Lockerbie Bomber Freed on Compassionate GroundsFollow

Al-Megrahi's trial and conviction led to a major shift in Libya's relationship with the West.

The Times of London reported Thursday that the private jet of Libya's leader, Moammar Gadhafi, was scheduled to collect al-Megrahi at Glasgow Airport if he was released following MacAskill's announcement.

Gadhafi engineered a rapprochement with his former critics following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He renounced terrorism, dismantled Libya's secret nuclear program, accepted his government's responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the victims' families.

Sorry, I meant where *I'm* coming from.

Nexa

I'm curious. This guy's a associated with radical muslims who like to blow things up right? He's got how many months to live? And they're letting this guy out in public?

Some families of the victims said they believed that Mr Megrahi was probably innocent and demanded an independent investigation into the legal process. The development is also expected to have international ramifications. British and American officials originally suspected that Iran commissioned the attack on the Pan Am flight, using the Palestinian guerrilla group PFLP-GC, in retaliation for the shooting down of an Iranian airliner by the US. Only later were accusations aimed at Libya, and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime has since paid out £1.4m in compensation to the families of each of the victims.

The commission said it was "of the view, based upon our lengthy investigations, the new evidence we have found and other evidence which was not before the court, that the applicant may have suffered a miscarriage of justice".

It said it had identified six grounds where it believed a miscarriage "may have occurred" at the original trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, six years ago.

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was one of those killed, said he had always suspected the verdict was flawed. "I went into that court thinking I was going to see the trial of those who were responsible for the murder of my daughter. I came out thinking he had been framed. I am very afraid we saw steps taken to ensure a politically desired result was obtained.

"Any evidence of perversion of justice should be investigated. Those responsible for any miscarriage of justice should be investigated, and there would have to be a routing and eradication of the underlying ethos that allowed it to happen."

Another member of the families' campaign group, the Rev John Mosey, who lost his daughter Helga, added: "At last an effort is being made to look at the situation and possibly, and I only say possibly, correct things that have gone awry."

Mr Megrahi, in a statement issued through his solicitor, said: "I reiterate today what I have been saying since I was first indicted in 1991: I was not involved in the Lockerbie bombing in any way whatsoever."

The commission questioned the evidence of the main prosecution witness, Tony Gauci, a shopkeeper from Malta. Clothing from Mr Gauci's shop, which he claimed to have sold to Mr Megrahi, was found strewn over Dumfriesshire countryside after the explosion.

In its 800-page report, the commission said evidence not made available to the defence showed that Mr Gauci had been shown a photograph of Mr Megrahi in a magazine linking him to the bombing four days before picking out the Libyan in an ID parade. The report said: "In the commission's view, evidence of Mr Gauci's exposure to the photograph at such close proximity to the parade undermines the reliability of his identification."

The commission found there was no "reasonable basis" for the original court's conclusion that Mr Megrahi had bought the clothing at Mr Gauci's shop on 7 December 1988.

The commission also said it had "serious misgivings" about the credibility of a former police officer, nicknamed "the Golfer", who had claimed to have sensitive information about the case.

If we believe in revenge, we let him the guy rot in jail.

If we believe in justice, we make him serve his sentence, but allow him to die with his loved ones.

I believe in justice. It's sometimes a hard pill to swallow, but it's what separates us from lynch-mobs and capital punishment.

Personally, while I can see it from both sides, I think it's always best to err on the side of compassion.

Perhaps this is one of the resons I'm not in politics.

I'm not nearly familiar enough with this case to have an opinion one way or anther, I guess I'd just caution about compassionate intent.

All doubts of guilt aside, is showing compassion for a man convicted of killing hundreds of others being dispassionate to the loved ones of the victims?