San Francisco Frontiers - Swiss inferno bar owner detained for three months

Jacques Moretti was taken into custody after he and his wife Jessica, who co-owned Le Constellation bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, were interviewed by prosecutors in Switzerland's southwestern Wallis canton on Friday.

The fire broke out at the bar early on New Year's Day when it was filled with partygoers, killing 40 people and injuring 116. Most of the dead were teenagers.

Two days after the blaze, public prosecutors announced that the Morettis were under criminal investigation, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.

At the conclusion of the ongoing investigation, the Wallis public prosecutor's office will decide whether to issue an indictment for a possible trial, or to close the case.

In the meantime, the presumption of innocence prevails.

- 'Procedural' -

The Wallis Cantonal Court of Compulsory Measures (TMC) said in a statement Monday it had "ordered the preventive detention of (Jacques Moretti), the bar's manager, for an initial period of three months, due to the existence of a flight risk".

The court added though that it had "informed the defendant that it would be willing to lift the preventive detention subject to various alternative measures requested by the public prosecutor's office, including providing a security deposit".

The French couple's lawyers said in a statement that "Jessica Moretti was informed of the decision... which will allow her husband, once the conditions are met, to return to liberty".

Initial findings suggest that the New Year fire was caused by sparklers igniting soundproofing foam installed on the ceiling of the establishment's basement.

Questions are also being raised regarding the presence and accessibility of fire extinguishers, and whether the bar's exits were in compliance with regulations.

- Locked door -

During initial questioning in the hours after the tragedy, Jacques Moretti told investigators that he had discovered shortly after the blaze that a service door had been locked from the inside.

When he arrived at the scene, he forced open the door, according to excerpts from police reports published by several French and Swiss media outlets confirmed to AFP by a source close to the case.

Moretti said he had found several people lying behind the door after opening it.

Last week, Crans-Montana authorities acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at Le Constellation since 2019, prompting outrage.

Lawyers representing victims' families have been harshly critical of the proceedings, and have been demanding from the start that the bar owners be detained.

While Jacques Moretti is now in custody, his wife remains free, with the public prosecutor's office stating Friday that "given her background and personal ties, a request for alternative measures would mitigate the risk of flight".

- 'It's war' -

Sebastien Fanti, a lawyer representing four families of victims, told AFP on Monday that his clients could "only be very imperfectly satisfied with the preventive detention of just one manager".

"The father of a child burned alive told me: 'He died as if in a war, so now it's war'," he said, adding: "Everyone will have to live with their own conscience."

Romain Jordan, who also represents several families, declined to comment on the pre-trial detention, but noted that his clients were "very concerned about the risk of evidence being destroyed or altered, and testimonies being influenced or tainted".

"What measures are being taken to mitigate this?" he asked.

Wallis president Mathias Reynard told public broadcaster RTS on Sunday that 80 people were still in various hospitals in Switzerland and abroad.

M.Gonzalez--SFF