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It is in the

and there is no choice but to accuse.

But as little as possible and with the announcement that he will support the pardon.

The

has presented the indictment in which it asks for six months in prison for Ángel Hernández Pardo, the man who in April last year helped his wife die, who was in an advanced phase of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative disease.

The representative of the Public Ministry charged him with a crime of cooperation with suicide.

It then announces that, "in the event that a conviction is issued and a pardon file is processed, the Public Prosecutor's Office, taking into account the concurrent circumstances in the present case, will issue a favorable report."

The reduced penalty is due to the legal provisions for assistance to patients in extreme situations and the application of two mitigating circumstances: confession and kinship.

The Penal Code punishes assisting suicide with penalties ranging from two to 10 years.

However, it specifies that it may be lowered by one or two degrees -which is equivalent to half or a quarter- in cases in which it "causes or actively cooperates with necessary and direct acts to the death of another, by the express, serious and unequivocal request of the latter, in the event that the victim suffers a serious illness that would necessarily lead to his death, or that produces serious permanent and difficult to bear suffering ".

The Office of the Prosecutor makes this reduction, in addition to taking into account the mitigating factors, and leaves the penalty in a quarter of those two years of minimum prison foreseen.

As it is a sentence of less than two years, if imposed, it would not lead to effective imprisonment.

The letter recalls that the last time the deceased was seen by a doctor was on April 2, 2019 and that "at that time she could only communicate with monosyllables, but she understood what they were saying and fully maintained her intellectual and volitional faculties."

In view of the situation, and "unable to see being able to continue seeing

suffer

, helpless by the lack of institutional aid, and by her continued, serious, express and unequivocal requests, Mr. Hernández finally decided to help María José to end his life. "

So, "aware that no one else was going to help his wife in the process of taking sodium pentobarbital and that she, due to her condition, could not do it alone," he agreed with her how he would help her.

Around 10:00 a.m. on April 3, 2019, "being alone at home, Ángel, with the intention of fulfilling the wish of María José, who was immobilized in her bed, poured the sodium pentobarbital that they had in a glass With a straw and brought it to her mouth, Mrs. Carrasco was the one who ingested it with the straw. 10 minutes later, the sodium pentobarbital caused the death of María José due to an acute poisoning that caused a respiratory and neurological depression in her ".

The defendant then called the emergency room to tell what had happened and waited for the arrival of the

.

"Not only did he relate everything that happened, but he also provided all the documentation and videos about the events in his possession. These documents significantly reduced the efforts to clarify the facts," explains the prosecutor to support the reduction of sentence.

The prosecutor recounts the efforts of the accused to attend to his wife when she began to need the assistance of a person "for all the basic activities of daily life."

The husband "requested a reduction in working hours to attend to her" and, from that moment, "devoted himself exclusively to caring for his wife."

In addition, they conditioned the house to eliminate architectural barriers.

The indictment highlights the "null" support that the couple received from the Administration, despite the fact that in 2007 the accused "repeatedly" asked for help for the care and treatment of his wife.

He requested a specific residence for ALS patients, "being denied by the Family and Social Affairs Department."

In 2009, the sick woman was granted the right to the Residential Care Service.

"However, despite the recognition, he was never rendered the recognized service, being Mr. Hernández the person who had to assume all the care responsibilities alone, which generated a deep feeling of helplessness and he abandoned" explains the representative of the Public Ministry.

Starting in 2014, "in full use of her intellectual faculties and therefore aware of the consequences of it," the woman told several people that she wanted to die.

The couple contacted the Right to Die Dignity association "where they received advice." Despite the advance of the disease - adds the Prosecutor's Office -, the null support of the administrations and the firm will of María José to put an end to her life, Mr. Hernández tried to dissuade her or at least delay the moment ", emphasizes the Prosecutor's Office.

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