THE eyes of the world were on justice secretary Kenny MacAskill yesterday as he stood in St Andrew's House to announce his decision on the fate of the Lockerbie bomber.
The question of whether Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi – said to be in the final stages of terminal prostate cancer – should be allowed to spend his dying days with his family back home in Libya had sparked a bitter international debate.
Relativ
es of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing were divided on the issue, the UK Government was consulted behind the scenes, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton phoned Mr MacAskill to argue against release.
But in the end, the buck stopped with the MSP for Edinburgh East & Musselburgh.
The outcome – Mr Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds so he can fly home to Libya to die – came as no surprise after the spate of stories and speculation over the last week.
But the decision – and the way it was handled – will affect the way Scotland is viewed around the globe for years to come.
Labour's Iain Gray was quick to condemn it. "If I was First Minister, Megrahi would not be going back to Libya," he said. "The decision to release him is wrong. Kenny MacAskill's conduct has damaged the Scottish justice system and, in turn, Scotland's international reputation."
Tory leader David Cameron branded it "a very bad decision". He said: "I think this is wrong and it's the product of some completely nonsensical thinking."
Others praised Mr MacAskill. The Church of Scotland hailed the decision as "a message to the world about what it is to be Scottish" and the Scottish Episcopal Church calling it "a brave political decision".
It was always going to be a controversial decision and whichever way it went, people would be upset and angry. But as Mr MacAskill pointed out, some decision had to be made – and he carefully spelled out how he had reached it.
The Justice Secretary had two applications to deal with – one from the Libyan government for Megrahi to be sent home under a prisoner transfer, the other from Megrahi himself for compassionate release.
The prisoner transfer option never seemed likely. The Scottish Government complained bitterly when the then Prime Minister Tony Blair did his "deal in the desert" with Colonel Gaddafi in 2007 to set up such transfers, without consulting ministers here.
In ruling out a transfer in his statement, Mr MacAskill went out of his way to highlight the UK Government's unwillingness to discuss US claims they had been given assurances before the Lockerbie trial that anyone convicted of the bombing would serve their sentence in a Scottish jail.
He said this "highly regrettable" lack of co-operation by the UK Government meant he could only accept that the US had been left with the impression there would be no prisoner transfer – and so he refused it.
Announcing his granting of compassionate release, Mr MacAskill spoke of humanity as a "defining characteristic of the Scottish people" and mercy and compassion as "beliefs we seek to live by".
"Our justice system demands that judgement be imposed, but compassion be available," he said.
Mr MacAskill has been criticised for the handling of the case. Opposition politicians said his visit to Megrahi in Greenock prison was a "dangerous precedent", though Mr MacAskill insisted he was obliged to hear the prisoner's representations in person if he requested it.
The leaks and speculation over the past week gave the impression of a government not in control. But with Mr MacAskill's statement yesterday, Scotland has at least shown it can make a difficult decision and not buckle under pressure from the world's biggest superpower.
However, behind the issue of Megrahi's release lies the bigger question about whether he was really responsible for the deaths of 270 people on 21 December, 1988.
Such doubts could not form any part of Mr MacAskill's consideration – and he said in his statement he stood by the conviction. But up until this week, Megrahi was pursuing an appeal, based on a report by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) which cast doubt on some of the evidence which led to the guilty verdict.
Megrahi formally abandoned his appeal on Tuesday. His defence team said he did so because he believed it would speed up the decision to allow him to return to Libya.
The move sparked suspicion that pressure had been brought on Megrahi. SNP MSP Christine Grahame, who visited him in prison, said Megrahi had told her just a few weeks earlier of his determination to clear his name.
Now, the evidence considered by the SCCRC will not be heard in public and the chances of any further inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing look slim.
Mr MacAskill acknowledged there remained concerns about "wider issues" surrounding the atrocity, but insisted they were beyond the jurisdiction of Scots law and the remit of the Scottish Government.
Despite the US government's comment that it "deeply regrets" the decision to release Megrahi, Washington will be mightily relieved that there is unlikely to be further public scrutiny of the Lockerbie saga.
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died on Pan Am Flight 103, said after yesterday's decision: "I feel despondent that the west and Scotland didn't have the guts to allow this man's second appeal to continue because I am convinced had they done so it would have overturned the verdict against him.
"It's a blow to those of us who seek the truth but it is not an ending. As time goes by it will become clear that he had nothing to do with it."
