Release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi
Encyclopedia
The release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from prison on compassionate grounds
was a decision by Scottish
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill
. Megrahi was convicted on 31 January 2001 by a special Scottish Court in the Netherlands
of the bomb attack on Pan Am Flight 103
on 21 December 1988 (the "Lockerbie
bombing"). On 20 August 2009, having served 8½ years of a life sentence, his release was authorised by MacAskill. The decision attracted significant news coverage, engendering widespread celebration in Libya, a largely hostile reaction in the United States and a more equally-divided reaction in Britain.
His prolonged survival, exceeding the approximate three months suggested in August 2009, generated much controversy. He has been released from the hospital and is living at his family’s villa.
was Pan American World Airways
' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London's Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport
. On Wednesday 21 December 1988, the aircraft flying this route—a Boeing 747–121 named Clipper Maid of the Seas—was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Eleven people in Lockerbie
, southern Scotland
, were killed as large sections of the plane fell in and around the town, bringing total fatalities to 270.
After a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation
, Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, a station manager for LAA, were indicted for the bombing in November 1991. Libya refused to hand them over. After UN sanctions prompted negotiations, Libya agreed to bench trial
in the Netherlands before a Scottish court. The United States was given what the then British ambassador, speaking in a personal capacity in August 2009, characterised as a "clear political and diplomatic understanding" that Megrahi would serve his full sentence in Scotland.
At the trial
at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands
, witnesses, two of which were paid millions of dollars apiece for their testimony, were heard. Megrahi was convicted of involvement in the bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment; however, Fhimah had an air-tight alibi and was found not guilty. The trial judges recommended that he should serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole
. One witness later recanted.
on 18 August 2009.
Megrahi had developed prostate cancer
.. which is usually survivable but can be deadly. The Scottish Secretary of Justice at the time, Kenny MacAskill
ordered his release under a 1993 Scottish statute enabling the release from prison of anyone deemed by competent medical authority to have three months or less to live. MacAskill has said repeatedly that he bears sole responsibility for the decision.
In addition to the Scottish government's own medical examinations which were the only ones contributing to the release decision, the Libyan government arranged for extra examinations, which involved, among others, Dr Karol Sikora
of the University of Buckingham
, who examined Megrahi in prison early in July, and requested an "urgent" decision on returning him to Libya because he believed Megrahi had only a very short period of time to live.
was recalled from its summer break to receive a statement from and question MacAskill, for only the third time in its ten year history.
In an opinion poll conducted by the Scottish Daily Mail and published on 27 August 2009, a 51% to 43% majority of Scots opposed the decision, although by a 57% to 35% margin respondents also felt MacAskill should not resign over the matter. A BBC/ICM poll found that 60% of Scots thought the Scottish Government was wrong to release Megrahi, although 56% said MacAskill should not resign. The poll also found that 74% of those polled believed that, "the affair had damaged Scotland's reputation." A Ipsos Mori poll of Scots published on 29 August 2009 showed a narrow plurality of 47% to 40% opposed to MacAskill's decision.
Views representing the faith communities were generally supportive. Rev. Ian Galloway, the convener of the Church of Scotland
's Church and Society Council
, said that "justice is not lost in acting in mercy." Similarly, the Archbishop of Glasgow
, Mario Conti, voiced his personal support for the decision, describing compassion as "one of the principles inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament by which Scotland's government should operate".
Political opponents of the SNP government attacked the decision. Iain Gray
, the Scottish Labour leader, said that "The SNP's handling of this case has let down Scotland. Kenny MacAskill's conduct has damaged the Scottish Justice system and, in turn, Scotland's international reputation." Richard Baker, the Scottish Labour shadow justice minister, said the decision was "an act of unpardonable folly" and called for MacAskill's resignation. Former Scottish Labour First Minister Jack McConnell
said that MacAskill had "damaged Scotland in a way 'that will take years to recover." Writing in the Telegraph, former Labour MP and Scottish Office minister Brian Wilson wrote that the decision "shamed" Scotland, and co-opted an anti-war slogan to sum up his anger: "Not in our name, Mr MacAskill."
However, former Labour MP Tam Dalyell
, who has long believed in Megrahi's innocence, said that MacAskill "had arrived at the right decision on compassionate grounds" and former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish
described FBI director Robert Mueller's attack on the decision as 'out of order' saying it was "an unfair slur on the Scots justice system".
newspaper found that 61% of Britons thought that MacAskill had made the wrong decision, and 45% thought that the release had more to do with oil than Megrahi's terminal illness.
Richard Dalton
, a former British ambassador to Libya, said while he understood public anger about the release, "there are not good reasons why anybody convicted of that crime should be excepted from normal rules which apply for considering release on compassionate grounds."
John Mosey, a priest who lost a daughter on Pan Am Flight 103, expressed his disappointment that halting Megrahi’s appeal before it went to court meant that the public would never hear "this important evidence – the six separate grounds for appeal that the SCCRC
felt were important enough to put forward, that could show that there’s been a miscarriage of justice."
The British Government has so far declined to express an opinion on the decision, but has denied that it gave succour to terrorists, and condemned the scenes at Tripoli airport. Alistair Darling
pointed out that as a question of criminal justice, and thus a devolved matter, it would be inappropriate for London to comment on it. Conservative
leader and future prime minister David Cameron
called the decision "the product of some completely nonsensical thinking,", and "wrong," stating; "I see no justice in affording mercy to someone who showed no mercy to his victims." He wrote to then prime minister Gordon Brown, calling on him to express an opinion.
Local priest Patrick Keegans, who served the Lockerbie community for five and a half years, commented on the general feeling of the community, "There's mixed reactions and mixed views. The majority of people are uncertain but a great number are of the same mind as myself. An innocent man has been convicted and they're happy to see him released."
Martin Cadman, whose son Bill was killed, said "I'm very pleased he has been released on compassionate grounds because I don't think he was the right person to be there anyway. It is just righting a wrong...I think he was innocent and he was not involved. I don't believe he should have been in prison and I'm very pleased he will be back home with his family very soon." Doctor Jim Swire
, whose 23 year-old daughter Flora was killed in the Lockerbie bombing, said "I don't believe for a moment that this man was involved in the way that he was found to have been involved. I feel despondent that The West
and Scotland didn't have the guts to allow this man's second appeal to continue because I am convinced had they done so it would have overturned the verdict against him."
, the English edition of The Daily Telegraph
, and The Economist
condemned Megrahi's release. By contrast, The Scotsman
, The Herald
, The Independent
, and the Scottish edition of the Telegraph called it controversial, but the right decision. Kenneth Roy, a former BBC broadcaster and editor of the Scottish Review, accused the BBC of bias in its reporting of Megrahi's release, arguing that it had overplayed public hostility and understated public support for MacAskill's decision.
told The Daily Telegraph
: "You want to feel sorry for anyone, please feel sorry for me, feel sorry for my poor daughter, her body falling a mile through the air". Very few American relatives offered public support for MacAskill's decision, although in May 2010 a sister of one of the victims expressed her desire to visit and forgive Megrahi, saying "I want to look him in the eye and make sure he knows our pain... God will judge him". She said the decision to release him was "more than we could ever expect from Libya if the tables were turned.". Polling taken the following week found that 82% of Americans opposed the decision, and 10% supported it. A campaign to "Boycott Scotland" emerged on the internet, encouraging Americans to halt tourism and boycott Scottish products.
The decision was called "absolutely wrong" by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and "an outrage" and a "caving in" by Senator Frank Lautenberg
. President Barack Obama
denounced the decision and Attorney General Eric Holder
said that there was "no justification for releasing this convicted terrorist whose actions took the lives of 270 individuals." Senator John Kerry
, the former Democratic Presidential candidate, said that the decision “turn[s] the word ’compassion’ on its head.” FBI director Robert Mueller
, who had been a lead investigator in the 1988 bombing, was "outraged at [the] decision, blithely defended on the grounds of 'compassion'" and called it "as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice" in an open letter to MacAskill. Independent Senator Joe Lieberman
and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin
called for an inquiry into the decision.
The New York Times opined that "for many Americans, his release rekindled the agony and anguish of loss and provoked questions about the notions of compassion and justice used by Scotland to justify its decision." The Chicago Tribune
said that "MacAskill's self-praising paean to his own mercy ... mocked [the] victims" and was "feckless." The Los Angeles Times
said that "MacAskill's blinkered interpretation of 'compassion' took no account of the enormity of Megrahi's crime or his refusal to acknowledge his guilt," and showed "no compassion for relatives of the 270 people killed when the jet exploded over Lockerbie."
claimed however that MacAskill's statement proved that the Scottish authorities did not take care of Megrahi while he was imprisoned.
A letter in support of MacAskill's decision was sent to the Scottish Government on behalf of former South African President Nelson Mandela
.
Editorials in the leading German language newspapers Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
(in Germany) and Die Presse
(in Austria), commended the humanity shown by MacAskill's decision.
According to some Western press, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, had claimed that the release of Megrahi was linked to trade deals between Britain and Libya, but when interviewed by The Herald
shortly after Megrahi's arrival in Libya, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi stated that Megrahi's release was not tied to any oil
deals but was an entirely separate issue. Referring to the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA), he continued, "People should not get angry because we were talking about commerce or oil. We signed an oil deal at the same time. The commerce and politics and deals were all with the PTA. This was one animal and the other was the compassionate release. They are two completely different animals." It was later discovered that Libyan officials had warned the United Kingdom that consequences for the UK-Libya bilateral relationship would be 'dire' were al-Megrahi to die in Scottish prison, including the cessation of all UK commercial activity in Libya.
It was also revealed that Adam Ingram
, who stood down as the UK armed forces minister in 2007, received up to £25,000 a year from Argus Libya UK Limited, described as a firm that "sniffs out" commercial opportunities in the North African country.
In the days following Megrahi's release and return to Libya, speculation began to mount as to the possible involvement of the Westminster Government
in the Scottish Government's decision, particularly after Saif Gaddafi claimed that Megrahi's case had been discussed during business talks with the UK, and after Colonel Gaddafi thanked Gordon Brown
for "encouraging" the release. This prompted Downing Street to confirm that Brown had discussed a possible release with Gaddafi during the G8 summit
in Italy in July 2009, but that a letter sent by Brown to the Libyan leader had stated, “When we met I stressed that, should the Scottish Executive
decide that Megrahi can return to Libya, this should be a purely private, family occasion.”
