Calls for
an independent public inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing gained momentum
yesterday following the backing of a number of high profile MSPs.
The Herald
revealed yesterday that former MP and father of the House, Tam Dalyell believes
there should be an inquiry into the atrocity to address the otherwise
"indelible stain" on the country's justice system.
Following Sunday's death from cancer
of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of blowing up Pan Am
Flight 103 in 1988, a list of 42 signatories including Nobel Peace Prize winner
Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for an inquiry.
MSPs have also added their voices to
the debate.
Patrick Harvie MSP, co-convener of
the Scottish Green Party, said: "Scotland's reputation for justice is at
stake. The best way to establish the truth is to hold a public inquiry."
Leader of the Scottish LibDems Willie
Rennie MSP said: "If the Megrahi family do not wish to take up an appeal,
the Scottish Government should commit to an independent inquiry.
"The families deserve fair and
comprehensive answers to this long running sore."
Independent MSP Margo MacDonald also
called for an independent inquiry and said Scotland should take the lead.
She said: "It was our justice
system that took the lead on this and convicted him so it should be Scotland
that holds the inquiry. I don't understand why the Scottish Government don't
want to do it."
The Scottish Government has so far
rejected calls for a public inquiry.
A Scottish Government spokesman said:
"The issues now being raised relate to the conviction itself and that must
be a matter for a court of law."
Quite a quote from the Scottish Government:
ReplyDelete"The issues now being raised relate to the conviction itself and that must be a matter for a court of law."
The issues NOW being raised....? The same issues existed when the SCCRC announced those six grounds to suggest a miscarriage of justice just weeks after the SNP took office in 2007. They were a matter for a court of law then too, yet the SNP stood by and allowed Scotland's corrupt justice system to delay the appeal for more than two years and were personally involved in finally killing the appeal stone dead.
Our Justice Minister attempted to keep the findings from being fully published and kept on doing that until he had no choice because someone else published those findings anyway. Our Justice Minister was named in the explanations given as to why Megrahi dropped his appeal and the detail suggests he lied by ensuring Megrahi was led to believe his release would be in jeopardy if he did not drop the appeal.
Kenny MacAskill, even more than Salmond, has taken a very central and personal role in the betrayal of that group, "the people of Scotland" he so loves to speak of with such affection and respect. Why, if these issues, which he actually declared he didn't know anything about, were matters for a court of law did he move heaven and earth to make sure a court of law never got the chance to put them to the test?
And is the reason he and Salmond are keen on the court of law now simply that they have doctored our justice system to ensure a new appeal goes the same route as the last one? For, as we know, the SCCRC is a different body now having been stripped, by MacAskill, of its power to refer cases direct to the high court? Is it because they have changed things to put a judge back in the driving seat who will, undoubtedly, simply rubber stamp the corrupt decisions made by previous judges in this case?
If this was any other case and prominent Government ministers were seen to be personally interfering to such a scandalous extent there would be calls for resignations and even legal proceedings against them personally for serious offences like the abuse of their powers, attempting to pervert the course of justice, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and much more. Yet MacAskill has indulged in all of these things for more than four years without challenge.
If the Scottish Government is now saying these matters are for a court of law why did they not ensure the path to that very court was clear in 2007?
If they intend to push today to persuade Scots to "put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands" then let's start with ensuring that a future Scotland has a clean Justice System and not one that is steeped in lies, corruption and actual criminality thanks to the personal conduct of the political and judicial establishments. Let's start by halting now the insults directed at the intelligence of the people of Scotland in the matter of the Lockerbie Case and by listening to what many of us are saying. We want the truth.
The answer, painful as it is, suggests the Scottish Government, and an SNP one at that, cooperated with Westminster to continue the Lockerbie Lies.
I think it is called "hitting the nail on the head", Jo, bravo.
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