FBI boss attacks Megrahi release

Source: beeb

FBI director Robert Mueller has launched a scathing attack on Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill over the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

In a letter, dated 21 August, Mr Mueller said the decision makes "a mockery of justice" and gives comfort to terrorists around the world.

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has received a hero's welcome in Libya.

The Scottish Government said it had consulted widely in the US and UK and had made the right decision.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8216122.stm

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EDIT: It took the UN nearly twelve years of complex legal argument, persuasion and protracted negotiation to secure al-Meghrahi's handover.

During that time I was working at the UN and came into frequent contact with the families and legal representatives of the Lockerbie victims many of whom had lobbied hard for criminal proceedings to take place in the USA under US criminal law.

The possibility of a successful US conviction always implied the option of the death penalty.

This was the eventual deal-breaker that saw al-Megrahi and his co-accused tried under Scottish law in the Netherlands where the death penalty does not apply.

I expect many at the UN who had been involved in the complex handover may feel pretty much double-crossed by events of the last few days.

This is the content of a letter from FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, sent to Scottish Minister Kenny MacAskill regarding the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.

Dear Mr. Secretary:

Over the years I have been a prosecutor, and recently as the Director of the FBI, I have made it a practice not to comment on the actions of other prosecutors, since only the prosecutor handling the case has all the facts and the law before him in reaching the appropriate decision.

Your decision to release Megrahi causes me to abandon that practice in this case. I do so because I am familiar with the facts, and the law, having been the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the investigation and indictment of Megrahi in 1991.

And I do so because I am outraged at your decision, blithely defended on the grounds of "compassion."

Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. Indeed your action makes a mockery of the rule of law.

MORE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8216107.stm

FBI director Robert Mueller is for the Rule of Law


and Justice.
:redbox: :tv:

for the rule of law. The US is selective when it comes to the rule of law. And because of that I doubt anyone outside of the US pays much attention to us when we attempt to exert our moral authority.

I would have liked to hear Mueller et al demand justice for the victims of torture, eg. But so far, all I've heard is that those victims will just have to suck it up as we, the US, feel it's better to 'move forward' rather than look at the past. Victims of torture, those who survived it, have tried to get justice in our civil courts but have been consistently denied it on the basis of 'national security'.

I guess Scotland could claim to be moving forward now too, as it was all in the past. There is a statute of limitations on crimes like torture and murder according to the US. Given that logic, this case falls under that new 'rule'.

great point.

I have at least 20 questions I'd like Mueller to discuss with me. The Rule of Law seems
like it has become 'the talking point' and we are to just accept and forget.

For instance - I want more information about 9/11. Not case closed.
Everything did change that day and we may never feel safe again, from our own Govt.

...and

I'm really losing Hope in America.

The FBI offered $4M to someone to testify against al-Megrahi.

http://i-p-o.org/IPO-nr-Lockerbie-5Oct07.htm


And Robert Mueller is unhappy.

Where was all this outrage when Bush and Blair decided to make nice with good old Moammar back in '04? For giving up his rudimentary nuclear program he got the red carpet treatment from the US and, especially, the UK. Blair couldn't get over to Tripoli fast enough to get those oil contracts signed.

The best part is that while all this kissy-kissy business was going on, killer Qaddafi was helping his good friend Charles Taylor in Liberia and plotting to kill then Crown Prince Abdullah. Oh yeah, and don't forget the Bulgarian nurses he held hostage for 7 years, for supposedly giving AIDS to all those kids. (Nary a peep for Bush or Blair about them the whole time.)

Qaddafi is the one most responsible for Lockerbie, but he's now a "statesman" according to Jack Straw. The al-Megrah trial was a first class cock-up from the beginning and he may not even be guilty.

This letter is a freaking joke.

to anyone who 1) has followed this case and 2) has followed his behavior.

Bushbama.Obusha.Whateva.

Oh pLZZZZ!

"Your action gives comfort to terrorists around the world who now believe that regardless of the quality of the investigation, the conviction by jury after the defendant is given all due process, and sentence appropriate to the crime, the terrorist will be freed by one man's exercise of "compassion." "


He was convicted by a sole judge on circumstancial evidence with no jury present at his trial.


Edit: Now that this man seemingly stands for the 'rule of law' all of a sudden, then he should get to work cleaning up his own back yard...

I don't think too many people are listening to Mueller anyhow. But that IS a glaring mistake, thanks for pointing it out.

What a fucking shame.:sarcasm: