(Adnkronos) – Italy is signalling the need for “clarity” by recalling its envoy to Switzerland following last week’s release from custody on bail of the owner of a bar in the ski resort of Crans Montana where 40 people died in a fire on New Year’s Day, including six Italian teenagers aged 15-16.
“We have not withdrawn the Italian ambassador to Switzerland, we have recalled him,” Tajani told reporters at the Qurinal Palace in Rome on the sidelines of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“There is a difference. The embassy and consulate remain operational. We are sending a signal that clarity is needed,” he said.
Tajani took strong issue with the amount of bail a Swiss court had set for Le Constellation bar’s owner Jacques Moretti’s release from jail.
“For something so serious, with dozens and dozens of deaths and hundreds of people injured, the bail cannot be 200,000 Swiss francs. The law also provides for one million francs,” Tajani said.
“We don’t even know who paid the bail. These are all things that leave us appalled,” he said.
Tajani criticised the very granting of bail to Moretti, who Swiss authorities acknowledged could flee the country, and given Moretti and his wife’s “unquestionable responsibility” for the blaze.
“They are they owners and managed the bar,” Tajani stated.
Moretti’s belated arrest, shady past and Swiss magistrates’ sluggish cooperation with Italian investigators “have prejudiced Italians’ rights”, he said.
Moretti and his wife are being investigated for negligent homicide over the fire, which prosecutors believe was caused by sparklers mounted on champagne bottles which ignited soundproof foam on a cellar ceiling. Prosecutors are also probing possible overcrowding at the bar and a locked emergency exit.
