Rapist begs to be euthanized

[pixy0stix]

www.9news.com/story/news/2014/09/17/rapist-begs-to-be-euthanized/15758547/

(Newser) – Frank Van Den Bleeken, a Belgian man in prison for multiple rapes and a rape-murder, has decided he wants to die and authorities have decided they can grant that request.



Van Den Bleeken, 50, has been in prison for nearly 30 years and has declined to seek parole because he believes his uncontrollable urges make him a danger to society, but he says he can no longer bear prison conditions and his own "unbearable psychic suffering," AFP reports.



"I am a human being, and regardless of what I've done, I remain a human being," he told Belgian TV. "So, yes, give me euthanasia." Authorities determined Van Den Bleeken met the required conditions: He is conscious, capable, and has expressed a "voluntary, considered, and repeated" request to end his life.



Lawyers for Van Den Bleeken, who launched his legal fight for the right to die in 2011, say he will soon be transferred from prison to a hospital where he will be euthanized, the BBC reports.



In a TV documentary on his case, Van Den Bleeken complained that there was a lack of therapy for his condition in Belgium and said that for sex offenders, "just locking them up helps no one: not the person, not society, and not the victims," reports Reuters.



Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002, and the procedure was carried out on a record 1,807 people last year.

[IIOY]

I'm torn.

[laurenpetro]

the only reason i'm against this is because i have a problem with his getting out of serving his sentence. prison is supposed to suck.

[pixy0stix]

Sept 17, 2014 10:22:19 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

the only reason i'm against this is because i have a problem with his getting out of serving his sentence. prison is supposed to suck.

He's declined to seek parole. So I'm assuming he was up for parole and early release. I'd need to look further to see if that's true.

[downtoearth]

It's his choice and legal there, so I'm glad that even those accused of crimes have that choice. On the other hand if he really isn't getting a mental health treatment he needs or is being mistreated in prison, I think that needs to be addressed before they transfer him to the hospital.

[laurenpetro]

Sept 17, 2014 10:23:34 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Sept 17, 2014 10:22:19 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

the only reason i'm against this is because i have a problem with his getting out of serving his sentence. prison is supposed to suck.

He's declined to seek parole. So I'm assuming he was up for parole and early release. I'd need to look further to see if that's true.

i'm not against someone who is that self-aware being allowed to check out.  i'm actually fine with it.  this is my only issue with it, and it's not one that keeps me from being ok with his decision.

[Deleted]

Bye, Felicia

[downtoearth]

Sept 17, 2014 10:25:41 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

Sept 17, 2014 10:23:34 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

He's declined to seek parole. So I'm assuming he was up for parole and early release. I'd need to look further to see if that's true.

i'm not against someone who is that self-aware being allowed to check out.  i'm actually fine with it.  this is my only issue with it, and it's not one that keeps me from being ok with his decision.

I looked at a couple other articles and he was let out of prison/mental hospital after rape-killing once and then committed a couple other assaults and another rape/murder and was then put into prison.  He has not only denied trying to get parole or appeals, but he also denied mental health treatment.  He first asked to be euthanized in 2011, so they have studied and examined his ability to make this decision since then.  I think I'm ok with him deciding after 3 years and refusing any treatment or appeals b/c he knows he is guilty, for him to make this decision.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2758749/Chilling-ruling-means-killers-jailed-life-win-legal-right-die-victim-s-families-face-lifetime-suffering.html

www.smh.com.au/world/belgium-to-allow-jailed-murderer-frank-van-den-bleeken-to-end-his-own-life-20140916-10hemv.html

[iammalcolmx]

Sept 17, 2014 10:32:23 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Bye, Felicia

[Deleted]

I'm ok with this. If he's been asking for this for years and denying himself all psychiatric treatments and possibility of parole in the meantime, I believe he really does think there's something fundamentally wrong with him and he would rather die than carry on. KOKO, Belgium.

[gpw]

I actually saw a headline for this yesterday and thought of you, pixy. Even though many other people may have said it before, you were the first time I really considered life in prison to be harsher than the death penalty. It definitely muddies the water on my thoughts about the DP.