It’s no surprise that the Sunday papers are full today of discussion about the release of Libyan prisoner Al-Magrahi from Scotland’s jails. Whether rightly or wrongly, Al-Magrahi was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing some twenty years ago in which 270 people – passengers on the plane that crashed and residents of Lockerbie – died.
Foreign Secretary David Milliband spoke on Radio 4 during the week and seemed to be claiming a humanitarian stance when he said:
“The sight of a mass murderer getting a hero’s welcome in Tripoli is deeply upsetting, deeply distressing, above all for the 270 families who grieve every day for the loss of their loved ones 21 years ago but also for anyone who has an ounce of humanity in them”.
When it comes to anyone with an ounce of humanity in them, my money is on Scotland’s Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. His words gave me great hope for a world which is truly based on humanitarian values:
“In Scotland, we are a people who pride ourselves on our humanity. It is viewed as a defining characteristic. The perpetration of an atrocity and outrage cannot and should not be the 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-Magrahi did not show his victims comfort or compassion. They were not allowed to return to the bosom of their families to live 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.
“Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs 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 alone it is my decision that Mr Al-Magrahi be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya to die”
Colonel Gaddafi’s son Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi responded to this decision by describing it as “a courageous and unforgettable stance from the British and Scottish governments“. I leave the final word, though, with Marshall Rosenberg, who said: