Exit International claims ten members were stopped after a meeting, ostensibly to be breathalysed, but were later visited by officers at home

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A pro-euthanasia group in New Zealand is seeking legal advice after its elderly members were targeted by police who allegedly set up a roadblock to attain information on them.

The group Exit International has sent an urgent letter to members, warning them to prepare themselves for police action.

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They say a police operation, known as task force ‘painter’, that was charged with investigating the number of elderly people taking their own lives in New Zealand, was targeting them.

Earlier this month members of Exit International were stopped by police at a roadblock and asked for their names and addresses before breathalyzed, Fairfax NZ reported.



A few days later ten of the women who were stopped at the roadblock were visited by police in their homes.



Several members of the group have also reported being visited by police in other parts of the country, and had euthanasia paraphernalia seized, in what Exit International believes is a targeted police campaign against them.



In an email to the Guardian, the group’s Australian director Philip Nitschke said it was seeking legal advice on mounting a case against New Zealand police regarding the “abuse of their powers over the use of roadblocks”.

He said the police operation was “following a very similar pattern to a series of raids on our members in the UK earlier this year”.



New Zealand police had joined the branch of Exit International under false pretences to gather information and evidence, Nitschke said, and had also attended meetings undercover.



In the town of Nelson, 76-year-old Patsy McGrath had a kit that she could use to kill herself confiscated by two policeman who visited her house with a search warrant. McGrath had purchased the kit legally from a shop a number of years ago.



A North Island member of Exit International has also been charged with possessing class C euthanasia drugs.



Members who had been visited said the officers had inquired after their wellbeing and asked questions about Exit International and if they had access to any euthanasia drugs.



Some members were also presented with a letter advising them to contact their GP or a suicide helpline for counselling if they were distressed by the police’s visit.



“If you have end of life equipment or drugs, be aware of the possibility of seizure” Nitschke warned New Zealand members.



The police investigation comes at the same time as a parliamentary inquiry is investigating legalizing voluntary euthanasia in New Zealand in cases of terminal illness and extreme suffering.



Maryan Street, president of the New Zealand Voluntary Euthanasia Society, said the police’s recent investigations appeared to be politically motivated.



“If they [police] have charges to bring, let them do so in a proper manner,” Street said in a statement.

The parliamentary inquiry into legalising voluntary euthanasia has drawn a record 21,000 written submissions, with 1800 people requesting to make personal statements to the committee.

“The police need to back away from this activity unless they wish to be viewed as having their strings pulled by people with a political agenda of their own – namely to oppose a law change,” Street said.



In a statement Right to Life spokesperson Ken Orr commended police for protecting the lives of vulnerable elderly people.







A statement released by New Zealand police inspector Chris Bensemann confirmed the operation.

“Police have a duty of care and a responsibility to the community to investigate any situation where we have reasonable grounds to suspect that persons are being assisted in the commission of suicide,” he said.



“Police can confirm that an operation was conducted earlier this month to identify people attending an Exit International meeting in Lower Hutt. This operation was conducted via a breath-testing checkpoint near the location of the meeting.”

Bensemann said the police “acknowledge that this is a very sensitive issue”.

New Zealand police were contacted for comment but said any further information would have to be sought through an official information request.



In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.