

It's a matter of Scots law, and the law says he should be released. The Scots were quite right not to somehow amend their legal system just to appease the Americans.

In any case it is widely believed that, as BTC says, he was just the fall guy. We are, afterall, quite happy to do business with Libya, even though their President has been implicated in the crime himself. Scottish oil interests do rather well out of Libya...

If in fact he did do the deed as he was certainly convicted of, although some believe he may have been a fall guy. I don't give a crap, even if he had knowledge of the the bombing he should rot in hell. In my opinion, the Scottish law sucks from that standpoint. It may apply to others, but not to a convicted murderer of nearly 300 souls.

I think it's an insult to the victims and their families. What choice did they have.....none.

What choice did the Scots have? Re-write their legal system? I think, given the choice, they'd have kept him in there and let him die there, but a set of laws are written for a reason, and must be applied evenly and fairly and in a blanket fashion - the guy's about to die of a nasty cancer, does it matter if he does so in a Scottish prison or a hospital in Libya? I rather think that it does not.

Of course, the American point of view differs widely, hence the reason I'm about to pick up hundreds of 'negative reviews', but the facts remain - you cannot, and should not, alter an entire system to the detriment of thousands of other people simply because of one, almost unique, case.

My initial reaction was to think of the families of the victims. They were robbed of so many years they could have spend with their loved ones, and all the people in that plane were robbed of the chance to ever see their families again. So why should he.

There were Scottish victims too you know.

Oh and thanks Jimbo, I have run out of green thumbs so can't tick you up but I agree with you completely.

I know. I was thinking about all victims regardless of their nationalities.

sorry, its just that some of the reactions from the USA seem to be implying that the Scottish legal system doesn't care about US victims as if only people from the USA were victims. The people of Lockerbie itself were victims of this tragedy too.

My sister Sue was living that awful night in Sherwood Cresent. Most people in Ecclefechan and Lockerbie are convinced this guy somehow stepped on Ghadaffis toes and was delivered as the fall guy. There was never any direct evidence against him and what happened to the missing suitcase full of american drug money which disappeared from the hillside?


The most moving thing for us was that my wife (who lived for many years in the US) had all her christmas cards returned unopenened and UNDAMAGED as they had been on the flight. All those poor souls died and her christmas cards were fine..............

I think the Scottish justice system has been around long enough to know when to convict someone of mass murder and when to release them on compassionate grounds.

Wow, so you are saying that the Parents, brothers and sisters, all loved ones of the Scots that were brutally murdered agree with the release of this mass murderer is ok? What a fantastic justice system.

Many of the families do agree, yes, though it's fuck all to do with the justice system (which you clearly do not understand). The feeling, in Scotland, is widespread that this guy wasn't really the man responsible, or certainly was only a small cog in a much larger machine.

Of course legal systems do exist that follow the wishes of the victims/their families. Most commonly found in Islamic states. Do you think Scotland should adopt Sharia law?