KYOTO, Dec 20 (News On Japan) - A doctor has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the assisted suicide of a patient suffering from the incurable disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).
At the moment the verdict was announced, the accused listened without changing his expression, facing straight ahead.
The 46-year-old doctor was charged with conspiring with another doctor to administer drugs to kill a 51-year-old patient in her Kyoto apartment four years ago, following her request.
Throughout the trial, the accused denied the prosecution's charges, claiming that the other doctor acted alone.
On Tuesday, the Kyoto District Court handed down the sentence, stating it was "unlikely that he was unaware that it was a crime."