Release Lockerbie bomber Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi or not?

[weltweit]

It is suggested Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi could be released on compassionate grounds, despite that he is the only person to have been convicted of the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie.

al-Megrahi has apparently got terminal prostate cancer and a limited time to live. American relatives and politicians seem bent on him serving out his sentence.

There seem to be three choices..

Keep al-Megrahi in prison, in which he will likely die.
Transfer al-Megrahi to Prison in Libya
Release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

I know there has been another thread on this but here there is a poll ...

What do you think should happen?

 

[gsv]

Release Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi or not?

That's too reductive a bifurcation.

GS(v)

 

[Mation]

ffs

There seem to be three choices..

Keep al-Megrahi in prison, in which he will likely die.
Transfer al-Megrahi to Prison in Libya
Release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

I know there has been another thread on this but here there is a poll ...

What do you think should happen?

That's too reductive a bifurcation.

GS(v)

That's one choice with three options, not three choices, and you cannot bifurcate something into three.





(OP: don't know - release probably)

 

[rubbershoes]

bifurcation.

GS(v)

but there are three choices

at mation's fast fingers

 

[snakeseare]

I'm siding with my fellow Americans. Imprisonment is a punishment, life imprisonment is the most extreme punishment given in the UK. It was not "until you get sick," it was "for the rest of your natural life." Part of the punishment is dying alone and without your family.

Knowing as I do the emphasis put on family in his culture, the publicity of his not being allowed to die with his family may even serve as a deterrent to others.

I'm not intimately familiar with the details of this case, but given the standard of proof required for conviction, I will take as given that he is guilty. The punishment does not seem overly harsh to me.

 

[Mation]

but there are three choices

at mation's fast fingers

I've got the deckchair and popcorn concession's too. Snakeseare's gonna make me a killing

 

[Mation]

*drums fingers*

 

[Sasaferrato]

The man should be released immediately. Irrespective of whether he is guilty or not, and personally I feel that he is not, anyone with a spark of humanity would let him go home to die.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I'm siding with my fellow Americans. Imprisonment is a punishment, life imprisonment is the most extreme punishment given in the UK. It was not "until you get sick," it was "for the rest of your natural life." Part of the punishment is dying alone and without your family.

Knowing as I do the emphasis put on family in his culture, the publicity of his not being allowed to die with his family may even serve as a deterrent to others.

I'm not intimately familiar with the details of this case, but given the standard of proof required for conviction, I will take as given that he is guilty. The punishment does not seem overly harsh to me.

Shut the fuck up then.

 

[mrs quoad]

tbh, my biggest concern is the massively flawed case against him that seems to've been concocted largely to find someone (anyone) guilty. Focusing on the (non-)commutation of the sentence seems to be missing far and away the greatest miscarriage of justice in this whole farrago.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Poll should have been public.

 

[weltweit]

I havent voted yet because I don't know as much about it as I would like.

It does seem to me that he should serve his sentence though, I mean he was the only person convicted of the bombing which killed some 270 people..

 

[DotCommunist]

I havent voted yet because I don't know as much about it as I would like.

It does seem to me that he should serve his sentence though, I mean he was the only person convicted of the bombing which killed some 270 people..

there are serious concerns about the case made against him afaik.

 

[weltweit]

The man should be released immediately. Irrespective of whether he is guilty or not, and personally I feel that he is not, anyone with a spark of humanity would let him go home to die.

Why are you so certain, I mean did this guy not kill hundreds of people?

Poll should have been public.

I like private polls. People can be honest and vote what they think rather than what they think others think they think.

 

[5t3IIa]

tbh, my biggest concern is the massively flawed case against him that seems to've been concocted largely to find someone (anyone) guilty. Focusing on the (non-)commutation of the sentence seems to be missing far and away the greatest miscarriage of justice in this whole farrago.

Me too. I'm not voting becuase I am so wet that I can't even commit myself to an anonymous internet poll

 

[5t3IIa]

I havent voted yet because I don't know as much about it as I would like.

It does seem to me that he should serve his sentence though, I mean he was the only person convicted of the bombing which killed some 270 people..

Doesn't this make you think that compassion should definately be shown for him? He obviosuly didn't plan and execute the whole thing himself so why should he suffer even more for being the only person who was convicted?

 

[weltweit]

Doesn't this make you think that compassion should definately be shown for him? He obviosuly didn't plan and execute the whole thing himself so why should he suffer even more for being the only person who was convicted?

While that is certainly true it does not rule out that he was involved in the bombing and if he were involved in the bombing even though perhaps not the only one involved or the ringleader or mastermind, should he not serve a sentence for that.

Just because we didn't get everyone should we release the one we did get?

 

[5t3IIa]

While that is certainly true it does not rule out that he was involved in the bombing and if he were involved in the bombing even though perhaps not the only one involved or the ringleader or mastermind, should he not serve a sentence for that.

Just because we didn't get everyone should we release the one we did get?

Just because the others got away with it we should punish the one we did get even harder?

Biggs is out.

 

[DotCommunist]

Just because the others got away with it we should punish the one we did get even harder?

Biggs is out.

to die in a hospice. The Demon Headmaster is all heart.

 

[5t3IIa]

to die in a hospice. The Demon Headmaster is all heart.

To die with his family. Compassion.

 

[STFC]

If there has been a miscarriage of justice and he was not in fact guilty of the crime for which he was convicted then that is a separate issue.

If the conviction is safe then he should not be released for any reason.

 

[weltweit]

Just because the others got away with it we should punish the one we did get even harder?

Biggs is out.

Biggs didn't kill hundreds of people.

 

[Roadkill]

Just because the others got away with it we should punish the one we did get even harder?

Biggs is out.

Biggs didn't kill anyone. We wouldn't let Rose West out even if she was hours from death, and we didn't Myra Hindley.

However, Al-Megrahi was partly repsonsible for a truly horrific incident in which 270 people died. I'm aware questions have been raised over his conviction but that's not really the issue unless his conviction is quashed - in which case obviouslky he should be released forthwith.

As things stand I think he should die in prison, although I've no strong opinion whether that should be in Scotland or back in Libya.

 

[Ae589]

The man should be released immediately. Irrespective of whether he is guilty or not, and personally I feel that he is not, anyone with a spark of humanity would let him go home to die.

Perhaps the families of his victims, the inhumane f*cks?

 

[spring-peeper]

I say he should be sent back to Liberia (sp?) and save the UK's tax money.

 

[STFC]

The man should be released immediately. Irrespective of whether he is guilty or not, and personally I feel that he is not, anyone with a spark of humanity would let him go home to die.

Do you seriously believe this?

 

[DRINK?]

I'd ask the families of those killed - if one of them wanted him kept in there I'd go with that, if they were all quite happy to let bygones be bygones then I'd let him go....this assuming his conviction is just which I suspect it is not

 

[Mation]

I say he should be sent back to Liberia (sp?) and save the UK's tax money.

The correct spelling is Lithuania.

 

[weltweit]

A lot of people are suggesting that he may have had a bad conviction.

Surely it is a bit late now when the guy is dying of cancer to suggest his conviction may be bad..

Where were all those voices over the years since 1980 ?

 

[5t3IIa]

The correct spelling is Lithuania.