Owner of Swiss bar in deadly blaze held for domestic abuse, media say

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 Sunday.

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 1 January.

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 this month, local Geneva broadcaster Léman Bleu reported.

The incident reportedly happened on the night of 11 August at the couple’s home in Switzerland’s southwestern 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 on Sunday evening 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 1 January.”

Additional sources • AFP

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