[tipoboy]

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has flown out of Britain after being freed from prison to die at home in Libya.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, left Glasgow airport in a chartered jet bound for Tripoli.

He had been driven from HMP Greenock in a police convoy after being released on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

Megrahi was serving a life sentence for murdering 270 people when a Pan Am plane was brought down over the Scottish town in 1988.

But in a move which caused outrage in the United States, Mr MacAskill said Megrahi would now be released early from prison because of his worsening medical condition.

He said Megrahi "now faces justice from a higher power ... he is going to die".

Megrahi left Greenock prison with a police escort and was flown home to Libya, where he will rejoin his family.

In the build-up to his decision, Mr MacAskill came under intense US pressure to keep Megrahi behind bars. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it would be "absolutely wrong" to release Megrahi, and American relatives have been fiercely critical of the reported plans.

In a lengthy statement, Mr MacAskill said Megrahi had shown no compassion to his victims, but added: "That alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days."

The decision will be debated in the Scottish Parliament, which has been recalled to sit on Monday.

[lasto]

And let me say im annoyed by this as well.
He should of served out his full sentence and rotted in jail.
So many lives losts and yet they are easily forgotten.
Who cares if this man has cancer and is dying - he was`nt dying when he took part in blowing up the plane was he ?

This is just another notch for how soft britain is becoming.

[Shelley_c]

Hopefully the cancer has spread. Nursing two of my friends with terminal cancer I know first hand how bad it gets. Fingers crossed he goes through as much pain (which I no doudbt he will) and watch him wither away to nothing.

Personally, the conditions of his release should have been a 24 hour cam feed untill the day he dies.

Let's hope when he goes it's a long and painfull process.

*waits to be quoted*

[tipoboy]

Originally Posted by Shelley_c

Hopefully the cancer has spread. Nursing two of my friends with terminal cancer I know first hand how bad it gets. Fingers crossed he goes through as much pain (which I no doudbt he will) and watch him wither away to nothing.

Personally, the conditions of his release should have been a 24 hour cam feed untill the day he dies.

Let's hope when he goes it's a long and painfull process.

*waits to be quoted*

quoted you are, and agreed with!

[Acers]

Originally Posted by Shelley_c

Hopefully the cancer has spread. Nursing two of my friends with terminal cancer I know first hand how bad it gets. Fingers crossed he goes through as much pain (which I no doudbt he will) and watch him wither away to nothing.

Personally, the conditions of his release should have been a 24 hour cam feed untill the day he dies.

Let's hope when he goes it's a long and painfull process.

*waits to be quoted*

If we are to do all that the terrorists do then there is hardly any difference between them and us.

Compassion is probably the only thing that separates the general good people in the world from those who preach and practice terror.

[Shelley_c]

I'm all for showing compassion, for people who richly deserve that privilege. It's a little like respect, You earn it, not give it freely to anyone that holds a <strong>insert here</strong> or people that just wiped out 270 plus lives.

*screenshots page*

[Acers]

There are plenty of people who think that the verdict was a miscarriage of justice(the grounds that allowed for his second appeal)

Considering there is some doubt about his conviction, and that the man is anyway heading for a painful and traumatic death, its but fair that he be granted his last wish. If he did what he did, he won't enjoy his last days. If he didn't, atleast he got something to cheer about.

[Gio~Logist]

Originally Posted by Acers

If we are to do all that the terrorists do then there is hardly any difference between them and us.

Compassion is probably the only thing that separates the general good people in the world from those who preach and practice terror.

If compassion means releasing a guy responsible of 270 murders, then it must be an every day sign of gratitude to release the guy who just killed his 4 neighbors, or maybe the one who went crazy one day and shot up the school. Hell, i'm sure they all have something wrong with them.

I'm with Shelley on the live feed. And maybe him handcuffed and tied down as a 6 year old takes some batting practice on his head with a plastic bat. Slow and painful

[lasto]

the thing with compassion is - our enemies see it as a weakness.
Do you think they have compassion for us ?
If i was America i would sever all ties with Britiain in disgust over this.
We cant blame Scotland for this either as the average person never had a say on this - it was all done behind closed doors,where only those at the top had a say.
We should bring those who let him go free to Justice as a great crime here has been commited.This man was released really quick compared to other prisoners who have legit grounds for being free.

Lets see if he still alive in 3 months shall we !

[Dean C]

Originally Posted by Acers

If we are to do all that the terrorists do then there is hardly any difference between them and us.

Compassion is probably the only thing that separates the general good people in the world from those who preach and practice terror.

I agree It's amazing how vehemently people feel about this one. What ever happened to respecting other peoples opinions

[lasto]

Originally Posted by Dean C

I agree It's amazing how vehemently people feel about this one. What ever happened to respecting other peoples opinions

what ever happened to respecting other peoples right to Life ??

It amazes me how people always forget the victims......................

[Dean C]

Originally Posted by lasto

what ever happened to respecting other peoples right to Life ??

It amazes me how people always forget the victims......................

Some of the relatives of those who died in the disaster believe the man is innocent. I'm fairly sure they won't have forgotten about the victims. Some of the relatives who believe he is guilty have also voiced their support for his release on compassionate grounds.

I believe that we should show some humanity to people in their final days. That doesn't mean I condone what he may or may not have done either.

The one thing I do find disgusting is regardless of whether he committed the crime or not, I don't like how he was greeted back home as some kind of hero or martyr.

[Oyobiia]

If only he could die 270 times... each one more painfull.

[lasto]

He was found guilty by a court of law - so regardless if he was guilty or not then his lawyers should of provided proof he is innocent.
Scotland sold out and released him in a back hand deal.Is it any wonder the americans are fuming over this - a lot of the passengers where American.

Now lets get on to this compassion lark -

What about all the other prisoners who are serving long sentences - maybe we should release all them

Would you be happy to release Ian Huntley on compassionate grounds if he was supposed to be dying ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soham_murders

While we released a man on compassionate grounds the rest of the world is laughing at how weak we really are.

[Dean C]

Originally Posted by lasto

He was found guilty by a court of law - so regardless if he was guilty or not then his lawyers should of provided proof he is innocent.
Scotland sold out and released him in a back hand deal.Is it any wonder the americans are fuming over this - a lot of the passengers where American.

Now lets get on to this compassion lark -

What about all the other prisoners who are serving long sentences - maybe we should release all them

Would you be happy to release Ian Huntley on compassionate grounds if he was supposed to be dying ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soham_murders

While we released a man on compassionate grounds the rest of the world is laughing at how weak we really are.

Remember these people, are terminally ill and on their last legs. You could see in the photos of Megrahi that he was frail and just being paraded around in Libya for a PR exercise.

This wasn't a back-handed deal. Let me quote:

An application for such a release must be made and must be supported by the Prison authorites together with well documented medical evidence. The crucial point(s) are that medical opinion is that the prognosis is that the prisoner will die within three months and that no amount of paliative care will prevent this.

Since 2000 there have been 30 applications in Scotland for compassionate release. Of these, 7 were refused because the cases did not not meet the necessary criteria. The nature of the offence committed is not part of the criteria

This is Scottish law, and applies to all prisoners. Ian Huntley wouldn't even come into the equation so your argument is irrelevant. But let's play devil's advocate for a second. If he were to fall under Scottish law then of course he should be let out in his final days to die with his family. No matter what inexcusable, despicable crimes these people do, I believe we should be the better humans by showing compassion to people in their final days.