BRUSSELS — The Belgian government says a rapist and murderer will not be granted his wish for assisted suicide this weekend, but will instead be taken to a special facility for observation.
Justice Minister Koen Geens said Tuesday that Frank Van Den Bleeken, who was found guilty of murder and rape in several cases and has been locked up for almost 30 years, would be given a chance for a “qualitatively decent life.”
Van Den Bleeken said he wants to die because he has no viable treatment options left for his psychological problems and cannot control his sexual urges.
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He claims his “psychological suffering” is unbearable and that he would prefer to die than spend more of his life behind bars.
His application to die was accepted by Belgium’s Federal Euthanasia Commission in September, and over the weekend, he was given approval to be taken to a specialist clinic on Sunday, where he was to be killed by lethal injection.
Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002, and is one of only three countries to allow the practice, the others being the Netherlands and Luxembourg. More countries, including Switzerland and some states of America, allow doctors to assist suicide in certain circumstances.
But Belgium has seen a fast growth in euthanasia, and has expanded the practice beyond terminally ill adults. It can now be used in cases of intense pain and psychological distress.
Van Den Bleeken raped Christiane Remacle, a 19-year-old girl, as she came home from a New Year’s Eve party on Jan. 1, 1989, and then strangled her with one of her own stockings. He was deemed insane and not criminally responsible. After seven years on a prison psychiatric ward, he was released, attacking three more victims, aged 11, 17, and 29.
He was then ordered to be detained indefinitely, and has seen “the outside” only once since, for his mother’s funeral.
Van Den Bleeken told a television documentary last year: “If people commit a sexual crime, help them to deal with it. Just locking them up helps no one. I am a human being, and regardless of what I’ve done, I remain a human being. So, yes, give me euthanasia.”
With files from Richard Spencer, The Telegraph
Source:: National Post
