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EUTHANASIA

Shooting suspect helped to die in Spain before trial

A gunman paralysed in a shooting spree in which he wounded four people was helped to die in Spain Tuesday, his lawyer said, after a judge allowed the euthanasia before his trial for attempted murder.

shooting euthanasia spain
After the shooting, the suspect was taken to a prison hospital in the northeastern town of Terrassa, and pleaded for the right to die.(Stock Photo: LLUIS GENE / AFP)

Romanian security guard Marin Eugen Sabau, 46, in December opened fire on three colleagues and a policeman, wounding several, in the northeastern port city of Tarragona, before he was shot in the spine, which paralysed him.

“In accordance with the euthanasia scheduled for today, Marin Eugen Sabau died at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT)” in hospital, his lawyer Gerard Amigo said.

Sabau had previously told the press his job had been “hell” and accused his bosses of racism.

After the shooting, he was taken to a prison hospital in the northeastern town of Terrassa, and pleaded for the right to die.

A judge in July ruled that he had it was his “fundamental right” to terminate his life.

READ ALSO: One year since Spain’s euthanasia law was passed, what has changed?

“I am paraplegic,” he had told her. “I have 45 stitches in my hand. I can’t move my left arm. I have screws (in my body) and I can no longer feel my chest.”

The lawyers of those he had shot had objected, demanding a trial so that he could compensate his victims.

José Antonio Bitos, a lawyer representing two of those wounded, said his clients were “frustrated”.

“We were not opposed to the euthanasia per se, but to it happening before the trial.”

Spain legalised euthanasia in June last year, becoming the fourth European nation to do so after the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

It has been applied in some 180 cases since, according to official numbers.

READ ALSO: How does Spain’s new euthanasia law compare to others in Europe?

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CRIME

Pensioner letter bomb suspect goes on trial in Spain

A pensioner who allegedly sent letter bombs to Spain's prime minister and the US and Ukrainian embassies in 2022 went on trial Monday, facing 22 years behind bars if convicted.

Pensioner letter bomb suspect goes on trial in Spain

Pompeyo González Pascual, a man in his mid-70s from northern Spain, is facing charges of terrorism and manufacturing explosives for sending letter bombs to six addresses in late 2022.

Gonzalez Pascual listened as the charges were read out at Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s top criminal court.

The trial will run until Thursday.

According to the indictment, the suspect was opposed to Madrid and Washington’s support for Ukraine following Russia’s February 2022 invasion and “sought to change those positions and cause a profound upheaval in Spanish society”.

The devices were sent to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Defence Minister Margarita Robles, the US and Ukrainian embassies, a Spanish arms firm that makes grenades donated to Ukraine and a major Spanish military base.

A Ukrainian embassy staffer sustained light injuries while opening one of the packages. The other packages were intercepted by security staff.

An expert who examined his computer told the court they found evidence of “searches for how to prepare explosive devices” and of his visiting “media propaganda channels related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict”.

Gonzalez Pascual was arrested in January 2023 and put in pre-trial detention but a judge granted him conditional release last month on grounds he wasn’t in a position to destroy evidence or likely to reoffend, and had no previous convictions.

At the time, the judge said there were “no indications” he had acted in conjunction with “any organised terror group”.

His arrest came after a New York Times report said US and European investigators believed Russian military intelligence officers had “directed” associates of a Russia-based white supremacist group to carry out the Spain campaign.

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