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A
serial murderer and rapist, who has spent 30 years in prison, is set to be
euthanized in Belgium on January 11. He has asked to die due to his “unbearable”
psychological suffering, Belgian media reports.
Fifty-year-old Frank Van Den Bleeken has
been convicted of repeated rape and murder, and the “euthanasia
will indeed be implemented” in
the northwestern town of Bruges, a justice ministry spokeswoman told local De
Morgen newspaper.
“Now
the time has come,” she said.
Van
Den Bleeken's euthanasia request was approved in September, but no date for the
procedure was set then.
He
has reportedly refused to be considered for early parole, viewing himself as a
threat to society. However, he found the conditions behind bars inhumane, AFP
reported, citing Belgian media.
The
country’s government hasn’t released any official statement on the matter yet.
Belgium
made euthanasia legal in 2002. In 2013, the number of mercy killings carried
out in the country stood at 1,807, according to the statistics cited by AFP.
The terms for euthanasia
are quite strict: patients must be mentally capable, conscious, and have
demonstrated a "voluntary, considered
and repeated" demand to die.
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