Jail term for Dutch retailer of suicide drug
Supporters of assisted suicide show their support for Alex S. who was sentenced to jail for selling suicide drugs. Their banner reads: "Ruler of your own death." Photo ANP, Rob Engelaar
Western Europe
A Dutch man who sold a lethal drug to people who wanted to commit suicide has to serve a prison sentence of 3.5 years.
On Tuesday, the judge ruled that he is guilty of assisting ten people to commit suicide, which is illegal in the Netherlands, where only euthanasia with the help of a doctor is allowed. According to the court, there is evidence that Alex S. from the Dutch town of Eindhoven sold the so-called “drug X” for three years. It included a manual on how to take it, the Dutch broadcaster NOS reports.
The judge blamed S. because he dealt “very carelessly” with the life of others by providing the drugs. “You have damaged the value of human life in general”, the court ruled. The judge also criticised the way S. sold his product, as he put it in a jar with a screw cap. According to the judge, this could have been lethally dangerous for children, mailmen who had to deliver the package, or paramedics who would apply CPR to a victim.
Rejected
During an earlier trial, S. told the judge that he had acquired the drug himself in 2016 when he suffered a depression, NU.nl writes. He explained that he had obesity and had several pains and that he was rejected by several physicians. Therefore, S. bought the drugs to commit suicide when he would not be able to get out of bed anymore, he said.
When he discovered that it was easy to buy the drugs and that many people were interested in them, he started to sell them. To buy the poison, customers could send an e-mail and do a bank transfer. If that was done, Alex S. sent them the drugs via the mail. The package also included a manual and a drug that would prevent vomiting. S. never checked who his customers were and what their background was. The judge denounced that as well because some people might have ordered the poison to kill someone else. The police found out that S. sold approximately 1,600 doses.
Alex S. is the first person who is persecuted for assisting in suicides at a large-scale, NRC reports. Currently, there are nine other people waiting for their trial for the same offence.
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