Jim*, a disabled pensioner living in the Tweed, was paid a surprise middle-of-the-night visit on Friday (May 25) by local police to inquire as to his \u2018mental state\u2019 and whether or not he had imported the euthanasia drug Nembutal.<\/p>\n
Jim told Echonetdaily<\/em> two police shone torches through the windows of his duplex and banged on the door at around 10.30pm while he was in bed asleep.<\/p>\n A carer answered the door and then had to bundle Jim out of bed and into a wheelchair so he could answer their questions.<\/p>\n Jim, who is a member of Exit International, said he was \u2018groggy\u2019 after being woken up and \u2018caught off guard\u2019 by the police\u2019s \u2018concern for welfare\u2019 visit.<\/p>\n He told the male and female officers his mental state was fine \u2013it was his physical body that was deteriorating. He also denied importing the drug.<\/p>\n Exit members targeted<\/strong><\/p>\n Nembutal is a drug advocated by Exit for people with terminal and advanced illness who wish to end their lives in relative comfort. It is not available in Australia and is illegal to import.<\/p>\n Jim was one of at least three Exit members who were visited by police in Qld, Vic and NSW over the weekend, co-ordinated by the Australian Federal Police.<\/p>\n Jim said that when the police came to the door his first thoughts were \u2018my wife of my children might be in trouble\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018They asked my friend if I was here and when he said I was in bed he said \u2018we want to know if he\u2019s purchased a euthanasia drug\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018They then wanted to know how my mental state was, and he said I was fine.\u2019<\/p>\n Jim then had to be wheeled in to answer the police questions.<\/p>\n No police ID<\/strong><\/p>\n He said the officers, who were in police uniform, didn\u2019t identify themselves and, still half asleep, he was feeling too groggy to ask.<\/p>\n \u2018I didn\u2019t ask them for any ID but if they were impersonating police they were doing a damned good job of it,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n Jim said the male officer did all the talking while the female officer \u2018looked daggers at me\u2019.<\/p>\n He said the officer was \u2018nice enough\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018He mentioned an amount of Nembutal that had allegedly been purchased and a date \u2013 and I said \u201cI don\u2019t think I want to say anything\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018He asked if I had a terminal illness then asked me how I was: \u201cAre you OK? We\u2019re just here to check and see if you\u2019re all right\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018He said he\u2019d got an email from the Australian Federal Police\u2019 asking him to check up.<\/p>\n Money trail<\/strong><\/p>\n Jim recently attended an Exit meeting at Robina but the group doesn\u2019t believe its records have been compromised.<\/p>\n Elaine, the Gold Coast convenor of Exit, says she believes police have \u2018followed the money trail\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018Suspects could be identified by their payment method,\u2019 she told Echonetdaily.<\/p>\n \u2018There was a case in New Zealand recently where Western Union handed over their payment records which resulted in a woman being charged with assisting suicide and importing an illegal drug.<\/p>\n \u2018She was not convicted on the first charge but was convicted on the second and fined $7,000,\u2019 Elaine said.<\/p>\n She added that members here were frightened that police might return with a search warrant.<\/p>\n \u2018They told one member they would now \u201creport back and take whatever actions necessary,\u201d\u2018Elaine said.<\/p>\n Disproportionate: Greens<\/strong><\/p>\n Greens MP and Justice spokesperson David Shoebridge said it was \u2018hard to imagine something more disproportionate than night time raids on\u2026\u00a0elderly people who are in extreme pain or suffering who might be contemplating ending their lives\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018If the police have real reasons to suspect breaches of the law they can attend properties in the daytime, with appropriate warrants to make their inquiries,\u2019 he said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u2018In the absence of an offence, police are skating perilously close to declaring membership of [Exit] a thought crime.<\/p>\n \u2018Police wellness checks should not be used to advance political ends as appears to be the case here,\u2019 Mr Shoebridge said.<\/p>\n The Greens are calling on the Police Commissioner \u2018to urgently review any and all NSW Police involvement in these events\u2019.<\/p>\n Welfare concerns: AFP<\/strong><\/p>\n The Australian Federal Police (AFP) deny co-ordinating the times of the visits, however, and have declined to indicate why they thought Jim and the other targets of their interest might have imported the drug.<\/p>\n A spokesperson made the following comments to Echonetdaily:<\/p>\n \u2018The AFP has not conducted warrants in relation to this matter.<\/p>\n \u2018Once the AFP became aware of potential importations of a restricted substance, the AFP acted in a coordination role, and requested assistance from state and territory police to conduct visits to individuals potentially involved in importing the substance.<\/p>\n \u2018These visits were focussed on ensuring the health and welfare of the individuals,\u2019 the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n *Jim\u2019s real name has been withheld on his request.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jim*, a disabled pensioner living in the Tweed, was paid a surprise middle-of-the-night visit on Friday (May 25) by local police to inquire as to his \u2018mental state\u2019 and whether or not he had imported the euthanasia drug Nembutal. Jim told Echonetdaily two police shone torches through the windows of his duplex and banged on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[101],"tags":[105,25,16,19,15],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n