I'm getting more than a little annoyed about the continuing saga of an American Senate wanting Scottish Ministers to come to the USA to "explain themselves"! Who do these guys think they are? However, a few things need to be made clear.
1) The decision to release Magrahi was made under Scots Law which allows a prisoner an early release under compassionate grounds. American law does not understand compassion, and attending a Senate meeting will not help them to appreciate what this means.
2) We have a Scottish Parliament which dealt with this issue, and any deals that were made, were made independently with the UK Government under Tony Blair. This touched on Prisoner Transfer, and had nothing to do with our Justice Minister's decision.
3) We do not have to answer to anyone or explain how Scots Law works.
4) Most people in Scotland don't believe that Megrahi was anything else other than a "fall guy" anyway. Evidence has been with-held by the USA because it may affect national security. I think it's the USA that need to do some explaining here!
Of course the real problem is that Megrahi is not dead yet. He certainly would be if he'd been tried in America! And the second problem is this. Until we get a full enquiry, and Americans with others are made to provide the info they have, the truth will never be known. The conviction of Megrahi was extremely unsafe anyway.
Actually, Scotland has come out well in all of this. Now, leave us in peace!
7 comments:
Fr. Kenny,
Your comments are right on. Our Senate is sticking their nose into the affairs of other countries; not too unusual. I think we have enough problems here to keep them busy. Scotland did what they thought best and they followed their own laws, so that should be enough. Please excuse the lack of respect from our government.
David
Thank you for this David. It restores my faith in American folk. In the USA we would expect that you respect devolved powers. From State to State things are different. To mix up Scots Law with the UK Parliament is just plain ignorance.
You're spot on, Kenny!
Perhaps the Scottish parliament should summon a few former US leaders to explain themselves over this or that.
I must admit it seems the height of imperial arrogance to demand foreign leaders or former leaders show up at a US Senate hearing.
(yes my IP is US but I'm British born with some Scottish ancestry)
Would any member of the US Senate or the Secretary of State submit themselves to an inquiry by another country to explain their actions?
I think not!
Actually, I'm beginning to think our First Minister should just go over and give them a good old fashioned "telling off"!
I vote for the telling off.
Were you priest there three years ago? If so, I was in your parish three Sundays in a row (end of July - August). Such as small world.
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