The revelation that the Lockerbie bomber could have another five years to live has prompted renewed criticism over his release.
Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said it proved the medical evidence which Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi’s release was based on was flawed.
The party’s chief at Holyrood was speaking during a visit to Dumfries on Monday [15 March] (...)
The attack ... was aimed at the Scottish Government whose Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill approved the release of al-Megrahi in August last year.
Then, Mr McAskill said the killer had only had three months to live.
But at the weekend it was reported that the bomber, now at home in Libya, is taking a cancer-fighting drug which may prolong his life by five years.
Mr Gray told the Standard: “We have asked some pretty serious questions about the medical evidence and it does now look as if the basis of the medical evidence wasn’t particularly sound.
“I felt the decision to release him was wrong for a whole number of reasons but largely because Kenny MacAskill was required by the Scottish justice system, in considering the application for release, yes to take account of how long al-Megrahi was considered to have to live but he was also required to take account of the severity of the crime and the sentence which had been passed.
“It was the worst crime that anybody had ever been convicted of in Scotland and Al Megrahi had served less than a third of a 27-year sentence.
“So to my mind, guessing how long someone has to live is never going to be an exact science but in my view whether he got that right or as it turns out he got it wrong, nonetheless, those two other factors meant the decision should have been not to release al-Megrahi.”
[From a report in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard, one of the local newspapers serving the area that includes Lockerbie.]
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