With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Lockerbie bomber, Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi's plea for bail

The Lockerbie bomber should be freed on bail pending appeal because he has prostate cancer and does not have long to live, judges heard yesterday.

Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi’s lawyers told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that there was a “compelling case” for letting the former Libyan agent, 56, live with his family in Scotland. Prosecutors say the gravity of the offence means that he should stay in Greenock prison, where he is serving at least 27 years for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, causing 270 deaths. The judges’ ruling will be given later.

Read entire article at Times (UK)