Zawaya

Al-Megrahi's release was primarily done for humanitarian reasons

By: Abdelaziz Karraky

One of the things that has provoked many viewers worldwide this summer is probably the images that were aired by TV networks from Libya of Libyan national Abdel Baset al-Megrahi – who is accused of bombing the PAN American plane over Scotland’s Lockerbie village – leaving the plane in an atmosphere filled with jubilant joy after the Scottish authorities released him on purely compassionate grounds.

These images have constituted a source of provocation for many people around the world, not because of the release itself, but because of the jubilant reception al-Megrahi has had. However, this is perfectly understandable, when we know that political regimes often take advantage of these kinds of occasions to increase their legitimacy through events that are turned into sudden popular celebrations. The political authority is considered the only party to have benefited from these celebrations. This often allows them to turn defeats into victories, and make historic epics out of complete failures. As to the price for this, it is, of course, not important.

Let’s go back to the side of victims’ families. It’s very difficult to imagine the feelings they must have had when they saw al-Megrahi surrounded with a huge crowd of people and the atmosphere of joy that prevailed in the Libyan airport. After they were told that the act was done by human hands, they called for the application of law and restoration of rights by bringing the perpetrators to court so that justice may be done. This is although punishments would not bring the victims back to life. The Lockerbie case was engulfed in an atmosphere of secrecy. It went through the Security Council, and was subject to many agreements, until it was finally resolved with the payment of a considerable financial compensation for the victims and by bringing two persons to justice for their role in killing 270 people. One of them was later acquitted, while the other was condemned by the independent judiciary accepted by Libya. Many people may believe that justice has not been done now that al-Megrahi has become free and has returned to his country, where he was given a hero’s welcome. However, this line of talk may reduce the entire concept of justice to a desire to exact revenge. This was the practice that prevailed in the past, where the victim could exact his revenge from the aggressor. But divine religions have alleviated that after they raised the intellectual level of humans, and thus justice became an abstract concept that allowed us to turn the aggression against the human body into a financial compensation, which the victim receives to remedy the damages he sustained. This was quite the case in Lockerbie case.

Let’s go back to al-Megrahi once again. If we look carefully at his release, we will find that it was a perfectly humanitarian case. Whoever did that knows quite well that the logic of justice was dictated and imposed by humanitarian principles. These are the same principles that dictate that the demands of anyone who is about to die must be met. However, there is a wide difference between those who look at this in a noble humanitarian way and those who seek to use it politically for self-glorification.