Lockerbie Bomber Freed

[Chie]

I'll start the thread then.

Having mulled over this one for a couple of days, I'm still sitting on the fence mainly because there are more important things in life and I just don't have the will to care, but I guess it's a good topic of debate. In my mind there are also too many variables involved to form a solid opinion.

Say it emerged that Ian Huntley had three months to live and the justice secretary decided to release him, what would people make of that? Not in years time when he's 60 odd, but now. The moral principle is exactly the same regardless of the crime, so would it be acceptable to grant such a person three last months of freedom? What about, Myra Hindley? (Yeah I know she's dead already.) And what if a murderer, mass murderer, child killer or terrorist was jailed and about five months into their sentence, it transpired they had cancer. They've only served five months - is it ok to release them? Where do you draw the cut off point and who has the right to decide that? Would a cut off point be morally unfair, unjust and discriminatory, and thereby contradict the entire principle?

On the other side of the argument, Megrahi was the responsibility of the Scottish government. Yet as soon as he gets a cancer, instead of treating it, they kick him out of the country and wash their hands of him. Couldn't that been seen as inhumane, or in the very least shirking your responsibilities when things get tough? And if he was innocent as a lot of people suggest, surely we owe it to him to provide NHS care after all these years?

The Americans. Loads of them whinge like hell, but they're a vastly different culture to us and I think we should be more tollerant of them instead of automatically saying 'America = bad' to claim some kind of moral one-upmanship. As long as they're not threatening to hurt anyone, who cares what they think? They're entitled to an opinion like anyone else. If they want to stamp their feet like toddlers and boycott Scotland, then let them get on with it. But wasting energy moaning that the Americans are moaning too much is slightly hypocritical, and won't do any good whatsoever.

So those are my thoughts on the matter so far. It's very confusing.

[barcode]

The problem is there so many sperate issues here, and each have to take on merit, and merit alone.

* Should he be freed?
* Did he actully do it ( which might explain why he has no remorse )
* Why has the UK and USA goverment with held information
* Was is right he has that home coming partly ( NO )
* Scots law is different to English law! ( its nice to people in the USA Can't tell )
* Should we care what the USA thinks

Say it emerged that Ian Huntley had three months to live and the justice secretary decided to release him, what would people make of that? Not in years time when he's 60 odd, but now. The moral principle is exactly the same regardless of the crime, so would it be acceptable to grant such a person three last months of freedom? What about, Myra Hindley? (Yeah I know she's dead already.)

That is in the hands of the english people, but the thing is there actully did 100% fact ( Megrahi on the overhand there so a good weight of doubt here and I think that what done it for him.)
If Myra Hindley parent in crime was dying I would let him go free BUT he would have to tell the police where the lost body is.

On the other side of the argument, Megrahi was the responsibility of the Scottish government. Yet as soon as he gets a cancer, instead of treating it, they kick him out of the country and wash their hands of him. Couldn't that been seen as inhumane, or in the very least shirking your responsibilities when things get tough? And if he was innocent as a lot of people suggest, surely we owe it to him to provide NHS care after all these years?

Well hes been going to the Invercylde hospital for treatment for at a years so the NHS have been treating him. if he going to die, more hospital visiting are not going to do any more for his soul,

The Americans.

I could not give a ***** I dare say we may have get a much higher respect in the world. I just don;t think it was him, what about Iran, syria and the Jumbo jet the US navy blow up ( did there show any remorse? )

alot of people are thinking this was all done to white wash it and thus the truth can he hiding, I Praise the Scottish government for doing this. personnel ( I going to get hit hard for this) I believe he not to blame and he is a fall guy, and I hope with in time me and many many many other people will be proven right!

[Alexia]

For me it's cut and dried. An eye for an eye and the whole world will be blind. By allowing his family to say goodbye we raise ourselves above the level of murderers and terrorists. We set an example for others to follow. If we are to make the world a better place we can at least afford to show a little compassion now and then.

Life has dictated that Megrahi will be dead in a matter of weeks. In his mind, he must answer to his higher power. I have doubts over his conviction as well, but he will forever be labelled "The Lockerbie Bomber." He will carry that to his grave. By that alone, the families have justice.

The suggestion of coercian and insider dealing by the UK government cannot possibly be justified as even if Megrahi had not been dying of cancer the current development in Libya would still have gone on. Besides, if the SNP are really as pro-independence as they claim, would they so sheepishly obey the whim of the UK government's interests overseas? Or would they, at the merest hint of elbow-nudging by London, take advantage and gleefully publicise any attempt to free Scotland's most notorious convict? I suspect, given the opportunism and sheer balls of Alex Salmond, Nicola Fishegg and the rest of them, it would be the latter.

[Sput]

I don't harbour any strong feelings about their decision to free him. He's dead either way and it'll certainly be cheaper not having to provide end of life treatment to him (which Scottish people should LOVE ). What transpired after the plane left british airspace is pretty aggravating though. To me this part smacks of the Scottish parliament folks being naive about what would happen. I wonder whether Westminister would have gone to greater lengths to fully choreograph the exact sequence of events after his arrival back in Libya to avoid the reactions we've seen, going as far as to make it a condition of his release. And most of the lasting anger seems to have been directed the reception rather than the release. Still, you live and learn!

