Justice metered with compassion
Keith Parkins | 25.08.2009 15:03 | Analysis | Terror War | World
Unlike it seems most people, I listened live, in full, last week to the speech by the Scottish Justice Minister in which he announced that he was setting free on compassionate grounds the Lockerbie bomber.
It went on for a bit and he seemed to be trying to justify his actions. The one part I did not understand was the refusal to agree to prisoner transfer. He had talked to the Americans and they said there was an agreement the man could not be released. He talked with the British authorities and they said no such agreement existed but would not comment further, nevertheless he acceded to the wishes of the Americans. The speech ended with release on compassionate grounds.
A clear message has been sent out to the Arab and Muslim world, we do not behave like you do. We do not drag innocent people off the street, put a hood over their head, sit them in front of a video camera and hack their head off, then beam the footage around the world via the Internet.
The only downside was that an appeal against conviction had to be withdrawn before release could be considered. There is question over guilt, conviction was on the flimsiest of evidence. Those who doubt this should read a detailed report by Private Eye, written I think by the late Paul Foot, a rare example of an investigative journalist.
We have since seen unprecedented interference in the Scottish legal system, both before and after by the Americans. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama have lost a lot of credibility worldwide by their baying for blood.
An unprecedented interference in the Scottish legal system by the Director of the FBI who has publicly attacked the Scottish Justice Minister. Support has come from a most unlikely source, the former Lord Advocate of Scotland, the chief prosecutor at the Lockerbie trial who has publicly attacked the Director of the FBI and furthermore has thrown down the gauntlet and called upon him to join with him and debate the issue in public.
Releasing a dying man on compassionate ground does not supply succour to terrorists. On the contrary it shows we operate to higher standards than they. No doubt a difficult concept to comprehend for a country that ignores Geneva Conventions and tortures its prisoners.
The level of ignorance of the Americans is appalling. A former senior FBI investigator of the Lockerbie crash has attacked the Scottish Justice Minister for not consulting with the Americans. Had he bothered to check, he would have found that extensive consultation took place, there was also pressure and arm twisting by the Americans.
At the time of the crash, Americans displayed their usual arrogance, they sealed off the area, behaved as though they were in their own country.
Scottish politicians have descended to the gutter and played cheap party politics over the issue. We saw more of this yesterday with the recall of the Scottish Parliament, little more than a glorified town council. We have seen the same gutter politics from David Cameron, leader of her majesty's opposition.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (a Scottish MP) has shown his usual lack of backbone by remaining silent on the matter, leaving it to Peter Mandelson, who in all but name is running the country and to his credit has been prepared to go on record.
What has the Scottish Justice Minister done that has caused such a furore? He has released on compassionate ground a man who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, a man who has a few months left to live. He has released him to allow his fate to be decided by a higher authority.
Lest we forget, the US is in the same league as Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, that is it executes its own citizens.
If we are to talk of mass murderers, should we not be talking of war criminal George W Bush?
Have we already forgotten the mass slaughter of Palestinians by Israelis earlier this year?
Are we to descend to the level of Malaysia where a woman has been dragged out of her home, thrown into prison, to be lashed with a cane for drinking a beer in a hotel bar?
I recall many years ago being at the House of Commons. Outside was rather unpleasant mob calling for the return of the death penalty.
I think it was Gandhi who once said that if we all followed an eye for an eye the world would be full of blind men.
Scots can hold their heads up in the world. They should feel proud of the decision taken in their name by the Scottish Justice Minister, a man who refused to bow to pressure and did what was right.
The Scottish Parliament met on Monday in emergency session. For what purpose other than to allow its members to wallow in the gutter was not clear. The gist of what they had to say seemed to be that the Justice Minister should have played geo-politics with a matter of justice. Whatever his faults may be, he had the courage to do what was right. Shame on those who attacked him for cheap party political reasons, when what they should have done was get out of the gutter and back their Justice Minister for having the courage to take a very difficult decision and unite in their condemnation of the American government for their inference in and attack upon the Scottish justice system.
Some thoughts on compassion and grace:
What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
'I Thirst' by Stephen Cottrell
Why Forgive? by Johann Christoph Arnold
Rumours of Another World by Philip Yancey
It went on for a bit and he seemed to be trying to justify his actions. The one part I did not understand was the refusal to agree to prisoner transfer. He had talked to the Americans and they said there was an agreement the man could not be released. He talked with the British authorities and they said no such agreement existed but would not comment further, nevertheless he acceded to the wishes of the Americans. The speech ended with release on compassionate grounds.
A clear message has been sent out to the Arab and Muslim world, we do not behave like you do. We do not drag innocent people off the street, put a hood over their head, sit them in front of a video camera and hack their head off, then beam the footage around the world via the Internet.
The only downside was that an appeal against conviction had to be withdrawn before release could be considered. There is question over guilt, conviction was on the flimsiest of evidence. Those who doubt this should read a detailed report by Private Eye, written I think by the late Paul Foot, a rare example of an investigative journalist.
We have since seen unprecedented interference in the Scottish legal system, both before and after by the Americans. Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama have lost a lot of credibility worldwide by their baying for blood.
An unprecedented interference in the Scottish legal system by the Director of the FBI who has publicly attacked the Scottish Justice Minister. Support has come from a most unlikely source, the former Lord Advocate of Scotland, the chief prosecutor at the Lockerbie trial who has publicly attacked the Director of the FBI and furthermore has thrown down the gauntlet and called upon him to join with him and debate the issue in public.
Releasing a dying man on compassionate ground does not supply succour to terrorists. On the contrary it shows we operate to higher standards than they. No doubt a difficult concept to comprehend for a country that ignores Geneva Conventions and tortures its prisoners.
