I am not usually a fan of Scottish Nationalism. A party dedicated to breaking up the country I love into constituent and bickering bits seems to lean too much towards Balkanisation.
However, I have to admire the attitude of the Scottish Government’s Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill in refusing to appear before a US Senate Committee to answer questions about the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber.
The Lockerbie bombing – although it involved a
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi should have been released. He showed no compassion to his victims and to be spred the death penalty for taking life is – in my view – sufficient reason to imprison people for the rest of their lives.
Furthermore, there seems to be an opinion that he might be innocent. I cannot claim to know or understand enough about the case to have a view on that.
But it is worth saying that he was tried and convicted by a Scottish court and that really is the end of the matter. It is a Scottish decision and it certainly doesn’t involve the
I wonder if George W. Bush would consent to come and be questioned by the Chilcot Inquiry to account for his actions?
Just a thought.
I've always found it a bizarre thing that the scottish government wanted to annoy its biggest customer in its biggest industry: the tourist industry... I think its pretty reckless but typical of the amateur way the scottish parliament works...
ReplyDeleteFrom the enquiries conducted, its increasingly clear that the release was taken for reasons other than he was dying. He was not.
They used a rarely used bit of scottish law which often results in the death of the prisoner within days afterwards.
And yet none of the doctors said he had 3 months to live, which is a long time even for the release. He had chemo which wouldn't be done if the person was that close to death. A year later, and its unravelling into the excuse that it always was...
So lets ask why he was released then...
Oil contracts? Nah. The Scottish government is political naive to the point of stupid, but not outright corrupt.
Its much insulting. There is definitely an air that the Scottish government decided he was innocent. There's always been questions as to his guilt, and the blame being put on Iran doing the attack as revenge for one of its airliners shot down by the US...
However, the Libyan government admitted it did it, and paid compensation for the act. Of course, this was probably just to buy back into the normal world, but still its hard to say he's innocent when his government say he's not.
But if they do regard him as innocent, they should have declared him as that, and provided some form of proof. Through the courts. Make it official.
Now its just hanging around like a bad smell. And as for government refusing to talk to investigators in other governments. Thats just plain rude.
As a Scot I found the whole thing a shame on any form of independence we gained. Chance to show we are on the world stage? Nah, we're provincial little arseholes!!