Seven facing prosecution as organized crime ring for making suicide drug available

Authorities in the Netherlands plan to move forward with the prosecution of seven people accused of working together to make a suicide drug known as Drug X or Middel X available to the Dutch public. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) believes the seven made it possible for people who discussed ending their lives to obtain the drug. Three others are no longer considered suspects in the case.

"Two of the seven suspects are also suspected of having actually provided the drug Middel X," the OM said. Though the substance is not illegal, providing the drug for the purposes of suicide is punishable. The two stand accused of "assisting in suicide and/or providing a means to do so." In past cases, the drug was supplied in powdered form with an additional medication to prevent people from vomiting after taking a lethal dose.

All seven will be prosecuted for violating Dutch organized crime statues for working together in a systematic method to make the drug available. "The seven people who will be definitively prosecuted have all been involved in one way or another in so-called living room conversations. These were meetings where people came together to discuss a self-chosen end of life," the OM said.

Discussing suicide and providing information is allowed under Dutch law. However, the seven are suspected of jointly making Middel X available in connection with these living room chats.

The suspects are all connected to Coöperatie Laatste Wil, an organization that advocates for giving adults more freedom to decide when and how to end their lives. The organization is considered a legal entity, but as an organization, it will not be prosecuted.

The seven who will be prosecuted were part of a group of ten identified as suspects when the OM announced the case over a year ago. Prosecutors said that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute three people.

The District Court of Arnhem will hear the case next year.