# Lockerbie bomber to be released **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 20, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058 "2009-08-20T11:10:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/81 "2009-08-21T15:51:17Z")
[RNATB’s lawyer] My client has no further comment on this matter. [/RL] ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/82 "2009-08-21T16:02:56Z")
He should have only been given compassionate leave if he had shown remorse. Under the Socttish system of jurisprudence he was guilty of the crime and I think it should be a requirement that the prisoner show some remorse for his or her actions. I am pretty sure this guys didn’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/83 "2009-08-21T16:15:09Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > He should have only been given compassionate leave if he had shown remorse. Under the Socttish system of jurisprudence he was guilty of the crime and I think it should be a requirement that the prisoner show some remorse for his or her actions. > > I am pretty sure this guys didn’t do that. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi made a statement on his release, which can be read [here](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/20/lockerbie-bomber-frustration-statement). “Many people, including the relatives of those who died in, and over, Lockerbie, are, I know, upset that my appeal has come to an end; that nothing more can be done about the circumstances surrounding the Lockerbie bombing… I share their frustration. I had most to gain and nothing to lose about the whole truth coming out – until my diagnosis of cancer… To those victims’ relatives who can bear to hear me say this: they continue to have my sincere sympathy for the unimaginable loss that they have suffered. To those who bear me ill will, I do not return that to you.” ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/84 "2009-08-21T16:18:58Z")
> [@Captain\_Awesome](#): > > Abdelbaset al-Megrahi made a statement on his release, which can be read [here](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/20/lockerbie-bomber-frustration-statement). > > “Many people, including the relatives of those who died in, and over, Lockerbie, are, I know, upset that my appeal has come to an end; that nothing more can be done about the circumstances surrounding the Lockerbie bombing… I share their frustration. I had most to gain and nothing to lose about the whole truth coming out – until my diagnosis of cancer… To those victims’ relatives who can bear to hear me say this: they continue to have my sincere sympathy for the unimaginable loss that they have suffered. To those who bear me ill will, I do not return that to you.” That’s not remorse for his actions. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/85 "2009-08-21T16:20:02Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > He should have only been given compassionate leave if he had shown remorse. Under the Socttish system of jurisprudence he was guilty of the crime and I think it should be a requirement that the prisoner show some remorse for his or her actions. > > I am pretty sure this guys didn’t do that. Why would he show remorse if he was innocent? ETA: He was not found guilty ‘under the Scottish system’. His trial was closed. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/86 "2009-08-21T16:33:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Why would he show remorse if he was innocent? > > ETA: He was not found guilty ‘under the Scottish system’. His trial was closed. What do you mean it was closed? I don’t know what that means. He was not found guilty? How were they keeping him in jail? I honestly don’t know the answers to these questions. And I didn’t say he would show remorse, I said remorse should be a condition for compassionate release, presuming that the legal system found him guilty. If he wants to maintain his innocence and not show remorse that is his options. If his release was based on the fact that he was indeed innocent then of course I would expect there to be no remorse, but the release here was not becuase he was innocent. As far as Scotland is concerned he did it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/87 "2009-08-21T17:32:20Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > What do you mean it was closed? I don’t know what that means. He was not found guilty? How were they keeping him in jail? I honestly don’t know the answers to these questions. He wasn’t tried in the normal method under Scottish law. He was tried in a closed court with no jury, just a judge (tribunal?), and did not have the same access to defence lawyers and the like that most criminal defendants get. He was found guilty. He was not necessarily found guilty in a fair and impartial manner. And Scotland _doesn’t_ think he’s guilty, for the record. The Scottish penal system does. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/88 "2009-08-21T17:57:47Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > That’s it, is it? “You think”. Where are you getting your information? How much have you read on this subject? Enough. You much have you read, hmm? You seem pretty quick to jump to assuming I;m ignorant because I don’t agree with you. > [@](#): > > OK, just one little little explanation from you then: since the detonator was known to be attached to a 45-minute timer that was triggered at 4,000 metres, can you explain why it didn’t go off en-route between Malta and Frankfurt, or between Frankfurt and London? Because I don’t think the mission was carried off successfully. That is, they intended one thing and inadvertently got something else. > [@](#): > > I promise you, if it were a US citizen that had been subject to the trial (closed court, no jury) in which Al Megrahi was convicted, and convicted with such scant evidence, I can guarantee you that you would be hopping about and the State Department would be threatening serious diplomatic retribution. No, I can guarrantee you I wouldn’t much care, just as I cururently do not much care. While I think, the release is a miscarriage of justice, it’s also pretty trivial in the rgand scheme of things. His release won’t really affect me or anyone I particularly care about. Many US citizens have been subjected to far worse in overseas courts and I have yet to freak out over it. > [@](#): > > Remember the phrase “beyond reasonable doubt”. Hey, I entertain the possibility he may be the killer - but there is so much reasonable doubt as to make his conviction exceptionally unsound. You seem to be happy that just anyone was convicted, regardless of the evidence against them. Yeah… I’m just cheeringly glad that somebody was convicted. That’s why I’m running around the streets naked, demanding action, ACTION! Seriously, WTF? Are you too brain-damaged to read my posts? In think he was guilty, but I don’t care very much. At worst, we’re talking mild displeasure. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058/89 "2009-08-21T18:18:41Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Enough. You much have you read, hmm? You seem pretty quick to jump to assuming I;m ignorant because I don’t agree with you. I’ll let jjimm comment on whether he thinks you ignorant, and if so for what reason, but let’s have a look at your theory here: Question “since the detonator was known to be attached to a 45-minute timer that was triggered at 4,000 metres, can you explain why it didn’t go off en-route between Malta and Frankfurt, or between Frankfurt and London?” Your answer: “I don’t think the mission was carried off successfully. That is, they intended one thing and inadvertently got something else.” So your hypothesis is that the detonator failed on two occasions in a row, but then sparked to life on the 3rd. I would welcome any cites or background reasoning that supports this theory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lockerbie-bomber-to-be-released/507058.md?page=4)