On 23 September 2024, the controversial “Sarco” suicide capsule was used for the first time in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen. One person died after using the device. Following the death, Schaffhausen police arrested several people, reported SRF.
The device allows an individual to suffocate themselves by pushing a button that replaces the air inside the capsule with nitrogen.
On Tuesday, Philipp Nitschke, the inventor of the device, shared on X an article reporting the death of a 64 year old American, who had used the device. She is the first person to have used the capsule to end their life.
Following the arrests, the public prosecutor’s office announced it had initiated criminal proceedings against those arrested. The charge is for incitement and aiding and abetting suicide. The public prosecutor’s office did not disclose who was arrested or provide the name of the person who had taken their life.
Late on Monday afternoon, a lawyer informed the public prosecutor’s office that the suicide capsule had been used in a forest hut in the municipality of Merishausen. Emergency services went to the scene and took the deceased person to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zurich for an autopsy.
According to Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, Switzerland’s Health Minister, the use of the device breaks two laws. Firstly, it does not meet product safety law requirements, and secondly, it’s use of nitrogen does not comply with chemicals legislation, laws designed to ensure health and environmental protection.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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