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00:00Lush green forests and sprawling meadows surround this private forest retreat in the Swiss countryside.
00:08An idyllic setting where a 64-year-old American woman chose to end her own life using a suicide
00:14capsule.
00:16Her body was found in the woods on Monday, leading Swiss police to make several arrests
00:21and open a criminal case into the incident.
00:25We found a lifeless person in one of these Sarko capsules.
00:29The offence that we are primarily investigating is Article 115 of the Criminal Code, incitement
00:35and assisted suicide.
00:38The capsule used was a 3D-printed pod known as Sarko, designed to enable suicide without
00:44suffering.
00:45After climbing inside, users must answer a series of automated questions, meant to assess
00:50their mental stability.
00:52They then press a button that injects nitrogen gas into the sealed chamber, making them lose
00:57consciousness and die within a few minutes.
01:02Exit International, an assisted suicide non-profit group which engineered the capsule, says its
01:07lawyer advised it would be legal in Switzerland, but its use was never formally approved by
01:13Swiss authorities.
01:14The Sarko suicide capsule is not legally compliant in two respects.
01:22First, it does not fulfill the requirements of product safety law and may therefore not
01:27be placed on the market.
01:29And second, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the Chemicals Act.
01:39Swiss law generally allows assisted suicide if certain conditions are met, but it doesn't
01:44permit active euthanasia, which involves the use of lethal injections by healthcare
01:49practitioners.
01:51In recent years, some lawmakers have issued calls to clarify the law, saying it still
01:55contained loopholes and grey areas.