Former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi – the only person convicted in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that killed 35 Syracuse University students – was released from Scottish prison Aug. 20 on compassionate grounds.

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill made a formal announcement last week saying al-Megrahi, recently diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, will be allowed to die in his homeland. His decision came after a week of American requests to show no mercy to the man who showed no mercy to their family members and citizens.

Following al-Megrahi’s release from Greenock Prison, he was collected from Glasgow Airport by Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi’s private jet.

Al-Megrahi, 57, was serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 2001 of 270 counts of murder for his role in the midair bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The terrorist act took the lives of 270 people – all 259 on the jet and 11 on the ground where the airliner crashed. The 35 SU students on the flight were returning home from a semester abroad in London and Florence, Italy, to spend the holidays with their families.

Investigators ruled that an explosive planted inside a tape recorder blasted a 20-inch-wide hole in the plane’s fuselage.

SU spokesman Kevin Morrow released a statement Aug. 20 in response to al-Megrahi’s release: ‘During this time our thoughts are with the Pan Am Flight 103 victims and their families and, as always, keeping the memories alive of those we lost. From the beginning, we have wanted justice to be served in this case. Given the tremendous suffering this terrorist act caused to innocent citizens, their families, and their communities, we are extremely disappointed that Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi has been released.’

President Barack Obama said that the decision to free al-Megrahi was a mistake and warned Libya not to welcome him as a hero. Family members of the victims expressed outrage and hurt.

Al-Megrahi had served only eight years of his life sentence. Because he was given less than three months to live, Scottish justice MacAskill said al-Megrahi was eligible for compassionate release. And though al-Megrahi showed no compassion for the people on the 1988 Pan Am flight, MacAskill said he was compelled by Scottish values to show mercy to the bomber.

Rumors of Al-Megrahi’s release before the official announcement caused stirrings, as his conviction is a controversial topic in the United Kingdom. A 2007 review of the terrorist’s case found grounds for appeal of his conviction, leading many in Britain to think he was innocent of the country’s deadliest terrorist attack.

Al-Megrahi’s lawyers petitioned last week to abandon the appeal of the bomber’s 2001 conviction, which was going to resume in September. His lawyers had claimed al-Megrahi was wrongly identified during his trial as the man who bought clothes in a Malta shop that were used to conceal the bomb used on the airliner.

Libyans also sympathize with al-Megrahi, viewing him as innocent and believing the United States used him in an attempt to malign their country’s reputation worldwide.

MacAskill, the justice official, considered other options before announcing al-Megrahi’s release last week. One was to rule the bomber eligible for return to Libya under a prisoner transfer agreement between Libya and Britain, or to have him continue to serve his sentence in Scotland.

‘I am conscious that there are deeply held feelings and many will disagree whatever my decision,’ MacAskill said last week. ‘However, a decision has to be made.’

blbump@syr.edu

A version of this story originally appeared on dailyorange.com on Aug. 20.

Published on August 27, 2009 at 12:00 pm