Arrests Made in Switzerland After First Use of ‘Suicide Capsule’

Swiss police have arrested four people in the town of Meurishausen, near the German border, where the Sarco capsule was first used for euthanasia.

The Last Resort, a non-profit organization that advocates for the legalization of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, is behind the creation of the “suicide capsule.”

Inside the hermetically sealed capsule there is a button that, when pressed, injects nitrogen into the capsule. The person in the capsule falls asleep and dies of suffocation within a few minutes.

CNN reported that the capsule’s first “passenger” was a 64-year-old American woman suffering from a serious immune disease.

The four detainees, including The Last Resort co-chairman Florian Willet, are suspected of “incitement to suicide” and “assistance to suicide.”

Swiss Health Minister Elisabeth Bohm-Schneider said the use of nitrogen in the capsule did not meet Swiss safety standards.