{"id":58369,"date":"2026-01-25T20:33:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=58369"},"modified":"2026-01-25T20:33:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:33:48","slug":"italy-protests-and-recalls-ambassador-to-switzerland-after-new-years-bar-fire-suspect-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/italy-protests-and-recalls-ambassador-to-switzerland-after-new-years-bar-fire-suspect-released\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy protests and recalls ambassador to Switzerland after New Year\u2019s bar fire suspect released"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

( Owners of Le Constellation bar Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti, pictured in Sion, Switzerland on Jaunary 9, are under investigation for negligent homicide and other crimes.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

ISLAMABAD : Monitoring Desk – Italy formally protested on Saturday the release on bail of the owner of a Swiss bar\u00a0engulfed in a deadly\u00a0New Year\u2019s Day fire\u00a0and recalled its ambassador to Switzerland, as the court\u2019s decision came under criticism in both countries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jacques Moretti and his wife Jessica, owners of Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, are under investigation for negligent homicide and other crimes linked to the blaze that killed 40 people and injured more than 100, many of them teenagers.<\/p>\n

Jacques Moretti was detained on January 9 but released on bail on Friday.<\/p>\n

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni overnight called Moretti\u2019s release \u201can affront to the memory of the victims\u2026 and an insult to their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six of those killed in the bar blaze were Italian as were 10 of the injured.<\/p>\n

A government statement on Saturday said Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani instructed Italy\u2019s ambassador to immediately contact Beatrice Pilloud, the chief prosecutor in Switzerland\u2019s Valais canton, to convey Italy\u2019s \u201cstrong indignation\u201d over Moretti\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

It added that the court had taken the decision despite the seriousness of the alleged crime, the risk of flight and the possibility of evidence being compromised.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole of Italy is clamoring for truth and justice, and is calling for respectful measures to be taken in the wake of this disaster, which take full account of the suffering and expectations of the families,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Meloni and Tajani also ordered Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado to return to Rome to determine what further action to take, it said.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Swiss prosecutor Pilloud confirmed to Swiss news agency Keystone SDA that she had been contacted by the Italian ambassador but explained that a separate court had ordered Moretti\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not wish to be responsible for a diplomatic incident between our two countries. I will not give in to any possible pressure from the Italian authorities, which is why I advised the ambassador to address himself to the Swiss political authorities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.<\/p>\n

\u2018Another slap,\u2019 teen victim\u2019s father says of release<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Moretti was released under a bail arrangement that included a 200,000 Swiss franc ($256,377) payment and an order to report daily to a police station.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the victims of the fire and their families said they were struggling to understand the court order, adding that their clients were concerned about evidence disappearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is another slap on a wound that will never heal,\u201d Andrea Costanzo, whose 16-year-old daughter Chiara died in the fire, said in comments published in Italian newspapers on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Morettis have both expressed grief over the tragedy and said they would cooperate with prosecutors.<\/p>\n

In a statement following Jacques Moretti\u2019s release, their lawyers said they would \u201ccontinue to comply with all requests from the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

( Owners of Le Constellation bar Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti, pictured in Sion, Switzerland on Jaunary 9, are under investigation for negligent homicide and other crimes.)\u00a0 ISLAMABAD : Monitoring Desk – Italy formally protested on Saturday the release on bail of the owner of a Swiss bar\u00a0engulfed in a deadly\u00a0New Year\u2019s Day fire\u00a0and recalled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[126,633,338,1565,7979,735,969],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58369"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58372,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58369\/revisions\/58372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}