It was also claimed that Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson
, had met with Saif Gaddafi on at least two occasions at which a possible release had been discussed. Mandelson confirmed this, but said that he had told Gaddafi that any release was entirely a matter for the Scottish Justice Secretary. He went on to describe as "offensive" any suggestions that a release had been linked to a trade deal with Libya.
On 20 August 2009, the United States government issued an official press release condemning the decision of the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi and stated, "Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over Scotland on 21 December 1988. As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland."
"
On 23 August 2009, ex-CIA analyst, Robert Baer
, claimed that the CIA had known throughout that the bombing of Flight 103 had been orchestrated by Iran, and that a secret dossier was to be presented as evidence in Megrahi's final appeal which was to prove this, suggesting that the withdrawal of the appeal to allow release on compassionate grounds was encouraged to prevent this information from being presented in court.
The First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond
, told BBC Radio 4, "I think it was the right decision. I also absolutely know it was for the right reasons."
would be recalled the following Monday so MSPs could hear a statement from the Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, and ask him questions. An earlier call for it to be reconvened had been dismissed. Former First Minister
Jack McConnell
said, "The Scottish Parliament has a responsibility to take action to repair some of the damage done. I believe that the Scottish Parliament should make clear that this decision was not made by the people of Scotland and that it does not have the endorsement of the Scottish people.
The special sitting of the Scottish Parliament
took place on 24 August 2009. The Scottish Justice Minister was strongly criticised by opposition Parties for his decision throughout the session, but maintained he had made the right one, telling the parliament, "It was my decision and my decision alone. I stand by it and I'll live by the consequences." He was supported in this by several members of his own party. He also revealed that the Scottish Government had given a pledge to the US government that the homecoming would be "low key", after having received such assurances from Libya, and that he had taken, "clear advice from the deputy Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police
force – our largest police authority." This claim was denied later.
The Scottish Justice Minister also claimed that sending Megrahi to a hospice
in Scotland, would have created a "travelling circus" with such a high profile patient.
Many MSPs questioned the reasons behind the decision; the Scottish Conservative Party justice spokesman Bill Aitken MSP
stated, "The SNP government has demonstrated a degree of amateurishness which has caused us embarrassment. Scotland's international reputation has taken a real hit in this respect...the UK government doesn't come out of this too well either." He further added that there were inconsistencies between what Lord Mandelson and Colonel Gaddafi's son had said concerning the decision.
On 25 August 2009, Strathclyde Police
told The Times
that “We were asked how many [officers] it would take in our opinion. In terms of guidance we were not asked whether we could do this,” about the possibility of keeping Megrahi in a safe house in Scotland. The police comments apparently contradicted those made by the Justice Minister
. The police later issued a second statement, after being contacted by the Justice Department
stating that there was, “absolutely no difference between the position of Strathclyde Police and the information communicated by the Justice Secretary to Parliament. We informed government that the policing operation required for compassionate release of Mr al-Megrahi in Scotland, and the security implications, would have been highly substantial.” A Scottish government spokesperson later reiterated that cost was not a factor in deciding to send Megrahi back to Libya as they would have borne the cost of any safe house provided in Glasgow.
A full debate on the decision was held in the Scottish Parliament on 2 September, the first full day of the Parliament's return from its summer recess.
On 11 January 2010, it was announced that Scottish MPs were due to question Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill about the release of al-Megrahi. The Scottish Affairs Committee
held the hearing at Westminster
as part of an investigation into communication between the Scottish and British governments; in particular, how such communication worked in the case of the decision to release al-Megrahi. According to Salmond, applicable protocols were followed, and both the US and UK governments were informed prior to the release.
, faced mounting criticism over his silence on the issue, particularly after he took time to send a letter of congratulations to the England Cricket team on their victory in the 2009 Ashes series
while failing to comment on the Megrahi release. On 25 August 2009, he told a press conference at Downing Street
that he was "angry" and "repulsed" by the reception Megrahi had received in Libya. He refused to comment on the Scottish government's decision to release Megrahi but stressed that the UK Government had played "no role" in the matter.
Documents released in September showed that Jack Straw
, the justice secretary did initially agree with the Scottish Executive that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi should be excluded from a prisoner transfer agreement with the Libyans. Then three months later, Straw decided that such an exclusion was not worth the risk of “damaging our wide-ranging and beneficial relationship with Libya.”
A letter dated 19 December 2007 stated that the decision to include Megrahi in the scope of the agreement reflected the “overwhelming interests” of the UK at a “critical stage” in the “wider negotiations with the Libyans”.
In a subsequent letter to Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister, in February 2008, Straw wrote: “You ask what I meant by ‘national interests’. Developing a strong relationship with Libya … is good for the UK.”
may have been involved in lobbying for the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond wrote to Senator Kerry saying: "I can say unequivocally that the Scottish Government has never, at any point, received any representations from BP in relation to AI-Megrahi. That is to say we had no submissions or lobbying of any kind from BP, either oral or written, and, to my knowledge, the subject of AIMegrahi was never raised by any BP representative to any Scottish Government Minister. That includes the Justice Minister to whom it fell to make the decisions on prisoner transfer and compassionate release on a quasi-judicial basis. Where BP has admitted that it played a role is in encouraging the UK Government to conclude a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) with the Libyan Government. I must make clear that the Scottish Government strongly opposed the PTA and the memorandum that led to it was agreed without our knowledge and against our wishes."
