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SUICIDE

Spain’s best long jumper found dead at 36

Former Spanish long jumper Yago Lamela, who was the 1999 world championship silver medallist, was found dead at his home on Thursday. He was 36.

Published: 9 May 2014 09:46 CEST
Spain's best long jumper found dead at 36
Lamela had retired in 2009 after battling a series of injuries since when he suffered lengthy bouts of depression. Photo: Jacques Demarthon/AFP

"The Olympic family feels the pain of Spanish sport following the death of Yago Lamela, one of the best athletes in our history," wrote the Spanish Olympic Committee on Twitter. 

Lamela had retired in 2009 after battling a series of injuries since when he suffered lengthy bouts of depression. 

According to Spanish media, his body was discovered at his home in Aviles in the north of the country.

Lamela won the silver medal at the world indoor championships at Maebashi in Japan in 1999 with a new European record of 8.56m before also finishing second at the outdoor world championships in Seville later that year.

On both occasions, he was beaten by Cuban great Ivan Pedroso.

"He was an introverted man but a born competitor. Goodbye to a great athlete," wrote Spanish 20km walking star Paquillo Fernandez on Twitter.

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SUICIDE

Switzerland backs assisted suicide in prisons

Sick prisoners will be allowed to request assisted suicide in Switzerland although the modalities still have to be worked out, prison system officials said on Thursday.

Published: 7 February 2020 09:11 CET
Switzerland backs assisted suicide in prisons
Illustration photo: AFP

The issue has come to the fore following a request made in 2018 by a convict behind bars for life, which exposed a legal vacuum in a country that has long been at the forefront of the global right-to-die debate.

Switzerland's cantons, which implement prison sentences, have agreed “on the principle that assisted suicide should be possible inside prisons,” the Conference of Cantonal Departments of Justice and Police said.

Conference director Roger Schneeberger told AFP that there were still differences between cantons on how assisted suicides could be carried out in prisons and a group of experts would issue recommendations by November.

Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if the person commits the lethal act themselves — meaning doctors cannot administer deadly injections, for example — and the person consistently and independently articulates a wish to die.

Organisations that support assisted suicide also apply their own procedures, which are more robust than the legal requirements and sometimes require the person who is requesting it to have a serious illness.

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