A Dutch court convicts a man of assisting in at least 10 suicides by selling a deadly drug online

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court convicted a man Tuesday of helping at least 10 people take their own lives by selling them deadly “suicide drugs” and instructions for their use, in what has been seen as the latest test case for Dutch right-to-die policies.

The man, identified only as Alex S. in line with Dutch privacy guidelines, sold the drugs to more than 1,600 people before police arrested him. He first bought the drugs online for himself, East Brabant District Court said in a written verdict.

“He is convinced that every person has the right to decide about their own life and believes that government policy in this area falls short,” the court said.

The Netherlands was the first nation to legalize euthanasia. A 2002 law allowed physicians to end the lives of patients under strict conditions, either by administering a fatal dose of drugs or giving the patient the drugs to take.

Assisted suicide, the practice of someone who is not a physician providing a person with a self-administered lethal substance, remains illegal.

Debate about options available to people who want to end their lives but who are not eligible for euthanasia has continued ever since the euthanasia law was passed.

Late last year, a court in The Hague upheld the ban in a case brought by activists who argue it infringes on their right to determine when their lives end.

The 30-year-old suspect convicted Tuesday was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, the court in the southern city of Den Bosch ruled. Eighteen months of the sentence were suspended, meaning he would only have to serve them if he re-offends.

The court said that he “treated the lives of others very lightly and damaged the value of human life in general” and “undermined” the carefully formulated Dutch euthanasia law.

The court added that the suspect wrongly told buyers that the drug led to a painless death.

“Use of drug X does not always lead to a ‘soft’ death,” the court said, citing relatives who witnessed “severe distress and panic which led to a gruesome death.”

The judges said that they were conscious of the public debate about end-of-life issues in the Netherlands but stressed that “in a democratic society, it is important that laws are observed. Also by those who do not find their opinion reflected in the law in all respects.”

They said the suspect “took the law into his own hands and single-handedly put the right to self-determination above all other rights and the law.”