Compassion is an important characteristic of an enlightened society. And the Scottish government’s outrageous decision to release the biggest mass murderer in British legal history — on the grounds of showing compassion — showed no compassion toward the family members of the 270 victims who lost loved ones on Pan Am Flight 103.
It also makes little sense.
When convicted terrorist Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a man who never exhibited an inkling of remorse for his role in the blowing up of Flight 103 over Lockerbie, was freed from a Scottish prison this week, he had served only eight years of a life sentence.
Justice minister Kenny MacAskill claimed that the release showed Scotland’s “humanity,” as al-Megrahi suffers from prostate cancer and was given only months to live.
Apparently, a “life sentence” in Scotland has some kind of mysterious meaning.
Prosecutor Colin Boyd explained at the time of al-Megrahi’s trial that, “Four hundred parents lost a child, 46 parents lost their only child, 65 women were widowed, 11 men lost their wives, 140 lost a parent, seven lost both parents.” Those victims, afforded only a tiny measure of justice to begin with, have been wronged once again.
The Scottish regard for humanity, moreover, was not shared elsewhere. In Tripoli, a crowd of Libyans gathered at al-Megrahi’s arrival to cheer him for a job well done.
President Barack Obama rightfully called the release a “mistake.” We would add that it was shameful and damaging, as well.
