Owner of Swiss bar in deadly blaze held for domestic abuse, report says

GENEVA - The owner of the Swiss bar ravaged by a deadly New Year fire is in pre-trial detention, accused of domestic abuse against his wife and co-owner of the establishment, media reported on Aug 23.

French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti have been the focus of intense scrutiny since the fire ripped though their bar Le Constellation, in the Crans-Montana ski resort in the early hours of Jan 1.

The blaze killed 41 people, most of them teenagers, injuring 115 other people.

The Morettis are among 16 people facing criminal investigation in the case. They face charges including manslaughter by negligence and arson by negligence over the fire.

Jacques Moretti has now been arrested and detained following alleged violence against his wife earlier in August, local Geneva broadcaster Leman Bleu reported.

The incident reportedly happened on the night of Aug 11 at the couple’s home in Switzerland’s south-western Wallis canton, and was so serious that Jessica Moretti had to be hospitalised.

Neither the public prosecutor’s office nor the couple’s lawyers responded immediately to requests for comment.

However, the Moretti’s lawyers released a statement the evening of Aug 23 referring to the report, stressing that the alleged events were being investigated in a separate case pertaining “exclusively to their private life”.

“They should not be confused with the Constellation tragedy,” the lawyers said in the statement.

They added though that the reported events “nevertheless fall within a context that cannot be ignored: that of a particularly intense ordeal that the Morettis have been trying to face together since January 1”. AFP