Lockerbie bomber Megrahi may be allowed home

Scottish ministers consider releasing Libyan convicted of atrocity on compassionate grounds

Jason Allardyce and Mark Macaskill

The Scottish government is considering whether the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing should be set free.

Ministers are examining the possibility of giving Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi early release on compassionate grounds instead of a prisoner transfer requested by the Libyan government last week.

Under the transfer deal, brokered by London and Tripoli, prisoners cannot leave the country while criminal proceedings are ongoing. (...)

According to senior government sources, Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice secretary, believes an alternative would be to allow him to leave on humanitarian grounds while allowing his appeal to continue, if necessary by his family after he dies. (...)

Alex Salmond is believed to harbour doubts about the strength of the case against Megrahi. Last week the first minister said he wanted to see the prisoner face “due process” through the Scottish courts.

A source close to Salmond said that could involve releasing him “on licence” under the supervision of the Libyan authorities.

The proposal was welcomed by Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the crash and who has since pursued a tireless quest for information about the bombing.

“This is a genuine alternative for him. The dropping of an appeal would be a disaster for those who seek the truth. We want to see evidence old and new exposed in court,” he said. (...)

Robert Black, the Edinburgh law professor who helped to broker Megrahi’s original trial, said: “In my view, that’s the ideal solution.

“The problem up until now is that compassionate release is not granted unless the individual has three months or less to live and cancer specialists are very wary of getting it wrong. I understand that his condition has rapidly deteriorated, so a specialist may well now be of the opinion that he is ill enough to be released.”

However, Bill Aitken, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, warned against giving Megrahi special treatment.

“There has to be a presumption that Megrahi will finish his sentence in Scotland unless it can be proved that there are compelling reasons why not,” he said. “His case must not be handled any differently from anyone else in similar circumstances and there would be great resentment if this was to be the case.

“While there is a very voluble, eloquent and no doubt sincere minority of people who want him released, many of the relatives of the deceased wish him to spend the rest of his life in jail and they are not receiving the same attention.”

Bob Monetti, whose son Rick was among the victims of the bombing, said releasing Megrahi would be an “act of betrayal” by the Scottish government.

“The deal that the Scottish and US authorities agreed was that he would serve out his term in Scotland. He is right where he belongs.

“If they release him back to Libya, that’s a bad joke. The families would feel immensely betrayed. There will be a lot of anger.”

[The above are excerpts from an article in today's edition of The Sunday Times (UK). The full text can be read here.

A further long article in the same newspaper entitled "Focus: To free or not to free Megrahi" can be read here.

The relevant statutory provisions relating to compassionate release (as distinct from prisoner transfer) are to be found in the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 (c 9), section 3 of which provides as follows:

'Power to release prisoners on compassionate grounds

'(1) The [Scottish Ministers] may at any time, if satisfied that there are compassionate grounds justifying the release of a person serving a sentence of imprisonment, release him on licence.

'(2) Before so releasing any long-term prisoner or any life prisoner, the [Scottish Ministers] shall consult the Parole Board unless the circumstances are such as to render consultation impracticable.'

There is a practice guideline -- not a rule of law -- that prisoners who are terminally ill may be released when they have three months or less to live.]