Lockerbie bomber freed; returns to Libya to die
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51 Comments
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dreamdrifter
Surely if the Libyan Government has admitted involvement in the bombings they should be able to say who was really responsible?
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KallyPygous
The CIA were certainly complicit in their inaction in the bombing, and that may be one of the reasons the USA are so unhappy about this - he might write his memoirs before he carks it.
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rajakumar
Way to go Scotland and Scotland mercies.
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chuckers
It's a shame that all those people on Pan Am Flight 109 didn't get to go home to die.
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chuckers
Sorry, Pan Am Flight 103. Not sure why I remember this as 109.
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USNinJapan2
Mercy for the underserving.
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neverknow2
You hit the nail on the head, Doesn;t anyone else find it strange that such a 'free' contry is always at war with someone??
Oil, oil and more oil.
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skipthesong
Oil, oil and more oil." No, the repubs aren't in power any longer, how can that be?
This was stupid! those people weren't just cheering for him, they were cheering in victory of all those killed for Jihad!
Mercy my butt, what if he doesn't die so soon?
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smithinjapan
USNinJapan2: "Mercy for the underserving."
This one sure is a tough one to swallow... not sure what to think about it. I guess in the end it's Scotland's decision and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Hopefully the man released and about to die can actually recognized he was realized 'on compassionate grounds' and see that there is so much wrong with what he did. To say that's too little too late would be understatement of the year, but that's about the best that can be hoped for.
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bdiego
He's been given a hero's welcome by thousands of cheering Libyans. Flew on Gaddafi's private jet. Denies any responsibility. Now he has a fan club.
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timorborder
Should have slotted him at the airport and sent him home (collector pays) freight.
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Statistician
Good decision. I'm glad that the Scots didn't bow to pressure
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TheQuestion
Did mercy come to the men, women, and children on the flight? The taking of one life merits a lifetime of suffering, figuring out what the taking of 270 lives merits would take me a lifetime to figure out.
Still would have been to good for him.
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Altria
What if he doesn't die? What if he gets on another plane and blows himself up again?
There are too many risks to consider.
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bgaudry
Americans won't understand this, but showing "mercy" to this man opens a path to dialogue and closure. Guilty or not, Scotland has chosen to show some great kindness to this man. Acting out of feelings of revenge, anger or hate never benefits anybody. The world would be a much better place, if more people chose compassion and empathy, over revenge and anger.
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sabiwabi
He also told the BBC that important information was withheld during the trial, and we should have a look at who/why it was withheld.
I am pleased the man is free. I don't believe he did it.
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skipthesong
I am pleased the man is free. I don't believe he did it." What if he did do it? You'd still be happy he's free.
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WilliB
8 years in prison and then go home to die among friends. His victims had no such good luck.
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smithinjapan
skip: "What if he did do it? You'd still be happy he's free."
Silly question, given that there's no proof either way.
I also think it's silly to counter this man's release with 'his victim's didn't have a chance to go spend their final hours with families', because, while it's understandable, it's merely acting on anger and hate, and YOU ARE BETTER THAN HE! An-eye-for-an-eye is part of the same belief system that this man used to blow up the plane in question. The fact that the Scottish government let the man go to spend his last little while on this earth with his family is proof that they are compassionate, and have a better understanding of what's truly important than the man in question did when he committed the acts he was imprisoned for (and I'm just arguing he did for argument's sake. We don't know his full role). As I said before, hopefully before he dies he'll realize, in the precious gift he's been given, how wrong he was to take it away from so many others. That epiphany, should it come, will define a major part of his life, and the end of his existence.
And Altria, how on earth can a person 'blow himself up AGAIN'?
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stirfry
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/081709d.html
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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.
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knackerz
This man was convicted on very shakey evidence, he has always mantained that he had nothing to do with the bombings, he's going home to die, rest in peace.
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JenniferKim
BOYCOTT SCOTLAND
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JenniferKim
It is not about anger or revenge.
It is about justice -- a word which, curiously, does not appear anywhere in your message.
For all these years in prison, he was fed and clothed and housed and kept alive. He was also given medical treatment.
For what he did, pal, that's "mercy" enough.
This man doesn't need our mercy anyway. He needs God's mercy now. He needs it a LOT. .
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TheQuestion
For that to work he would have needed to destroy two fighter jets and sink a couple of naval vessals, this was a deliberate strike on civilians. The attack had no long term purpose, no proper logistical justification, and nobody stood to benefit from it. Bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed.
Doesn't deserve the opportunity to have a peaceful death. One must realize that there is a difference between retribution and revenge, revenge would be for the satisfaction of getting even with the man for killing while retribution would be to punish the man in equal proportion to his offense. So what would be the proper compensation for 270 noncombative men, women, and children? Not in their name, that would soil them, but to punish the loss of potential and the disreguard for human life.
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sabiwabi
If its about justice, why were important details of the crime withheld from the trial? The evidence does not prove that he is guilty, so if you want justice you should be happy he is free. If you are just angry, then yes, you'll want someone (anyone?) to rot in jail for it.
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RomeoRamenII
Won't be surprised if he commits a suicide terrorist act knowing he's going to die soon.
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RomeoRamenII
Just another reason for the death penalty. This would never happen to a dead mass murderer.
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skipthesong
sabi, I'll give it to you, you are consistent.
So, you are telling me without a doubt, this guy zero part in blowing that plane up?
Anyway, you know, if people are going to let people out of jail because they are supposed to be dying (my mother was told she was going to die by two doctors, and has lived on for the last 8 years), what's the point of life in prison?
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lostrune2
Regardless whether he is truly guilty or not, many other prisoners do die in Scottish prisons, and technically, he was convicted by law. That he somehow got a bit of a special treatment compared to those other prisoners (many for lesser crimes), there has to be a bit of "you scratch my back wink-wink" between Libya and UK here (probably about Libya's oil and UK's BP). In other words, it's just geopolitical business, like any other that happens in the world everyday. (That's not too hard to believe; the US and many other countries do it all the time.)
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skipthesong
they said he had three months to live. Why not wait until he had three week or three days? that would have been compassionate enough.
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skipthesong
what if he doesn't die? Does he get put back in jail?
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Altria
How do they know he's not faking prostate cancer?
You could fake it pretty easily with a piece of haggis.
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RomeoRamenII
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.
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LIBERTAS
""Convicted" as has been shown many times in the US justice system, doesn't mean he did it. Beyond reasonable doubt? No.
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Nessie
What Jennifer said, minus the proselytizing.
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smithinjapan
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.
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seijichuudo9sha
British Petroleum perverted justice here. Blood for oil, out of Libya.Oil washes off your hands.The other one doesn't.
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spudman
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.
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lunchmeat
Those who are merciful to the cruel will be cruel to the merciful.
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TheQuestion
I wouldnt call dying surrounded by friends and family in your own country where you are treated like a hero being screwed.
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SuperLib
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.
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Soochi
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;
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sfjp330
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.
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sfjp330
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.
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fleetwood77
Well if it reduces petrol prices [£5+ per gallon] here in Scotland I suppose I'll get over him being let out to die
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KallyPygous
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.
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