The level of ignorance of the Americans is appalling. A former senior FBI investigator of the Lockerbie crash has attacked the Scottish Justice Minister for not consulting with the Americans. Had he bothered to check, he would have found that extensive consultation took place, there was also pressure and arm twisting by the Americans.
At the time of the crash, Americans displayed their usual arrogance, they sealed off the area, behaved as though they were in their own country.
Scottish politicians have descended to the gutter and played cheap party politics over the issue. We saw more of this yesterday with the recall of the Scottish Parliament, little more than a glorified town council. We have seen the same gutter politics from David Cameron, leader of her majesty's opposition.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (a Scottish MP) has shown his usual lack of backbone by remaining silent on the matter, leaving it to Peter Mandelson, who in all but name is running the country and to his credit has been prepared to go on record.
What has the Scottish Justice Minister done that has caused such a furore? He has released on compassionate ground a man who is terminally ill with prostate cancer, a man who has a few months left to live. He has released him to allow his fate to be decided by a higher authority.
Lest we forget, the US is in the same league as Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, that is it executes its own citizens.
If we are to talk of mass murderers, should we not be talking of war criminal George W Bush?
Have we already forgotten the mass slaughter of Palestinians by Israelis earlier this year?
Are we to descend to the level of Malaysia where a woman has been dragged out of her home, thrown into prison, to be lashed with a cane for drinking a beer in a hotel bar?
I recall many years ago being at the House of Commons. Outside was rather unpleasant mob calling for the return of the death penalty.
I think it was Gandhi who once said that if we all followed an eye for an eye the world would be full of blind men.
Scots can hold their heads up in the world. They should feel proud of the decision taken in their name by the Scottish Justice Minister, a man who refused to bow to pressure and did what was right.
The Scottish Parliament met on Monday in emergency session. For what purpose other than to allow its members to wallow in the gutter was not clear. The gist of what they had to say seemed to be that the Justice Minister should have played geo-politics with a matter of justice. Whatever his faults may be, he had the courage to do what was right. Shame on those who attacked him for cheap party political reasons, when what they should have done was get out of the gutter and back their Justice Minister for having the courage to take a very difficult decision and unite in their condemnation of the American government for their inference in and attack upon the Scottish justice system.
Some thoughts on compassion and grace:
What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
'I Thirst' by Stephen Cottrell
Why Forgive? by Johann Christoph Arnold
Rumours of Another World by Philip Yancey
Keith Parkins
Homepage:
http://twitter.com/keithpp
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
Compassion?
25.08.2009 15:28
How compassionate of you, you ignorant Islamophobic fool!
Sue Denim
We are all innocent... apparently
25.08.2009 23:38
The release on compassionate grounds of a man who has always claimed to be innocent closes the matter for the US in a way that is satisfactory. They can continue to be indignant and outraged and ascend to the highest of moral grounds which secures their position against inquiry.
Inquiry is what the US and UK governments do not want. The would not participate in if it happened. They would reject any findings if they were made. The outrage around Al Megrahi allows the whole situation to be viewed, generally, through an uncritical lens.
Libya made four stipulations, when agreeing to hand over the two accused to the Scottish police: no police interview; no other Libyan would be sought; the trial should be before three Scottish judges; no jury. The US, Holland and UK agreed to these conditions. The furore now is essentially nonsense: Al Megrahi was given to Scottish Judges - specifically - under agreement between four countries.
It took from 1988 to 2000 to "investigate". Dr Hans Köchler, one of the UN observers at the trial, expressed serious doubts about the fairness of the proceedings and spoke of a "spectacular miscarriage of justice". The whole trial was, apparently, engineered to make Governments safe from examination. The current outrage continues to make politicians from John Major through to Gordon Brown, Colonel Gadaffi to President Bush (senior) safe from critical examination.
When people leave prison, it is really irrelevant if they were guilty or innocent. Their friends and family celebrate. that is not a matter of "right and wrong" but a matter of fact. The victims of the Lockerbie bombings can be rightly outraged or disgusted or upset by the reception of Al Megrahi in Libya. That does not change human nature. It also does not change the fact that Al Megrahi had a co-defendant who was found innocent. It also does not change the fact that the bombing could not, logistically, have been carried out by a single person.
There is so much wrong with the Lockerbie Conviction that an enquiry should have been held. This latest piece of manufactured outrage is consistent with all the past outrage.
Dr Hans Köchler wrote to Foreign Secretary David Miliband on 21 July 2008 saying:
"As international observer, appointed by the United Nations, at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands I am also concerned about the Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate which has been issued by you in connection with the new Appeal of the convicted Libyan national. Withholding of evidence from the Defence was one of the reasons why the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred Mr. Al-Megrahi’s case back to the High Court of Justiciary. The Appeal cannot go ahead if the Government of the United Kingdom, through the PII certificate issued by you, denies the Defence the right (also guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights) to have access to a document which is in the possession of the Prosecution. How can there be equality of arms in such a situation? How can the independence of the judiciary be upheld if the executive power interferes into the appeal process in such a way?"
The FCO corrected the "error" on its website and wrote to Köchler on 27 August 2008:
"Ultimately, it will be for the Court to decide whether the material should be disclosed, not the Foreign Secretary."
David Milliband
fuck off
26.08.2009 08:13
"A clear message has been sent out to the Arab and Muslim world, we do not behave like you do. We do not drag innocent people off the street, put a hood over their head, sit them in front of a video camera and hack their head off, then beam the footage around the world via the Internet."
WHAT IS IT WITH ALL THESE BLOGGERS/TWITTERS? JUST BECAUSE ANY ONE CAN BE A JOURNALIST DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE A VALID OPINION.
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