Euthanasia activist Davison arrested in the UK

South African euthanasia activist Sean Davison has been arrested in London for assisting a terminally-ill patient to die. According to a Rapport report, Davison accompanied a 79-year-old English woman to the Pegasos Clinic in Switzerland on 29 June. The DignitySA co-founder was arrested on 15 July and part of his bail conditions is that he may not talk to the media. DignitySA co-founder Willem Landman says he is therefore attempting to warn families that they may face prosecution if accompanying loved ones to Switzerland. ‘The irony is that Sean is being charged with a crime which is soon to be decriminalised in parts of the UK,’ Landman said. A private Bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales was tabled in the House of Lords on Friday. Davison’s bail conditions include a prohibition of working with DignitySA or approximately 80 other groups lobbying for legalised euthanasia. Davison was sentenced to house arrest in New Zealand in 2010 for assisting his terminally ill mother to die. Assisted dying has since been legalised in New Zealand. He also reached a plea and sentence agreement in SA in 2019 and was sentenced to three years of house arrest.

Full report in Rapport (subscription needed)