Cape Town - ‘I have done my time but I did not commit a crime.’
These were the words of assisted suicide advocate Professor Sean Davison after he signed out of his three-year house arrest sentence at the Western Cape High Court on Monday morning.
Davison broke his silence for the first time since his arrest for premeditated murder in September 2018.
Davison served a three-year house arrest sentence after accepting a plea bargain for the murders of Anrich Burger, Richard Holland and Justin Varian.
Auckland-born Davison, is also known worldwide for helping his 85-year-old mother Pat to die in 2006 after her prolonged and painful battle with cancer.
Davison had been banned from speaking to the media during his sentence but on the steps of the court on Monday he said he was relieved to be able to speak now.
"I helped three men to die, three men suffering unbearably with no hope of recovery. Three men desperate to die and three men incapable of ending their own lives. For that the court finds me a murderer. I am not a murderer. I am not a criminal," said Davison.
He said the non-profit organisation lobbying for assisted dying to be legalised, Right to Die - Dignity SA, would take the battle to parliament so that legislation can be reviewed regarding assisted deaths.
Davison said while there were no plans to move back to his birth country, New Zealand just yet, he looked forward to enjoying a trip to the beach as a free man with his family.
Read more in Tuesday's Cape Times.
Cape Times