GENEVA Police in northern Switzerland made several arrests and opened an investigation in relation to the alleged death of a person in a new suicide capsule, it was announced on Tuesday.
The Sarco suicide capsule, which has never been used before, is designed to allow a person who is in a reclined seat inside to press a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber. The person is then supposed to fall asleep and die from asphyxiation within a few minutes.
The public prosecutor’s office in the canton of Schaffhausen was informed by a law firm that an assisted suicide involving the use of the Sarco capsule had occurred on Monday near a forest cabin in Merishhausen, the police said in a statement.
Several people were arrested and the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into suspicion of incitement and complicity in a suicide, the statement added.
The Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported on Tuesday that police had detained one of its photographers, who wanted to take photos of the use of Sarco. He noted that the Schaffhausen police had said that the photographer was being held at a police station, but gave no further explanation.
AP contacted the newspaper, which declined to comment further.
Exit International, a Netherlands-based group that supports assisted suicide, has said it is responsible for the device, which was made with 3D printing and cost more than a million dollars to develop.
In a statement, the group said a 64-year-old woman from the north central United States whose immune system was severely compromised had died Monday afternoon near the German border using the Sarco device. He did not give more details about the person.
Florian Willet, co-president of The Last Resort, a Swiss subsidiary of Exit International, was the only person present and described his death as calm, quick and dignified, the organization added.
Dr. Philip Nitschke, an Australian-born physician by training who runs Exit International, has told AP that his organization has received advice from lawyers in Switzerland that use of Sarco would be legal in the country.
In Exit International’s statement on Tuesday, Nitschke said he was satisfied that Sarco worked exactly as designed (…) to provide a peaceful, drug-free, chosen death at a time of the person’s choosing.
Swiss law allows assisted suicide as long as the person ends his or her life without outside assistance, and that people helping the deceased do not do so for any reason of personal interest, according to a government website.
Switzerland is one of the few countries in the world to which foreigners can travel to legally end their lives, and is the base of several organizations dedicated to helping people commit suicide.
Some Swiss lawmakers have alleged that the law is unclear and have called for what they describe as legal loopholes to be closed.
Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider was asked on Monday in the Swiss parliament about the legal conditions for the use of the Sarco capsule, and suggested that its use would not be legal.
For one thing, it does not meet the requirements of the product safety law, and as such, it should not enter circulation, he said. On the other hand, the use of nitrogen is not compatible with the corresponding article in the chemical products law.
If someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, there are resources to get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day with resources in Spanish through 1-800-273-8255 and offers services including live chat on its website.
Click here for more information.
The Swiss newspaper Blick reported in July that Peter Sticher, a state prosecutor in Schaffhausen, wrote to Exit International’s lawyers stating that any operator of the suicide capsule could face criminal prosecution in the region if it was used there, and that a Conviction could mean up to five years in prison.
Prosecutors in other Swiss regions have also indicated that the use of the suicide capsule could lead to charges.
Over the summer, a 54-year-old American woman with multiple health problems had planned to be the first person to use the device, but those plans were canceled.
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Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.