Lockerbie bomber freed; returns to Libya to die

Friday 21st August, 07:14 AM JST

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Altria at 04:12 PM JST - 21st August

How do they know he's not faking prostate cancer?

You could fake it pretty easily with a piece of haggis.
RomeoRamenII at 04:32 PM JST - 21st August

MacAskill ... was motivated by Scottish values to show mercy.

Mercy is only meant for those who deserve it.

His victims' bodies went home in boxes in pieces after they died. He should've been sent back to Libya the same way.
LIBERTAS at 05:43 PM JST - 21st August

""Convicted" as has been shown many times in the US justice system, doesn't mean he did it. Beyond reasonable doubt? No.
Nessie at 05:47 PM JST - 21st August

What Jennifer said, minus the proselytizing.
smithinjapan at 05:52 PM JST - 21st August

roomtemperature: "Washington already warned Libya. They said in a statement that the future of American-Libyan relations depends on how modest his homecoming will be celebrated."

Doesn't sound all that unreasonable a 'promise', though them not being the best of friends it might actually push them more towards celebrating. I sure hope not, though.

JenniferKim: "It is not about anger or revenge. It is about justice."

Therein lies the rub, my friend, for 'justice' is misused from one person to the next. You could be sitting in the courtroom where this man is handed a life sentence instead of death by the 'justice' (judge), and people would scream, "What injustice!" There is no 'justice' for what the man did, and he's going to die soon enough. I don't believe in the god you subscribe to, and it's entirely possible that we only get one shot at life -- and boy did this guy waste it. I believe more in karma than that, though, and this guy's screwed. If you're talking about the Christian god, all this guy need do is confess, say a few hail Mary's, and he gets off even more 'scott-free' than from the Scotts.

Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a hub-bub about religion, because that doesn't play a part in his being let go and dying, and I don't think he's going to hell or anything.
seijichuudo9sha at 07:49 PM JST - 21st August

British Petroleum perverted justice here. Blood for oil, out of Libya.Oil washes off your hands.The other one doesn't.
spudman at 08:36 PM JST - 21st August

The dude is a CIA FBI patsy. No wonder the locals are happy he's home. America always seems to get the wrong men. Sadam after 9/11 and this loser after Lockerbie. What does the average Libyan care about whether the US has a problem with their country? Very little.
lunchmeat at 10:03 PM JST - 21st August

Those who are merciful to the cruel will be cruel to the merciful.
TheQuestion at 10:53 PM JST - 21st August

I believe more in karma than that, though, and this guy's screwed.

I wouldnt call dying surrounded by friends and family in your own country where you are treated like a hero being screwed.
SuperLib at 10:57 PM JST - 21st August

dreamdrifter: Surely if the Libyan Government has admitted involvement in the bombings they should be able to say who was really responsible?

Uh, yeah...that's kind of what I'm thinking, too. It looks like Libya appealed by using human rights, not by saying, "We admitted that we did it and this guy wasn't one of the people we used to do it." Wouldn't that pretty much clear things up?

There's probably a lot we don't know about that's playing a large part in this. Maybe it is for oil and gas, or maybe Scotland does have their doubts about this guy's guilt and it makes them look better to offer "compassion" rather than saying, "we screwed up." In the end maybe it's better to not have Scotland pay for this guys medical bills before he dies.

But if he really is guilty....well, then....I just can't imagine what it must be like for the victim's families to see that guy get released. Talk of compassion is inappropriate, it's just masking talk of justice denied.
Soochi at 11:10 PM JST - 21st August

He was freed because his conviction was so monumentally unsafe it was an embarrassment to keep him locked up any longer. The whole compassionate grounds reasoning is nothing more than a timely smokescreen which suits the Scottish courts, Gadhafi's ego, Western oil companies and most importantly the American and British Governments because there will now no longer be an independent review into the bombing to discover what really happened. The only people who have been duped are the victims' families.

The above article only part quoted Dr Jim Swire's staggeringly, reasoned and judicious comments;

"I feel despondent that the west and Scotland didn't have the guts to allow this man's second appeal to continue because I am convinced had they done so it would have overturned the verdict against him. It's a blow to those of us who seek the truth but it is not an ending. I think it is a splitting of the ways."
sfjp330 at 04:04 AM JST - 22nd August

The type of release is more common in Europe than compare to other parts of the world. This is politics between Great Britian and Libya. They get continous flow of the oil and favorable trade policies. This was more of public relations with Libya, nothing more.
sfjp330 at 05:48 AM JST - 22nd August

Europe isn't relevant when more than zero Americans are killed by terrorists.

TokyoToughGuy;

What do you mean by this? On the Lockerbie, Pan Am 103 flight, 189 passengers of the total 270 passengers that were killed by the terrorists were Amercans.
fleetwood77 at 07:59 AM JST - 22nd August

Well if it reduces petrol prices [£5+ per gallon] here in Scotland I suppose I'll get over him being let out to die
KallyPygous at 09:10 AM JST - 23rd August

There wasn't any mention in the article of the flimsiness of his conviction, based on the testimony of a Maltese haberdasher who failed to pick him out of a line-up and has subsequently retired to Australia as a result of suddenly and mysteriously coming into a large amount of money.

There was also no mention of the group in Germany found to have tape-cassette bombs of the same kind as the one that destroyed flight 103, or the break-in at Heathrow into the baggage area before the flight's bags were loaded.

The whole case stinks.