Crans-Montana: Italian ambassador to Switzerland remains in Rome

In a rare diplomatic move, Italy has recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, for consultations in Rome, the government announced on Saturday. Keystone-SDA

Italy's ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, who was recalled to Rome amid discontent over the ongoing Crans-Montana fire investigation, will only return to Bern if there is cooperation between the two countries' judicial authorities.

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The Italian Prime Minister’s Office has announced that there must also be an “immediate establishment of a joint investigation team” into the deadly fire in Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve.

In recent days, the diplomat was recalled to Rome by the Italian government “to define further action to be taken” following the decision by the Court of Coercive Measures in Sion, Switzerland, to release Jacques Moretti from custody. Moretti is owner of the Le Constellation bar in Crans Montana and one of the main suspects in the New Year’s Eve fire tragedy.

+ Italy demands joint investigation into Crans-Montana fire

On Monday Cornado held talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani over the affair.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper said on Sunday that Meloni felt “profound indignation and dismay” at the Swiss court’s decision to release Moretti from custody. This “inflicts a further, unspeakable heartbreak on the families of the victims and the many injured”, she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini went further in a tweet, declaring “Shame!”

Swiss reactions

The reactions and media coverage of the case in Italy have also caused a stir in Switzerland. In an interview in the La Stampa newspaper, Swiss ambassador to Italy, Roberto Balzaretti, recalled that “a fundamental principle of Swiss criminal law is that the defendant remains at large”.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin says he understands the Italian anger but says that in Switzerland there are different procedures in place and that the two legal systems should not overlap.

“We must respect the separation of powers and politics must not interfere,” he stresses.

Commenting in 20 Minuten on the different reactions in Italy and France to the Crans-Montana tragedy, historian Sacha Zala evoked cultural reasons: “In Italy the way of dealing with tragedies is much more emotional.”

This is strongly influenced by Catholicism, he added: “A funeral in reformed Zurich appears cold to Italians. Mourning remains silent and private. In Catania, Italy, on the other hand, one is immediately considered detached and insensitive if one does not cry and sob out loud.”

This kind of reaction was similar 61 years ago after the Mattmark dam disaster in canton Valais, he said.

Adapted from Italian by AI/sb

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