Prosecutors on Thursday sought a 23-year jail term for Yoshikazu Okubo, 45, a doctor accused of the consensual killing of a woman with a fatal neurological disease.
Okubo is accused of conspiring with former doctor Naoki Yamamoto, 46, in administering a fatal dose of a sedative drug through a gastric feeding tube to Yuri Hayashi, then 51, at her request in her apartment in Kyoto on Nov. 30, 2019. The Kyoto District Court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on March 5.
Hayashi was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological condition with no cure and little available treatment. She had reportedly been living with the condition since 2011, and is believed to have wanted to die by euthanasia due to her severe immobility.
Despite pleading not guilty to the charges, Okubo immediately admitted his role in the incident on the first day of his trial in January and stated that he did what he did to fulfill his patient's wishes.
According to media reports, Okubo met Hayashi on Twitter, since renamed X, about a year before the incident, and exchanged messages about euthanasia. About a week before her death, Hayashi transferred a total of ¥1.3 million to an account in Yamamoto's name.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed that Okubo had an "interest" in killing the elderly and people with disabilities under the false pretense of medical care. The consensual killing of Hayashi was also a part of this, they argued, as it was carefully planned so that it would not be discovered.
During questioning on Jan. 23, Okubo reportedly admitted to deleting text messages between himself and Hayashi in which she had requested that he aid her suicide, explaining that he “didn’t want to get caught.”
Euthanasia is not legally recognized in Japan. Under the Penal Code, a person who takes another’s life with their consent is liable to a prison term of between six months and seven years.
Defense lawyers for Okubo have argued that Hayashi was in the final stages of ALS and could not fulfill her desire to die on her own. They also argued that charging the defendant with murder would violate Hayashi’s right to the pursuit of happiness as stipulated by the Constitution.
In addition to assisting in Hayashi’s suicide, Okubo faces other charges including assisting in the March 2011 murder of Yamamoto’s father, then 77, in a Tokyo apartment, and conspiring with Yamamoto himself and Yamamoto’s mother, Junko.
In December, the Kyoto District Court sentenced Yamamoto to two years and six months' imprisonment for his part in Hayashi’s medically assisted suicide. Yamamoto was also sentenced to 13 years in February last year for the murder of his father. He is currently appealing his sentences.
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