Thetownend.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/8197370.stm


Has this cunt showed an ounce of remorse to his victims?. I may stand to be mistaken but I think not, not even once.

And so regardless they release him on compassionate grounds....... compassionate grounds.....
What a bunch of wankstains.

What about the compassionate grounds of the families of the victims? This cunt should have been left to rot.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I think he's in a some sort of appeal procedure so probably not.

We all know what silly overly liberal side of the fence I'll be on this and I'm a bit tired so I'll leave you all to be outraged.

I think I might be with you, in the minority, on this one.  Maybe we could have a pint while people shout at us.

the Yanks have gone mental about this decision

I think I am right in saying that it was the sweaties decision, wonder if any of our resident tartan army can give an insight into the feelings of the populous up there

 Read what Jim Swire had to say....

was he one of the victims relatives Reg ?

Yep...campaigned for years for justice.

It's 10 minute's later and you are still online, so don't give that "Oooh, I am tired stuff"

Stupid liberals.

Must say... did he have any compassion for the people he killed? No, he should have rotted in jail.

Cooking my tea whilst popping in and hitting F5 every few mins. I meant too tired to get in a very predictable unmoving debate on the subject.


But on the same note the Scottish justice system aren't terrorist plane bombers so maybe they should act differently.

Don't worry guys you're far from being in a monority of one.There's a huge difference in the reaction
from the UK victims families to those in the US.It was a terrible act,just as the shooting down of the
Iranian Airbus was in the Gulf in early 1988.

In 1994 i read a book by the excellent investigate journalist David Yallop 'To the ends of the earth'
which tells the story of Carlos the Jackal.Yallop covers the whole of the 70's and 80's terrorist
attrocities in Europe and the Middle East.Even then he stated that Iran was behind  Lockerbie.
Dr Jim Swire who lost his daughter Flora,also agrees.

Heard his interview on R4

I'm not on about the U.S. reaction, they after all they are a bunch of self centered cunts and few if any have recognised that those houses in Scotland in a Scottish estate had Scottish people living in them, in which many Scottish people died.

I am on about MY reaction and hopefully the reaction of those who are not influenced by the mass media.

My reaction is: What a bunch of cunt, and if he want's to see some compassionate grounds then I'd like to see a bunch of people say sorry before they kill him with sticks.

Its a very touchy subject...plenty suspect he was set up and took the wrap...if i hadnt commited a crime i wouldnt have any remorse...on the other side of the coin he WAS found guilty and life should mean life in this case with no leniency at all..............lets face it in other countrys he would have been put to death years ago.

Can I join you?
The americans never apologised to the 300 men women and children the USS Vincennes shot down. Maybe muslim pilgrims just aren't worth an apology?

Have you read the trial trancripts and seen the evidence BR?  Fair play if yoy have - o0therwise I would suggest that your knowledge of the case is probably amassed from the mass media too.

there is more to this - he was preaparing an appeal and bearing in mind the evidence that convicted him was pretty flimsy, its in the courts interest to let him out rather than go through a trial where there is a good chance he'll be let off.. then there will be fingers pointed, compensation claims made and all sorts of tricky and expensive questions will start about who actually did do it.  

Better this way: he is officially still guilty and he'll die a rather unpleasant death fairly shortly anyway taking the whole story with him.  Plus it's a compassionate act that you'd never get from any terrorist organisation, or many western governments for that matter, that wins back a little of the moral high ground.    

Great post there.

But I wonder whether there is another reason for the release ? Am hoping we are getting something phenomenal back from the Libyans in return.

Oil contracts for BP etc.

The Official Website of Dr Jim Swire...

http://www.lockerbietruth.com/

I just find it pretty sad that at least some of the victims families still haven't moved on 20 years later.

OK. I must confess, I am quite ignorant to this.

So is he innocent or something?, a scapegoat perhaps?

Thats the problem Red..no one knows.

The Libyans are handing out new oil exploration licences like confetti.  British business musn't lag behind, so can we have a little hush about this unpleasentness please.

like fuck this bloke did it, feel sorry for him, fucking scapegoat who has spent years in prison.

I have a sneaking suspicion that whomever gets locked up for acts of terrorism, unless caught red-handed, probably didn't do it.

Why take the rap then? If he didn't he is obviously covering for the people who did.I have no sympathy if that is the case

I don't think he has "taken the rap" though has he?  I thought he has always protested his innocence.

Yeah, and only dropped his appeal a few days ago.

You don't just get randomly charged and found guilty of something on this level without being involved in it somehow. The  point is though no matter what appeal or whether people think he didn't do it should not come into it,the scottish goverment have let someone they found guilty of a terrible crime free so he can spend his final days with his family.I personally think that is wrong.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
--Mahatma Gandhi

To be honest all the political possibly innocent stuff is a bit immaterial to me, I basically think the opposite of DRS, that as long as he isn't a threat to anybody and is definitely going to die then he should be let out for his last few weeks whatever.

I think there are a lot of different issues in debate here.  There has been a lot of "did he think of the victims and their families" stuff on here.  What is worth noting is that quite a few of the victims families, having spent many years investigating the case, don't believe that this man is guilty.  Now he has had to stop his appeal, they are one step further away from following up their beliefs.  I don't think those families would take much comfort from a man they believe to be innocent dying in a cell while they are denied the opportunity to find out more.

