Dutch journalist released after Switzerland arrest while reporting on suicide capsule

The Volkskrant photographer arrested in Switzerland on Monday for reporting on the first suicide via a specially designed “suicide capsule” is no longer in custody. She was released on Wednesday after questioning, the newspaper reported.

A 64-year-old American woman took her own life in the Sarco, a capsule that fills with nitrogen at the person inside’s command, killing them through suffocation, on Monday afternoon. According to the Volkskrant, the woman was legally competent and had been suffering from severe pain due to illness for at least two years. She, therefore, met the conditions under which assisted suicide is not punishable under Swiss law.

Hours after her death, the Volkskrant photographer went to the area to take photos and was arrested there with several other people.

The photographer was in restricted custody, and the newspaper couldn’t reach her. On Wednesday, the police interrogated the photographer for hours in the presence of her lawyer and then released her. In Switzerland, a suspect may be detained for 48 hours without the intervention of a judge.

“We are pleased that the prosecutor has realized that our client was not involved in the suicide and that she is protected as a journalist by freedom of the press,” her lawyer, Andrea Taormina, said after her release.

“We are relieved that she has been released but are still astonished by the detention,” said Pieter Kolk, the Volkskrant’s chief editor. “We have never seen a journalist arrested and detained for a long time just because she was at a certain location for her work. It is of the utmost importance that journalists can do their work undisturbed without the fear of being arrested. Confidence in this has been damaged.”