EuthaNEWSia (www.euthanewsia.ca)

The controversial Swiss suicide clinic Dignitas is likely to come under fresh scrutiny after divers discovered dozens of cremation urns on the bed of Lake Zurich. "After 50, we stopped counting," Roman Ruetz, a police diver, said. "They lay there in a big heap." On being brought to the surface the urns were found to contain ashes. There is little that directly connects Dignitas, which operates near by, with the urns, apart from the fact that they carried the logo of the Nordheim crematorium used by the suicide clinic.

One former employee and long-standing Dignitas critic, Soraya Wernli, told The Times 18 months ago that the clinic had dropped at least 300 urns in the lake. Ludwig Minelli, the founder of Dignitas, refused to comment yesterday.

The report adds: Disposing of large numbers of urns containing human remains requires a commercial licence in Switzerland. Breaches carry a maximum three-year jail sentence or 30,000 pound fine.

Note that in The Atlantic interview of Minelli (EuthaNEWSia, Feb. 6, 2010, Also see), Bruce Falconer wrote:
But at least one rumor appears to be true. People committing suicide at Dignitas typically request to be cremated. Minelli told me he stores the urns until he has enough to fill his car. Then he drives, usually at night, to a quiet spot nestled among the multimillion-dollar houses on Lake Zurich, and tosses the remains into the water, urns and all. He insists these burials are harmless, but last year he received a threatening letter from Zurich's water authority after wealthy homeowners complained of ashes and what they believed to be human bone fragments washing up on shore.

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Boyes, Roger. "Ashes dumped in Lake Zurich put Dignitas back in the spotlight". Times Online. April 28, 2010. <www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7109939.ece>. Times Newspapers Ltd. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY.

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The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201004283893.
Mailed: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 14:08:22 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>.

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