An Italian anaesthetist who helped a terminally ill man end his life last December was cleared on Monday on "consensual murder" charges.
A Rome judge ruled that Mario Riccio committed no crime when he sedated the patient Piergiorgio Welby and unplugged his respirator in a 'right-to-die' case which had split the country.
Welby, 51, who suffered from advanced muscular dystrophy, had long been asking to die but a Rome court and a health ministry panel had turned down his request.
Judge Zaira Secchi said on Monday that Welby had the right to ask for his life-support system to be switched off and Riccio had the duty to act on that request.
Riccio's lawyer Guiseppe Rossodivita hailed Monday's ruling, saying it was a "landmark decision".
"This sentence acknowledges the right of a sick person to refuse treatment," he said.
Riccio, who was not present in court, told ANSA by phone that "I'm delighted with this sentence. The case was taking a dangerous turn for me, with the risk of 15 years in jail".
"This sentence tells us what we already know, namely that a patient can refuse treatment, even if it's life saving, and above all, that this right can be delegated to another person," he added.
Welby, who described himself as a "prisoner" of his own body, had appealed to parliament and President Giorgio Napolitano for the legalisation of mercy killing so that he could "die in dignity".
His request sparked a nationwide euthanasia debate, highlighting the split between those who argue that a terminally ill person has the right to die and those who take the Catholic Church's line that euthanasia is never acceptable.
Polls carried out at the time showed that a majority of Italians believed complying with Welby's wishes was right and that they did not see the case as suicide or euthanasia.
The Church's subsequent refusal to grant Welby a funeral was an unpopular decision.
A non-religious burial ceremony for Welby in Rome on December 24 drew over 1,000 people.
PARLIAMENT STALLS ON LIVING WILLS.
Welby's wife Mina, who was in court on Monday, said she hoped the judge's decision would spur parliament to approve a law introducing 'living wills', documents in which people can spell out what treatments they want if at some point in their lives they become unable to make a decision themselves.
"I strongly urge such a law, in the name of Piergiorgio," she said.
A bill on the issue is currently stalled in the Senate.
With most Italian lawmakers sensitive to Vatican positions, any eventual law is expected to erect a hedge of 'pro-life' cavils around the new wills.
The Italian Church has said it is against any form of living will, saying in effect that a person cannot decide in one stage of his life what will be right at another stage.
In the meantime, Monday's sentence offered hope to Giovanni Nuvoli, a terminally ill patient at the centre of a another right-to-die row.
Euthanasia, which is punishable with a ten-year sentence in Italy, is currently only permitted in Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the US state of Oregon.
