E-Paper
Who was Dr Florian Willet? Euthanasia activist dies by assisted suicide after traumatic arrest
Dr. Florian Willet, a right-to-die campaigner who was held for using a “suicide pod” for the first time, has died by assisted suicide.
Dr. Florian Willet, a right-to-die campaigner who was held for using a “suicide pod” for the first time, has died by assisted suicide in Switzerland, as per the device’s inventor, the UK Independent reported.
Dr. Florian Willet, 47, was arrested in 2024 on suspicion of “inciting and abetting suicide” and “strong suspicion of the commission of an intentional homicide” in relation to the demise of a 64-year-old woman.
In December, Willet was released from detention two months after authorities ruled out the possibility of a deliberate homicide.
What we know about Dr. Florian Willet's arrest turmoil
Dr. Philip Nitschke, the head of Exit International and the man behind the Sarco pod, claimed that Dr. Willet suffered from severe psychological issues.
Dr. Nitschke informed the Dutch news agency Volkskrant that Dr. Willet committed suicide last month. Dr. Nitschke further stated that Florian was a different person when he was abruptly and surprisingly freed from pre-trial prison in early December 2024.
“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.”
Dr Florian Willet turned into an anxious, suspicious person
The activist's companion Laura told the Dutch media that he had transformed after the arrest. According to her, “This friendly, positive man had changed into an anxious, suspicious person who no longer trusted even his best friends.” Stressing that Willet lived in his own universe, Laura said that he grew more estranged from his friends.
Dr. Willet, the leader of the euthanasia advocacy group The Last Resort, was freed by Schaffhausen authorities in the northern part of the district following the alleged first use of the Sarco suicide capsule, a sealed container that emits gas at the touch of a button.
While the officials no longer suspected deliberate homicide, the Swiss prosecutors said they still had a “strong suspicion of the crime of inciting and abetting suicide.”
Dr. Nitschke described the claims that the woman may have been choked as “absurd,” adding that he saw the woman's death on camera in a wood in the Schaffhausen area close to the German border.
