Editors Blog
Megrahi: decision time
14 Aug 09
Abandoning of appeal opens way for system to show a humane face
I do not envy Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill as he is faced with having to decide whether to release on compassionate grounds, transfer to jail in Libya, or leave where he is in Greenock Prison, the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdulbaset Ali Mohmet Al-Megrahi.
The strong emotions aroused by the case are compounded by the various strands in issue: the question marks over the conviction, Mr Megrahi's terminal illness as a factor in his possible transfer to prison in Libya, and whether that same illness is sufficiently advanced to justify release on compassionate grounds - if indeed such release should be considered at all given the crime of which he stands convicted.
Regarding the conviction first of all, the ground became a little less complicated today with the announcement that the current appeal against conviction is to be abandoned (or at least that application will be made to the court, which I do not expect it to refuse). Given that no prisoner transfer could take place while proceedings continued, it was arguable that the soundness or otherwise of the conviction should not play a significant part in the decision on this aspect of the case.
No doubt the decision to abandon was a difficult one for Mr Megrahi, given his keenness to clear his name and the length of the investigations and court proceedings that have taken place to bring matters to where they are now. (There are those within government who will be very relieved that no further consideration need be given to the highly sensitive document or documents that it was said to be necessary to keep under wraps. However there will also be regret, in various quarters and for various reasons, that there will be no final decision on whether the guilty verdict was properly arrived at.)
The effect is however, by removing the legal barrier to a transfer to Libya, to hit the ball squarely into Mr MacAskill's court as to whether it should take place.
The decision on compassionate release, meantime, depends on the difficult matter of crystal ball gazing over Mr Megrahi's current life expectancy, release being normally granted if death is expected within three months. The recent case of Ronnie Biggs showed the discretion being sensibly exercised even in relation to someone who had shown no remorse for his acts, given that Biggs was by then incapable of doing much for himself at all. Someone who continues to maintain his innocence should be in no worse position.
What would be regrettable would be if a decision were made at such a late stage that the very journey to Libya might hasten Mr Megrahi's demise. If the balance of medical opinion is that his time is limited but to more than the three months, a transfer now might show the humane face of the Scottish justice system. The British and US Governments have encouraged Libya's recent attempts to rehabilitate itself on the world stage; these attempts might be both acknowledged and further encouraged by agreeing to a transfer while inviting Libya, as a matter of courtesy if not legal obligation, to consult ministers here prior to any final compassionate release.
It is regrettable that so many questions are likely to remain unanswered over the Lockerbie case, but Scotland does have a chance to be seen in a positive light in the final outcome.