Tine Nys: Belgium euthanasia doctor was only ‘half-trained’

Tine Nys was given a lethal injection of barbiturates in 2010
Tine Nys was given a lethal injection of barbiturates in 2010

One of three Belgian doctors accused of the unlawful killing of a patient told a court yesterday that conservatives opposed to euthanasia would be the only winners in their trial.

Joris van Hove, Frank de Greef and Godelieve Thienpont were charged in Belgium’s first euthanasia criminal case after Tine Nys, 38, a patient with a history of suicide attempts, was given a lethal injection of barbiturates in 2010.

The case was brought by Ms Nys’s family members who say she was suffering from depression, not a “serious and incurable disorder”, as is required by Belgian law. The charge of unlawful killing carries a possible life sentence.

Dr Van Hove, giving evidence in a Ghent court yesterday, insisted that the procedure was voluntary and carried out