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Belgium: European Court says right to life was violated in euthanasia case of depressed woman

Belgium: European Court says right to life was violated in euthanasia case of depressed woman
Tom Mortier (Credit: ADF International)
ET staff writer
ET staff writer
02 November, 2022 2 min read

The European Court of Human Rights has censured Belgium for failing to conduct a proper investigation into circumstances of the 2012 euthanasia death of Godelieva de Troyer.

The Court held that there was a violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights that everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law.

Godelieva de Troyer died by lethal injection in 2012, aged 64, following a diagnosis of ‘incurable depression’, but her son – Tom Mortier – later raised concerns.
The doctor who carried out the euthanasia was a cancer specialist, not a mental health specialist.

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