MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Use of unauthorized suicide capsule sparks controversy in Switzerland

The Sarco capsule is purple because it is “the color of dignity,” The Last Resort states on its website.

Authorities in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen arrested a group of people Tuesday in connection with the first-time unsanctioned use of the assisted suicide capsule known as Sarco, with which a 64-year-old American woman took her own life. Although assisted suicide is permitted in the country under certain conditions, prosecutors fear that these requirements had not been met.

 The Sarco capsule, which had never been used before, allows a person sitting inside to press a button that activates the flow of nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber, resulting in an allegedly peaceful death within minutes.

Prosecutors were tipped that the Sarco capsule had been used on Monday near a forest cabin in Merishausen, for which an inquiry was opened. Among those arrested was a photographer from the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant who wanted to capture the first use of Sarco.

The case has sparked a national controversy: Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider argued during a question-and-answer session in Parliament that “the Sarco suicide capsule does not comply with the law in two respects: Firstly, it does not meet the requirements of product safety legislation and therefore cannot be marketed. Secondly, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemical Substances Act.”

”Sarco induces death by replacing normal room air (21% oxygen/79% nitrogen) with 100% nitrogen. This means there is no oxygen in the capsule. Without oxygen, the person quickly loses consciousness and dies shortly thereafter. Death is peaceful and reliable,“ is how the euthanasia organization The Last Resort describes its services on its website, which also argues that the device, which has been seized by the prosecution, is colored purple because that is the ”color of dignity.“

According to Volkskrant, a 64-year-old American woman was in the capsule. She was said to have died ”almost immediately“ after pushing the button releasing the nitrogen. Witnesses said the ”customer“ who ”really wanted to die“ became unconscious after two minutes and died after five minutes. Her body has been handed over to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zurich for a post-mortem to be added to the ”incitement and aiding and abetting suicide” probe underway.