[This is the headline over a report published today in The Scotsman. It reads as follows:]
The Conservatives have urged the Scottish Government to release the medical evidence on which it based its decision to free the Lockerbie bomber.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released from Greenock prison on compassionate grounds two years ago, after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given three months to live.
Megrahi gave up his appeal against conviction for the murder of 270 people shortly before his release.
The Scottish Government has asked Westminster to set aside data protection rules to allow the release of more details about Megrahi’s abandoned appeal.
However Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, David McLetchie MSP said: “If any information is to be released then it should be all the medical evidence as to why the SNP government set Megrahi free, something it has consistently refused to do.”
[A similar report appears here in The Sun.
Is Mr McLetchie really saying that it is more important to release the medical evidence relating to Megrahi's repatriation than to release the evidence upon which the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission concluded that his conviction might have amounted to a miscarriage of justice? I find it hard to believe that a lawyer could say this. But Mr McLetchie is a Scottish Conservative. Flawed judgement goes with the territory.]
Showing posts sorted by date for query David McLetchie. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query David McLetchie. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Friday 2 December 2011
SNP has no justification for Criminal Cases legislation
[This is the headline over an item published today on the ToryHoose website, which describes itself as providing "fresh thinking for Scottish conservatism". The relevant portion reads as follows:]
The Scottish Government has published the Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill. The bill seeks to resolve the sentencing anomaly which surrounds mandatory life sentences, and to try and force the disclosure of information relative to the Al-Megrahi case. (...)
When commenting on the Scottish Government’s attempts to provide more transparency on the Al-Megrahi case, [Scottish Conservative Justice Spokesman, David McLetchie MSP] said:
"The Scottish Government states that it ‘does not doubt the safety of the conviction of Al-Megrahi’. That being the case it is difficult to see the justification for this legislation. If any information is to be released then it should be all the medical evidence as to why the SNP Government set a mass murderer free, something it has consistently refused to do.”
[When I saw the headline over this story, I naively anticipated Tory recognition that (a) the Bill is unnecessary since all that it will do could equally have been achieved by secondary legislation (a Statutory Instrument) and (b) the Bill's provisions are so circumscribed and restrictive that no information that matters will ever be released by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission under it. Silly me! These are Scottish Tories we are talking about. Expecting them ever to identify the true issue on any Scottish topic of importance is utterly futile. That is why they have become an irrelevance on the Scottish political scene.]
The Scottish Government has published the Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill. The bill seeks to resolve the sentencing anomaly which surrounds mandatory life sentences, and to try and force the disclosure of information relative to the Al-Megrahi case. (...)
When commenting on the Scottish Government’s attempts to provide more transparency on the Al-Megrahi case, [Scottish Conservative Justice Spokesman, David McLetchie MSP] said:
"The Scottish Government states that it ‘does not doubt the safety of the conviction of Al-Megrahi’. That being the case it is difficult to see the justification for this legislation. If any information is to be released then it should be all the medical evidence as to why the SNP Government set a mass murderer free, something it has consistently refused to do.”
[When I saw the headline over this story, I naively anticipated Tory recognition that (a) the Bill is unnecessary since all that it will do could equally have been achieved by secondary legislation (a Statutory Instrument) and (b) the Bill's provisions are so circumscribed and restrictive that no information that matters will ever be released by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission under it. Silly me! These are Scottish Tories we are talking about. Expecting them ever to identify the true issue on any Scottish topic of importance is utterly futile. That is why they have become an irrelevance on the Scottish political scene.]
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