There are no plans to establish a euthanasia clinic in Fiji.
Permanent secretary for Information Sharon Smith-Johns said none of the overseas media contacted the Fijian government before running reports that Fiji is considering opening a euthanasia clinic.
She said the reality is that there are no plans at all.
She said the Attorney General’s chambers received a submission from a Doctor Nitschke in August last year.
Smith-Johns said as with all submissions received by the chambers, details of the proposal were requested.
Reports have emerged in the Australian and NZ media that Fiji is seriously considering an offer to set up a clinic to assist terminally ill people to die.
Prominent Australian euthanasia advocate Phillip Nitschke has told the ABC that he has put forward the proposal to Fiji.
He said he had written to Fiji’s Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum with the proposal and said his organization is now hoping to come to Fiji to discuss the details.
He claimed the planned facility in Nadi would operate in a similar way to the clinic in Switzerland, which has assisted in the deaths of about 1,000 foreigners since 1998.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
