- The founder of Dignitas, Ludwig A. Minelli, committed assisted suicide before his 93rd birthday.
- Dignitas provides assisted suicide and palliative care counseling services.
- The organization has helped carry out 3,027 assisted suicides since 1998.
Swiss lawyer and journalist Ludwig A. Minelli, founder of the assisted-suicide organization Dignitas, died on Saturday just days before his 93rd birthday. Minelli himself committed assisted suicide, the Dignitas organization announced on Sunday. The DPA and AFP agencies reported on it. In a statement, Dignitas said it would continue to operate “in the spirit of its founder as a professional and committed international organization.”
Minelli was born on December 5, 1932 in Zurich. He founded Dignitas in May 1998. The organization also carries out consulting activities in the field of palliative care, proposing guidelines regarding health care procedures and the prevention of suicide attempts. He is also involved in court cases and legislative projects related to the right to die around the world.
Minelli has recorded several successful appeals to the Swiss Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The most significant was the judgment of the ECHR from 2011, according to which people have the right to decide how and when to end their life.
In Switzerland, active euthanasia is prohibited, but assisted suicide is legal under Article 115 of the Swiss Penal Code, as long as the person helping another to die is not acting out of “selfish” motives. Unlike some similar organizations in Switzerland, Dignitas, which claims to have more than 10,000 members, also offers its services to people living outside the country.
The organization claims that since its establishment until the end of 2019, it has helped 3,027 people commit suicide. It also estimates that during the same period, it helped dissuade 30,000-40,000 people from wishing to end their lives prematurely.
