On January 12 and 13, another series of police detentions took place in France. This as a continuation of the investigation carried out following the October 2019 raids. Ten members of the French Right to Die Society Ultime Liberté, have been taken in custody. Now they are out, but some have been there for one full day or even two days.
“At 7:30 a.m., we saw ten police officers arrive at our home,” one of them told to our member organization LE CHOIX, CITOYENS POUR UNE MORT CHOISIE. One of these people is over the age of 80. “Among those “suspected” are the president of the association of Ultime Liberté, as well as Dr. Bernard Senet, the co-chair of LE CHOIX. That day, she was absent from her home, staying in Belgium.
A year ago, more than 130 elderly people (over 70 years of age) had already experienced a police raid on their homes in the early hours of the morning. They were blamed for buying the product Pentobarbital over the Internet from a Mexican firm. Pentobarbital is a powerful sedative that eventually avoids “unnecessary and painful agony. The elderly bought it for their own use: to end their lives without suffering when they felt overcome by illness.
The people who were brought to detention now, informed other citizens of how to buy Pentobarbital abroad.
Reactions
LE CHOIX, CITOYENS POUR UNE MORT CHOISIE
“The new searches and detentions raise questions, doubts, and indignation. In the midst of a viral pandemic where a third of the dead are over 65 years of age, this police raid, mobilizing between 7 and 10 representatives of the order with each intervention, is surreal about the means mobilized.” This says our member organization LE CHOIX, CITOYENS POUR UNE MORT CHOISIE in a newsletter of February 3.
Already in January LE CHOIX stated on their website: “The association Le Choix is strongly speaking out against these methods worthy of a police raid on drug traffickers. We demand a little respect for those people who have not harmed anyone and are only asking for the right to choose their end of life. A freedom that France denies them. We must put an end to our repressive legislation,which is now being challenged in many European countries.”
Ultime Liberté
The Board of Right to Die Society Ultime Liberté met on the afternoon of January 14, and drafted a news release on this subject that is sent to all their members. We translated the text into English.
What’s next?
Our member organization LE CHOIX, CITOYENS POUR UNE MORT CHOISIE told us they don’t know if the judge will decide to charge the members of Ultime Liberté. They have an appointment with a lawyer for organising the defense of three of them who also belong to their association.
France