None dare call it justice
Following Freddie’s lead, I confess I’m rather baffled by Alex Massie’s sympathetic take on the Lockerbie Bomber’s release. As I understand it, this is a man duly convicted of murdering hundreds of innocent airline passengers. Through his involvement, al-Megrahi forfeited any claims on our compassion above certain minimal standards of humane treatment.
Massie suggests that these proceedings are complicated by several other factors: Scotland’s desire to appear assertive and independent on an international stage; al-Megrahi’s deteriorating health, and the questionable circumstances surrounding his conviction and and government’s investigation of the Lockerbie bombing. But these are hardly reasons to release a convicted killer, particularly when there are other, well-established mechanisms for addressing his concerns.
Perhaps al-Megrahi is merely a “symbolic prisoner,” a convenient scapegoat for Libya’s broader involvement. That other people are implicated in the bombing, however, is emphatically not a reason to release their co-conspirator. Reopening the investigation and keeping al-Megrahi in jail would be an eminently reasonable compromise. As for compassion, some criminals merit it, others do not. Whatever his health, I daresay al-Megrahi falls into the latter category.
There’s also something very callous about using the release of a convicted terrorist to signal Scotland’s independence on the world stage. I’m sympathetic to any country seeking national self-determination, but it hardly speaks well of your homeland when SNP supporters take to twitter to mock an understandably outraged American public.
Update: That said, I think Sonny Bunch’s defense of the death penalty is pretty unpersuasive in this context. The answer to al-Megrahi’s release is not to execute more prisoners, but to ensure that people convicted of life imprisonment actually stay in prison for life (absent some exculpatory evidence, obviously). al-Megrahi’s release is pretty extraordinary; wrongful convictions are unfortunately less so.
The decision to free al-Megrahi is appalling, and the response to his arrival in Libya stomach-turning. I am in complete agreement with Freddie.
The man was doomed to die sometime of something. I am baffled why the particulars of his imminent demise are such that freeing him makes any sense whatsoever.Report
First off, the SNP is one of the more vile political parties in Europe. This is the outfit that put party donation envelopes in funeral homes as a fundraising tactic, if I remember correctly. Doesn’t surprise me they’re behind this.
And I agree with this sentiment completely. Life imprisonment now evidently means life, except when sick? I’d say that I’m more inclined to a less punitive and less aggressive way of fighting crime in general, as I think that (for example) three strikes laws that throw someone in jail for life because they stole some cigarettes serves nobody’s interest. But this is just a mockery of justice. None of the people on that plane flight can go home to their families, and neither can all the nonfamous people convicted of murder who have repented and come clean, neither of which this guy has done. If there were some questions about the prosecution, I agree with Will, reopen the investigation, but I think that going outside the channels of the justice system on a whim is just a bizarre tactic for something like this.
If this is supposed to be some sort of geopolitical statement, I say we dig up Longshanks and let him loose in Scotland again. Ugh.Report
Is it common practice in Scotland or the UK to release prisoners who are terminally ill? Was this a one-off thing or is this normal policy?Report
I believe it’s standard operating procedure to convene a review panel for terminally ill patients sentenced to life in prison. They don’t always recommend release, however.Report
I’d be really interested to see what the numbers are on people who get convicted for “life” actually dying in prison. I’d be willing to bet, on nothing more than a hunch, that the number is below 25%.Report
Well, I think it’s important to distinguish between life sentences with the possibility of parole and life without parole. I’m not opposed to awarding prisoners parole per se; I just think that al-Megrahi’s crime is so heinous that he doesn’t deserve any similar considerations.Report
Massie elaborates on his position in a subsequent post, and I tend to agree with him. Those commentators alleging that the SNP playing politics with this is a particularly unfair accusation. The pathway to Scottish independence, as I understand it, includes a referendum that will take place in the next 2-3 years – and the hope that if a Conservative government wins the next election, the SNP will make the argument the Westminster government is unrepresentative of Scotland as the nation elects painfully few Tory MPs. The SNP certainly did not need this as some sort of signal asserting Scottish independence.
Massie writes,
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I would find this all a lot more persuasive if commentators weren’t arguing that al-Megrahi’s release signals a necessary step towards Scottish assertiveness and independence:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/21/megrahi-lockerbie-scotland-macaskillReport
Even though he is dying,he should not be trusted and he should still be monitored.Report