Compassion is a trait we should all show to others.
The Libyan man jailed for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has been granted release on compassionate grounds.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, will now return to Libya, despite pressure from the US government to keep him in prison. He has served just eight years of a minimum 27-year sentence.
270 people died when Pan Am flight 103 came down over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.
The decision was announced at lunch time by Scotland’s Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill MSP. Under the devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament he had the final decision on the matter. I was very impressed with his words.
It is terminal, final and irrevocable. He is going to die.
“In Scotland, we are a people who pride ourselves on our humanity.
“It is viewed as a defining characteristic of Scotland and the Scottish people.
“The perpetration of an atrocity and outrage cannot and should not be a basis for losing sight of who we are, the values we seek to uphold, and the faith and beliefs by which we seek to live.
“Mr Al Megrahi did not show his victims any comfort or compassion. They were not allowed to return to the bosom of their families to see out their lives, let alone their dying days. No compassion was shown by him to them.
“But that alone is not a reason for us to deny compassion to him and his family in his final days.
“Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion be available.
“Our beliefs dictate that justice be served, but mercy be shown.
“Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people. No matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated.
“For these reasons – and these reasons alone – it is my decision that Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the Lockerbie bombing, now terminally ill with prostate cancer, be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya to die.”
I agree with this justification of his release and it couldn’t be put any better. It would be cruel to deny this man compassion and we’d be as sinful as him in doing so. Mr MacAskill’s words are very touching and when he says that Scotland prides itself on humanity I’d like to think of Ireland in the same light.
Former Irish Senator Gordon Wilson was a man who will always be remembered for his compassion. His daughter, Marie Wilson, was killed along with 11 others in the 1987 Enniskillen Remembrance Day Bombing by the Provisional IRA.
He came to national and international prominence with an emotional television interview he gave to the BBC the same evening in which he described his last conversation with his daughter, a nurse, as they both lay buried in rubble. He expressed forgiveness to his daughter’s killers and pleaded with Loyalists not to take revenge for her death.
I welcome the fact that Mr. Al-Megrahi has been shown compassion as he only has around a month to live and his health has deteriorated significantly in recent days. No one disagrees with dignity in death however when it comes to prisoners the tables always seem to turn in the wrong direction. Mr. Al-Megrahi is currently on a plane back to Libya.