Joint interrogation of the Morettis: Public Prosecutor's Office expands investigation to include document forgery

The interrogation was led by Valais Chief Public Prosecutor Catherine Seppey. According to Keystone-SDA, over 70 civil party lawyers were present in the room. Among them was lawyer Romain Jordan, mandated by the Italian government, who stated: "Oggi qui rappresento ufficialmente l'Italia." The Italian judicial authority thus represents the interests of the Italian victims of the fire on January 1st.

Statements of the Operators

At the beginning of the interrogation, Jessica Moretti addressed those present, saying: "Contro di noi sono state dette solo tante falsità, siamo stati distrutti." She also assured her willingness to cooperate: "Siamo qui perché ci siamo impegnati a farlo, lo dobbiamo alle vittime." Jacques and Jessica Moretti are co-owners of the bar "Le Constellation" and are now being heard together by the public prosecutor's office for the first time, after previously giving partially contradictory statements.

Allegation of Document Forgery

According to the civil parties, the focus of the interrogation is to clarify the events of the night of the accident. Lawyer Fabrizio Ventimiglia, who represents an injured girl, pointed out that the Morettis are being heard for the first time after reviewing the internal cameras and after questioning officials and municipal representatives. He explained: "È la prima volta che li sentiamo, dopo aver visionato le telecamere interne del locale e dopo aver sentito i funzionari pubblici e gli amministratori del Comune." Ventimiglia listed a series of open points: "Sono numerosi gli aspetti da chiarire, a partire dalla gestione di quella serata; dal tema della formazione dei dipendenti, che non c'è stata; da quello delle direttive date in quella serata; dal perché sono state chiuse le porte di sicurezza, al perché c'era un solo ingresso per fare accedere e defluire le persone." He also announced his intention to question economic aspects related to money laundering profiles.

As reported by RTS, the public prosecutor's office is now expanding its investigation against Jessica Moretti to include document forgery. Specifically, it concerns an invoice for the foam on the ceiling of the bar, which is considered the origin of the fire. According to RTS, the manipulation of the invoice was allegedly done for tax reasons and is not directly related to the January 1st catastrophe. Civil party lawyer Nicolas Mattenberger explained in German: "The submitted document appeared questionable. Therefore, explanations had to be provided." Victim's lawyer Romain Jordan added critically: "It is not just any invoice, but a document related to the origin of the foam."

Voice of a Mother

Among the civil parties, lawyer Sébastien Fanti, who represents numerous victim families, also spoke. He pointed out the financial cost of such a hearing: "un'udienza come quella di oggi costa ai contribuenti 200 mila franchi". At the same time, he criticized the pace of the investigation: "sono già passati alcuni mesi e non avanziamo". Civil party lawyer Domenico Radice, also present, demanded: "un chiarimento sulla coerenza tra le prove documentali e la versione della difesa".

Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, the mother of 16-year-old Arthur, vividly described her reasons for attending the hearing. Arthur was a junior footballer for FC Lutry on Lake Geneva in the canton of Vaud. The mother stated that she was wearing white and a photo of her son on her left chest. She said: "Sono qui perché voglio risposte, vogliamo risposte." She reported on the consequences of the catastrophe: "Ci sono 41 angeli che se ne sono andati, ci sono ancora 115 feriti che sono in ospedale, in terapia intensiva e che sono gravemente ustionati, alcuni ancora in choc settico e non li si riconosce più." She also referred to her second son Benjamin, who survived the accident but suffers from its consequences daily: "ma anche per suo fratello Benjamin, il mio secondo figlio, che è vivo, perché vive le conseguenze di questo dramma, tutti i giorni si vive con queste conseguenze."

Status of Proceedings

The public prosecutor's office explained the procedure of the confrontation interrogation: According to the information, Jacques and Jessica Moretti will be asked the same questions one after the other to uncover possible contradictions in their statements. Originally, only Jacques Moretti had been summoned; his interrogation, originally planned for early April, had been postponed indefinitely due to a medical certificate. The public prosecutor's office then decided to summon Jessica Moretti as well. In an earlier interrogation in February, relatives of the victims had surrounded and pressed the Morettis upon their arrival on campus; the cantonal police had subsequently tightened their security measures.

In total, 14 people are now indicted in the proceedings, including, in addition to the Moretti couple, five current or former municipal representatives and seven current or former municipal employees. They are accused of negligent homicide, negligent arson, and negligent grievous bodily harm. The allegation of document forgery has now been added against Jessica Moretti. The presumption of innocence applies to all accused. Friday's interrogation was the first joint session before the public prosecutor's team since the catastrophe, five months after the fire.

A spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office emphasized that this is a first but central step in the ongoing proceedings. The analysis of the internal surveillance cameras and the questioning of municipal officials are now largely complete, so the operators' statements will now be compared with the collected evidence. Further interrogations and trial dates are to follow in the coming weeks.