Suicide pod activist takes his own life after being traumatised by arrest

The right-to-die activist has died by assisted suicide following his arrest

The euthanasia activist suffered major mental health issues following his arrest by Swiss police in September last year, according to Philip Nitschke, the inventor of the Sarco suicide capsule.

Florian Willet was the director of Last Resort, the Swiss suicide organisation, which helped facilitate the use of the Sarco suicide capsule.

Mr Willet was arrested for aiding and assisting in someone else's suicide.

At first, the prosecutors didn't rule out whether he had strangled the woman, but that theory was debunked before his release in December after 70 days of pre-trial detention.

“Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who seemed deeply traumatised by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation,” said Mr Nitschke, the director of Exit International, the pro-euthanasia group.

Philip Nitschke said Willet sought help and was even admitted to a psychiatric hospital twice before his death on May 5.

He goes on to say that Mr Willet died in Germany with the help of an unidentified specialised organisation, per the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, via The Telegraph.

It is not yet known exactly how Florian Willet died.

Philip Nitschke continues: “To describe Florian is to talk of a man who was thoughtful, caring, funny, and friendly. He was an easy person to be around, but most of all, Florian was kind. Florian was also passionate about a person’s right to choose when to die."

In Switzerland suicide is legal under certain conditions, however, the Sarco suicide capsule had never been used before and there were warnings in place that its use would be illegal.

Florian Willet was the only person present when a 64-year-old American woman, who had suffered from an immune disease, assisted her death in the Sarco pod.

He informed the authorities of her death but was arrested, along with several others, including a newspaper photographer. Everyone was released but Mr Willet, who continued to be detained.

These printable capsules cost around £550,000 to research and develop in the Netherlands over 12 years. According to Last Resort, future reusable pods could cost about £12,600.