Judge orders end-of-life activists' forced indictment

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 24 - A preliminary investigations judge (GIP) in Florence on Monday rejected a request filed by the State Attorney's office to shelve the case against three end-of-life activists who were probed for helping a 44-year-old with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) travel to Switzerland to die in a country where assisted suicide is legal.
    The GIP Agnese di Girolamo ordered the forced indictment of the three activists, including the treasurer of the right-to-die Luca Coscioni association Marco Cappato, as well as Felicetta Maltese and Chiara Lalli.
    "Ours was an act of civil disobedience", Cappato said after the judge's decision.
    "With Chiara Lalli and Felicetta Maltese we reported ourselves to the authorities because we were, and are, ready to take responsibility, in the full respect of the decisions taken by magistrates and amid the total inertia of Parliament", he added.
    Assisted suicide is an offence that carries a prison term ranging between five and 12 years in jail.
    Tuscany last month became the first Italian region to approve a law granting access to assisted suicide amid a legislative vacuum at the national level.
    In 2009 the Constitutional Court said assisted suicide is permissible in Italy in some circumstances in its 'Cappato ruling', named after Marco Cappato.
    The requirements outlined in the 2019 sentence included the presence of an irreversible pathology, unbearable physical or psychological suffering and the patient's reliance on treatments of vital support, among others.
    The court also called on parliament to pass legislation dealing with end-of-life issues, something that it has failed to do so far.
    The parties on the right of Italy's political spectrum are opposed to moves to make assisted suicide easier. (ANSA).