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Euthanasia activist arrested over 'suicide pod' dies

Danai Nesta Kupemba
BBC News
Getty Images A picture of assisted dying activist Florian Willet wearing a dark grey blazer with a red shirt underneathGetty Images
Dr Florian Willet was arrested last year

A pro-euthanasia activist who was arrested following the death of a woman using the world's first so-called suicide pod has died.

Dr Florian Willet, 47, was reportedly the only other person present when a 64-year-old American woman took her own life using the device in a forest in Switzerland last September.

The pod's inventor Philip Nitschke told BBC News that Dr Willet died by assisted suicide in Germany.

In a separate statement, Mr Nitschke said Dr Willet had suffered psychological trauma following his arrest and detention in connection with the Switzerland death.

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"In the final months of his life, Dr Florian Willet shouldered more than any man should," he said.

The Last Resort - an assisted dying organisation founded by Dr Willet to facilitate the use of the pod - said the arrest had left him "broken".

The activist was held in pre-trial detention for 70 days while police investigated whether he had intentionally killed the woman - an allegation he was not charged with.

Prior to his death on 5 May, Dr Willet fell from a third-floor window, the group said, leaving him requiring surgery and needing to be "cared for by a full psychiatric team".

While assisted dying is legally protected in some circumstances in Switzerland, it is strictly regulated, and the pod has encountered opposition.

Advocates say the device - manufactured by Sarco - provides an assisted dying option which is not reliant on drugs or doctors and expands potential access.

Critics fear the device's modern design glamorises suicide, and that the fact that it can be operated without medical oversight is concerning.

Switzerland is one of six countries across Europe to have some form of legalised assisted dying alongside the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Austria.

BBC News has contacted the Swiss prosecutor's office for comment.