The judge does not paralyze the euthanasia of the Tarragona gunman

A court in Tarragona has decided not to paralyze the euthanasia of the security guard who on December 14 broke into the company where he worked and later barricaded himself in a farmhouse and starred in a movie shooting with the Catalan Police.

In the event, three employees of the security company and two Mossos agents were injured during their flight. In the shooting at the farmhouse, Marin Eugen was killed and taken in a critical condition by helicopter to the hospital. 46 years old, he suffers an irreversible spinal cord injury as a result of the impact of a bullet. He was initially admitted to the Hebron Valley in Barcelona and was later interned in preventive detention at the Terrasa prison hospital (Barcelona), where he requested euthanasia. According to the medical team, he met the requirements to be able to end his life voluntarily.

Instead, the two Mossos wounded in the gunman’s escape attempt appealed to the judge for authorization of euthanasia. They alleged violation of the right to effective judicial protection, that is, they demand that before he dies he be tried for the crimes for which he is accused of attempted murder, attack on authority and illegal possession of weapons. Court 5 of Tarragona has rejected the appeal filed by the lawyer of the two agents and has decided that “it is not appropriate to agree on the cessation or interruption of the euthanasia process.”

Judge Sonia Zapater argues, in an order dated July 6, that the law that regulates euthanasia “does not attribute any competence to the investigating judge to decide on the euthanasia process.” The decision, the judge remarks, “corresponds to the doctors” and to the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission. “There is no legal provision that allows an investigating judge to interfere in a process that is regulated in an organic law insofar as it affects fundamental rights,” she points out.

The magistrate understands that a “collision of fundamental rights” could occur in this case. On the one hand, the right to physical and moral integrity, the right to dignity, the right to freedom and personal autonomy of those who decide to end their life, as opposed to the “right to a fair trial” by the victims. The magistrate, however, dismisses this conflict, not only because of the entity of one and the other rights, but because of its “proximity to the core of the right to life.” The judge also warns the victims that the right to a fair trial should not be interpreted as a “right to punishment”. “The unease of the victims, who could see their compensation process hindered, is understandable,” she admits.

The lawyer of the two Mossos agents will present new resources and will exhaust all the necessary instances. Marin Eugen Sabau will testify this Monday for the first time at the Terrassa prison hospital. Former security guard and Romanian origin, he acted out of “grudge” towards his former colleagues for a labor issue. Out of thirst for revenge, he took his arsenal, took justice into his own hands and got into a fight with his former co-workers and then faced off against the Mossos, entrenched in an abandoned farmhouse very close to the capital. Tarragona.

He had already threatened his former bosses with emails, in which he attached photos of himself very armed. The gunman was heavily armed and very violent, according to the Minister of the Interior. He belonged to a shooting club in Tarragona.