Belgian authorities grant prisoner’s euthanasia request

BRUSSELS – A Belgian man convicted of murder and rape is being put to death. Yet the country doesn’t have the death penalty. Confused? Authorities have granted a request for assisted suicide by the man, who says he’s a menace to society and can’t live knowing that.

Even in Belgium, which has one of the broadest euthanasia laws in the world, the decision is raising eyebrows, with some saying it’s proof of a failing justice and health system.

Belgium’s justice minister approved Frank Van Den Bleeken’s transfer to a hospital for euthanasia late Monday after doctors agreed his mental condition was incurable, making him the first detainee in Belgium to be put to death for psychiatric reasons.

Van Den Bleeken, who was found guilty of murder and rape in several cases, has been locked up for almost 30 years. He wishes to die because he has no viable treatment options left and cannot control his sexual urges, his lawyer said Tuesday.

“He has clearly said that he didn’t want to leave prison because he didn’t want to risk creating further victims,” Jos Vander Velpen said. Seeing himself as a danger to society, he can “no longer live like that,” the lawyer added.

Belgium has allowed euthanasia since 2002 for the terminally ill, but the vast majority of cases involve physical illnesses.

Carine Brochier, a project manager with the Brussels-based European Institute of Bioethics, said Van Den Bleeken should not be allowed to die but receive proper treatment as would be the case in all other countries.

“This is a great failure of psychiatric care and the prison system in Belgium altogether,” said Brochier, who opposes euthanasia. The decision amounts to a “death penalty through the backdoor,” she said.

Van Den Bleeken, now in his fifties, had requested a transfer for treatment at a specialized psychiatric center in the Netherlands or, failing that, a mercy killing. Belgian authorities denied the transfer request earlier this year, saying it was legally impossible to transfer him abroad. On Monday, a Brussels appeals court then accepted an agreement to carry out the assisted suicide.