Andy Bowden
30th August 2009, 23:34
Here's an article I did for Scottish Socialist Youth's blog on Megrahi, given the storm his compassionate release has caused.
The biggest issue - that he should be released because he is innocent, not dying - has been ignored by the media.
http://socialistleftfield.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/megrahi-lockerbies-scapegoat/#comments
SNP Justice Minister Kenny MacKaskill’s decision to free convicted Lockerbie bomber Al Megrahi on the grounds of compassionate release has unleashed a tornado of criticism upon both himself and the devolved administration.
He has been attacked by virtually all other opposition parties, tabloid newspapers, and even the current director of the FBI Robert Mueller who said his decision empowered terrorists.
The decision itself opens a can of worms for Socialists – is it possible for a mass murderer to be rehabilitated? Should a justice system keep a dying man in prison, even when he is almost certainly in no position to re offend?
There are powerful arguments for having compassionate release, to provide convicted criminals with the option to spend the last months of their lives with their family and friends.
It’s an act of humanity which they might not have treated their victims with, but it’s something a civilised state can do for people who are in no position to commit crime again.
In Megrahi’s case however there is a far more powerful justification for his release – he is innocent.
Megrahi has spent 8 years locked away from his family, friends, in a foreign country for a crime he did not commit and has been made a scapegoat for.
As part of his compassionate release he has been forced to drop his appeal, meaning he will die as a convicted mass murderer.
While Megrahi may unfortunately never live to see his name cleared, it is important that those who are still living speak out against his politically motivated conviction; not only for the sake of his and his family’s name, but for the victims of Lockerbie as well.
The biggest issue - that he should be released because he is innocent, not dying - has been ignored by the media.
http://socialistleftfield.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/megrahi-lockerbies-scapegoat/#comments
SNP Justice Minister Kenny MacKaskill’s decision to free convicted Lockerbie bomber Al Megrahi on the grounds of compassionate release has unleashed a tornado of criticism upon both himself and the devolved administration.
He has been attacked by virtually all other opposition parties, tabloid newspapers, and even the current director of the FBI Robert Mueller who said his decision empowered terrorists.
The decision itself opens a can of worms for Socialists – is it possible for a mass murderer to be rehabilitated? Should a justice system keep a dying man in prison, even when he is almost certainly in no position to re offend?
There are powerful arguments for having compassionate release, to provide convicted criminals with the option to spend the last months of their lives with their family and friends.
It’s an act of humanity which they might not have treated their victims with, but it’s something a civilised state can do for people who are in no position to commit crime again.
In Megrahi’s case however there is a far more powerful justification for his release – he is innocent.
Megrahi has spent 8 years locked away from his family, friends, in a foreign country for a crime he did not commit and has been made a scapegoat for.
As part of his compassionate release he has been forced to drop his appeal, meaning he will die as a convicted mass murderer.
While Megrahi may unfortunately never live to see his name cleared, it is important that those who are still living speak out against his politically motivated conviction; not only for the sake of his and his family’s name, but for the victims of Lockerbie as well.