Lockerbie release sparks local anger

“It’s been an ordeal my whole life,’’ Bright, of Dover, said. “It has become a never-ending issue.’’

Bright’s renewed hurt was felt across the state when Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was freed and sent home to his native Libya. Reacting with disappointment and anger, the family members of local men and women who were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded said Megrahi should not have been released.

Sally MacKinlay was outraged, Allen Benello was appalled, and Jeannine Boulanger, who said she was not surprised, lost another sliver of her faith in justice.

President Obama said Scotland’s decision to free the terminally ill Megrahi on compassionate grounds was a mistake. He said he should be placed under house arrest.

US Senator John F. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lambasted the release in a statement.

“Megrahi showed no compassion to the innocent passengers and Scottish villagers he murdered; he should not receive our compassion now,’’ he said. “Justice is ill-served by his early release.’’

Bright was just 16 months old when his father, a 32-year-old consultant also named Nicholas Bright, was killed. He said he was speechless when he heard Megrahi was going home.

“He has three months to live, and he’s allowed to be with his family, which is three months we were not allowed,’’ he said.

Officials granted the compassionate release - an established feature of Scotland’s judicial system used for prisoners near death - after Megrahi was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Megrahi, 57, was convicted in 2001 of taking part in the bombing on Dec. 21, 1988.

The plane’s explosion killed all 259 people aboard and 11 people on the ground in the town of Lockerbie.

He was sentenced to life in prison, but a 2007 review of his case found grounds for an appeal, and many in Britain believe he is innocent.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said he was motivated to release Megrahi by the Scottish value of mercy.

“Those who have been bereaved cannot be expected to forget, let alone to forgive,’’ he said. “However, Mr. al-Megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power.’’

Megrahi served eight years in prison, but to the families of the victims left behind, those years were a pittance.

“These individuals died in foreign countries, without their families there, and we, as it was, had to accept this very low sentence,’’ said Boulanger, whose 21-year-old daughter died in the bombing. “And now, not to carry it out?’’

Her daughter, Nicole Elise Boulanger, was a musical theater student at Syracuse University who was studying in London on scholarship, she said.

“She was a consummate student, a very dedicated performer,’’ her mother said, “a young woman with a lot of talent and a lot of vision.’’

Nicole Boulanger had completed her requirements in seven semesters, her mother said, and was coming home to Shrewsbury when she was killed.

Boulanger questioned Scotland’s motivation for releasing Megrahi.

“Great Britain has been in negotiations with Libya for oil,’’ she said. “It’s never quite pretty what goes on behind the scenes.’’

Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of Pan Am 103, which represents the families of the American victims, said he believed the Libyan government had promised there would be no hero’s welcome for Megrahi back in Libya.

The former Libyan intelligence agent, however, was met by hundreds of supporters when he emerged from his plane in Tripoli and embraced his sons.

Benello, whose 25-year-old brother was killed in the bombing, said Megrahi should stay in prison.

He and his brother Julian grew up in Brookline. Allen Benello, who now lives in San Francisco, said his brother was studying for a master’s degree in cognitive science from Cambridge University in England.

“It’s very disappointing and appalling and shocking,’’ he said, of Megrahi’s release.

And MacKinlay said she felt no compassion for Megrahi.

“I wonder where his compassion was when he blew up an airplane with over 200 people on it,’’ she said. “I guess I should have more compassion for him, but I really don’t. I have to save it for somebody who’s worthy of it.’’

Her brother, Thomas Walker, was 47 when he was killed in the bombing. A Quincy resident, Walker was an engineer coming home from work in the Middle East when he was killed, she said.

She had wondered lately what would have happened if he had lived.

“What he would be, what his life would be like,’’ she said. “He had five children, and they have children, and he’s missed out on all of that,’’ MacKinlay lamented.

“I know there are all kinds of stories like this, of wonderful people who lost their lives and left behind parents and relatives that will never really be the same,’’ she said.

“And I miss him.’’

Material from Globe wire services was used in this report.