I am surprised there is no thread on this already - apologies if I have missed it.

BBC link

I simply can't understand why this man was released. There is a place for releasing prisoners on compassionate grounds when they are terminally ill and close to death. For example Ronnie Biggs was released earlier this month. BBC link re Mr Biggs. However each case needs to be treated on its merits. This person has been convicted for the murder of 270 people. In this case the compassion seems to have been shown to the perpertrator only and the feelings of the victims families have been ignored. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi's reception in Libya will have been particularly painful; pain that could have been forseen and avoided.

There is an argument that he may have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice but this should have no bearing on his compassionate release. This is a separate isssue that could have been expidited if he only had a few months to live.

So why did Kenny MacAskill agree to release him. I suspect he gave too much consideration to the convict and not enough thought to the victims' families and indulged in some muddled thinking about whether the conviction was safe. A huge mistake that is shaming to Scotland and the rest of the UK by association.