BRUSSELS
The killing of Belgian murderer and serial rapist Frank Van Den Bleeken, who requested to be put to death by lethal injection rather than continue his life sentence in prison, has been halted after doctors pulled out of the procedure.
Den Bleeken, 52, who was sentenced to life in prison in the 1980s for a murder and series of rapes, will instead be transferred to a psychiatric treatment center in the Netherlands, officials disclosed on Tuesday.
He had been due to undergo euthanasia on Sunday, January 11, in the infirmary of Bruges prison in Belgium.
But officials said doctors had decided against the move, quoting patient confidentiality and declining to provide details.
Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens issued a statement saying he "takes note" of the doctors’ decision.
He said he had decided to transfer den Bleeken to other facilities where he would be monitored in order to develop an alternative form of care.
Geens said den Bleeken then faced "a clear prospect of a rapid transfer to a center in the Netherlands, which specializes in long internment stays (long-term imprisonment)".
http://www.aa.com.tr/en
