In January, a Belgian court cleared three doctors accused of murder in the country’s first criminal case concerning euthanasia.
The doctors were alleged to have unlawfully poisoned 38-year-old Tine Nys in April 2010 because she did not fulfil the conditions to be euthanised.
They were the first doctors to go on trial for euthanasia in Belgium since it legalised the practice in 2002. They would have faced life imprisonment had they been found guilty.
The three accused, whose signatures were required for the procedure, were: the doctor who administered the lethal injection, Nys’ former general practitioner, and a psychiatrist.
Amateurish
Nys’ parents and sisters, who were present at her death, complained that the euthanasia was carried out in an amateurish manner and that Nys did not have an incurable mental disorder, an important condition for granting euthanasia. The woman had requested euthanasia in 2009. She was said to have suffered from depression and heroin addiction and had latterly been diagnosed with autism.
Belgian law allows adults to request the right to die on condition that they are facing unbearable physical or mental suffering resulting from a serious and incurable disorder. It was extended to terminally-ill children in 2014.
Some were concerned that, had the case ended in conviction, it may have set a dangerous precedent for professionals practicing euthanasia. Lawyers were reported to have received letters from doctors who had halted carrying out the procedure for fear of legal consequences.
