Releasing Megrahi was a humane act

I THINK the Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill MSP, did the correct thing by releasing Megrahi. I know he is getting a lot of stick in the press, but I think what he did was a humane and moral act.

Sadly we may never know the full story, since Megrahi had to drop his appeal in order to be released.

But I believe an innocent man was dying in jail - and that prerogative overrides all others.

I suspect that in due course, the other international players in the bombing will eventually admit some culpability, and Kenny MacAskill's actions in releasing Megrahi may yet be vindicated.

PETER GREGSON

Roseburn Place

Edinburgh

SHAME on Kenny MacAskill for attempting to justify the release of a mass murder by saying he was only following rules and procedures.

R CHILDS

Ashley Terrace

Edinburgh

Once again as a British prime minister visits Washington we have the nauseating boot-licking claims of a "special relationship". Over the past 20 years the relationship has been like that of a violent husband and battered wife, or cruel owner and ill-treated dog.

As with UK and USA, in these examples the victims still believe in a special relationship on the occasions when things are going well.

Those responsible for government of USA have little or no understanding of the world outside their borders; that has become obvious again in their paranoid electioneering claims about BP, Scotland and whatever deal Blair negotiated with Gadaffi.

The imagined relationship, based on little more than some similarity of languages, has dragged us into irresponsible foreign policy in Afghanistan and Iraq, and resulting risk of retaliation here.

For the lady and the dog, the safest action is to get out of the "relationship" and find a better environment. Does that apply to us too?

IAIN CAMPBELL

Pentland Terrace

Edinburgh

THERE is serious doubt over the conviction of al-Megrahi. I don't think there would be much support for a Justice Secretary who released someone like Peter Tobin who was terminally ill, but in the Lockerbie case the convicted man is terminally ill AND was probably wrongfully convicted.

DAVID LUMBARD

Smileyknowes Court

North Berwick

Amidst critical clamour from the USA, the one possible motivation for the release of the Lockerbie Bomber which apparently dare not speak its name is that Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill is a decent human being who recognises that Mr Megrahi is an innocent victim of Scottish "justice" and endeavoured to release him at the first available opportunity.

I certainly hope that this is the case.

JOHN HEIN

The Liberal Party in Scotland

Edinburgh

It is to be hoped that our honest and hard-working Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, is not discouraged by media and political attacks for doing his job.

By all means let us have a full public inquiry into all aspects of the Lockerbie incident, starting with the Vincennes incident six months earlier when a US warship shot down Iran Air 655, a civilian airbus flying over Iranian waters, causing the deaths of all 290 people on board.

When I heard of the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie I assumed that this was in revenge for the destruction of Iran Air 655. Whether the later blame placed on Libya and its agents was accurate or was for political reasons still requires full and impartial investigation.

DAVID STEVENSON

Blacket Place

Edinburgh

In your leader and article (22 July) you question the statements made by the Justice Minister at the time of Megrahi's release and his further statements this week.

His statements are not mutually exclusive. Almost a year ago he stated that the decision was "his and his alone".

This, in fact, is correct in that it was his decision and not that of the Cabinet, the Parliament or officials of the Scottish Prison Service or any organisation outside Scotland. The "buck" stopped at his desk.

His statement this week, that he had "little discretion in the matter", is also correct. There was clear precedent in that other prisoners with similar medical conditions had received compassionate release. Had he refused then the Megrahi legal team could have questioned the decision in other courts.

The net result would have been that these courts would have over-ruled any refusal. Compassionate release is based on the health of the prisoner, not the crime and that would have been Megrahi's team's assertion in another court. We cannot alter the law to suit individual conditions.

The prisoner transfer agreement agreed by David Miliband and Tony Blair is irrelevant in this case as that only applies to prisoners continuing to serve their sentence. Since it appears there were no Libyan prisoners under Westminster jurisdiction and the Scottish Government refused to be part of it, there must be questions asked of them as to why a lawyer like Mr Blair agreed to what was a hypothetical agreement.

In terms of prisoner survival after health release the condition of Mr Megrahi and his survival depends on many factors. It is irreversible and the health officers gave their best estimate. We cannot criticise this because the variability of the condition and the treatment Mr Megrahi is now receiving.

BRUCE D SKIVINGTON

Strath

Gairloch, Wester Ross

How revolting that people in supposedly civilised countries are furious because a suffering man has not died yet.

Do people think he's having a fantastic time of it as cancer eats away at him?

ANGELA NEWTON

Rossie Place

Edinburgh