GENEVA
A Swiss court on Thursday lifted the pretrial detention of the co-owner of a bar destroyed by a deadly fire in Crans-Montana, replacing it with a series of substitute measures aimed at mitigating the risk of flight.
In a statement, the Tribunal of Coercive Measures of the canton of Valais said it had ordered the release of Jacques Moretti, co-owner of the bar Le Constellation, following a hearing held earlier in the day. The court imposed several alternative measures, including a ban on leaving Switzerland, the surrender of all identity and residence documents, daily reporting to a police station, and the payment of financial guarantees.
The court said the guarantees were set at 200,000 Swiss francs (over $250,000), an amount proposed by the public prosecutor and deemed "adequate and dissuasive" after reassessing the risk of flight. The funds were paid on Thursday into the account of the public prosecutor and were provided by a close friend of the suspect, according to the statement.
The tribunal recalled that under Swiss criminal procedure, suspects are presumed innocent until a final conviction and that pretrial detention is an exceptional measure. It said the detention served no punitive purpose.
On Jan. 12, the court ordered the provisional detention of the co-owner of a bar, where 40 people were killed and over a hundred were injured in a New Year's Eve fire in Crans-Montana, citing a risk of flight.
A criminal investigation had been opened against two bar owners, Jacques Moretti and his wife Jessica Moretti, over the deadly fire.
The suspects were accused of "negligent homicide, negligent personal injury and negligent arson," as it emerged that the ski resort bar had not undergone an annual inspection for the past five years.