On January 14, 2020, a Belgian lawyer has admitted to searching the social media profiles of potential jurors to weed out “devout Catholics” for a trial. The lawyer is representing a doctor accused of “unlawfully poisoning” an autistic woman via assited suicide. It the first time that Belgian doctors face such accusations after administratin euthanasia.

Lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge, who is defense counsel for one of the three unnamed doctors on trial in Ghent, said that while he would not ban all Catholics from serving on the jury, he would be doing a poor job as a lawyer if he allowed a “devout” Catholic on the jury. 

Van Steenbrugge was quoted in Flemish newspaper Het Nieusblad, saying that lawyers “only get brief information about the jury members, and we have to deal with what we think about the candidates on social media.”  

“It goes without saying that I will exclude people who turn out to be ‘extremely Catholic,’ for example if they express a great Marian devotion,” he said.  “We do not want a jury member who would appear to have ever written that euthanasia should be considered murder.”

On January 14, Van Steenbrugge said that this process was “logical” and that he would be a “bad lawyer” if he did not exclude these jurors. 

There have been approximately 60 people who have been summoned as potential jury members for the death of Tine Nys. Nys, an autistic woman, died by euthanasia in 2010. Her relatives say that her condition did not reach the standard required for euthanasia in Belgium, and that she sought to end her life due to a failed relationship.

Belgium’s euthanasia laws are among the most liberal in the world. Children are permitted to request euthanasia, as well as those with mental illnesses such as depression. About six people per day die by euthanasia in Belgium.

In October 2019, four-time Paralympic medalist wheelchair racer Marieke Vervoort made headlines after she requested and received euthanasia.

Source: catholicnewsagency.com