The undiplomatic criticism of Scotland's government rather than the UK government occurred despite the US London Embassy's informing Washington that “the UK Government has gotten everything – a chance to stick it to Salmond’s Scottish National Party (SNP) and good relations with Libya” while Scotland got “nothing”.
A Scottish university professor of government writing in The Herald newspaper claimed this vindicated the Scottish government as being the only party involved that had "behaved impeccably".
, a Scottish National Party
(SNP) supporter said that the decision had been mentioned by very few voters during the election campaign. Subsequently MacAskill won election to a redrawn constituency of Edinburgh Eastern
in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election
. Despite notionally facing a deficit of 550 votes, MacAskill won by over 2000 votes., while his party, in a surprise landslide, increased from 47 seats to win 69 out of a possible 129 seats to become Scotland's first majority government, and the only majority government in the United Kingdom at that time. Party leader Alex Salmond
who had rebuffed demands from US senators to travel to America to explain the decision to a US Senate committee, was re-elected with an increased majority to his Aberdeenshire East constituency, to remain as First Minister for a further five years.
The Labour Party
, who repeatedly attacked the SNP on the Megrahi release in the run-up to the election, despite being implicated by wikileaks and the subsequent enquiry in helping the Libyans use the Scottish legal system to obtain Megrahi's release, performed less well in the Scottish election, falling from 46 to 37 seats.
Compassionate release
Compassionate release is a legal system that grants inmates early release from prison sentences on special grounds such as terminal illness or a child in the community with an urgent need for his or her incarcerated guardian...
was a decision by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill
Kenny MacAskill
Kenneth "Kenny" Wright MacAskill is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern, formerly Edinburgh East and Musselburgh since 2007...
. Megrahi was convicted on 31 January 2001 by a special Scottish Court in the Netherlands
Scottish Court in the Netherlands
The Scottish court in the Netherlands was the special High Court of Justiciary set up under Scots law in a former United States Air Force base called Camp Zeist in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, for the trial of two Libyans charged with 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing of Pan Am...
of the bomb attack on Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
on 21 December 1988 (the "Lockerbie
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
bombing"). On 20 August 2009, having served 8½ years of a life sentence, his release was authorised by MacAskill. The decision attracted significant news coverage, engendering widespread celebration in Libya, a largely hostile reaction in the United States and a more equally-divided reaction in Britain.
His prolonged survival, exceeding the approximate three months suggested in August 2009, generated much controversy. He has been released from the hospital and is living at his family’s villa.
Background
Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
was Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London's Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
. On Wednesday 21 December 1988, the aircraft flying this route—a Boeing 747–121 named Clipper Maid of the Seas—was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Eleven people in Lockerbie
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
, southern Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, were killed as large sections of the plane fell in and around the town, bringing total fatalities to 270.
After a three-year joint investigation by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for the council area of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.The police force was formed in 1948 as an amalgamation of the police forces of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, and preceded the creation of...
and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, a station manager for LAA, were indicted for the bombing in November 1991. Libya refused to hand them over. After UN sanctions prompted negotiations, Libya agreed to bench trial
Bench trial
A bench trial is a trial held before a judge sitting without a jury. The term is chiefly used in common law jurisdictions to describe exceptions from jury trial, as most other legal systems do not use juries to any great extent....
in the Netherlands before a Scottish court. The United States was given what the then British ambassador, speaking in a personal capacity in August 2009, characterised as a "clear political and diplomatic understanding" that Megrahi would serve his full sentence in Scotland.
At the trial
Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988...
at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands
Scottish Court in the Netherlands
The Scottish court in the Netherlands was the special High Court of Justiciary set up under Scots law in a former United States Air Force base called Camp Zeist in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, for the trial of two Libyans charged with 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing of Pan Am...
, witnesses, two of which were paid millions of dollars apiece for their testimony, were heard. Megrahi was convicted of involvement in the bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment; however, Fhimah had an air-tight alibi and was found not guilty. The trial judges recommended that he should serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
. One witness later recanted.
Release application and decision to release
On 24 July 2009, Al Megrahi's legal team made a request for him to be released from prison on compassionate grounds. Although it was not a precondition for compassionate release, his defence counsel lodged a request to abandon his second appeal on 12 August 2009, shortly after his private meeting with the Justice Secretary in Greenock jail on 4 August 2009. The abandonment of Megrahi's appeal was accepted by the High Court of JusticiaryHigh Court of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court of Scotland.The High Court is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal. As a court of first instance, the High Court sits mainly in Parliament House, or in the former Sheriff Court building, in Edinburgh, but also sits from time...
on 18 August 2009.
Megrahi had developed prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.. which is usually survivable but can be deadly. The Scottish Secretary of Justice at the time, Kenny MacAskill
Kenny MacAskill
Kenneth "Kenny" Wright MacAskill is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern, formerly Edinburgh East and Musselburgh since 2007...
ordered his release under a 1993 Scottish statute enabling the release from prison of anyone deemed by competent medical authority to have three months or less to live. MacAskill has said repeatedly that he bears sole responsibility for the decision.
