British court refuses to rule out prosecutions for the relatives of
terminally ill people who commit suicide abroad.

LONDON, UK ITN -
A British woman with multiple sclerosis on Wednesday (October 29)
lost her High Court bid to clarify the law to ensure her husband would not
face prosecution if he helped her to commit suicide abroad.
Debbie Purdy, 45, from Bradford wanted the court to force the Director
of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to give assurances her husband would not be
prosecuted if he helped her go to a euthanasia facility in Switzerland at some
stage in the future.
The law states that assisting suicide is a crime that carries a maximum
sentence of 14 years in prison.
But since 1992, almost 100 British citizens have ended their lives at
the Dignitas facility in Switzerland -- where assisted suicide is legal --
without their relatives being prosecuted.
London's High Court ruled that the DPP's failure to clarify the law
does not infringe her human rights, the Press Association reported.
Lord Justice Scott Baker expressed sympathy for Purdy and others but
said the case would require a change in the law which only parliament could
enact.
However Purdy was given leave to appeal against the decision because of
the public interest in the case.
Wheelchair-bound Purdy is worried that her professional musician
husband Omar would be treated harshly by the authorities because he is Cuban.

Outside the court she said: "I think that it's terrifying not to
know what's going to happen. I love him and I'm not prepared for him to risk
prison."
She has argued that if she did not receive assurances that he would not
be prosecuted, she would have to travel abroad to commit suicide earlier than
necessary.
She said she was very disappointed and surprised by the verdict.