Free terrorist

[texta]

So last week Scotland freed Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the "Lockerbie Bomber" responsible for the deaths of 270 people because he has cancer and is probably going to die within a couple of months.

The USA are outraged and he's been treated like a hero in Libya.

What do you think? Was it right to show some compassion for a dying man or have the Scotland Government gone soft on terrorism?

[Kotche]

Mods please lock this as it has the potential to promote racist discussion.

[Kotche]

In saying that it's an absolute disgrace and an insult to the families to let this man out just because he is terminally ill.

The families and friends of the victims didn't get to say goodbye to their loved ones so why should his?

****ing pathetic.

[Xanafalgue]

One-way ticket to drama.

[Pauly]

while i certainly do not believe in capital punishment, i do believe they should lock these people up for life, regardless of how long they have left to live.

[Vindik8or]

There's serious questions over the veracity of al-Megrahi's conviction and a major appeal was being prepared before the development of his release. The reality is that he probably would not have survived the duration of the appeal that could have seen him released, and I think in many ways this shows compassion and a saving of face for each party concerned.

[Pauly]

well that's a completely different story.

[big_b]

I didnt really have a problem with him being released. It was when he got the heros welcome that really annoyed me.

[sausage]

Gary Moore wrote a awesome song called Murder in the Skies about the Soviets downing that Korean airliner.

Thought it might be pertinent here.

But on topic: nah, they should have fried the prick. Releasing him is a sign of weakness against the terrists.

270 people? You guys are dreaming if you think it's a "compassionate" decision and a "saving face" thing.

The prick killed 270 people... err, people!

Fry that mother fluffer and sprinkle his ashes down a Libyan toilet.

[Vindik8or]

Or did he?

[texta]

Yeah even though he's been found guilty there's certainly some fairly legitimate questions over his conviction. The only evidence linking him to the bombing was the testimony of one man who it was later revealed had seen images of al-Megrahi connected to the bombing prior to giving his testimony (in Australia that would be pretty good grounds to make his evidence inadmissible).

That said, I don't think that those questions should necessarily be a basis for which you'd release someone on compassionate grounds.

As far as justice for the victims go; the Libyan Government paid out $10 million to the families of every person killed to get the UN to drop sanctions that were in place for most of the 90s. So if you want your biblical justice then punishing every man, woman and child who lives in Libya sounds pretty sufficient to me.

[AranchineD]

Releasing him is a sign of weakness against the terrists.

What are you on?

Killing him in the first place would have been a sign of weakness against the terrorists.

And I say it was the right thing to do, if any other prisoner in the same position got the same treatment. Treat them no different to any other criminal, nobody gets special treatment OR punishment.

[Saxby]

Pretty sure that they calculated the accumulated time he spent serving in jail for everyone killed and that it was 30 days per person. What a F***ING disgrace.

[texta]

Pretty sure that they calculated the accumulated time he spent serving in jail for everyone killed and that it was 30 days per person. What a F***ING disgrace.

Let's put this in perspective. By those figures he's been in jail for 8100 days. They've let him go home when he's got less than 60 days left to live. That's an at most extra 0.22 days per victim that he could have been in jail.

The real traversty of justice for the famillies of the victims is tha because he's dying he's dropped his appeal and they'll probably never know if he was actually guilty or if the people actually responsible have been brought to justice.

[Vindik8or]

Why isn't this poll public?

[AranchineD]

It is public!

[Saxby]

Let's put this in perspective. By those figures he's been in jail for 8100 days. They've let him go home when he's got less than 60 days left to live. That's an at most extra 0.22 days per victim that he could have been in jail.

The real traversty of justice for the famillies of the victims is tha because he's dying he's dropped his appeal and they'll probably never know if he was actually guilty or if the people actually responsible have been brought to justice.

I think the real travesty for the families is that he has been welcomed back to Libya as a 'hero', with the bombing becoming a celebration.

[Vindik8or]

Oh my god, you are still toeing that line! It's doubtful that he even did it, now we'll never know. He is welcomed as a hero in Libya because he is! He was head of their intelligence AND he took the fall for the Lockerbie bombing, essentially becoming a political prisoner.

[PrattP]

In saying that it's an absolute disgrace and an insult to the families to let this man out just because he is terminally ill.

The families and friends of the victims didn't get to say goodbye to their loved ones so why should his?

****ing pathetic.

Says everything I wanted to say.

[texta]

The families and friends of the victims didn't get to say goodbye to their loved ones so why should his?Because we're better than him?

[Vindik8or]

Holy shit. When did everyone on the internet become a caller on Alan Jones talkback?

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

Well I didn't know there was possible mitigating circumstances when I voted but they should have killed him just in case.

[Kotche]

Because we're better than him?

Speak for yourself, I post on an internet forum. I'm no better than anyone.