I am not normally one to cry "lock 'em up." Judges and juries can get carried away. Prison sentences can be too long.
But when a man kills 270 people by blowing up a plane, all to make a political point, and is sentenced to a mere 27 years in prison for his horrific crime, that sounds like a sweet deal to me. At the very least, he should serve every minute of that 27 years.
But as you no doubt know by now, that didn't happen on Thursday.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, convicted of blowing up a Pan Am flight over the little Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, was set free by a Scottish court and put aboard a flight to his native Libya.
Al-Megrahi is dying of prostate cancer, probably has about three months to live, and Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill felt sorry for him.
"I am conscious that there are deeply held feelings, and that many will disagree whatever my decision," MacAskill said. "However, al-Megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. It is terminal, final and irrevocable."
Scotland originally dealt with their terrorist the right way -- treat him like a criminal, not a soldier. Put him on trial, like you would any alleged criminal. If he's found guilty, lock him up.
Being a big believer in civil liberties and such, I prefer that approach to the George W. Bush school of counter-terrorism: Lock people up without charge, without trial, without respect for basic human rights.
But then that fellow in Scotland, MacAskill, goes and blows it. He lets a killer of 270 innocent people walk free.
Who cares if Al-Megrahi is almost on his death bed.
MacAskill's compassion was ill-placed.
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What many news articles/programs are not mentioning is that “a Scottish review of his case ruled in 2007 that the case may have been a miscarriage of justice.” - see Reuters and other online news sources that provide more news than views.
The prospect of the potential miscarriage without the opportunity to be reassessed by the court was a factor in the decision.
Rather than always seeking vengeance we should learn to love even those who hate us. That higher human quality is part of what separates civilizations.
As for a hero’s welcome…that is unfortunate and insensitive to those who suffered the loss of loved ones.
Read up on the case and not just what you see in the US press and you might come to a different conclusion.
There is more than adequate evidence to establish reasonable doubt and, even more to the point, to suggest that Mr al-Megrahi is, in fact, innocent of this crime and was simply sacrificed as a pawn by Colonel Khadafi in order to get the US motivated international sanctions lifted.
His co-defendant was found not guilty of the crime and the verdict against him itself was rather wobbly (and probably would have been also "not guilty" if not for US pressure).
Even one of the Scottish jurists who handed down the verdict has recently said that there were grounds for appeal, including probable bribery of witnesses, monetarily and with "fishing holidays", possible planting of evidence, and other tampering.
There is considerable evidence, in fact, to point to Syria, not Libya, as the source of the agents who committed this crime and the whole proceeding from beginning to end was a complete travesty of justice.
It is bizarre that we are so intent upon vengeance that we allow our reason to be clouded and to demand that someone -- anyone -- be locked up or executed, no matter whether they are in fact guilty or innocent.
As an agent of the Libyan government, Mr al-Megrahi may be guilty of crimes of violence, but it is quite likely that the Lockerbie bombing was not one of them.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi murdered in the name of God.
Kenny MacAskill allowed a murderer to walk free to a hero's welcome in the name of God.
I am so sick of the worldwide delusion and insanity that is God.
Al-Megrahi has his own karma to deal with, which he'll probably pay for it for many lifetimes. Perhaps for 270 lifetimes. He'd be dealing with that just as much sitting in a jail as dying outside of one. He's hardly a threat. Why malign the wisdom of this judge? Mercy is a sign of greatness.
Maybe this was not the terrorist at all. Notice he covered his face so who knows who that was released from prison. When it comes to "terrorists" the plots are common lies.
Here is my issue, the Scotts who have never wavered to appease Foreigners released this guy under "compassionate grounds" is this an interesting news?? But wait there is more, he had an appeal and the highest court agreed to look at it. This guy was offered a deal, be released on compassionate grounds if the appeal is dropped. The Scottts did not want the world to hear how a key witness rechanted his story. How another key witness said after the trial he was offered money to lie in court.
I want to know what happened, did the Scotts know they captured the wrong guy but did not want the world to know of their corruption, and incompetence??? Why were the Scotts so scared of the world hearing about this case on appeal that they offered something they have never offered someone before who was convicted of a case of this magnitude.