The Lockerbie bomber should have died in jail

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who was convicted in 2001 of murdering 270 innocent people in the Lockerbie bombing, has been released on ‘compassionate grounds’ and has returned to his home country of Libya.

Mr al-Megrahi was convicted in a British court of having been responsible for the worst terrorist atrocity this country has ever seen. Some people question whether that court was right in his decision and many protest that Mr al-Megrahi is innocent; if that is their opinion then it is for them to pursue the matter in the courts and try and have the conviction overturned. Until that happens, al-Megrahi is a guilty man and should have spent the remainder of his life in prison, in the United Kingdom.

In a letter to the Scottish Justice Minister, al-Megrahi says “my continued incarceration is not conducive to my well-being as my life nears its end” and goes on to describe his wish to die with his family, a comfort Mr al-Megrahi never gave to his victims. I believe in a compassionate society but why should we show compassion to a man who showed no compassion to the 270 people he murdered? Some crimes are unforgivable and this is one.

The decision by the Scottish un-Justice Minister to release the Lockerbie Bomber is simply wrong. A measly eight years in jail is nothing compared to the 270 lives that he took, the plane he is on should be turned around and he should be put behind bars where he belongs.