Police raid euthanasia group's offices

Police raided the Melbourne offices of Dr Philip Nitschke's pro-euthanasia group
Exit International over an alleged assisted suicide.
Victorian detectives seized documents in Doncaster, in Melbourne's east, related to
the June death of 76-year-old Brisbane man Frank Ward, of Clayfield.
The raids were carried out on behalf of Queensland detectives from Hendra, in
Brisbane's north.
Dr Nitschke on Thursday denied that he or his organisation had had anything to do
with the man's death but admitted Mr Ward had spoken with Exit International about
ending his life.
"They took files and documents from the database related to four people, including
our office manager Lindy Body and the dead man," he told AAP from San Francisco in
the US, where he is giving lectures about euthanasia.
"They were suggesting we were involved in his death but we were not.
"He had made contact with the organisation and was looking at options due to the
quality of his life and towards ending his life at some stage.
"He was certainly ill.
"We would never be actively involved in something like that, helping him end his
life, which would be committing a crime."
It is believed Mr Ward died on June 20 from inhaling helium, which is deadly if
enough is inhaled because it causes loss of consciousness due to asphyxia (oxygen
deprivation).
"It is a common and reliable way to obtain a quick and peaceful death, no drugs are
required," Dr Nitschke said.
He criticised police for being "heavy-handed" and turning up to Exit International's
offices unannounced saying they were "investigating a possible crime of aiding a
suicide".
He said he had not been harassed by police in such a way since the 2002 death of
Queensland woman Nancy Crick, 70, who suffered from a painful bowel condition and
took the lethal drug Nembutal in front of 21 supporters.
Police conducted a long investigation but never laid any charges.
"We are not happy about it, it was unnecessary and it makes us uncomfortable, our
office manager was in quite a state when she rang me," Dr Nitschke said of
Thursday's raid.
"We have always had quite an open policy in providing documents and co-operating
with authorities.
"Queensland police are the ones that have a fixation here."
A Queensland police detective from Hendra said the branch had been instructed not to
speak about the investigation because it was considered "highly sensitive" and
traumatic for Mr Ward's family.
A Queensland police spokeswoman would not comment except to confirm that the search
warrant in Melbourne had taken place.
A Doncaster detective said they were merely helping their Queensland counterparts.
Dr Nitschke is holding a series of `end of life choices' workshops in the US and was
also banned from a Canadian government-run library last month.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the homes of two terminally ill Victorians
last year who travelled to Mexico with Dr Nitschke to bring back Nembutal.
He was the first medical doctor in the world to administer a lethal injection after
the Northern Territory passed historic legislation in 1995 allowing voluntary
euthanasia.
He assisted four people to die before the law was overturned and it is an offence to
help anyone to commit suicide in all Australian states and territories.