Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the man convicted of murdering 270 people by planting a bomb on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, has been released from jail in Scotland on “compassionate grounds.” The 57 year old is suffering from prostate cancer and doctors estimate he has just 3 months left to survive. In an attempt to explain the out of the ordinary release, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill cited compassionate grounds, stating that Megrahi was being released so he could “[go] home to die.” “Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion available,” MacAskill said.

Arriving in his homeland of Libya, Megrahi received a heroes welcome with a large crowd gathered waving flags, throwing flowers and honking horns at the military airport in Tripoli.
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