Lockerbie
OK this is gonna be a little contraversial, I feel it is quite important.
While I, in general, don't support the early release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, under our laws, those with less than 3 months to live can be released from prison (though are still considered guilty in the eyes of the law) so they may die at home. This is our law. Just as in certain states in the USA you can be executed for your crimes. Many of us over here in Scotland believe execution is a heinous crime in itself, but it is your law and we have no right to dictate your law to you.
Yes, what he did was terrible and unforgivable. But he hasn't been forgiven. But isn't it always better to take the moral high ground? What MacAskill has done, he has done for others in similar situations.
As I said, in this situation, I don't believe they have handled it the way they should have. A better option would have been to have released him from prison, but put him into a private residence here under guard, so his family could spend the last three months with him. But that is just my personal opinion.
What I don't understand is the plan some Americans have to boycott everything Scottish to teach our government a lesson. The only problem with this is that they wont hurt the government, they WILL be hurting us. The economy as it is has already cost thousands of jobs over here, and the money we make from exports to the Americans and from tourists from America visiting us is vital to the economy. Perhaps, rather than boycotting all Scottish brands, it would be simpler to boycott specific Scottish brands. If you boycott small brands, they feel the impact, but being a small brand, have not got any say in the Scottish government, and are more likely to just collapse causing severe damage. Larger brands will feel the impact, and will complain to the government, but are in a better position to hold together.
Also, boycotting coming here will just hurt the small businesses whose trade depends on tourists (lets face it, when you come over here, they don't shop in BIG chain supermarkets or buy souvineers from BIG chain souvineer shops (since there are none) - they buy from the little shop owned by Mr Bloggs). It's these small shops that will feel the impact, and all that'll happen is they'll be forced to close. As the official boycottscotland site have said, many over here agree with their stance, if not their methods, so why punish the people?
The thing is that, as I said, I don't entirely agree with his release. I think he should have appealed again. I think he's an innocent man. A scapegoat for someone else, and that he may not have even had anything to do with the bombing. All the evidence presented was primarily circumstantial, and the evidence we were told would prove his guilt/innocence was witheld for "security reasons". So, even his guilt is uncertain. Most people would never have been convicted based on the limited evidence against him...so perhaps when the furor of all this has died down, maybe we should investigate it again a little closer.
Ah well...off to work I go.
While I, in general, don't support the early release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, under our laws, those with less than 3 months to live can be released from prison (though are still considered guilty in the eyes of the law) so they may die at home. This is our law. Just as in certain states in the USA you can be executed for your crimes. Many of us over here in Scotland believe execution is a heinous crime in itself, but it is your law and we have no right to dictate your law to you.
Yes, what he did was terrible and unforgivable. But he hasn't been forgiven. But isn't it always better to take the moral high ground? What MacAskill has done, he has done for others in similar situations.
As I said, in this situation, I don't believe they have handled it the way they should have. A better option would have been to have released him from prison, but put him into a private residence here under guard, so his family could spend the last three months with him. But that is just my personal opinion.
What I don't understand is the plan some Americans have to boycott everything Scottish to teach our government a lesson. The only problem with this is that they wont hurt the government, they WILL be hurting us. The economy as it is has already cost thousands of jobs over here, and the money we make from exports to the Americans and from tourists from America visiting us is vital to the economy. Perhaps, rather than boycotting all Scottish brands, it would be simpler to boycott specific Scottish brands. If you boycott small brands, they feel the impact, but being a small brand, have not got any say in the Scottish government, and are more likely to just collapse causing severe damage. Larger brands will feel the impact, and will complain to the government, but are in a better position to hold together.
Also, boycotting coming here will just hurt the small businesses whose trade depends on tourists (lets face it, when you come over here, they don't shop in BIG chain supermarkets or buy souvineers from BIG chain souvineer shops (since there are none) - they buy from the little shop owned by Mr Bloggs). It's these small shops that will feel the impact, and all that'll happen is they'll be forced to close. As the official boycottscotland site have said, many over here agree with their stance, if not their methods, so why punish the people?
The thing is that, as I said, I don't entirely agree with his release. I think he should have appealed again. I think he's an innocent man. A scapegoat for someone else, and that he may not have even had anything to do with the bombing. All the evidence presented was primarily circumstantial, and the evidence we were told would prove his guilt/innocence was witheld for "security reasons". So, even his guilt is uncertain. Most people would never have been convicted based on the limited evidence against him...so perhaps when the furor of all this has died down, maybe we should investigate it again a little closer.
Ah well...off to work I go.