Crans-Montana bar owner lawyers condemn ‘lies’

Moretti's lawyers: "nobody wanted this tragedy". Keystone-SDA

Lawyers defending a married couple, whose Swiss bar caught fire, causing 41 deaths, have vowed to "fight for the truth".

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Jacques and Jessica Moretti are at the centre of an investigation by prosecutors after the fatal fire at their bar Le Constellation in the Swiss town of Crans-Montana during a New Year’s Eve party.

Their lawyers, Yaël Hayat, Nicola Meier and Patrick Michod, told Le Nouvelliste newspaper that they intended to “set the record straight on a number of untruths…without revealing the contents of the case file”.

+ Crans-Montana tragedy highlights limits of Swiss federal system

The lawyers condemned leaks from the criminal case file, which “contribute to fuelling certain lies”. They confirm that they have never communicated a single element of the investigation, even though they have “plenty” to say that would be “favourable to the Morettis”.

The time has now come to “fight for the truth to come out”. The main truth to be re-established, according to the lawyers, is that the New Year’s Eve tragedy was an “accident”.

“Nobody wanted this tragedy. This does not mean that there is no responsibility to be established, but it does mean that this tragedy was unintentional,” they told the newspaper.

Adapted from French by AI/mga

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