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Megrahi - it's politics as usual
Reproduced with kind permission of Stuart Winton from his blog on Planet Politics It's one year since the Lockerbie bomber returned to a hero's welcome in Tripoli, and I still don't have any strong views either way on the original decision to release al-Megrahi from prison on compassionate grounds, although the possibility of compelling him to stay in Scotland to see out his final days/weeks/months/years was one avenue which never seemed properly explored, despite the arguments to the contrary at the time. Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing and all that, and to that extent al-Megrahi's continued survival until who-knows-when has certainly caused political difficulties for Kenny MacAskill and the SNP Government. Which is perhaps the salient point - the whole thing is so wrapped up in politics that it's difficult to view the issue dispassionately, and it's only the political factor and the high profile nature of the case that's kept it in the headlines. Otherwise the case would represent nothing other than workaday politics, but one involving a difficult judgement call, and thus perhaps not a decision on which Kenny MacAskill's abilities should be judged definitively. If the compassionate release had involved any of the vast majority of other convicted criminals then it would no doubt have been largely forgotten about by now. Thus this extraordinary case has in essence always involved little more than ordinary politics to ensure its high profile. First off, of course, was Kenny MacAskill's geopolitical grandstanding - in what was supposedly a quasi-judicial decision - and his portrayal of Scotland as the world epicentre of some kind of superior moral order. All of which, of course, was underlined by the more recent claim that the justice secretary was bound by precedent on the matter and thus had no option but to release al-Megrahi, effectively rendering the whole thing a charade. Then there's the distinctly imprecise and opaque nature of the supposed expert evidence relied upon by Mr MacAskill in reaching his decision, and also that pertaining to the subsequent ludicrous 'supervision' by a Scottish local authority, neither of which has been released by the Scottish Government. This decision is usually defended on the grounds of patient confidentiality, which in the context is, of course, laughable. And criticism regarding al-Megrahi's life expectancy is often countered by claiming that being at home with his family would probably lengthen his life, thus shouldn't this factor have been included in the expert foresight rather than being used to defend against attacks based on hindsight? Subsequent to the decision itself, of course, the kneejerk largely political opposition has kept the issue at the forefront of Scottish politics, with the largely partisan nature of the whole debacle neatly encapsulated by a Holyrood justice committee report which split along party lines. All of which is, naturally, dutifully reported by a cynical media, ever keen to pick holes and find division, which may be conducive to selling newspapers, but also helps perpetuate and exacerbate the equally cynical political process. Which in turn was neatly demonstrated yesterday by the release of an SNP poll that clearly asked the questions which it knew would engender a favourable response - whether the Scottish Government should have decided the question of al-Megrahi's release rather than Westminster, and whether Scottish ministers should have complied with the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee's request to travel to the USA to answer questions - while conveniently sidestepping public opinion on al-Megrahi's release per se. Of course, those supposedly outside crude party politics have also had their say on the matter as well, and Cardinal Keith O'Brien's lecturing of American politicians on justice and compassion is a prominent case in point. But as Courier columnist John J Marshall ironically points out, the cardinal is merely being consistent, because his church's "interpretation of justice is to ignore the victims while showing pathological concern for the perpetrators of certain evil acts", namely the "countless numbers of children across the world" who were routinely "raped, abused and generally terrorised by depraved people posing as servants of God". And to that extent JJM also points out the irony of Mr O'Brien's exhortation to the Senate committee to "direct their gaze inwards" and consider the failings of their own country rather than scrutinising the working of the Scottish justice system. Indeed, and while the ludicrous posturings of the senators have provided an easy target for anyone on this side of the Atlantic aside from the most partisan, the copious criticism emanating from Scotland in the other direction perhaps represents the greatest irony of all - are the slightly comical senators any more partisan, cynical and ill-informed than our own domestic politicians? The hypocrisy, grandstanding and politicking surrounding the release of the Lockerbie bomber would suggest not. This, together with the general air of cynicism surrounding the decision and the one year aftermath confirm that the al-Megrahi affair represents little more than politics as usual, a difficult decision made nigh near impossible by self-evident shortcomings in so many spheres of public life. Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. 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