Mercy killing husband cleared of murder

An Italian appeals court has overturned the murder conviction of a man who disconnected his comatose wife’s life support system in a ruling that has ignited a debate on euthanasia.

One of Italy’s top cancer specialists and a former health minister, Dr Umberto Veronesi, praised the ruling for bringing the issue to the forefront. ‘‘It creates a debate about how we think about life,’’ he said today.

The case revolved around the 1998 death of school teacher Elena Moroni, 46, who went into an irreversible coma after a brain haemorrhage.

Her husband of 25 years, Ezio Forzatti, forced his way into her hospital room in Monza and disconnected her life support system. The 51-year-old engineer reportedly told police he did it because he could not ‘‘bear her suffering’’ and called it a ‘‘gesture of love.’’

A local court found Forzatti guilty of murder and sentenced him to six and a half years in prison. Yesterday, a Milan appeals court overturned the conviction, saying there was no evidence Moroni was still alive when her husband pulled the plug.

The ruling was greeted with dismay among Roman Catholic hierarchy.

’’It opens the door to euthanasia,’’ said the Re. Elio Sgreccia, vice president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the director of a bioethics centre at the University of the Sacred Heart medical school.

For Forzatti, however, the ruling was an ‘‘affirmation of justice,’’ his lawyer, Claudio Zervini told reporters outside the courthouse. ‘‘The case is new, it opens many problems and one needs to have the strength to resolve them,’’ he said.