Assisted suicide legalization not in cards, says minister
Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis on Friday refuted suggestions that the government may be considering the legalization of assisted suicide, saying that any such action will continue to be viewed as consensual homicide, a felony that carries jail time.
Speaking on Kokkino tis Thessalonikis radio, Kontonis stressed that the new penal code currently being formulated by the ministry in consultation with a legislative committee of experts does not foresee any changes to current laws relating to physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.
“Irrespectively of the discussion that will take place in Parliament, nothing will change on the penal approach to consensual homicide, at least from my side and I will not be proposing anything new,” he said.
“The government is not examining this issue. There will be an objective public debate but it is not our intention to introduce anything different to what is being proposed by the legislative committee, which is the same as what stands right now,” Kontonis added.
