After the devastating fire in a bar in Crans-Montana, one of the owners is in custody. Now, for the first time, his father has spoken out about the disaster.

Following the devastating fire in a bar in Crans-Montana, one of the owners has recently been remanded in custody. Investigations will clarify whether Jacques Moretti is really to blame for the disaster. Now, for the first time, the 49-year-old’s father has spoken out about what happened. In an interview with the daily newspaper “24 heures”, the 70-year-old tries to correct the public image of his son.

He was disgusted by the way his son was treated in the press, explained Jean Matthieu Moretti. Several media outlets had previously reported unanimously that Jacques Moretti had been known to the French judiciary for years. Among other things, the Corsican-born businessman is said to have been convicted in France in 2008 for inciting prostitution.

Risk of flightBar operator is in custody

Moretti Senior firmly refuses to link the question of his son’s possible guilt to his past. “What does my son’s past, the mistakes of his youth, for which he paid to the last cent, have to do with the 40 deaths?” he says. He describes his son, who ran the bar “Le Constellation” in Crans-Montana together with his wife, as a man of “honor” and a “tireless worker”.

“We cry every day”

After the fire, he immediately traveled to Crans-Montana to support his son and his family, continues Jean Matthieu Moretti. He found his son very upset. “It was the first time in my life that I saw Jacques cry,” he confides to the newspaper.

Tragedy in Crans-Montana VSAll 116 injured identified – 83 are still in hospital

He was obviously also affected by what had happened. “We cry every day. I can no longer sleep”. Does he still think his son is guilty? The answer sounds like a presumption of innocence. “If the press wants to write Jacques into the ground, that’s their business. Ultimately, we will only have to answer to the courts”.

Switzerland mournsHistorically sad, historically touching, historically uniting

40 people were killed in the fire at “Le Constellation” in the Crans-Montana ski resort on New Year’s Eve and a further 116 people were injured, some of them seriously. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating the two bar owners on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, among other things. The arrest of Frenchman Jacques Moretti was justified by the investigators on the grounds that he was a flight risk.