Sion (Switzerland) (AFP) – Five months after his last hearing, Jacques Moretti, owner of the bar ravaged by a deadly fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, once again faces questions from prosecutors on Monday.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 11:06

This hearing was initially scheduled to take place as in June in the format of a confrontation with his wife, Jessica Moretti, also owner of the Constellation.

But the prosecutors of the canton of Valais gave up summoning the latter after a psychologist-psychotherapist warned of her "particularly significant state of psychological fragility" and of the risks linked to a "direct confrontation" with her husband, in pre-trial detention since mid-August for alleged violence against his wife.

He had already spent 14 days in pre-trial detention from January 9 to 23 in connection with the bar fire case, which left 41 dead and 115 injured on New Year's Eve.

"The distress" of Jessica Moretti "is completely understandable" but it "should not constitute a procedural screen", reacted Me Gilles-Antoine Hofstetter, who represents families of victims, upon his arrival at the Energypolis university campus in Sion (Valais) where the hearings are being held.

“I expected a lot from this confrontation” especially since “the marital situation of the Moretti couple has evolved”, he again regretted.

Jacques Moretti arrived early Monday morning out of range of the cameras. His lawyer, once again accompanied by advice from Jessica Moretti, did not make a statement.

- "We won't give up" -

Several victims, some of whom bear the scars of the fire, as well as relatives of victims, also made the trip, noted AFP journalists.

Among them, Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, whose son, Arthur, aged 16, died in the tragedy. On her jacket, she pinned two photos: one of her son, smiling, and another of his grave with flowers.

She told journalists she hoped that Jacques Moretti "will have fewer memory lapses than at the last hearing" and "will assume his responsibilities".

“Why did the person, Jessica Moretti, who was at my child’s table, the flesh of my flesh, come out unscathed and why was my son found dead, poisoned, burned?” she asked.

On the front door of the building, relatives have posted two posters, one recalling the toll of the 115 people burned and injured, while the other pays tribute to the 41 deceased victims, symbolized by 41 stars.

"We are here for our children. We will not give up anything for them. I come for all the victims and for all the injured (...) some have no fingers left, no ears left, nothing left," Astrid Panine, the mother of Cyane, the French waitress who died in the bar, told journalists.

The mother of the bar's DJ, who also died, was also present but did not wish to speak.

The tragedy which occurred in the middle of the New Year's Eve celebration mainly struck adolescents and young adults, including many foreigners, particularly Italians and French people.

Requalification of charges?

The first elements of the investigation show that the fire was started by sparks from "fountain" candles which ignited sound-absorbing foam on the ceiling of the bar's basement.

The investigations revolve around the question of the responsibility of the municipal authorities and the Moretti couple.

The indictments have followed one another over the course of the criminal investigation, which now targets 17 people: the French couple who own the bar, eight elected or former municipal officials, including the president of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Féraud, and seven employees or former employees of municipal services.

Municipal officials acknowledged, just after the tragedy, that no safety checks or inspections related to fire risks had been carried out in the bar since 2019.

All the defendants are being prosecuted for “negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson”.

At the beginning of June, two lawyers for the civil parties demanded a reclassification of the charges against the Morettis, after the revelation of exchanges between the latter and employees attesting to their knowledge of a fire risk.

They ask the magistrates to retain “murder by dolus eventualis”, a qualification which assumes that the defendants have considered the possibility of death and accepted this risk.

She is punishable by life in prison.

© 2026 AFP

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