| Archive for shirleymckie.myfastforum.org To allow readers to post comments on current issues related to the Shirley McKie case |
| Big Wullie |
Lockerbie Bomber Megrahi To Be Releasedhttp://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/...On_Thursday%2C_Scottish_Govt_Says8:47pm UK, Wednesday August 19, 2009 The fate of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi will be revealed on Thursday. Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi The Scottish government has made a decision on his future and will announce it at 1pm. Sky sources say al Megrahi - who is terminally ill with prostate cancer - will be released back to Libya on compassionate grounds. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has been considering two separate applications - one for Megrahi to be moved to Libya under a prisoner transfer agreement. And a separate application for him to be given compassionate early release to go home to die with his family. The timing of the announcement in Edinburgh appears designed with an American audience in mind. It takes place at 8am New York time - when it can expect wide breakfast-time media coverage. News of the potential release of al Megrahi has already sparked much controversy in the US. A Scottish government spokesman said: "We have a strong justice system in Scotland and people can be assured that the Justice Secretary's decisions have been reached on the basis of clear evidence and on no other factors." More news: http://www.theherald.co.uk/nation...ie_bomber_ruling_on_thursday.php? http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD...omber/index.html?iref=mpstoryview |
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| Big Wullie |
If the Scottish Government has already told America of their decision and Salmond and MacAskill are still denying this surely they are misleading us Scots:
http://dailymaghreb.blogspot.com/...rahi-to-be-freed-from-prison.html |
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| Big Wullie |
£120 million private jet on standby to fly Megrahi home:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6802746.ece It has been suggested to me that the reason Megrahi was absent from his court hearings is:
The way he is being released is certainly fuelling speculation that Scotland will go to any lengths to protect their credibility but my opinion is clear: Our Justice System in Scotland will take years to recover from the emotional blackmail they put Megrahi through by insisting he drops his appeal before being afforded compassion. What will the rest of the world make of us ? |
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| scotkaz |
according to the BBC news I just heard that Mr Mergahi will find out this lunchtime if/when he will be released.
Lockerbie bomber to be told fate Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is set to learn whether he will be allowed to return to Libya. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is likely to announce his release on compassionate grounds, the BBC revealed last week. Megrahi, 57, who has served eight years of a life sentence for killing 270 people in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight, has terminal prostate cancer. Some 189 Americans were among those who died in the airliner explosion. Mr MacAskill has been under intense pressure from the US government to keep Megrahi behind bars, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying his release would be "absolutely wrong". Earlier, a letter from seven US senators including Edward Kennedy and John Kerry had urged the Scottish Government to block Megrahi's bid for release. Brian Taylor BBC Scottish political editor Scottish ministers must hope discontent is primarily aimed at the option of prisoner transfer and not the more likely avenue of compassionate release. That, I would suggest, is likely to be a tough sell. US opinion may simply find it difficult to understand why a man convicted of involvement in the death of 270 people, including US citizens, has been released. Mr MacAskill said on Wednesday he had informed families and other interested parties that he had reached his decision on the applications for compassionate release and a prisoner transfer. He will announce his decision at 1300 BST at the Scottish Government's ministerial headquarters in Edinburgh. A spokesman for the administration insisted the decision had been reached "on the basis of clear evidence and on no other factors". BBC correspondent Peter Hunt said Megrahi was described as having only months left to live. "Given this prognosis, it's thought that the perpetrator of Britain's biggest terrorist atrocity - who two days ago abandoned his appeal against his sentence - has now spent his last night in a Scottish jail. "It's expected he will be allowed to return home to die," he added. It is thought preparations for Mr Megrahi's possible release were being made in time for him to be home with his family in Libya by Ramadan, which starts on Friday. Chancellor Alistair Darling, standing in for the prime minister while Gordon Brown is on holiday, said it was a decision for the Scottish Government. On Tuesday, judges at the High Court in Edinburgh who accepted Megrahi's application to drop his appeal were told the Libyan's health had recently worsened very considerably. Megrahi has recently been serving his sentence at HMP Greenock, in the west of Scotland, after being convicted of the bombing under Scots law at a specially convened court in the Netherlands in 2001. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/8211003.stm Published: 2009/08/20 03:27:24 GMT http://news.scotsman.com/politics...-bomber-Megrahi-set-to.5572026.jp
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| scotkaz |
Wullie
If they are giving out news about him being released today, then I would not be surprised if he has already been removed from Greenock. I cannot see them releasing him in the glare of the many media who must be outside Greenock prison. Could be wrong though. |
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| Big Wullie |
Scotkaz
The Media have been at Greenock since yesterday. Aint it strange that when his family find out he has cancer they all give up their big house in Newton Mearns and move back to Tripoli. One would have thought they would have wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. He should never have been forced to abandon his appeal before being given compassion |
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| Big Wullie |
How fitting Kenny MacAskill starts his announcement by paying tribute to the Police, Courts and Prosecution Services and claims he stands by the conviction of Megrahi.
