Right-to-death campaigner Marco
Cappato on Wednesday reported himself to Carabinieri police in
Milan after accompanying a terminally ill cancer patient to a
clinic in Switzerland to commit assisted suicide.
The case of the woman, a 69-year-old named Elena, has moved the
nation after she recorded a video message explaining her
decision before she died.
"I would have preferred to end my life in my own bed," she said.
Cappato risks a jail term of up to 12 years for assisting
suicide.
The activist, who has also helped other people in similar
situations, berated Italy's politicians for failing to pass
legislation on end-of-life issues.
"There has been no response from the parliament, from the
political world, from the leaders of the big parties," he said.
"The people's-initiative bill that we presented nine years ago
has not been discussed, not even for a minute, during the last
two parliamentary terms.
"We have come to this.
"When faced with Elena's request, we could have looked the other
way or give her the help that she sought, in full view of
everyone and taking total responsibility".
Cappato, a leading member of the Luca Coscioni right-to-die
association, helped set a legal precedent when he helped DJ
Fabo, a tetraplegic disk jockey, commit suicide in a Swiss
clinic, in 2017.
The Constitutional Court subsequently cleared Cappato in
relation to this case, saying assisted suicide could be
legitimate in some cases if the person wanting to die was in
intolerable suffering.
The court also called on parliament to pass legislation dealing
with end-of-life issues, something that it has failed to do so
far.
In June a 44-year-old Marche man who had been tetraplegic since
a car crash 12 years ago become the first person to legally
commit assisted suicide in Italy on the basis of the
Constitutional Court ruling.
Elena was not eligible to commit assisted suicide in Italy due
to the specifics of her case.
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