Arrests made after woman ends her life in "suicide pod"
Police in Switzerland have made several arrests in connection with a woman's death in the Australian-made "suicide pod".
The 'Sarco' capsule was used for the first time by a 64-year-old American woman who was “immune compromised” and had been in “severe pain” for “at least two years”.
The pod is designed for the user to push a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber, with the person inside then supposed to fall asleep and die of suffocation in a few minutes.
The Sarco machine (short for sarcophagus) was invented by Australian Dr Philip Nitschke, who has been nicknamed “Dr Death”, said the machine had performed exactly as it had been designed", with the woman's death occurring as "expected".
“It looked exactly as we expected it to look. My guess is that she lost consciousness within two minutes and that she died after five minutes,” Dr Nitschke told Dutch media.
“We saw sudden, small contractions and movements of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then.”
Dr Nitschke claimed the woman “almost immediately” pressed the button, adding, “She didn’t say anything. She really wanted to die.”
However, despite the woman's wishes to take her own life, Swiss police announced that several people were taken into custody over the woman's death and are now facing criminal charges, suspected of “inducement and aiding and abetting suicide.”
The arrests took place despite the fact that Dr Nitschke had previously told AP that his organisation received advice from lawyers in Switzerland that the use of the Sarco would be legal in the country, where active euthanasia is banned but assisted dying has been legal for decades.
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Image credits: Exit International