Spain’s assisted suicide law is in the spotlight after doctors allowed the death of a former security guard who faced trial for having stormed his former workplace a year ago, shooting and wounding three people and later a police officer.
Eugen Sabau, known in Spain as “the Tarragona gunman,” applied for euthanasia in June, six months after he was left with quadriplegia when police subdued him in a shootout following the attack Dec. 14 in the northeastern city.
Victims had argued that Sabau should not be helped to die before his trial, but two Spanish courts ruled that the accused’s right to seek assisted suicide prevailed. The man died Tuesday in a prison in northeastern Spain.
In March 2021, Spain became the fourth country in Europe to allow physician-assisted suicide for patients with incurable diseases and for people with unbearable permanent conditions.
A Tarragona court ruled that Sabau suffered unbearable pain with no possibility of relief and agreed with the medical commission to delay it until after the trial violated the accused’s dignity and rights.
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