Swiss police have made multiple arrests after someone reportedly used a so-called suicide pod to take their own life, in what is apparently the first case of its kind.
Schaffhausen regional police said they had arrested “several people” on suspicion of inciting, aiding and abetting suicides after people reportedly died on Monday using pods made by Sarco.
While assisted dying is legally protected under certain circumstances in Switzerland, the Sarco pod has encountered some opposition.
Police found equipment and bodies at the scene.
Warning: Contains disturbing content
this The company behind controversial pods Says it can only be operated by someone who wants to end their own life, without medical supervision.
Police said the device was used on Monday at a forest cabin in the Merryhausen region, a sparsely populated area on Switzerland’s border with Germany.
Police said a law firm reported a suicide involving the device to them. The number of people arrested and their identities were not disclosed. The name of the deceased was also not revealed.
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In July, a pro-assisted dying group that promotes the Sarco device said it expected the device to be used for the first time this year.
Supporters say it offers an option that doesn’t rely on drugs or doctors, and because the portable device can be 3D printed and assembled at home, it expands access to euthanasia.
However, there has also been opposition in Switzerland, even though the country has some of the most protective euthanasia laws in the world.
Critics fear the device’s modern design glorifies suicide, and the fact that it can be operated without medical supervision is alarming.
Assisted dying is illegal in the UK and most other European countries, but thousands of people have traveled to Switzerland over the years to end their own lives.
