BRUSSELS (AP) - 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.
He declined to elaborate on his client's psychiatric condition or to discuss when the medically-assisted suicide would take place, citing his client's right to privacy.
The sisters of one of Van Den Bleeken's victims, a woman he raped and killed while being temporarily out of prison in 1989, seemed appalled by the decision.
"Let him rot in his cell," the sisters, referred to as only Annie and Liliane, were quoted by Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad as saying.
"All those commissions, doctors and experts concerned about the well-being of the murderer of our sister. Nobody has ever shown us that much attention," they said.
Belgium has allowed euthanasia since 2002 for the terminally ill, but the vast majority of cases involve physical illnesses.