Fifteenth Accused in Crans-Montana Fire Disaster Proceedings

The charges are identical for all accused: negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm, and negligent causing of a fire. The newly accused person is also suspected of having headed the Chermignon fire brigade commission in 2015 – precisely during the period when Jacques and Jessica Moretti took over the bar «Le Constellation».

Dates in July

The interrogation of the newly accused is scheduled for 14 July. Originally, the hearing had been set for mid-July but had to be postponed because the accused's lawyer was unavailable. Immediately afterwards, on 16 July, the former Chermignon mayor Jean-Claude Savoy is to be questioned.

As the public prosecutor's office further announced, a total of three further interrogations will be conducted in July. One of them concerns the security officer of Chermignon, who held office until the end of 2016. This questioning is scheduled for 28 July at the Energypolis Campus in Sion.

According to the investigators, the upcoming interrogations will also focus on the extensive renovation that the Moretti couple had carried out after taking over the establishment «Le Constellation» – more than ten years before the fire disaster. From the results, the investigating authorities hope to gain additional insights into the structural condition of the bar and the approval procedures at the time.

Previous delays

There had already been delays in the proceedings in the preceding months. On 8 April and 13 May, two accused had fallen silent, invoking their right to remain silent, because the case files had not yet been made fully accessible to them. As a result, these interrogations had to be terminated prematurely.

The background to the case goes back to the New Year's Eve in the popular Valais holiday resort. In the fire at an establishment, 41 people died – most of them young – and a further 115 were injured. The location is considered a tourist destination and is slated to host the alpine skiing world championships the following year – a deadline that places authorities under additional pressure to justify their actions.

In parallel with the ongoing interrogations, Jessica Moretti has been under additional investigation for document forgery since her last questioning on 5 June. The public prosecutor's office provided no further details on this, but referred to the ongoing nature of the proceedings.

Background: The night of the catastrophe

The Valais judiciary justified the gradual expansion of the circle of accused by the scope of the investigations. In addition to those directly responsible for operating the bar, the role of the municipal supervisory and approval authorities also had to be examined, according to investigators. The coming weeks are therefore considered decisive for the question of whether the criminal proceedings can be concluded as early as this year.

The families of the victims and the survivors have been waiting for months for progress in the proceedings. Residents of Crans-Montana had made serious accusations against the authorities immediately after the catastrophe, claiming that indications of safety deficiencies in the establishment had allegedly not been pursued consistently. These accusations are meanwhile the subject of the ongoing investigation.