A Dutch psychologist admitted he sold “suicide powder” to over 100 people, saying he doesn’t care about any jail term.
Wim van Dijk affirmed in media statements that he gave “suicide powder” to more than 100 people. He was speaking out in an effort to provoke debate about the Netherlands’ laws on assisted dying.
“I am aware of the consequences of my story, I don’t care,” he told De Volkskrant.
“I want the social unrest to become so great that the judiciary cannot ignore it.”
He added: I don’t really care if they arrest me or put me in jail.
He further said: “I want something to happen.”
Dutch law stipulates that people can only be assisted to die by a doctor in response to a “voluntary and well-considered request” in the context of “unbearable suffering from which there is no prospect of improvement, or alternative remedy”.
Van Dijk is a member of Coöperatie Laatste Wil, or the Last Will Cooperative, which campaigns for more liberal legislation and offers advice to people who wish to end their lives.
Assisting suicide carries a maximum prison term of three years.
The chairman of Coöperatie Laatse Wil, Jos van Wijk, spent a day in dentention last month on suspicion of involvement in a criminal organisation.