This is a show of where his loyalties lie. Megrahi Is free but still guilty, How Sad. |
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| Angeline |
Having just heard McAskill's speech, I have no words to express my emotions.
Ashamed that this farce was carried out in my name, and the name of everyone in Scotland. Horrified that the dropping of the appeal was referred to as "his (Megrahi's) decision - what choice did he really have? Utterly disgusted that the dropping of the appeal left McAskill free to refer to Megrahi as having shown no remorse, etc, etc, knowing full well the extent of the doubts over this conviction and robbed of any sense that Scottish Justice can ever now be seen to have been properly done in this case. The families of 270 people may never now know the truth about what happened to their loved ones, and the rest of us face the future in the knowledge that those in positions of power, who are supposed to represent our interests, are free to do as they please, regardless of truth, honesty, fairness or justice. A dark day indeed for Scottish justice. The only saving grace in all of this is that Mr Megrahi is now free, albeit under a cloud. I wish him and his family the very best in the weeks and months to come. |
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| Big Wullie |
Angeline
My sentiments exactly. Scottish Justice will never recover from this fiasco. His statement that he stands by the conviction certainly has no substance given that the SCCRC investigated for years visiting other countries along the way and investigating thoroughly and they concluded he had possibly suffered a Miscarriage of Justice. Pity we never got to hear the rest of his appeal grounds. MacAskill also said he had a duty to listen to Megrahi's representation. What happenend to this right when my MSP Bill Kidd asked for a meeting to discuss my case. Where was my right to be able to put my representations regarding the actions of SCCRC and my fight for justice having never had an appeal in this country "My Country" born and bread. Like you Angeline I am ashamed MacAskill has acted in my name Oppressively |
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| Big Wullie |
Our Police would not be able to protect Megrahi if he was released in Scotland said MacAskill.
What does this say about all the Witness's under protection by the Scottish Police Forces. Indeed what does this say about the Security of our Country How long does a Jet take to come from Libya ? They already knew yesterday he was being released and not just at 1 pm today as kenny MacAskill states. |
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| Big Wullie |
As much as I agree with the release of Megrahi I need to ask:
Was Myra Hindley given any compassionate release when she was diagnosed with cancer ? And why not ? given we have just released someone whom our Justice Secretary believes to be guilty of the biggest ever mass murder committed in our country. Why is Megrahi being treated any differently from Hindley. Why was there no protests from London. Mr Megrahi certainly doesn't look as Ill as Ronnie Biggs did before he was released. My heart wrenches for the families who are now back to where they started in 1988 with no answers whatsoever. |
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| Big Wullie |
Could anyone Identify Megrahi from the media coverage today.
I have watched and watched the videos on every channel and could not confirm one way or antoher if the man we saw boarding thge plane at Glasgow was Megrahi. What was the skip cap and scarf all about ? Why was he hiding his face ? At the top of the stairs he did not look back once. Just wondering if this was all a show and Megrahi was already in Tripoli |
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| allan mcleod |
Big Wullie
I agree with your suspicions. Is this close-up photograph Megrahi or not ? http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/...d_From_Prison_To_Go_Home_To_Libya |
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| Big Wullie |
Allan
I cannot say if it was Megrahi but know someone who might. Without naming her, she was the star witness in the Wullie Gage case who claimed after about 7 ststements that she could Identify Wullie gage by his eyes under street lighting conditions at night time from a good distance away. She also only made this claim after the police showed her a Dummy with the "recovered clothes" on it, which she also later went on to Identify after giving a completly different description in her previous statements. I believe MacAskill should have released Megrahi but only because I believe there was no evidence to support his conviction, but we will always be known not for our compassion in releasing Megrahi, but for blackmailing him into dropping his appeal, before affording him compassion. Obviously MacASkill has colluded with the Judiciary in this effort to cover up the real evidence we never heard at Megrahi's trial, and for this reason alone he has brought shame on Scotland. If they had nothing to fear then his appeal could quite easily have continued. If they can send Megrahi home they are capable of anything and don't we all know it. |
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| allan mcleod |
Big Wullie
Maybe its just me but the Megrahi in Glasgow and the one in Libya appeared to me to be completely different. Why cover himself up with scarf, hat, and dressed in a white track suit after coming out of prison until he boarded the plane, then at the other end he has changed into a suit, tie, and no hiding of his features. - Hmm strange.!! Maybe I will request MSP Jamie Stone to ask MacAskill on Monday in parliament to please now also show compassion to Kevin Mcleod and his family and disclose whether a prisoner was on weekend home release at the time of Kevin death. Surely after the Megrahi episode, that wont be to much to ask of him. |
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| Big Wullie |
They couldn't get megrahi our of Scotland quick enough eh.
MacAskill said on newsnight that every individual has the right to be heard, so request a meeting Allan and see what happens. We all know he went to Greenock to make the deal, to drop his appeal and he would get compassionate release. It is going to come back and Bite the SNP Government who have been coerced by London into releasing Megrai after twisting his arm up his back to save all their skins. It makes you wonder what more they wanted covered up and did not want coming out at his appeal doesn't it |
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