Prosecutor brings charges against man who provided assisted suicide service

Paul Tammert. Photo: Kuvatõmmis telemagasinist «Täistund»

The South District Prosecutor's Office on Oct. 11 sent to court a criminal case in which Paul Tammert is accused of illegal provision of health care services, because he built a device with which a person can take their own life.

According to the prosecutor's office, the indictment indicates that Tammert rented out the device at his own discretion at least three times to people, two of whom died as a result of using the device, but in the third case the process was interrupted because the device ran out of gas.

"Paul Tammert first evaluated whether the person's mental health is adequate enough to be able to make their own decisions, but at the same time their physical health is sufficiently irreparable to end their own life. After completing the assessment, he rented a device to the person that allowed them to use a lethal gas. According to the prosecutor's office, a doctor's qualification and a health service license are needed both to assess people's health conditions and to use gas that affects people's health, but Paul Tammert does not have either of them," Kairi Kaldoja, leading prosecutor at the South District Prosecutor's Office, said.

She added that, according to the charges, Tammert offered health evaluations to people and then allowed them to use the lethal gas, meaning he provided healthcare services for which he was not licensed.

Upon conviction of economic activity without an operating license in the healthcare field, the court may issue a punishment in the form of a financial penalty or up to three years' imprisonment.