Several people arrested in Switzerland after using a suicide “capsule”

Several people were arrested in Switzerland after the use of a suicide capsule on Monday, a device that allows you to take your own life without the help of a doctor, police announced on Tuesday, September 24. “The Schaffhausen cantonal public prosecutor’s office has opened criminal proceedings against several people for incitement and assistance to suicide and several people have been taken into custody.”explained the cantonal police in a press release.

The public prosecutor’s office in the small canton in northern Switzerland, near Germany, was informed on Monday by a law firm “that an assisted suicide using the Sarco capsule had taken place in a forest cabin in Merishausen in the afternoon”according to police. According to Swiss media, this is the first time that this capsule, called “Sarco” for sarcophagus, has been used. “The Sarco suicide capsule was seized and (the body of the) deceased person was transported (…) for an autopsy”police said.

The capsule is a mini-cabin in which the person who wants to end their life must lie down, then answer a series of questions to confirm that they understand what they are doing before pressing a button that releases nitrogen. They must lose consciousness after a few breaths and die after a few minutes, according to the association that promotes the capsule.

In July, its promoters had presented this device saying they wanted to proceed with a first use in Switzerland, which had caused a strong stir, assisted suicide being permitted in the country but with the accompaniment of a doctor. On Monday, the Swiss Minister of the Interior Elisabeth Baume-Schneider affirmed, during a question session in the Chamber of Deputies, that this “Sarco suicide capsule is not in accordance with the law”.