If he is guilty, then we are looking at a debate over what imprisonment is supposed to achieve.  If it is simple revenge, then yes, he should die in prison.  If its protecting the public, then surely a man with terminal cancer poses no threat.  If its rehabilitation, then its too late for that anyway - the man has three months to live.

spot on post

Without examining any element of guilt or, indeed the right of appeal, compare this situation with that of Ronnie Biggs. Did we see people dancing in the streets of East London ? No, because compassion was allowed and the dignity of it was accepted. A massive balls-up in this case, yet I feel there is more to this than meets the eye.

It would be interesting to know whether your common rapist or murderer gets shown the same compassion when he or she has a terminal illness. I fucking hope not. The fact is this man was convicted of the offence and should serve the full time as punishment for that crime. As should all criminals.

Agree with that. I believe rehab of prisoners is very important but AFTER they have served their sentence. Ronnie Biggs didn't even kill anyone but is only allowed out under supervision. Obviously this is a complex case but the fact is he was found guilty.

Sorry DRS - I had to almost laugh out loud at that comment !!

Try telling that to the Birmingham 6 or the Guildford 4 ?  Absolutely nothing to do with either bombings - but coz they were Irish (basically the ONLY reason they were picked up) they were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment !!

In the case of the Guildford 4 the judge actually said he regretted the fact that they were not charged with Treason - as this would have allowed him to sentence them to death !!!

I don't know much about the Lockerbie bombings, but I do know that completely innocent people can be sent down for things - as long as it suits the authorities to get a conviction.....

Of course you have exeptions my comment was a bit naive obviously but my main point stands that they have released what they say is a guilty man.

Like them handing over the murderer of Wpc Yvonne Fletcher for example ?

Im not bothered either way,but I like that its annoyed the Americans. So yay..

Yeah, I feel sure that in about six months to a year, Libya will help the 'war on terror' in some way...but of course a way in which it will look like the events are totally unconnected.  See the film 13 Days (about Cuban Missile Crisis) for an example of how this works (and to watch a good film).  Quid pro quo (sp?)

He was treated like a fucking hero on his return. A fucking hero!!!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8213210.stm

It seems most likely that these blokes were minnows who didnt know all that much about the Libyan terrorist programs of the 1980's. But....

It makes me SICK that we get into bed with these sorts of people for the sake of oil. The sooner the arabs run out of the stuff the better. They can go back to their middle aged ways in the desert and shag camels. The last muslim/arab contribution to world science/culture was numerals 600 years ago. Without oil they would be as poor as the poorest parts of Africa, they make no contribution to anyone apart from oil. Fucking scum.

The Guildford Four were all members of the IRA fact....sorry no sympathy for me,like saying ime a member of the NF and fully supported the fact that they went round kickink the fuck out of anyone black...yes they were innocent of the bombings but the fact they all were IRA  supporters...well you pay yer money and take your choice..my choice is that anyone who supports a party that kills innocent folk deserve locking up...the IRA had lots of chances to tell the police who the real culprits were...they decided to let four of there members take the wrap......i feel sorry for the innocent of Guildford...not them.

Erm, no it's not. Completely untrue, the strongest link any of them had was one admitted (as opposed to "had confession beaten out of him") to involvement in riots in Belfast in the 70s. Which would cover pretty much a sizable chunk of the Irish Catholic population of Belfast of that generation

All quite irrelevant really. The Guildford Four were released on appeal and are deemed innocent. Megrahi, on the other hand, hasn't appealed and remains as a guilty convicted criminal.

Exactly, either Megrahi is guilty and so, as a mass murderer, he does not merit any compassion or he is innocent, and so he should have been freed by a successful appeal, not by compassion.

Four more bodies were driven though Wootten Basett on Thursday and two more British soldiers were killed on the same day fighting, allegedly, to prevent terrorism on the streets of Britain. On the same day, a convicted terrorist gets released on compassionate grounds. What kind of message does that send out?

I wonder though that if instead two-thirds of the victims were Scottish rather than American, the minority Scottish Government would've made the same decision? I suspect not.

I don't think its the numbers as such - there's no way they'd have made the same decision if the Scottish relatives of victims had been as implacably opposed to release as the US relatives were. But all the ones I've heard on radio/seen interviewed in papers etc have been saying he should be released because they don't think he did it. What they seem to want is a full inquiry. Which makes no odds whatever to your main point which I think is in line with what the Scottish relatives groups have been saying, that there's been a terrible fudge gone on here more motivated by considerations of trade/politics than justice

The case of the USS Vincennes was very interesting to read.  Couldn't really believe that the captain of the boat received a Legion of Merit award for excellent performance several years later. 

As a resident Sweatie, the opinion up here is 50/50. Although most of the people against it are going bonkers about the US of As over reaction to it.

At the end of the day who arethe Yanks to go around preaching to everyone about Justice? They are only geared up for revenge, not justice. tHey go around imprisoning people without trial and then torture them. And lets not forget Iran Air flight 655


Anyway,Al Megrahi's conviction was dubious at best, based on lies and dodgy evidence.

One of the best British journalists who writes on all aspects of life in the Middle East, is the
award winning Robert Fisk.This is what he has had to say on this weeks events....

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-for-the-truth-look-to-tehran-and-damascus-ndash-not-tripoli-1775813.html

Good Article but a hell of alot of that is just what he suspects.