Dignitas founder dies by assisted suicide aged 92

The founder of Dignitas, Switzerland’s assisted-suicide clinic, has died aged 92 through assisted dying, the organisation said.

Ludwig Minelli, a former lawyer and journalist, died on November 29 shortly before his 93rd birthday.

“Mr Minelli lived a life for freedom of choice, self-determination, and human rights,” Dignitas said in a statement.

He founded the organisation in 1998 with “a group of like-minded people”.

“At that time, he and his fellow compatriots would never have thought that this association was about to become an internationally active organisation,” the statement continued.

The group said Mr Minelli’s core philosophy still shapes its organisation today.

“Minelli recognised early on that as a matter of principle, people with a history of suffering also want to continue living if they can find a quality of life acceptable to them personally,” Dignitas said.

“Trying to talk someone out of suicide is not a suitable prevention method.

“Rather, the approach should be taking a person in a seemingly hopeless situation seriously, meeting them at eye level, and showing them all possible options to alleviate their suffering – including the possibility of ending their own life with professional support, safely and in a self-determined way in a setting that he or she personally deems dignified.

“It is up to the individual to decide which option to choose.”

Dignitas said only a small number of people who approach them choose assisted dying, and even fewer go through with it.

Despite this, Dignitas, which is based near Zurich, remains a controversial place and has made numerous headlines in the UK in recent years.

It has also been in the spotlight due to the UK’s current debate over assisted dying, with a bill that will legalise the practice currently being fiercely contested in the House of Lords.

Almost 1,000 amendments have been added to the UK’s Assisted Dying Bill, and even though it passed a crucial vote in the House of Commons, it is still a long way from becoming law.