MacAskill acknowledged that Megrahi himself showed no compassion, but rightly points out that this alone is not a reason to deny him compassion in his final days. He then appeals to the values of humanity, compassion, and mercy as “the beliefs we seek to live by” and frames his decision as being true to Scottish values.
“慈悲不是能强求的”——确切地说，不是强迫的，也不是什么义务——波蒂亚对夏洛克如是说，在她看来慈悲是某些像雨点一样，只能自发从天而降，可遇而不可求的东西。麦克阿斯基尔承认梅格拉希本人至今对空难都还毫无忏悔，但认为这并不是人们因此拒绝怜悯一个病入膏肓，时日无多的老人的理由。他接着指出人道、怜悯和宽恕才是“支撑我们生命的信仰”，并表明他的决定是忠于苏格兰价值观的。