Swiss drop probe against Dignitas founder over urns in lake because of lack of evidence

Swiss drop Dignitas probe over urns in lake

GENEVA — Swiss prosecutors have dropped a criminal investigation into the founder of the assisted suicide group Dignitas over urns containing human ashes that were thrown into Lake Zurich.

The Zurich prosecutors’ office said an extensive investigation was unable to determine who tossed the urns into the lake. They were recovered in April, and suspicion centered on Dignitas founder Ludwig A. Minelli.

“The proceedings against him were discontinued on July 28, 2010, because of lack of evidence,” the prosecutor’s office said on its website.

Minelli declined Wednesday to comment on the decision.

Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, but Dignitas has come under heavy scrutiny in recent years after critics accused it of unethical practices.

Soraya Wernli, a former Dignitas employee, said in 2008 that dumping urns into the lake was a common practice and claimed hundreds were under the water.

Earlier this year The Atlantic, a U.S. magazine, published a profile of Minelli that provided descriptions of lake burials performed by the Dignitas founder.

Prosecutors said all urns recovered from the lake have since been buried at a nearby cemetery.