A unanimous district court in Vänersborg acquitted Norwegian man Steinar Wangen on Tuesday from four counts of incitement to suicide. The court found he had not influenced the victims or acted ruthlessly.
Steinar Wangen was charged in May for sending instructions and medication to people who contacted him via a Facebook page about active euthanasia. The cases involved people in Norrköping, Nyköping, Västerås and Trollhättan/Stockholm.
The district court noted that the victims had themselves sought out the man and requested the material. According to the court there was nothing showing he had influenced their will to take their lives.
Prosecutor Carina Gustafsson leans toward appealing the verdict. Wangen was previously convicted in Norway for assisting a suicide in Strömstad in 2023.
