French euthanasia case doctor cleared
Print Edition
A French doctor whose emotionally charged trial over the deaths of seven terminally-ill patients gripped a country where euthanasia is illegal was acquitted yesterday to thunderous applause in the courtroom.
Nicolas Bonnemaison had faced life in prison when he went on trial in the southwestern city of Pau earlier this month but the judge announced yesterday he “was acquitted of all charges” against him, bringing a smile to the 53-year-old’s face as he held his lawyer’s hand.
The verdict came just one day after France’s highest administrative court authorized ending the life of a quadriplegic in a vegetative state, in a landmark decision that divided his family and was immediately blocked by the European Court of Human Rights pending a review of the case.
Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said yesterday’s decision meant that the ruling Socialists had “a responsibility to develop the legislative framework”, which for the moment only allows passive euthanasia.
Bonnemaison, an emergency room doctor who has since been struck off the medical register, was accused of “poisoning particularly vulnerable people” — five women and two men who died between March 2010 and July 2011 soon after being admitted to a hospital in the southwestern city of Bayonne where he worked.
His trial began on June 11 and heard intense evidence touching on compassion, the solitude of the doctor in taking decisions, and the danger of his or her power.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
