Former Dutch PM ends his life with his wife of more than 70 years in assisted suicide death.

Former Dutch PM Dries van Agt and his wife Eugenie have passed away through euthanasia, hand-in-hand, after years of suffering from illnesses, both at the age of 93.

Their deaths come under laws in the Netherlands that allow those experiencing "unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement" to end their life legally.

In 2019, Dries suffered a brain hemorrhage while giving a speech at a commemoration event for Palestinians from which he never recovered.

Tributes have been paid to the Christian Democrat former PM who led the Netherlands from 1972 to 1982.

The human rights organization, The Rights Forum, announced the double euthanasia on Friday.

The couple, who are survived by their three children, were buried in a small ceremony in the city of Nijmegen this week.

A statement from The Rights Forum read: "He died hand in hand with his beloved wife Eugenie van Agt-Krekelberg, the support and anchor with whom he was together for more than 70 years and whom he always continued to refer to as 'my girl'."

Van Agt's biographer, Peter Bootsma, said: "The way his life ended is something that characterizes the man. Stubborn and autonomous until the end. I sometimes thought: they have been married for 65 years, what if one of the two is no longer there?"

Van Agt left the Christian Democrats and became increasingly progressive since he left office.

After leaving the party in 2017 over ideological differences with the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal's approach to Israel and the Palestinians.