Swiss Police Investigate Death in “Suicide Pod”, Several Detained

Swiss authorities have launched an investigation after a woman died in a “suicide pod” in a forest area, with several people detained and facing criminal charges related to “inducing and aiding and abetting suicide,” Al Jazeera reports.

The incident involved the controversial Sarco suicide capsule, developed by the Netherlands-based assisted dying group Exit International. The woman, identified as a 64-year-old US citizen, was found deceased inside the pod.

The Sarco capsule, unveiled in 2019, allows individuals to end their lives by pressing a button, which triggers the replacement of oxygen with nitrogen, causing death by hypoxia. The pod operates without the need for medical supervision.

“Once the button is pressed, the amount of oxygen in the air plummets from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in less than 30 seconds,” explained Exit International director Philip Nitschke.

He has added that there is no possibility of reversing the process once the button is pressed.

However, the use of the Sarco capsule in Switzerland has raised significant legal and ethical concerns. While assisted dying is allowed in Switzerland, active euthanasia is illegal. Swiss law requires that individuals take their lives without “external assistance” and that any helpers involved do not act out of “self-serving motive.”

Switzerland’s Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider has stated that the Sarco pod does not comply with Swiss law, citing both product safety concerns and incompatibility with chemical regulations.

In July, a state prosecutor in Schaffhausen, Peter Sticher, warned Exit International’s lawyers that any operator of the suicide capsule could face criminal prosecution. A conviction carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.