Heads of bar associations condemn attacks on Crans-Montana defence lawyers
The bar presidents of cantons Valais, Vaud and Geneva on Friday condemned the attacks on the lawyers of Jacques and Jessica Moretti, owners of the "Le Constellation" in Crans-Montana, where 41 people died in a fire on New Year's Eve.
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Their reaction comes a day after a very tense hearing with the couple.
In a statement published on Friday, the three bar associations said they condemned “in the strongest possible terms the verbal and physical attacks and threats made against defence lawyers”.
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As presidents of the bar, “it is our duty to point out that the time for justice is not the time for the media, and that the mission of lawyers is to represent each of the parties in order to guarantee a fair trial. Justice must not be the media’s justice, nor that of private justice”, they wrote.
The chairs of the bar refered to the “climate of tension” in which the proceedings were taking place, marked by “particularly intense media coverage” in which some lawyers are participating, sometimes in violation of normal practice. They called for restraint.
Adapted from French by AI/ts
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