tonyh29 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 We've just had Biggs being freed due to him being at deaths door ( though he appears to have made a dramatic improvement in the past few days) and now there is talk of freeing the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, Mohmed al Megrahi , on compassionate grounds due to his terminal cancer So what do we think here , should convicted criminals be allowed to go home and die or should they die in Prison ? For me Mergrahi is a complex issue as he appears to be as much a political scapegoat as anything but avoiding that for now and basing it on him being guilty of the bombing then he should die in jail ..he didn't show any compassion to the people on flight 103 why should he expect any mercy in return ? this isn't Star Wars where Darth Vader can kill millions and then be forgiven just because he saved 1 life Biggs .. well he didn't kill anyone but should still have done his time the fact he chose to defer it for 40 years was of his chosing ... but i'd tend to be sligtly more understanding of his situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 If you act that put you in there physically or mentally harmed another then you should rot. But if it did not harm anyone other than the banks or big business then i am ok with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 No the only people let go free should be those with real terminal diseases - like ernest saunders - alive and well 18 years after being released because he was one of the boys, ooops I mean "clearly suffering from pre-senile dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease, which is incurable.". Or that other good ol boy, that pinochet bloke - it's not like he ever did anything wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soprano Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Mergrahi's actions were well thought out and planned. He must have realised the consequences of being caught so IMO he should be left to die in prison. He showed no compasion for his victims so should be shown none in return. In other cases were there has been no violence I would tend to think otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villal Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Convicted does not always mean guilty Free does not always mean innocent There are people in positions of power in this country that have thousands if not millions times more blood on their hands than the 2 mentioned in the OP yet they walk around as free men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 It depends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CastleBromVilla Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Is someone going to keep an eye on him when he goes back to Libya to make sure he snuffs it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Mergrahi's actions were well thought out and planned. No they weren't - if you read the prosecution case against him, it's basically pure luck the bomb ever made it onto the plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Compassionate leave should be decided on a crime to crime basis. Merghari is a murderer and shouldnt be freed ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soprano Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 if you read the prosecution case against him, it's basically pure luck the bomb ever made it onto the plane Oh thats ok then lets release him now. With his luck he'll probably win the lottery before he goes home and has a miraculous recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiganvillain Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Regardless to the crime, You've been convicted and sentenced - Hard Cheese - you stay in as Biggs etc. should have done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCLaura Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I think a lot of it has to do with the crime and then if the nature of the crime was such that compassionate release could be considered - I think you should then consider the remorse. Has this person been a co-operative prisoner, have they shown remorse for their victims or their crime. Biggs for example, is a classic case of no remorse and a total disregard for the system and completing his sentence - not perhaps the most violent or graphic natured crime, but his behaviour subsequently; leads people to believe he should not have been granted release on compassionate grounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Theres something flawed with the "Eye for an eye, let them rot in jail" option. An eye for an eye means the criminal gets what he gave. If he gorged someone's eyeballs out then his eyeballs should be gorged out too. Truly an eye for an eye. I picked "depends", cuz it's the obvious choice, IMO. If someone is mentally unsound, or has some sort of illness, then compassion is a must. But the longer I live, the less tolerance I have for psychopaths. Lock them up for life at a minimum if they kill, rape or cripple. At a maximum....an eye for an eye, and let the victims families get to them first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Megrahi's release is part of a bigger commercial picture and quid pro quo for 'improving relations' with Libya. That'll be the place with 40 billion barrels of oil (the largest unexploited field remaining in the Arab world) where BP are currently hoovering up the contracts. In addition they have massive amounts of natural gas (again unexploited) that we need for our power stations, and they need infrastructure (much of which will be built by British firms). Justice (imo) has nothing to do with his release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted August 13, 2009 Moderator Share Posted August 13, 2009 Compassionate leave should be decided on a crime to crime basis. Merghari is a murderer and shouldnt be freed ever Is he? As I recall he seemed to be convicted of a crime because a Maltese shop owner said he bought a shirt from him. I don't know whether he's innocent or guilty and to be honest, I don't think anyone does (apart from the politico's and the secret services etc) In fact he was convicted as part of a political battle, he was only given up by Ghadaffi because he wanted to have a better relationship with the west, it wouldn't suprise me, if this cancer wasn't the flip side of the deal and getting Ghadaffi's man back to him. Who knows really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 the voting options should be more neutral, because as they stand i don't agree with any of them. You might think they should be allowed to be free, but you don't knit yoghurt. you might think they should stay in jail, but don't believe in 'an eye for an eye' "Depends what they did" means the question needs to be better phrased to eliminate this option. sorry! :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 read a book called Trial of the octopus a few years back .. claims that PAN AM flights were being used as controlled drug flights by the CIA (In return for the Syrian using their influence to free the remaining American hostages, the CIA helped them to safely transport their heroin on transatlantic flights) and it was easy enough to make a switch . The plane was supposed to blow over the Atlantic and nobody would ever know ..bad weather meant the flight was delayed and thus came down over land far fetched ?? well probably , however have a read up on Coleman and decide if he is a fruit cake or genuine ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Megrahi's release is part of a bigger commercial picture and quid pro quo for 'improving relations' with Libya. ..... Justice (imo) has nothing to do with his release. In fact he was convicted as part of a political battle, he was only given up by Ghadaffi because he wanted to have a better relationship with the west So this bloke was only convicted to improve western-libya relations and now he's being freed to help improve western-libya relations . What a crazeeee world we live in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 the voting options should be more neutral, because as they stand i don't agree with any of them. You might think they should be allowed to be free, but you don't knit yoghurt. you might think they should stay in jail, but don't believe in 'an eye for an eye' "Depends what they did" means the question needs to be better phrased to eliminate this option. sorry! :shock: if there is a prize for pedant of the year then I'll see that you get it :-) if you want him freed then you are a liberal , ergo under VT rules you must knit yogurt and so on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 read a book called Trial of the octopus a few years back .. claims that PAN AM flights were being used as controlled drug flights by the CIA (In return for the Syrian using their influence to free the remaining American hostages, the CIA helped them to safely transport their heroin on transatlantic flights) The CIA involved in drug running - ridiculous idea (afghan production up 400% since us takeover, cia backing the mexican govt to wipe out their rivals there, 7 new us military sites going into columbia). If it aint' one thing (oil) then it's the other (drugs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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