A man paralyzed since a shooting spree in which four people were shot was euthanized Tuesday in Spain, ahead of his trial, an unprecedented decision in a country where the right to die takes precedence over legal proceedings.
“In accordance with the euthanasia scheduled to take place today (Tuesday), Mr. Marin Eugene Sabo passed away at 6:30 pm (4:30 pm GMT) in Terrassa Hospital,” his lawyer announced in a statement.
Marin Eugene Sabo, 46, a Romanian security guard, shot three colleagues and a police officer in December, wounding several, but no one, in Tarragona (northeast) before he was also shot in the spine who left . He is paralyzed.
The man dubbed the “Tarragona shooter” by the Spanish press said he acted because he was living in a “hell” at work and accused his superiors of racism.
Since then he has been bedridden in the Terrassa prison hospital near Barcelona, and has claimed the right to die.
I am paralyzed. I have 45 points in my hand. I can’t move my left arm. “I have screws (in my body) and I can no longer feel my chest,” he explained to the Tarragona court judge, who ruled in his favor at the beginning of July.
The court did not contest his request for euthanasia, estimating at the beginning of July that it was a “fundamental right” and that “the law does not specifically regulate euthanasia when it comes to persons in pretrial detention or the subject of legal proceedings.”
Civil claims attorneys wanted the defendants tried to compensate the victims.
“Victims are frustrated: We let the person decide when and how to end the legal process,” said Jose Antonio Petos, a lawyer for two injured police officers (one of whom was shot). and the other in the ensuing chase. ).
He insisted that “we were not opposed to euthanasia per se, but to the fact that it is taking place before trial,” lamenting that he could not “see this gentleman sitting in the dock.”
He points out that if his clients receive compensation from the public administration because they were injured in service, the other victims of the shooting “would not receive a trial or compensation.”
A law legalizing euthanasia went into effect on June 25, 2021 in Spain, making it the fourth European country to decriminalize it, after the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
