Man charged over Lockerbie Bombing released from jailB aBac

On Wednesday 21 December, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 crashed in Scotland en route from London, killing all on board, along with eleven people from the border towns of Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway.

It was soon found that this crash was not an accident, because a bomb had been planted on the plane.

Eventually, after evidence was gathered, it was found that the culprits were terrorists from Libya, Abdel Baset Ali, and Mohamed Al Megrahi.

The two were arrested, and charged, but after a trial, only Al Megrahi was found guilty, and Baset Ali was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.

Al Megrahi had been serving a prison sentence in a Scottish jail for some years, until he was released recently due to terminal illness.

Under the technicalites of Scottish law, those charged with crimes can only be found guilty if the evidence is sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt. Though, now it is clear that Al Megrahi did not act alone in planning and carrying out the bombing of Flight 103. There is intelligence that nationals from other countries apart from Libya were involved.

According to an article that appeared in this month's Scottish Banner, the Scottish prison system exists to rehabilitate prisoners for their eventual return to society. Prisoners who are dying of terminal illnesses can also be released so that they can spend their last days with their families.

The release of Al Megrahi has prompted outrage across the world, on web forums, and in the press in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Many Scots are disgusted.

There is talk that as the decision to release Al Megrahi was made by the devolved Scottish Parliament, run by the Scottish National Party (a minority party) this may destroy it.