Compassion and justice
So they might be freeing the Lokerbie bomber then. The man killed 270 people and devestated an entire town forever. The man has terminal cancer, and has been given less than three months to live.
Of course the American government think he should serve his full term - which in effect means he should die in a foreign jail cell. Nice. Mind you, this is from the government that still sees electrocution as justice, so we shouldn't really be surprised. I'd imagine London would like to see this too, if only to placate their buddies in Washington, but at the end of the day, this is a devolved decision, and the choice lies squarely with the Scottish government - their first real international test.
To me the issue is simple. The man has three months to live. What sort of justice system makes him spend those three months in a foreign jail cell? Fortunately I live in a nation which agrees with me : apparently the 'three months' revlation is key, and makes him eligible for release on compassionate grounds.
Compassion.
See, that's what separates us from the terrorists, the nutters and the zealots. We actually care about people, about individuals. We don't see the faithful, the infidel, the right, the wrong; we see people, with individial situations deserving individual consideration. And we apply justice at the same level. This is Scotland's chance to show it's better than London, better than America and better than Libya.
Free the man. Show him the compassion and dignity that he never showed his victims. Perhaps then in death he will truly know what he did. That's justice.
Of course the American government think he should serve his full term - which in effect means he should die in a foreign jail cell. Nice. Mind you, this is from the government that still sees electrocution as justice, so we shouldn't really be surprised. I'd imagine London would like to see this too, if only to placate their buddies in Washington, but at the end of the day, this is a devolved decision, and the choice lies squarely with the Scottish government - their first real international test.
To me the issue is simple. The man has three months to live. What sort of justice system makes him spend those three months in a foreign jail cell? Fortunately I live in a nation which agrees with me : apparently the 'three months' revlation is key, and makes him eligible for release on compassionate grounds.
Compassion.
See, that's what separates us from the terrorists, the nutters and the zealots. We actually care about people, about individuals. We don't see the faithful, the infidel, the right, the wrong; we see people, with individial situations deserving individual consideration. And we apply justice at the same level. This is Scotland's chance to show it's better than London, better than America and better than Libya.
Free the man. Show him the compassion and dignity that he never showed his victims. Perhaps then in death he will truly know what he did. That's justice.