in pre-trial detention
Switzerland’s New
Human Rights Organisation
The Last Resort is Switzerland’s newest human rights/assisted suicide organisation. The organisation is the Swiss home of the 3D-printed Sarco Capsule, On 23 September 2024, the Sarco was used for the first time at TLR in Switzerland. On the same day, the Swiss authorities detained TLR Director Dr Florian Willet. Florian was the only person present on the day. Florian was finally released from Swiss prison after 70 days of incarceration on 2 December. A press statement is on the Media Page of this website.
The Last Resort is funded via Memberships, Donations & Bequests. If you would like to support Florian Willet, the Sarco and our long-term goals of de-medicalizing and democratizing assisted death in Switzerland, please join and/or make a donation.
About the Sarco
History
The Sarco Project began in 2012 when Philip Nitschke was asked to design a machine that could help a man with ‘locked-in’ syndrome control his own death.
Operation
The 3D-printed Sarco capsule works by rapidly replacing the air (& oxygen) within the capsule with pure nitrogen. In this low-oxygen, low carbon dioxide environment, the user dies quickly & peacefully.
Terms of Use
The Sarco is available to use for free to approved users*. An ‘approved user’ is a person who satisfies the criteria for an assisted suicide under Swiss law.
News
“Sarco man” spent ten weeks in custody on suspicion of strangulation. “Hard to understand”, say lawyers
The Schaffhausen public prosecutor’s office is investigating the first death in the death capsule. Research shows that they are taking an unusually tough approach – and are sticking to a dubious theory.
Swiss authorities release right-to-die activist after ruling out homicide in ‘suicide capsule’ case
Swiss prosecutors said a right-to-die activist was released Monday after more than two months in police custody over the reported first use of a so-called “suicide capsule,” after they ruled out the possibility of an intentional homicide.
‘It seems as if Switzerland has suddenly become afraid of its global pioneering role,’ says Sarco inventor Nitschke
Suicide capsule inventor Philip Nitschke talks about the Sarco premiere for the first time. He considers the criminal proceedings for intentional homicide to be absurd. In this interview, Nitschke tells us what he is planning next.