In addition to the Scottish government's own medical examinations which were the only ones contributing to the release decision, the Libyan government arranged for extra examinations, which involved, among others, Dr Karol Sikora
Karol Sikora
Dr Karol Sikora is a controversial and outspoken British physician specialising in oncology. He is currently Medical Director of CancerPartnersUK and dean of the University of Buckingham's medical school.-Early life:...
of the University of Buckingham
University of Buckingham
The University of Buckingham is an independent, non-sectarian, research and teaching university located in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Great Ouse. It was originally founded as Buckingham University College in the 1970s and received its Royal Charter from the...
, who examined Megrahi in prison early in July, and requested an "urgent" decision on returning him to Libya because he believed Megrahi had only a very short period of time to live.
Scottish reaction
The release divided opinions across Scotland and the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
was recalled from its summer break to receive a statement from and question MacAskill, for only the third time in its ten year history.
In an opinion poll conducted by the Scottish Daily Mail and published on 27 August 2009, a 51% to 43% majority of Scots opposed the decision, although by a 57% to 35% margin respondents also felt MacAskill should not resign over the matter. A BBC/ICM poll found that 60% of Scots thought the Scottish Government was wrong to release Megrahi, although 56% said MacAskill should not resign. The poll also found that 74% of those polled believed that, "the affair had damaged Scotland's reputation." A Ipsos Mori poll of Scots published on 29 August 2009 showed a narrow plurality of 47% to 40% opposed to MacAskill's decision.
Views representing the faith communities were generally supportive. Rev. Ian Galloway, the convener of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
's Church and Society Council
Church and Society Council
The Church and Society Council is an agency of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is tasked with facilitating the Church's engagement with, and comment upon, national, political and social issues.The Council's remit, is to do this by:...
, said that "justice is not lost in acting in mercy." Similarly, the Archbishop of Glasgow
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow
The Archdiocese of Glasgow is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Glasgow first became an archbishopric in 1492, eventually securing the dioceses of Galloway, Argyll and the Isles as suffragans....
, Mario Conti, voiced his personal support for the decision, describing compassion as "one of the principles inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament by which Scotland's government should operate".
Political opponents of the SNP government attacked the decision. Iain Gray
Iain Gray
Iain Gray is a Scottish politician and the Leader of Scottish Labour Party Opposition in the Scottish Parliament. Gray was elected as the Member of the Scottish Parliament for the East Lothian constituency in 2007 having previously represented Edinburgh Pentlands from 1999 to 2003.-Background and...
, the Scottish Labour leader, said that "The SNP's handling of this case has let down Scotland. Kenny MacAskill's conduct has damaged the Scottish Justice system and, in turn, Scotland's international reputation." Richard Baker, the Scottish Labour shadow justice minister, said the decision was "an act of unpardonable folly" and called for MacAskill's resignation. Former Scottish Labour First Minister Jack McConnell
Jack McConnell
Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale is a British Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He was third First Minister of Scotland from 2001 to 2007, making him the longest serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament...
said that MacAskill had "damaged Scotland in a way 'that will take years to recover." Writing in the Telegraph, former Labour MP and Scottish Office minister Brian Wilson wrote that the decision "shamed" Scotland, and co-opted an anti-war slogan to sum up his anger: "Not in our name, Mr MacAskill."
However, former Labour MP Tam Dalyell
Tam Dalyell
Sir Thomas Dalyell Loch, 11th Baronet , known as Tam Dalyell, is a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005, first for West Lothian and then for Linlithgow.-Early life:...
, who has long believed in Megrahi's innocence, said that MacAskill "had arrived at the right decision on compassionate grounds" and former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish
Henry McLeish
Henry Baird McLeish is a Scottish Labour Party politician, author and academic. Formerly a professional association football player, McLeish was the Member of Parliament for Central Fife from 1987 to 2001 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Fife from 1999 to 2003, during which...
described FBI director Robert Mueller's attack on the decision as 'out of order' saying it was "an unfair slur on the Scots justice system".
UK reaction
A poll commissioned by The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper found that 61% of Britons thought that MacAskill had made the wrong decision, and 45% thought that the release had more to do with oil than Megrahi's terminal illness.
Richard Dalton
Richard Dalton (diplomat)
Sir Richard John Dalton is a senior former diplomat who was knighted in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List. Dalton retired from HM Diplomatic Service in 2006.-Diplomatic career:...
, a former British ambassador to Libya, said while he understood public anger about the release, "there are not good reasons why anybody convicted of that crime should be excepted from normal rules which apply for considering release on compassionate grounds."
John Mosey, a priest who lost a daughter on Pan Am Flight 103, expressed his disappointment that halting Megrahi’s appeal before it went to court meant that the public would never hear "this important evidence – the six separate grounds for appeal that the SCCRC
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is a non-departmental public body in Scotland, established by the Criminal Procedure Act 1995 ....
felt were important enough to put forward, that could show that there’s been a miscarriage of justice."
The British Government has so far declined to express an opinion on the decision, but has denied that it gave succour to terrorists, and condemned the scenes at Tripoli airport. Alistair Darling
Alistair Darling
Alistair Maclean Darling is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament since 1987, currently for Edinburgh South West. He served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010...
pointed out that as a question of criminal justice, and thus a devolved matter, it would be inappropriate for London to comment on it. Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader and future prime minister David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
called the decision "the product of some completely nonsensical thinking,", and "wrong," stating; "I see no justice in affording mercy to someone who showed no mercy to his victims." He wrote to then prime minister Gordon Brown, calling on him to express an opinion.
