Monday, August 17, 2009

Labour Justice Spokesman, Richard Baker wants to play party politics on a justice matter.


Dear All

The very nature of justice demands that it is impartial otherwise it isn’t justice at all.

The SNP Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill has a decision to make on the future of a man dying of terminal cancer who is a prisoner in Greenock jail.

The correct thing to do is to release him and let him return home with his family to Libya.

Politics has now reared its ugly head with recently both the Tories and Lib Dems demanding a recall of Parliament on the fate of the man called the Lockerbie Bomber.

Now the Labour Party has taken up the clarion for a recall.

This is not a matter for Parliament and politics has no place in whether a person is to remain in custody.

We don’t allow trial by media and certainly not trial by politicians.

It is therefore setting a bad precedent and the Scottish Government should not bend to these types of hysterical calls.

Labour's justice spokesman, Richard Baker wants an urgent statement to parliament over the future of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi and how his case has been handled.

This is nonsense, as at present his future remains undecided, however I feel that a public inquiry should be considered into why this case was handled so badly. It would give Richard Baker the opportunity to explain why under the previous Labour administrations this matter was not acted on.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, a former Libyan agent has been in prison since 2001 over the 1988 atrocity that killed 270 people.

He has always protested his innocence of the crime.

Labour's justice spokesman Richard Baker said;

"We need clarity now and some answers”.

I would say that Richard Baker is merely playing politics to try and acquire some kind of credibility that he obviously lacks. As Labour Justice Spokesman; he has been a complete failure.

Baker however added;

“The eyes of the world are on Scotland in its decision over Megrahi's fate but there are serious questions over the way the Scottish Government has handled this process”.

Whether the eyes of the world are on Scotland is debateable but whether it’s one or a billion and one eyes on this, it doesn’t change a thing.

This is a justice matter; it rests with one man only, not Parliament, not the Scottish Cabinet and not the people.

We don’t conduct votes on people’s lives so others can use it to try and win elections.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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