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Dr Irwin’s open letter to Hackney police
28 Jul 2009As you know, from Alan Cutkelvin Rees, I accompanied Raymond Cutkelvin, who was suffering severely from the advanced stages of cancer of the pancreas, to the Dignitas flat, in Zurich, in February 2007, where he had a doctor-assisted suicide.
Before we flew to Zurich on 27 February 2007, I had met Raymond and Alan in their Shoreditch flat on 3 and 21 February. Also, on 17 February, I had posted a personal cheque for £1,500 directly to Dignitas as a contribution from me towards the expenses involved in obtaining Raymond's dignified suicide.
At least 115 Britons have made a similar journey to Zurich during the past 10 years. While some relatives and friends, who accompanied these individuals to Switzerland, have been questioned by their local police forces upon their return to the UK, only one person has been arrested up to now (in 2006), but he was never charged.
The Director of Public Prosecutions appears to have accepted the common-sense opinion that “it is not in the public interest” to take any legal action against relatives or friends who travel with terminally ill, or very severely ill, persons to Switzerland for a doctor-assisted suicide, in spite of the fact that the 1961 Suicide Act states that it is a crime to aid, abet, counsel or procure the suicide of someone.
Therefore, it was most surprising that Alan Cutkelvin Rees was arrested by CID officers on 17 July for helping his partner to go to Zurich to die, and he is now on bail until 23 September.
I have agreed to be interviewed by two CID officers at the Shoreditch police station on Friday, 31 July: then, I will openly explain my role (especially giving advice, moral support and financial assistance) in helping Raymond Cutkelvin to have a doctor-asisted suicide in Zurich in 2007.
As Alan Cutkelvin Rees has already been arrested for his involvement in this death, I will also expect to be arrested on 31 July. If I am not, then there should be an admission that it was a mistake to have arrested Alan earlier this month especially as, in view of the past history, I am 99 per cent certain that the advice of the DPP will be that Alan should not be charged in September.
Reader views (1)
I am proud to know my courageous collaegue.
It must be a step forward to allow citizens to choose between life and death as an expression of their right to self-determination
- Aycke Smook,, Bergen aan Zee , The Netherlands, 30/07/2009 11:06
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