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| Britain |
| Early release for Lockerbie bomber would be a travesty and betrayal |
| 2009-08-14 |
| Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi has been convicted of BritainÂ’s worst terrorist atrocity. The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 cost 270 lives on board the US plane and in the Scottish town of Lockerbie. The painstaking investigation and meticulous legal case built up against him and another former Libyan secret service agent, and the long diplomatic wrangle over their extradition, meant that it was not until 2001 that he was convicted in a Scottish court sitting in The Hague. He is now serving a life sentence in a Scottish jail, with a minimum tariff of 27 years. Last year, however, he developed prostate cancer, diagnosed as terminal. The Scottish government is now considering his release on compassionate grounds. Reports suggest that he could be flown home to Libya within a week, in time for the start of Ramadan. Any such move would be an appalling miscarriage of justice and a political scandal, displaying contemptuous disregard for the families of his many victims. Prisoners in Britain are not routinely released on compassionate grounds. Ronnie Biggs may have been let out to die; Myra Hindley was kept in prison until her death. Why should alMegrahi, convicted of killing more people than any other murderer in Britain, be set free when lesser-known prisoners are denied parole? The suspicion must be that two factors are swaying Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister. The first is a widespread and lingering concern that al-MegrahiÂ’s conviction was somehow unsafe. The second is the hope that such a gesture would complete BritainÂ’s reconciliation with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, and lead to substantial political and economic benefits. Neither has any place in a decision on an early release. Al-Megrahi has always maintained his innocence. And although the court convicted him after an exhaustive review of the evidence, most people accept that the full story of the bombing has not come out and will probably never be known. It is hardly credible that a single lowlevel Libyan agent should have masterminded and executed such an elaborate terrorist plot. Intelligence officials have suggested that Iran, which suffered the loss of a passenger plane shot down in error by a US missile five months earlier at a cost of 290 lives, may have been implicated. Some of the Lockerbie victimsÂ’ families themselves have voiced doubts. But al-MegrahiÂ’s appeal is going through. It should, perhaps, be accelerated. The outcome must be judged in court, not anticipated by a politician. If there has been a miscarriage of justice, a compassionate release will not right that wrong but prolong it for ever. The second factor, were it true, would be even more disgraceful. Justice must never be perverted by political expediency, as it was over investigations into BAeÂ’s dealings with the Saudis. Colonel Gaddafi will soon celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power. On the eve of his address to the UN General Assembly, the return of al-Megrahi would confirm in Libyan and African eyes his rehabilitation and acceptance as a leader free from the taint of terrorism. No British government should be party to any deal. Even a hint that al-MegrahiÂ’s return would open the door to contracts in Libya is unacceptable. If British companies were invited in as a result, they could never free themselves from the association with a despicable deal. A decision to free al-Megrahi must be driven neither by a sense of doubt nor the promise of profits, but by principles of justice. The families of US victims, the majority, would be outraged. The fallout would be bitter and shaming for the international standing of British law and for a devolved Scottish government. If an appeals court finds al-MegrahiÂ’s conviction unsafe, he should be released. If not, he deserves no compassion. |
| Posted by:ryuge |