Vincent Lambert’s mother begs UN to stop her son’s ‘murder’ after top French court says his life support can be turned off

Viviane Lambert, a devout Catholic, has fought a six-year legal battle to keep her son alive after a 2008 accident left him in a vegetative state

The case has rekindled debate over France’s right-to-die laws, which allow ‘passive’ euthanasia for patients without chance of recovery

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Viviane Lambert, mother of Vincent Lambert, listens to European Centre for Law and Justice director Gregor Puppinck before she addresses the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:40am, 2 Jul 2019Updated: 2:39am, 2 Jul 2019

The mother of a Frenchman in a vegetative state for more than a decade pleaded for UN help on Monday to stop her son’s “murder”, after a court ruled his life support could be halted.

“I beg you, help us,” Viviane Lambert told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Without your intervention, my son, Vincent Lambert, will be euthanised because of his mental handicap,” she said.

Vincent Lambert, 42, has been in a vegetative state since a 2008 traffic accident, but the question of whether to continue keeping him alive artificially has bitterly divided his family and the nation.

Neurologist Xavier Ducrocq, an adviser to Viviane Lambert, shows a picture of Vincent Lambert during an event on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. Photo: AFP

“Vincent is not a vegetable,” his mother insisted before the United Nations’ top rights body.

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