LOCKERBIE BOMBER GIVEN 27 YEARS

Sky News ^ | 11/24/03

[areafiftyone]

The man who killed 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing will serve a minimum of 27 years in jail.

Tight security was in place for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi's High Court appearance.

The judges decided he should serve this period before he can even be considered for parole.

Al Megrahi, 51, is convicted of the biggest single act of mass murder in British history.

He has been held at Barlinnie prison since March last year after losing his appeal against conviction for the December 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing over Lockerbie.

He was jailed for life in 2001, when three judges recommended a minimum of 20 years before parole should be considered.

His co-accused Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah was found not guilty of the bombing by the judges - appointed in place of a jury - after a nine-month trial.

All 259 men, women and children on board died together with 11 residents of Lockerbie, who were killed when aircraft wreckage rained down, causing a huge fireball which devastated parts of the town.

In May, it was reported that the Libyan government had agreed to pay the families of the victims of the atrocity £7m each.

[Freeper Lady]

WHAT?! The people on the plane got death.....

[areafiftyone]

Remember one thing this is Europe. They don't have the death penalty there and 99% of the people would not have given it to him anyways. I didn't expect them to give him the dealth penalty simply because they don't have and believe it but I did expect him to get life in prison. I don't understand the 27 years.

[onyx]

The cretin will be 78 years old before he's considered for parole. Euro-trash justice.

[a_Turk]

That's not a lot to say the least.

1.2 months per life taken?

[ConservativeMan55]

What do you expect from Eurotrash?

Those bastards over there couldn't touch their ass blindfolded for a million dollars.

I say lets start 'liberating'

[DJ Frisat]

270 people died a horrifying death at this guy's hand and he gets 27 years?

Well, I hope it's 27 years of listening to audio tapes of Fran Drescher's voice & Hillary Clinton speeches...

There are things worse than death...

[Thane_Banquo]

Geeze. Give me a freakin' break. He should be hanged by his neck until dead.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Great, now he can be a citizen of Paris like Mumia.

[RushLake]

WHAT?! The people on the plane got death.....

I think that we need a Mossad type organization to deal with these clear cases of judicial injustice. I mean, let the creep serve out his 27 years or whatever it really turns out to be, then terminate him as soon as he walks out of the slammer.

[evad]

I don't understand the 27 years.

Perfectly symetrical..
270 people, 27 years, 1 year per every 10 deaths...
..how European

The good news is he's already served about 15 so he'll be out in 12. (remove extreme sarcasm)

[Squantos]

Maybe he'll write a best seller from prison like Carlos the Jackal did ? But is it really punishment for a criminal to be put in the pokey when they really like it in the pokey anyway ?

Stay Safe !

[tubavil]

Shocking that someone with this name, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, would be involved with terrorism, particularly aviation terrorism.

arabs, muslims, airplanes, and hundreds of dead innocents.

I'm sure we've seen the last of this...

[Alter Kaker]

I didn't expect them to give him the dealth penalty simply because they don't have and believe it but I did expect him to get life in prison. I don't understand the 27 years.

He is sentenced to life in prison. He must serve 27 years before eligible for parole, but if not paroled, will spend life in prison.

[Prodigal Son]

BBC has some more on this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3233156.stm

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has been told he must serve at least 27 years in jail.
Abdelbaset ali Mohmed al-Megrahi's sentence will be backdated to 1999 when he was first taken into custody.

The Libyan secret service agent was sentenced two years ago to life in prison for the 1988 bombing, with a recommendation that he served at least 20 years.

However, a change in the law meant Megrahi, 51, had to again come before the Scottish courts so that the punishment period could be set.

Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, causing the deaths of 270 people.

In 2001, Megrahi was found guilty of their murder after an 84-day trial under Scottish law in the Netherlands. He was jailed for life.

The judges, Lords Sutherland, McLean and Coulsfield, recommended that he serve a minimum of 20 years "in view of the horrendous nature of this crime".

However, the judges' sentence was merely a recommendation.

Human rights laws have since been introduced which mean that lifers must be told exactly how long they must serve before they can apply for parole.

After a four-minute hearing at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday, Lord Sutherland said of the bombing: "Quite clearly this was a wicked act carried out in the full knowledge that the plan, if successful, would result in the slaughter of many entirely innocent persons."

Relative's reaction

He indicated that Megrahi might have been sentenced to 30 years but they took into account his age and the fact that he was serving his sentence in a foreign country.

Megrahi will be 74 before he is eligible to apply for parole.

Amid heavy security, relatives of those killed in the atrocity sat just yards from Megrahi at the hearing.

After the outcome, Jack Flynn, an American whose son would have been 36 on Monday, gave an emotional reaction to the sentence.

"I don't get my kid back so he should stay in prison," he said. "He murdered him deliberately."

Mr Flynn pointed out that 27 years equated only to one month per victim.

"I would hope that he would spend the rest of his life in prison because of the number of people he deliberately killed," he went on.

"This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision where you kill somebody. He planned to murder these people over a number of years.

"I would want to see if we can change this because this was such a horrible crime."

Megrahi has been held in a special unit at Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow since March 2002, when his appeal against the conviction was rejected.

His lawyer Eddie MacKechnie said: "This was always going to be a difficult day for any convicted person.

"As far as the future is concerned - this is what really matters - all this has done is accentuate the need for us to marshal all our forces to establish the innocence of this man.

"I have no doubt that we will have the opportunity for a fresh appeal in due course.


"He is looking forward in faith for a new day in court, probably the same court for all we know.

Asked what Al Megrahi's mood was, he responded: "His mood is one of faith and hope in his legal team and advisers, faith in justice and faith in his religion.

"I respect the gentleman. He will have his day in court, we hope, and then all of us will know what really happened, perhaps, on the 21st December 1988."

[Prodigal Son]

WHAT?! The people on the plane got death.....

Charlie Manson comes up regularly for parole as well.

[Prodigal Son]

Those bastards over there couldn't touch their ass blindfolded for a million dollars.

Jeez. Get over it dude. My neighbors aren't bastards.

[weegee]

It appears to be a recent change (1998) that many countries changed their position from permitting death penalties for crimes against the state, violations of military law, and in extreme circumstances.

http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-abolitionist1-eng

The terrorists will be permitted to live which is just a shame. They are willing to die for their movement. If they have no information to provide up to the inner workings of their network I see no point in forcing the tax payers to keep them alive, let alone let them walk after X number of years.

[weegee]

Charles Manson had a death sentence which got commuted to life in prison when the death penalty was ended briefly.

[HardStarboard]

Twenty seven years for 270 people. A rate of 10 deaths per year in the slammer. Little over a month per death.

Proportional Justice....NO!