Local priest Patrick Keegans, who served the Lockerbie community for five and a half years, commented on the general feeling of the community, "There's mixed reactions and mixed views. The majority of people are uncertain but a great number are of the same mind as myself. An innocent man has been convicted and they're happy to see him released."
Martin Cadman, whose son Bill was killed, said "I'm very pleased he has been released on compassionate grounds because I don't think he was the right person to be there anyway. It is just righting a wrong...I think he was innocent and he was not involved. I don't believe he should have been in prison and I'm very pleased he will be back home with his family very soon." Doctor Jim Swire
Jim Swire
James Swire is an English doctor best known for his involvement in the aftermath of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, in which his daughter Flora was killed.-Early life and career:...
, whose 23 year-old daughter Flora was killed in the Lockerbie bombing, said "I don't believe for a moment that this man was involved in the way that he was found to have been involved. I feel despondent that The West
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
and Scotland didn't have the guts to allow this man's second appeal to continue because I am convinced had they done so it would have overturned the verdict against him."
British media reaction
The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, the English edition of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, and The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
condemned Megrahi's release. By contrast, The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, and the Scottish edition of the Telegraph called it controversial, but the right decision. Kenneth Roy, a former BBC broadcaster and editor of the Scottish Review, accused the BBC of bias in its reporting of Megrahi's release, arguing that it had overplayed public hostility and understated public support for MacAskill's decision.
U.S. reaction
In the United States, where 190 of the 270 Lockerbie victims came from, the decision was generally greeted with hostility. Most families of the victims were "outraged and dismayed" by the decision, calling it "despicable," "ludicrous," "appalling," "heartbreaking," an "absolutely horrible decision," and "an absolutely disgusting disgrace." Susan CohenDaniel Cohen (children's writer)
Daniel Edward Cohen is an American non-fiction writer who has produced over one-hundred books, mainly for young audiences.-Biography:...
told The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
: "You want to feel sorry for anyone, please feel sorry for me, feel sorry for my poor daughter, her body falling a mile through the air". Very few American relatives offered public support for MacAskill's decision, although in May 2010 a sister of one of the victims expressed her desire to visit and forgive Megrahi, saying "I want to look him in the eye and make sure he knows our pain... God will judge him". She said the decision to release him was "more than we could ever expect from Libya if the tables were turned.". Polling taken the following week found that 82% of Americans opposed the decision, and 10% supported it. A campaign to "Boycott Scotland" emerged on the internet, encouraging Americans to halt tourism and boycott Scottish products.
The decision was called "absolutely wrong" by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and "an outrage" and a "caving in" by Senator Frank Lautenberg
Frank Lautenberg
Frank Raleigh Lautenberg is the senior United States Senator from New Jersey and a member of the Democratic Party. Previously, he was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automatic Data Processing, Inc.-Early life, career, and family:...
. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
denounced the decision and Attorney General Eric Holder
Eric Holder
Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position, serving under President Barack Obama....
said that there was "no justification for releasing this convicted terrorist whose actions took the lives of 270 individuals." Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, the former Democratic Presidential candidate, said that the decision “turn[s] the word ’compassion’ on its head.” FBI director Robert Mueller
Robert Mueller
Robert Swan Mueller III is the 6th and current Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation .-Early life:...
, who had been a lead investigator in the 1988 bombing, was "outraged at [the] decision, blithely defended on the grounds of 'compassion'" and called it "as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice" in an open letter to MacAskill. Independent Senator Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin
Ben Cardin
Benjamin Louis "Ben" Cardin is the junior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the Senate, Cardin was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 1987 to 2007.Cardin was elected to succeed Paul Sarbanes in...
called for an inquiry into the decision.
The New York Times opined that "for many Americans, his release rekindled the agony and anguish of loss and provoked questions about the notions of compassion and justice used by Scotland to justify its decision." The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
said that "MacAskill's self-praising paean to his own mercy ... mocked [the] victims" and was "feckless." The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said that "MacAskill's blinkered interpretation of 'compassion' took no account of the enormity of Megrahi's crime or his refusal to acknowledge his guilt," and showed "no compassion for relatives of the 270 people killed when the jet exploded over Lockerbie."
Other reactions
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said that MacAskill was "a great man". Reiterating his belief in Megrahi's innocence, he added that the Justice Secretary had "made the right decision" and that "history will prove this". The Libyan English language newspaper Tripoli PostTripoli Post
Tripoli Post is a daily English language newspaper in Libya. The paper was started in 1999 and the head office is in the nation's capital in Tripoli.-External links:*...
claimed however that MacAskill's statement proved that the Scottish authorities did not take care of Megrahi while he was imprisoned.
A letter in support of MacAskill's decision was sent to the Scottish Government on behalf of former South African President Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
.
Editorials in the leading German language newspapers Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
(in Germany) and Die Presse
Die Presse
Die Presse is an Austrian daily newspaper based in Vienna. It was founded in 1946 by World War II resistance fighter Ernst Molden and stands in tradition of the Viennese newspapers "Die Presse" and "Neue Freie Presse" . The paper covers general news topics...
(in Austria), commended the humanity shown by MacAskill's decision.
