The case dates back five years, so it has nothing to do with Section 217 of the Criminal Code on assisted suicide, which was passed in 2015. Rather, after years of investigations, the public prosecutor’s office had come up with other heavy artillery such as the construct of “killing on demand by omission” or even direct active euthanasia by allegedly injecting an anti-emetic. Experienced and clever defense lawyers are needed to defend against such complicated attacks, which could result in years in prison. And special conditions must be agreed with them in advance. Dr. Turowski was recommended two lawyers at a daily rate of 1,500 euros each. The trial was originally scheduled to last just a few days, which ultimately turned into nine due to various expert opinions and witness statements. This has now resulted in a total sum of around 30,000 euros including VAT. Of course, the state treasury is not prepared to pay the costs for this – but will only reimburse a portion of them for the successful defense. In any case, Dr. Turowski, who is unable to pay and has since retired, is left with costs of at least 22,000 euros.
The ruling of the Berlin Regional Court in this case assumes that it is no longer appropriate to punish a doctor for failing to resuscitate a freely responsible suicide after the onset of unconsciousness before the desired death. The public prosecutor had cited a decision of the Federal Court of Justice from 1984 against Dr. Turowski. This still applies, even if a patient has expressed and documented his or her firm intention to commit suicide. The criminal law ruling has been criticized as paradoxical for 30 years. Since 2009, it has also been opposed under civil law by the Patient Decree Act.
Bild: © hpdDr Turowski said after the verdict that he had morally “fought for the liberalization of assisted suicide” for other doctors as well. Now “a stone has fallen from his heart”. Gita Neumann, member of the Federal Executive Committee of the HVD, is calling for donations for his legal costs: “Someone who has helped to bring about progressive and humane legislation on assisted suicide must not be left alone with enormous legal costs. At first we thought about crowdfunding. Hopefully other organizations will also get involved. For the sake of simplicity, however, we then asked Mr. Turowski to open a special personal account himself. Even though tax-deductible donation receipts are of course not available for this.”
The account is: Dr. Christoph Turowski, donation account, Postbank Berlin
IBAN DE67 1001 0010 0643 2911 24, Purpose: Legal costs for assisted suicide
In addition, the man who has just been acquitted must expect the fight to continue. As a court spokeswoman announced on March 8, it can be assumed that the public prosecutor’s office will appeal to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). This is because a regional court is not entitled to appeal against a BGH ruling, even if it is 30 years old. This would therefore have to be updated, and the Turowski case could be a good opportunity to do so.
Gita Neumann confirms the appeal for donations by saying: “You must have seen how the audience, including many of his colleagues and former patients and also the son of the deceased, clapped and cheered him after the acquittal. This encouragement is very beneficial and important for Mr. Turowski, but it cannot have been everything. Whether his case will also have an impact on the review of Section 217 StGB by the Federal Constitutional Court announced for this year is not foreseeable, but is also possible.”
If you have any questions, please contact Gita Neumann, spokesperson for humane dying in the HVD Federal Association, at gita.neumann@humanismus.de
