There is no unified EU directive on assisted dying or on euthanasia; it is a matter for individual member states.

In Estonia, the matter came to light last May, when Paul Tammert was acquitted of charges of prohibited economic activity and providing healthcare services without a license. Tammert offers assisted suicide services via a device he had constructed himself.

The precedent, as noted, has effectively rendered assisted suicide in Estonia legal, while Tammert has taken in around a thousand euros from one 96-year-old former Forest Brother, who desires to end his life this way.

"Pealtnägija" met with that 96-year-old, Kalju Aarop, and his wife Novella, a year younger than him. The pair have been married for 63 years.

Kalju and Novella Aarop, who live in a care home in Põlva, are, taking their ages, 96 and 95, in quite good shape physically and mentally. Kalju, however, is among those who have officially joined the waiting list for Tammert's assisted dying service; Novella has expressed a similar desire.

Kalju had a realistic view of his life expectancy either way round. "I don't think we'll have to wait very long, I'm afraid. Of course I would prefer it if a doctor were to prescribe something, and I only had to take it, but when there's no other option, then I will use this option too," he said.

"I view it very positively. As I don't want to end up bedridden, needing someone to take care of me. I'd like to have this settled beforehand," Novella added.
However, one person who does not see things the same way is Minister of Social Affairs Karmen Joller. "My hand would never rise to help them with assisted suicide," she told the show.

While Joller, a medical doctor by training, and other medical ethicists, may very well disapprove of Novella and Kalju's plans, they are powerless to prevent the couple, or for that matter Tammert, from acting, in the light of the Supreme Court judgement.

The ruling itself was greeted with public outrage, an outrage which was felt by politicians too. "What shocked me most was the shock of politicians and officials at my acquittal. They could not understand how I could be acquitted for helping a person die of their own free will. That suggests that in the minds of our politicians and officials, your body and mine belong to the state, and one may leave it only when they personally grant permission," Tammert said.

However, one aspect of the issue, medical ethics lawyer Ants Nõmper said, is not so much related to the ethics of assisted dying as to who is eligible to carry it out. Tammert is not a qualified medical doctor, but a former economics lecturer with a background in engineering, and is now retired.

"My expectation and hope was that this service would be allowed to be provided by the medical sector, because the right place to die is a controlled environment with medical supervision and so on, which neither Tammert nor other, forgive me, self-appointed individuals can provide. Unfortunately, I have not seen any movement toward allowing assisted suicide in hospitals," Nõmper said.

Kalju was born in 1929 in South Estonia, during the First Estonian Republic. When Soviet forces re-occupied the country at the end of World War II, the young man joined a partisan group, the Võru school resistance organization Noored partisanid, in effect becoming one of the legendary Forest Brothers (Metsavennad), who opposed Soviet rule and hid out in Estonia's extensive forested areas.

Kalju was actively sought by the Soviet authorities, and he spent a year, from the end of 1945, hiding out in the forest.

Indeed, researching and documenting the Forest Brothers and other resistance organizations remained Kalju's hobby and passion till well after the Soviet occupation had ended: He had appeared on ETV discussing the topic, and in 1999 the late President Lennart Meri awarded him the Order of the Cross of the Eagle (Kotkaristi teenetemärk) Gold Medal, one of the highest state awards available.

When Novella's health deteriorated, the couple moved from their home in Taevaskoja to the Põlva care home at the end of 2024.

Then in the summer of 1950 he met Novella. He had also qualified as a land surveyor by this time. She worked in healthcare at the time, and the pair went on to marry, having one son. They now have three grandchildren as well.

Despite their relatively good health, when Tammert first came up on the media radar in 2023, Kalju reached out to him right away.

"I found it online — I think it was on his Facebook — that he was going to offer assisted dying services through this NGO Kodanik, and I contacted him immediately. In my opinion, it's better to leave before spending years bedridden somewhere in a care home," Kalju went on.

Since the subject who wishes to end their life pushes the button themselves, the Tammert system qualifies as assisted dying, as opposed to euthanasia, which would involve a medical professional administering the medication.

Tammert built a helium-powered device where the "client" presses the button themselves. So far, while two assisted suicides were successful, the third saw a malfunction, which drew significant public attention. Both lawyers and ethicists, such as Aime Keis, consider Tammert's activities problematic in several respects.

