Police raid Haarlem office of suicide pod inventor after Switzerland incident
Those in the Netherlands in life threatening danger should immediately dial 112 for emergencies, and anyone suffering from depression or contemplating suicide can call 113 Zelfmoordpreventie at any time by dialing either 113 or 0800-0113, or by visiting 113.nl.
At the request of the Swiss authorities, the Dutch police raided the Haarlem office of Philip Nitschke, the man who invented the Sarco suicide pod, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed to NOS.
According to the Volkskrant, the authorities searched the Exit International premises on Monday and seized several computers and the first non-functioning prototype of the Sarco.
Exit International is Nitsche’s movement. It has around 30,000 members and fights for self-determination in ending your life.
Last month, an American woman took her own life in Switzerland in the Sarco pod. The 64-year-old woman was the first to use the pod, which gradually fills with nitrogen gas and suffocates the person inside. After her death, the Swiss police arrested several people, including a Volkskrant journalist, for involvement in her death.
Nitschke previously said that he deliberately placed the pod in Switzerland because the country’s laws allow for assisted suicide under certain conditions. But Swiss Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said that the Sarco does not comply with the law because supervisor Swissmedic determined that the pod was not a medical device.
It is unclear whether Stiwzerland asked the Dutch authorities to arrest and extradite Nitschke or his wife, Fiona Stewart. She is the director of The Last Resort, a Swiss organization that assisted the American woman in her suicide.
