Euthanasia Use of suicide capsule in Schaffhausen leads to criminal proceedings
The controversial Sarco suicide capsule has been used for the first time in the canton of Schaffhausen. The Schaffhausen police subsequently arrested several people. The organization "The Last Resort" writes of a "peaceful, dignified" death.
24.09.2024, 12:04
24.09.2024, 14:02
SDA
Criminal proceedings will be initiated against the arrested persons for incitement and aiding and abetting suicide, public prosecutor Peter Sticher announced on Tuesday. Whether other criminal offenses have been violated is being investigated.
The inventor of the capsule, Philipp Nitschke, shared the article from a Dutch newspaper on X at midday, which reported on the Sarco operation. A photographer apparently accompanied the suicide. According to Nitschke, a 64-year-old American woman was the first person to climb into the capsule.
The organization "The Last Resort" announced on its website that co-president Florian Willet was the only person present at the suicide. Sarco worked as planned and brought the woman a drug-free, peaceful death, Nitschke is quoted as saying. According to co-president Fiona Stewart, the organization has always acted on the advice of its lawyers.
Capsule deployed at cabin in the woods
On Monday afternoon, the public prosecutor's office was informed by a lawyer that the suicide capsule had been used in a forest hut in the municipality of Merishausen. The emergency services seized the capsule and took the deceased person to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zurich for an autopsy.
The public prosecutor's office also did not disclose the relationship between the lawyer who provided the information and the euthanasia organization "The Last Resort", as it said on request. However, he was not from Schaffhausen.
Dying capsule "not legally compliant"
The euthanasia organization "The Last Resort" announced this summer that the euthanasia capsule would be used in Switzerland this year. The public prosecutor's offices of several cantons then announced that they would initiate proceedings if the capsule was used in their cantons - including Schaffhausen.
On the same day that Sarco was used in the forest hut, Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP) said in parliament that the suicide capsule was not legally compliant.
Firstly, the capsule does not meet the requirements of product safety law, said Baume-Schneider. It should therefore not be placed on the market. And secondly, the use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act.
Sarco is designed to allow people to die at the touch of a button. The machine can be taken to any place to die. At the push of a button, nitrogen flows into the capsule, displacing the oxygen. After a few breaths, the person becomes unconscious.
According to "The Last Resort", death occurs after around five minutes. According to the organization, the aim is to enable a "more beautiful death".
