The owners of a Swiss nightclub where dozens died in a New Year’s Eve fire are facing a backlash over fears they could reopen two other restaurants while still under criminal investigation.
Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti ran Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, where the blaze killed 41 people and injured 115 in the Alpine resort.
They face charges of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson, while Mrs Moretti also faces a forgery charge linked to an invoice for the foam panels suspected of fuelling the blaze.
Their upmarket restaurant Le Vieux Chalet, in nearby Lens, has been closed since early January. Le Parisien reported that renovation work had since been carried out at the concrete-and-wood building, despite ongoing anger among victims’ families.
According to public records in the canton of Valais, a former chef at Le Vieux Chalet, created a company on May 25, SARL Andru, registered at the restaurant’s address.
Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, the mother of Arthur, who died in the fire, talks to journalists in June – AFP
The company’s stated purpose includes running “restaurants, bars, hotels, guesthouses, bakeries, confectioners’ shops or other similar public establishments”, adding to suspicion that the site could reopen under his management. The former employee could not be reached by Le Parisien.
The prospect that the couple’s establishments, including Le Vieux Chalet and Le Senso in Crans-Montana, might reopen has caused anger in Switzerland, France and Italy, whose nationals were among the dead and injured.
A petition launched by victims’ families calling for any reopenings to be blocked on grounds of “decency” has gathered more than 25,000 signatures.
“We are not asking the courts to convict anyone before trial,” it says. “The presumption of innocence is a principle we respect. But decency is also a principle. So is respect for the dead. So is restraint, in the face of 41 coffins and 115 injured people.
“You do not reopen the doors to the public when the courts have not yet closed the case.”
Sébastien Fanti, a lawyer for some of the victims, told The Telegraph: “For the families it would be awful to think that business might resume. Personally, I doubt that customers would turn up. People shouldn’t be surprised, either, if they find there are gatherings in these public venues.”
Tobyas, who lost his brother Trystan in the fire, confronts owners of Le Constellation bar in February – AFP
Hervé Abello, whose 19-year-old French daughter was seriously injured in the fire, said families feared a reopening could strain tensions locally.
“Of course, we, the families of the victims, are particularly sensitive to this,” said Mr Abello, vice-president of the French association REVI Crans-Montana.
“But Mr Moretti has a long criminal record, while Mrs Moretti is now charged with forgery. They are suspected of having tried to cheat the tax authorities. What about the precautionary principle? What about integrity? Not to mention the potential consequences for public order.”
Gian Lorenzo Cornado, Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, has also intervened. He said he had suggested that relatives launch a joint petition by Italian, Swiss and French families, together with residents of Lens, to demand that the establishment “not reopen” after victims’ families shared their “outrage” with him.
A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial outside the “Le Constellation” bar after the fire – Reuters
The municipality of Lens said any licence application would be subject to the same criteria and deadlines as any other request.
Christophe Darbellay, a Valais cantonal minister, recently said Le Constellation itself would “never again be a bar” and raised the need for a proper memorial.
But families said that did not answer the question of Mr and Mrs Moretti’s other restaurants.
“What strikes me most is what he doesn’t say,” the father of a Swiss teenager who died told the French capital’s daily. “He makes absolutely no mention of the fate of the couple’s other establishments.”