MORETTIS “EMPATHETIC”, “ISOLATED”
Wednesday’s and Thursday’s interviews “are intended to allow the lawyers for the civil parties to ask the questions they were unable to ask” during previous hearings, the Wallis canton’s public prosecutor’s office said on Monday.
The Morettis’ lawyer, Yael Hayat, told reporters outside that the hearings would be the first time the couple would be able to speak directly to the lawyers representing the victims and families.
“They are empathetic, but at the same time, they are isolated. It is also very difficult for them not to be able to express themselves directly, since the legal proceedings require that there be no contact,” Hayat said.
Twenty of those killed in the fire were under 18, including the six Italian fatalities.
Fabrizio Ventimiglia, an Italian lawyer, said he was “expecting important answers” not only on security at the bar but also on “the number of people present” when the fire broke out, and regarding “the sale of alcohol to minors”.
The Wallis public prosecutor’s office said Monday that around 50 orders and warrants had been issued in the case, and more than a dozen hearings conducted so far.
The case file “comprises nearly 2,000 pages and includes more than 8,500 physical documents; 263 civil parties have been identified and are represented by 74 lawyers”, it said.
In Crans-Montana, the makeshift memorial for victims of the blaze caught fire itself on Sunday, due to candles left burning inside.
A white, igloo-like tarpaulin had been erected over the candles, flowers and messages to shield them from the snow and winter weather.
Candles have now been banned from the memorial, while the book of condolence, saved from the fire, is now inside a nearby chapel.
The Swiss government decided Wednesday that the victims and their families should receive a “solidarity contribution” from the state, to help meet their costs.