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Aug 20, 2009 10:57 pm US/Central
Good To Know: Compassion For The Heartless
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
The man convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland is out of prison and at home in Libya. A judge in Scotland released him Thursday after he served eight years of a life sentence for killing 270 people. The reason for the release: The convicted terrorist is dying of cancer. Don Shelby wonders whether the judge did the right thing.
Survivors of those killed in the terrorist bombing of the plane are uniformly angry at the decision. It was made by Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.
Despite the anger toward him, he was eloquent in his pronouncement. He said that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi showed no compassion to the victims of his acts, he said Scotland would not act like him. He said that a higher power has given the terrorist a death sentence, a sentence no Scottish judge could impose.
Relatives of the victims wanted Megrahi to die in prison. If I were a relative of a victim, that is what I would want. But, that's why, in common law jurisprudence, relatives of the victims don't sit on juries to decide guilt, or order the punishment.
MacAskill said that Megrahi will be judged by a higher court than Scotland's. I wonder if that also true of the man who, many believe, ordered the bombing? Libya's current president.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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