"To be honest, it was quite scary to read all of this — that someone had the idea to start doing this instead of via medicine. As far as I know, he had no evidence-based facts supporting his actions or the way he has assisted people. For me it was all quite chilling," Keis told "Pealtnägija".

Be it fortunate or unfortunate, there is no suitable legal provision in the Penal Code relating to Tammert's activities. Prosecutors in the end accused the "death orderly" essentially of providing healthcare services without a license. The dispute eventually reached the Supreme Court, which, as noted, acquitted Tammert last May.

"The prosecution tried to prove in court that providing assisted dying services requires a license, but without such a license, it constitutes an illegal economic activity. The prosecution lost the case, and since that Supreme Court decision it has been clarified that assisted suicide is allowed in the Republic of Estonia," Nõmper said.

Minister Joller explained more. "In Estonia, killing yourself is not forbidden. That may sound comedic, but it would be odd if there were a penalty for it. On the other hand, the court ruling stated that this is no healthcare service," Joller said.
The ruling did cause an uproar and a public discussion about changing the law, but until such a time as that happens, Tammert's activities remain legal. His NGO recently joined the international Death with Dignity lobby group, and even published a how-to guide for those interested in his contraption.

"Well, not how to kill yourself, but what means could achieve the desired outcome. It isn't that simple, as inducing oxygen deprivation is complicated on the one hand, yet, paradoxically, the method is absolutely safe — if oxygen gets in, then you won't die," Tammert stated.

Tammert claims a number of people interested in end-of-life services have contacted him, not just Kalju Aarop.

For most of these people, Tammert recommends that they make a contribution to his NGO for now. In Kalju's case, the sum he provided was potentially sufficient.

"He made a proposal of €50 per month, but I immediately paid a thousand euros, and that was enough for the time being. So if the need arises, he will provide the service," Kalju went on.

Tammert explained his side of the deal too. "Now I have an obligation to help him. If he tells me when and where, I will have to bring the necessary things to carry it out."

As to what those "necessary things" are, Kalju listed them as a mask and a gas cylinder. "Then you have to put the mask on yourself and connect it to the cylinder and, so to speak, depart from this world as a result," he said.

Despite this rather ad hoc approach, both the Aarops and Tammert say they would prefer the law to be unambiguous, and for the state to support assisted suicide, as in their view dying on one's own terms is a fundamental human right.

Joller noted that legal debates necessarily take time, and that recent studies show that while a large proportion of physicians support legalizing assisted dying, fewer than half of Estonian doctors would be willing to take part personally.

"We cannot adopt any such regulation without years of debate. It's not something where I, as minister, simply author a law and pass it. There are many aspects that need careful consideration," Joller said.

"Especially when meeting elderly people, I receive many questions about when euthanasia will be legalized — that is an even more serious service. People ask about it. But when I think about what elderly people and people in general fear, it is often pain, discomfort, and the fear of becoming dependent on someone else's care. Perhaps we can alleviate these fears and suffering through other methods. That is what palliative care and the social system are for," Joller added.

Keis agreed, invoking the Hippocratic oath. "As doctors we are not prepared for this — we are trained to treat patients. Leaving life is a patient's free will, but when we talk about assisted suicide and euthanasia, which can only occur based on the patient's free will, I think that idea is still alien to us," she said.

According to both Joller and Keis, the issue needs to be discussed further and accompanied by broader societal research, while for now the state is focusing on implementing the recently introduced end-of-life directive. This states that individuals can state that they do not wish treatment to be continued in critical situations, while the medical system continues with pain management.

"I value people's freedom, and Estonian society is built on that freedom. That freedom begins at birth and ends with death — not in a way where freedom is taken away near death and the state claims to know best how you may leave this life," said Nõmper.

"I believe a dignified end of life has far more dimensions than simply ending one's life," Joller noted.

As for Kalju and Novella, they say they have no desire to become prisoners of their bodies should their minds or motor abilities fade; Novella already has issues with balance, raising doubts about whether she would be capable of putting on the mask and pressing the button herself.

The couple say they have spoken about their wishes with their son, though they had not shared their thoughts on the matter with their grandchildren, or even with fellow residents at the care home.

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