The bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103 has been an issue in Scotland for most of my life. I remember, vaguely, the night it happened albeit that I was too young to really comprehend what had happened. That barbarous act has left an indelible mark upon Scotland and of course countless people on both sides of the Atlantic. I fully appreciate the pain that Kenny MacAskill's decision to release Al-Megrahi must have had on the familes of the victims. However, from the moment the Justice Secretary made his statement to the world's media I felt that he was not only brave to do so, but morally just. I was (and am) very proud to be part of a movement that puts compassion and morality above that of self interest. Below is a letter I have just sent to The National & below that you will find a link to the Scottish Government's information on the case.
Dear Sirs,
the former
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill stated in regards to the release of Lockerbie
bomber al-Megrahi that the Scottish Government "got nothing out of
it....There was no deal done by us...".
I fully accept that at face value.
However, I do believe that Scotland as a nation, the SNP and the whole
Independence movement did benefit greatly from Kenny's decision in a number of
important ways. I do not intend to get
into the alleged rights and wrongs of al-Megraghi's conviction, that is clearly
a matter for the courts. But the Justice
Secretary certainly put Scotland's and our movement's core values on the world
stage. Mr MacAskill's statement at the
time of release showed the world the devolved Scottish Government had (and has)
not just politicians leading us but Statesmen (or Statespeople) that can
operate comfortable on the world stage.
It showed that we have people within our movement who are ready to step
up and play an important role within the international community as a fully
independent sovereign state. I referred
to our movement's core values and by that I mean the value of compassion. Kenny showed the world that Scotland is
confident enough to make decisions on the basis of morality before that of
financial self interest. He made clear
that al-Megrahi, despite being a convicted mass murderer, was being shown a
level of compassion that he arguably denied his alleged victims. He showed the world that the Scottish
Government was conducting it's business on a higher moral level than that of a
mass murderer.
We as a
movement want independence because we want to treat all our citizens in a more
compassionate way than successive Westminster Governments have done. The vision of a caring, moral Government is
exactly what has kept me campaigning for Scottish Independence over 20
years. Kenny, if you're reading this, I
have no doubt at all you did our movement a great service by your decision and
by your conduct. We as a nation have and
will benefit from your actions for many years to come.
Yours
Sincerely
Andrew I.
Harlick
Leith
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/law/lockerbie
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