The release last week of the Libyan Security Guard found guilty of the Lockerbie atrocity has caused outrage from around the western world. I am not an expert on the case, nor of the events surrounding it, but what really struck a cord was the Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, including in his self-defence a reference to the value of "compassion". "Compassionate release is not part of the US justice system but it is part of Scotland's," noted an official in his department some days later.
"Let he, who is without sin, cast the first stone," we are taught is an important Christian value. Is it right to kick a man when he is down? No - we are also taught. So why, I ask myself, when a man is dying of cancer is it at all right for him to be kept away from his home and family?
Some commentators have drawn attention to the mass murderer Myra HIndley and asked why she was not shown similar compassion. They probably have a point but in my eyes there is one important difference: Megrahi has always pleaded his innocence.
If the death penalty was still an option, I doubt that we would be having this argument today: he'd have been hanged years ago. Instead we could be arguing over the validity of a system of justice that favours the Government evidence over the defence of a single man.
In his interview with the London Times, Megrahi said that he now wanted to publish the truth as he knew or believed it to be. There don't appear to be many holding their breath for that. But Dr Jim Swire, the father of one of the victims, appears as unconvinced as I am - at present - that this is the man behind the bomb.
I guess that we have to believe the intelligence etc upon which this verdict has been based - I don't know if he was or was not a member of the Libyan Intelligence Services, in Malta or any of the other points that secured the conviction.
What I feel confident though, is that there appears to be sufficient doubt in many people's minds for this to be an unsafe conviction.
The level of outrage expressed by a few - particularly those closest to the actual prosecution of Megrahi and the intelligence community - causes me pause for thought. I am not anti-American in any shape or form ... just cautious of so intemperate an outburst. Megrahi is dying of cancer - he hasn't been pardoned or found not guilty: all that has taken place (the Gaddaffi show excepted) is his release from prison.
We are proud in this country of the tradtion that a man is innocent until proven guilty beyond all doubt. If there is sufficient doubt in a conviction, then, failing dismissal of the prosecution, I believe that there should be room for compassion.
I believe the Scottish Government has made a wise and brave decision. I hope and pray, that as the dust settles on the peculiarly puerile activities of the Gaddaffi family's jockeying and postering for power and influence at home, that Megrahi will find the strength and time to tell what he knows of the real story behind the Lockerbie outrage. Only then will the families find justice. Only then will he be able to face his God and only then will he find peace.
