Athens District Attorney Elias Zagoraios and the Crime Department of the Greek Police decided to exhume the body of journalist Alexandros Velios who ended his life with non-assisted euthanasia and made his decision public in social media.
On September 4, Velios read a farewell letter in Facebook, saying that he decided to put an end to his life with non-assisted euthanasia. The 63-year-old had previously announced that he had made arrangements to go to Switzerland where euthanasia is legal.
The exhumation was decided in order to make toxicological and histological examination of the body since evidence of an injection was found. Authorities want to determine whether someone provided Velios with an injection or whether that person performed the injection of substances that caused or hastened Velios’ death.
According to reports, the exhumation should take place on Friday or early next week and after the family of the deceased is notified. A judge, a coroner and police will be present in the exhumation.
So far, the only witnesses in the case that have testified are the journalist’s wife, Nadia Gerolymatou, and a person who reportedly filled out the paperwork required for the death certificate issuance in order for the burial to take place.
Gerolymatou allegedly stated that she was not next to her husband when he died and did not notice any syringe that might have been used by the 63-year-old man. She said that she is in a very bad state psychologically and asked the press to “have respect for the pain that she feels.”
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