An Oasis

German Cannibal Meiwes

The Guardian tells the tale of a 42 year old German computer expert who advertised on the 'net for a "young well-built man, who wanted to be eaten" and how the respondent agreed to be eaten. (Also see Cannibal confesses in Shocking Trial) It's a pretty macabre tale folks, read on at your peril!

Actually, read it then comment on whether you think that it is wrong for the guy to want to be eaten, and for the other guy to want to eat him. Is it different from Euthanasia? How so? If you think euthanasia is ok then is that because the person is old/sick or just because that's what they want. I'm thinking that none of this causes harm to anyone who hasn't consented to harm and that although I think it is a 'little odd' who am I to say what these guys get up to. The main concern I see is whether the one who got eaten was f**king crazy - did he have the capacity to consent to this...

Behind bars, Meiwes told detectives that he had consumed his victim with a bottle of South African red wine, had got out his best cutlery and decorated his dinner table with candles. He tasted of pork, he added.

Miewes has been charged with murder for the purposes of sexual pleasure and with "disturbing the peace of the dead", there being no law against cannibalism in Germany. His defence revolves around the fact that his victim actually agreed to be killed and eaten and his defence team argue that at worst he is guilty of illegal euthanasia - "killing on demand" which carries a maximum sentence of five years. Presumably however (I'm out on a limb here) even although consent was given that would not mitigate the fact that there was actus rea and mens rea.

The case could reach the Federal Constitutional Court, Arthur Kreuzer of Giessen University's Institute for Criminology said this week - the Reuters story (see the Yahoo! one above) where I read this sentence didn't bother to explain why it could reach that Court, but hey.

Posted by Paul at December 4, 2003 04:24 AM |