Aftermath – claims and counterclaims
Immediately following Megrahi's release there were claims and counterclaims concerning alleged commercial deals which had been struck in order to effect the release.According to some Western press, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, had claimed that the release of Megrahi was linked to trade deals between Britain and Libya, but when interviewed by The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
shortly after Megrahi's arrival in Libya, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi stated that Megrahi's release was not tied to any oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
deals but was an entirely separate issue. Referring to the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA), he continued, "People should not get angry because we were talking about commerce or oil. We signed an oil deal at the same time. The commerce and politics and deals were all with the PTA. This was one animal and the other was the compassionate release. They are two completely different animals." It was later discovered that Libyan officials had warned the United Kingdom that consequences for the UK-Libya bilateral relationship would be 'dire' were al-Megrahi to die in Scottish prison, including the cessation of all UK commercial activity in Libya.
It was also revealed that Adam Ingram
Adam Ingram (Labour politician)
Adam Paterson Ingram is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow from 1987 to 2010.-Early life:...
, who stood down as the UK armed forces minister in 2007, received up to £25,000 a year from Argus Libya UK Limited, described as a firm that "sniffs out" commercial opportunities in the North African country.
In the days following Megrahi's release and return to Libya, speculation began to mount as to the possible involvement of the Westminster Government
Government of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Ministers...
in the Scottish Government's decision, particularly after Saif Gaddafi claimed that Megrahi's case had been discussed during business talks with the UK, and after Colonel Gaddafi thanked Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
for "encouraging" the release. This prompted Downing Street to confirm that Brown had discussed a possible release with Gaddafi during the G8 summit
35th G8 summit
The 35th G8 summit took place in the city of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, on July 8–10, 2009. It was moved from the Sardinian seaside city of La Maddalena as part of an attempt to redistribute disaster funds after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.....
in Italy in July 2009, but that a letter sent by Brown to the Libyan leader had stated, “When we met I stressed that, should the Scottish Executive
Scottish Executive
The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
decide that Megrahi can return to Libya, this should be a purely private, family occasion.”
It was also claimed that Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
, had met with Saif Gaddafi on at least two occasions at which a possible release had been discussed. Mandelson confirmed this, but said that he had told Gaddafi that any release was entirely a matter for the Scottish Justice Secretary. He went on to describe as "offensive" any suggestions that a release had been linked to a trade deal with Libya.
On 20 August 2009, the United States government issued an official press release condemning the decision of the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi and stated, "Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over Scotland on 21 December 1988. As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland."
"
On 23 August 2009, ex-CIA analyst, Robert Baer
Robert Baer
Robert "Bob" Booker Baer is an American author and a former CIA case officer assigned to the Middle East. He is TIME.com's intelligence columnist and has contributed to Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Baer is a frequent commentator and author about issues related to...
, claimed that the CIA had known throughout that the bombing of Flight 103 had been orchestrated by Iran, and that a secret dossier was to be presented as evidence in Megrahi's final appeal which was to prove this, suggesting that the withdrawal of the appeal to allow release on compassionate grounds was encouraged to prevent this information from being presented in court.
The First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
, told BBC Radio 4, "I think it was the right decision. I also absolutely know it was for the right reasons."
Scottish Parliament
On 20 August 2009, it was announced that the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
would be recalled the following Monday so MSPs could hear a statement from the Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, and ask him questions. An earlier call for it to be reconvened had been dismissed. Former First Minister
First Minister of Scotland
The First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...
Jack McConnell
Jack McConnell
Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale is a British Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He was third First Minister of Scotland from 2001 to 2007, making him the longest serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament...
said, "The Scottish Parliament has a responsibility to take action to repair some of the damage done. I believe that the Scottish Parliament should make clear that this decision was not made by the people of Scotland and that it does not have the endorsement of the Scottish people.
The special sitting of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
took place on 24 August 2009. The Scottish Justice Minister was strongly criticised by opposition Parties for his decision throughout the session, but maintained he had made the right one, telling the parliament, "It was my decision and my decision alone. I stand by it and I'll live by the consequences." He was supported in this by several members of his own party. He also revealed that the Scottish Government had given a pledge to the US government that the homecoming would be "low key", after having received such assurances from Libya, and that he had taken, "clear advice from the deputy Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police is the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West...
force – our largest police authority." This claim was denied later.
The Scottish Justice Minister also claimed that sending Megrahi to a hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
in Scotland, would have created a "travelling circus" with such a high profile patient.
Many MSPs questioned the reasons behind the decision; the Scottish Conservative Party justice spokesman Bill Aitken MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
stated, "The SNP government has demonstrated a degree of amateurishness which has caused us embarrassment. Scotland's international reputation has taken a real hit in this respect...the UK government doesn't come out of this too well either." He further added that there were inconsistencies between what Lord Mandelson and Colonel Gaddafi's son had said concerning the decision.
On 25 August 2009, Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police is the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West...
told The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
that “We were asked how many [officers] it would take in our opinion. In terms of guidance we were not asked whether we could do this,” about the possibility of keeping Megrahi in a safe house in Scotland. The police comments apparently contradicted those made by the Justice Minister
Justice Minister
A justice ministry is a ministry or other government agency charged with justice. The ministry is often headed by a minister for justice or secretary of justice or secretary for justice; sometimes the head of a department of justice is entitled attorney general.Specific duties may relate to...
