Release Of The Lockerbie Bomber

[aptpupil]

As many of you will doubtlessly remember, over 20 years ago, on 21st December 1988, the small Scottish town of Lockerbie became headline news worldwide when a terrorist bomb caused PanAm Flight 103 from London to New York to explode in mid-air, crashing to the ground at that location and resulting in the death of 270 people (246 passengers, 13 crew, and 11 people on the ground)

The man who was convicted of this atrocity, Abdel Ali al-Megrahi, is expected to be released on compassionate grounds from prison in Scotland as soon as next week, after serving a sentence of only 10 years, because he is suffering from terminal cancer, and will be returned to Libya as a free man, where he can spend the rest of his days with his family.

I would be interested to know what SKMB members think of this development...

[Drawn to Ka-tet]

I remember it well. Placing a bomb is an act of cowardice. Lives were lost, families torn apart- and to gain what?
I think prison is a good place for him.
Will he be hailed a hero back in Libya? That would be disgusting to me.

Long days and pleasant nights.

[Haunted]

Why do compassionate people practice compassion on people who are not compassionate?

Was this bomber compassionate?

[Todash]

Doesn't seem fair.

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

As you know, he was tried under Scottish law in Holland and a very good friend of mine was the cop in charge of the accused, and accompanied him to court every day and sat through the entire case and heard all the evidence.

He was absolutely amazed that the trial ended in a conviction, and he believed that the conviction was a purely political stitch up.

Long days and pleasant nights

[rjt65]

APT r u running a pysch test on the board? ;-)

anyway initial reaction for me would be sure release em and torture em severely!
but look at John's post

and look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdelba...med_Al_Megrahi

Seems to be a fall guy sigh...

If it was undoubtedly the one who did it -- i would have hard feelings and be outraged....

but it looks like he is a fall guy and improperly prosecuted. So i might be APT (pun intended) to say let hm go and he never should have been imprisoned.

[Srbo]

Well, as I can see from JD`s and rjt`s comments it`s not 100% sure the guy did it all, right ?

So, all I can say is that I feel very sorry for the people that died and for the families, as I am sure they still suffer from that tragedy.

[CorbinKale]

That is why I am against the death penalty. The bombing looked to be a political assassination under the ruse of terrorism. Of course, I don't know all the facts, but there are still many unanswered questions about this case.

[BRUMMIEYID]

I remember the Lockerbie bombing well as one of the passengers on that Ill fated flight came from a neighbouring town from where I grew up. Because of this there was a lot of coverage in the local press, and her father who I believe was a councillor in the local area compaigned for many years on the atrocity to get compensation for the victims families, and to get to the truth of the matter about who planned the bombing.

If Abdel Ali al-Megrahi is infact a patsy then allowing him home for compassionate reasons seems fair, But will we ever know if he deserved imprisonment or not. I don't know so can't comment.

I do think we should consider the effect his release will have on the victims families, Do they think justice has been obtained?

[Mr Nobody]

If the conviction was unsafe and/or he did nothing in the first place, he should never have been imprisoned.
If he did what he was convicted of, I'm sure he'll be toasty in the place he'll eventually end up...and I don't mean Libya.
Even if we, on an individual level, don't choose to believe in a higher justice, he probably will. And mayhap there is one.