German politician and psychiatrist face manslaughter charges for their role in assisted suicide deaths

Prosecutors in Hamburg, Germany, have charged a politician and a psychiatrist with manslaughter after the deaths of two elderly women from assisted suicide in 2012. If convicted, both men could face five years to life in prison.

In a press statement prosecutors in Hamburg identified one of the accused as Roger Kusch, an outspoken advocate of assisted suicide and former justice senator for Hamburg, one of Germany’s 16 federal states. Kusch, now chairman of Sterbehilfe Deutschland (Assisted Suicide Germany), triggered global headlines …