4 arrested after controversial 'suicide pod' used for the first time in Switzerland
Zurich: Four people were arrested in Switzerland after a controversial capsule, known as the "Sarco" pod, was used to end a woman's life. The incident took place in the northern canton of Schaffhausen on Monday.
Prosecutors have initiated criminal proceedings against the detainees for "inducing and aiding and abetting suicide." The deceased was identified as a 64-year-old American woman who had been suffering from a severely compromised immune system.
Among the arrested was Florian Willet, co-president of "The Last Resort," the group behind the capsule. He was reportedly the only person present at the scene alongside a Dutch journalist and two Swiss nationals, according to a spokesperson for the group.
The Sarco capsule, designed by Australian physician Philip Nitschke, causes death by releasing nitrogen gas inside, lowering the oxygen level to a fatal degree. The device has raised legal and ethical concerns in Switzerland, a country known for its laws allowing assisted suicide.
Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, the Swiss minister responsible for health, stated that the Sarco does not meet product safety requirements and that its use of nitrogen is not legally compliant.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
