Spaniard arrested over wife’s death revives euthanasia debate

MADRID: Spanish police said Thursday they had arrested a man who helped his seriously ill wife to commit suicide, reviving a debate over euthanasia less than a month before a general election.

The man, who was later released by a judge pending further inquiries according to a judicial source, was arrested on Wednesday in Madrid a police spokesman told AFP.

“He said his wife was terminally ill and that he had given her a substance to provoke her death so that she no longer suffered,” the spokesman added.

During an interview with private television La Sexta broadcast last year, the man, Angel Fernandez, said his wife, who was in her early 60s, had battled multiple sclerosis, for 30 years, was in pain and extremely tired, and wanted to die “with dignity”.

“The ideal would be if a professional was authorised (to help her die) but as it’s impossible, if she asks, I should do it,” he added.

The news of the man’s arrest reopened the debate over euthanasia as Spain gears up for a snap general election on April 28, with the case dominating daytime television talk shows and sparking a flurry of opinions on social media.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has promised to make Spain the fourth country in Europe to legalise euthanasia after Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands if he wins a majority in parliament — a move fiercely opposed by the main opposition conservative Popular Party ( PP).

“We want people not to suffer beyond what they freely decide,” Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo wrote on Twitter on Thursday. — AFP