June 25, 2022
I didn’t murder them but I did help them
‘I didn’t murder them but I did help them’ says Dr Sean Davison, euthanasia activist and founder of Dignity SA, who officially became a free man on Monday after three years of house arrest.
The New Zealand-born doctor was struck off the roll of medical practitioners in South Africa after his murder conviction in 2019.
Davison assisted the death of three terminally-ill men, Justin Varian, Dr Anrich Burger and Richard Holland.
However, a plea bargain was struck in June of 2019, which saw the outcome of an eight-year sentence, suspended for three years of house arrest.
He details his house arrest as a battering experience that only allowed him to travel to work and church. It also placed a media ban throughout the duration of the arrest.
He highlights how difficult it was to explain to his young daughter that he couldn’t join her for a swim or take a stroll to the shop.
It was a punishment; it was meant to be a punishment and it felt like one. I had no freedom except to travel to work and back and they checked if I arrived at work… and of course, we couldn’t step out the gate to the pool.
Sean Davison, Euthanasia activist
From day one of my arrest, I assumed I was going to jail, it was a horrible, horrible feeling.
Sean Davison, Euthanasia activist
Davison does not regret his actions, which contributed the the assisted death of three chronically-ill men, adding that it was not murder.
It was not and anybody within a little understanding of what happened knows it wasn’t murder. The three men were all suffering unbearably, no hope of recovery, desperate to die and the most important thing is that they were pleading for hope to die because they couldn’t do it on their own. I didn’t murder them I helped them end their own life.
Sean Davison, Euthanasia activist
The activist says his three-year detention in South Africa motivated him to fight harder for the legalisation of euthanasia.
His latest book titled – The Price of Mercy – was released this week and is available on Amazon Kindle.
We are considered to have one of the most liberal constitutions in the world and the theme of it is dignity – dignity in life and dignity in dying is part of life and we believe we might win in the Constitutional Court.
Sean Davison, Euthanasia activist