Oh and great work by the daily mail on this, calling the reception "A SEA OF SCOTTISH FLAGS". I don't think three flags scattered throughout a crowd is a sea.

[Alexia]

Talking of the Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... uslim.html

So, based on what they're saying, if a person with this "Sharia" account goes 1p into the red, they're levied with a £15 charge. However, whity mcwhity middle class man can go £99.99 into the red without being charged. Hmm...when you put it like that...

[wells]

The Americans. Loads of them whinge like hell, but they're a vastly different culture to us and I think we should be more tollerant of them instead of automatically saying 'America = bad' to claim some kind of moral one-upmanship. As long as they're not threatening to hurt anyone, who cares what they think? They're entitled to an opinion like anyone else. If they want to stamp their feet like toddlers and boycott Scotland, then let them get on with it. But wasting energy moaning that the Americans are moaning too much is slightly hypocritical, and won't do any good whatsoever.

Although I sympathise with the american families, the bias media coverage they're being given means that nations wished should be ignored. If we want to look at that nation and see them as morons for their response to all this, than that's our prerogative, just as you say it's their prerogative to act like morons over this.

Anyway the important bit

We don't know if the guy did it and many think he didn't (including the families), with this in mind and fact the guys dying anyway, I think we should just give it him benefit of the doubt, imagine how guilty we'd feel after he's gone of he's proven to be innocent.

[DVB Cornwall]

The double standards associated with this do tend to stick out when you uncover them. One of the prime arguments used by the US in the discussions that led to the Good Friday agreement and the resulting tacit peace that we see in the province today was the subject of prisoner release of convicted terrorists. This was done and several hundreds of people responsible for many murders have been released as a result. If the US is going to enter into discussions with Islamic Terrorists, to obtain a similar tacit peace, it is inevitable that similar release deals will follow.

The big issue here is that the vast number of the victims of the Lockerbie incident were Americans and this agreement to release the perpetrator of the crime (not withstanding the arguments surrounding the case, trial and judgement) goes against the American Psyche, their society increasingly relies on retribution rather than punishment to satisfy it's ambition and power. This attitude is portrayed in the continuing use of the death penalty and it's extreme social conservatism towards minorities of all types.

The US and it's human rights record should discount an awful lot of the arguments it has associated with this case.

If however Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi doesn't die within the next six months as the doctors in Scotland suggested then questions might reasonably be asked.

[Gavin Scott]

The double standards associated with this do tend to stick out when you uncover them. One of the prime arguments used by the US in the discussions that led to the Good Friday agreement and the resulting tacit peace that we see in the province today was the subject of prisoner release of convicted terrorists. This was done and several hundreds of people responsible for many murders have been released as a result. If the US is going to enter into discussions with Islamic Terrorists, to obtain a similar tacit peace, it is inevitable that similar release deals will follow.

The big issue here is that the vast number of the victims of the Lockerbie incident were Americans and this agreement to release the perpetrator of the crime (not withstanding the arguments surrounding the case, trial and judgement) goes against the American Psyche, their society increasingly relies on retribution rather than punishment to satisfy it's ambition and power. This attitude is portrayed in the continuing use of the death penalty and it's extreme social conservatism towards minorities of all types.

The US and it's human rights record should discount an awful lot of the arguments it has associated with this case.

If however Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi doesn't die within the next six months as the doctors in Scotland suggested then questions might reasonably be asked.

Beautifully put.

[Pete]

Interesting that the Mail, which had been screeching rather a lot in the style of some of the American news sites, is now the one claiming its exclusive about the fact the whole trial was likely duff. Not that they're ever inconsistent.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208432/

[Alexia]

I cannot join the protests against the release of the Libyan Abdelbaset Al Megrahi.

I have never seen any convincing evidence that he had anything to do with the Lockerbie bombing and I don’t believe there is any.

It has been common currency among experts for years that the outrage was an Iranian-Syrian operation, nothing to do with Libya.

I am mystified that Megrahi has dropped his appeal against this fishy conviction.

I expect it has something to do with the weird neo-conservative truce between the US and Libya, under which that country pretended to abandon weapons of mass destruction which it never possessed, and the
neo-cons pretended that this was a victory for George W. Bush’s half-witted foreign policy.

What’s more, many of those aerating themselves over this, especially Mrs Hillary Clinton, seem perfectly happy with the much more serious and lawless release of dozens of IRA and ‘Loyalist’ killers and terrorists, all of them genuine culprits, which was the result of American pressure on this country to give in to murder and intimidation.

If the IRA had ever dared let off a bomb in the US, half the population of Londonderry and Belfast would be behind the wire in Guantanamo Bay.

From Peter Hitchens' blog. He may be a bit repulsive as a human, but occasionally he does write some superb sense.

[rts]

Sky News reporting that al-Megrahi is dead.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World- ... ky_Sources