Dries van Agt, Former Dutch Prime Minister, Dies at 93

Dries van Agt, a Dutch politician and former prime minister of the Netherlands who became a pro-Palestinian activist later in life, died on Feb. 5 in his hometown, Nijmegen. He was 93.

He died “hand in hand” with his wife, Eugenie, also 93, in a joint act of euthanasia, according to The Rights Forum, an organization he founded that is dedicated to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The announcement of the couple’s euthanasia was a surprise to many people who knew Mr. van Agt as well as to Dutch society as a whole, said Gerard Jonkman, the director of the Rights Forum.

In 2019, Mr. van Agt had a stroke, which caused him to lose some of his faculties, Mr. Jonkman said. “He was in a bad physical condition toward the end,” he added. “That was very difficult for him.”

Mr. van Agt was prime minister from 1977 to 1982 as a conservative member of the centrist Christian Democratic Appeal party. He did advance some progressive laws, however, playing a crucial role, for example, in the decriminalization of the use of cannabis. He continued to move toward the political left later in life.