MacAskill surprised by fury at release of Megrahi
IT plunged Scotland into a major diplomatic row with the US and generated worldwide outrage and revulsion.
But f ormer Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has claimed he did not realise his decision to free the Lockerbie bomber would attract such global attention.
The former MSP, who is quitting politics, referred to the damaging saga as his ‘Andy Warhol moment’.
But his 15 minutes of fame sparked fury among US politicians and relatives of victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 – the biggest ever mass murder on British soil.
Mr MacAskill, 57, who is writing a book to ‘set the record straight’, said: ‘It was an Andy Warhol moment, I knew it was going to be big, I didn’t necessarily realise just how big – that it was going to go global.
‘What I can say, without disclosing the full contents of the book, I knew we were a cog in a wheel, what I didn’t realise was
‘An Andy Warhol moment’
how small a cog and how big a wheel. I think what comes out of this is that others should hang their head in shame and none of them is in Scotland.’
Mr MacAskill, who served as justice secretary between 2007 and 2014, refused to elaborate. But he did defend his decision to publish a book, saying: ‘I think this is my opportunity to tell people [what happened], there are a lot of things out there that people want to know and I think I am entitled to do that. That’s how I see it, I think this is a matter more of setting the record straight.’
A total of 259 people on the Pan Am flight from London to New York were killed in the 1988 bombing, along with 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who always maintained his innocence, was convicted in 2001.
After serving eight years of his sentence, the Libyan was granted ‘ compassionate r elease’ when doctors said prostate cancer would kill him within three months. In his biography, Megrahi claimed Mr MacAskill had said he could return to his Libyan homeland if he dropped an appeal against his conviction – something described as ‘hearsay’ by the Scottish Government.
Megrahi did ditch the appeal and flew back to Libya to a hero’s welcome which sparked international outrage. President Barack Obama said the decision to release Megrahi was a ‘mistake’.
Mr MacAskill infamously said the Libyan faced a sentence ‘imposed by a higher power’ when he freed him in 2009. But the bomber survived until May, 2012, when he died aged 60. Mr MacAskill went to visit Megrahi in his cell at Greenock Prison shortly before he was freed. The politician revealed that one option had been to bring the Libyan to Edinburgh for the meeting. But this would have been ‘clearly preposterous, it would have been an OJ Simpson scenario’, he told Holyrood magazine.
‘The easiest thing for security, given he was a prisoner, was simply to go to Greenock Prison.’
Megrahi’s release from jail became t he defi ni ng moment of Mr MacAskill’s ministerial career, which ended when he was sacked by Nicola Sturgeon in November 2014. Last night, Scottish Tory Holyrood candidate Alex Johnstone said: ‘Kenny MacAskill should have known how much fuss and anger releasing Megrahi would have caused and it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise.
‘When Alex Salmond’s government took the decision to release Megrahi it was not done in the name of Scotland, or in the name of the Scottish parliament. It is surprising to hear this revelation – but then he does have books to sell.’
Families of the bombing victims have criticised Mr MacAskill for writing his book, which is set to be published in May.