. The police later issued a second statement, after being contacted by the Justice Department
Justice and Communities Directorate
The Scottish Government Justice and Communities Directorates were a group of Directorates within the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is Kenny MacAskill, and he has responsibility for criminal justice, police, fire and rescue, courts and civil law in Scotland...
stating that there was, “absolutely no difference between the position of Strathclyde Police and the information communicated by the Justice Secretary to Parliament. We informed government that the policing operation required for compassionate release of Mr al-Megrahi in Scotland, and the security implications, would have been highly substantial.” A Scottish government spokesperson later reiterated that cost was not a factor in deciding to send Megrahi back to Libya as they would have borne the cost of any safe house provided in Glasgow.
A full debate on the decision was held in the Scottish Parliament on 2 September, the first full day of the Parliament's return from its summer recess.
On 11 January 2010, it was announced that Scottish MPs were due to question Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill about the release of al-Megrahi. The Scottish Affairs Committee
Scottish Affairs Committee
The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Scotland Office , and relations with the Scottish Parliament...
held the hearing at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
as part of an investigation into communication between the Scottish and British governments; in particular, how such communication worked in the case of the decision to release al-Megrahi. According to Salmond, applicable protocols were followed, and both the US and UK governments were informed prior to the release.
UK Government
The then British Prime Minister, Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, faced mounting criticism over his silence on the issue, particularly after he took time to send a letter of congratulations to the England Cricket team on their victory in the 2009 Ashes series
2009 Ashes series
The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played five Tests, with England winning the series 2–1...
while failing to comment on the Megrahi release. On 25 August 2009, he told a press conference at Downing Street
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
that he was "angry" and "repulsed" by the reception Megrahi had received in Libya. He refused to comment on the Scottish government's decision to release Megrahi but stressed that the UK Government had played "no role" in the matter.
Documents released in September showed that Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
, the justice secretary did initially agree with the Scottish Executive that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi should be excluded from a prisoner transfer agreement with the Libyans. Then three months later, Straw decided that such an exclusion was not worth the risk of “damaging our wide-ranging and beneficial relationship with Libya.”
A letter dated 19 December 2007 stated that the decision to include Megrahi in the scope of the agreement reflected the “overwhelming interests” of the UK at a “critical stage” in the “wider negotiations with the Libyans”.
In a subsequent letter to Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister, in February 2008, Straw wrote: “You ask what I meant by ‘national interests’. Developing a strong relationship with Libya … is good for the UK.”
Allegations of BP lobbying
In July 2010, in response to suggestions that BPBP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
may have been involved in lobbying for the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond wrote to Senator Kerry saying: "I can say unequivocally that the Scottish Government has never, at any point, received any representations from BP in relation to AI-Megrahi. That is to say we had no submissions or lobbying of any kind from BP, either oral or written, and, to my knowledge, the subject of AIMegrahi was never raised by any BP representative to any Scottish Government Minister. That includes the Justice Minister to whom it fell to make the decisions on prisoner transfer and compassionate release on a quasi-judicial basis. Where BP has admitted that it played a role is in encouraging the UK Government to conclude a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) with the Libyan Government. I must make clear that the Scottish Government strongly opposed the PTA and the memorandum that led to it was agreed without our knowledge and against our wishes."
Later Revelations
In December 2010 when wikileaks released a number of US diplomatic documents, a different perspective emerged. The US response to the release was shown to be two-pronged; prior to the release when US commercial interests were at risk, the US was "maintaining a low profile in opposing Megrahi’s release for fear of provoking a Libyan reaction" but afterwards "strongly condemning the release to appease understandably distraught relatives and playing to a domestic agenda".The undiplomatic criticism of Scotland's government rather than the UK government occurred despite the US London Embassy's informing Washington that “the UK Government has gotten everything – a chance to stick it to Salmond’s Scottish National Party (SNP) and good relations with Libya” while Scotland got “nothing”.
A Scottish university professor of government writing in The Herald newspaper claimed this vindicated the Scottish government as being the only party involved that had "behaved impeccably".
2011 Scottish Parliament election
Despite speculation that this would affect the re-election prospects of politicians involved, at the time of the Scottish Parliament general election, 2011Scottish Parliament election, 2011
The 2011 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the mixed member proportional representation system is used to...
, a Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) supporter said that the decision had been mentioned by very few voters during the election campaign. Subsequently MacAskill won election to a redrawn constituency of Edinburgh Eastern
Edinburgh Eastern (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Edinburgh Eastern is a proposed constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It will elect one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election
Scottish Parliament election, 2011
The 2011 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the mixed member proportional representation system is used to...
. Despite notionally facing a deficit of 550 votes, MacAskill won by over 2000 votes., while his party, in a surprise landslide, increased from 47 seats to win 69 out of a possible 129 seats to become Scotland's first majority government, and the only majority government in the United Kingdom at that time. Party leader Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
who had rebuffed demands from US senators to travel to America to explain the decision to a US Senate committee, was re-elected with an increased majority to his Aberdeenshire East constituency, to remain as First Minister for a further five years.
The Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, who repeatedly attacked the SNP on the Megrahi release in the run-up to the election, despite being implicated by wikileaks and the subsequent enquiry in helping the Libyans use the Scottish legal system to obtain Megrahi's release, performed less well in the Scottish election, falling from 46 to 37 seats.