Dutch counsellor on 'euthanasia' charges

About 5,000 Dutch people are helped to die each year

By Geraldine Coughlan at The Hague

Dutch prosecutors are to bring charges against a humanist counsellor for assisting the suicide of a woman who was terminally ill.

It is the first time a member of the support group for people contemplating suicide faces prosecution.

The case highlights a widening debate on mercy killing in the Netherlands, which became the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia on 1 January.

The counsellor, a member of the De Einder foundation, was present as an 81-year-old woman took an overdose of pills, and then placed a plastic bag over her head.

Strict rules

The counsellor faces three years in prison if he is found guilty of assisting a suicide.

But after questioning another counsellor, a 77-year-old woman who was also present at the death, prosecutors decided not to charge her with assisting suicide.

News of this case comes a day after a group of doctors launched a financial appeal to help a colleague fight a murder conviction for not following the official guidelines for euthanasia.

Many feel these conditions which include a mandatory request for euthanasia, and a second medical opinion, are too stringent, and in some cases deprive terminally ill patients of a humane death.

Lengthy debate

Since the new law was introduced, the outspoken opponents of mercy killing have been relatively quiet.

And public debate is taking the issue a step further, considering whether doctors should have the right to transgress the boundaries of euthanasia in some cases, and also prescribe a suicide pill for elderly people who request it.

The Dutch Health Minister, Els Borst, said she expects the national debate on mercy killing and assisted suicide to continue for at least another 10 years.