The co-owner of the Swiss bar hit by a deadly fire during New Year celebrations was allowed to walk free from custody on Friday after bail was paid on his behalf.
Jacques Moretti, 49, and his 39-year-old wife Jessica, who are both French, co-own Le Constellation, a bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana in southern Switzerland.
The establishment caught fire early on January 1 as partygoers celebrated the New Year. Forty people, mostly teenagers, were killed in the blaze and 116 others were injured.
The Morettis are under criminal investigation, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
Jacques Moretti had been held in custody since January 9, while Jessica has remained at liberty, under certain restrictions.
But he was released Friday on bail of 200,000 Swiss francs ($250,000).
The Compulsory Measures Court in Wallis canton said in a statement that it had duly “lifted the detention in custody” at a hearing on Friday.
Instead, it ordered “standard measures... designed to counter the risk of flight” -- namely a ban on leaving Switzerland, the surrender of identity and residence documents and the obligation to report to a police station on a daily basis.
The bail money was paid by a close friend, the statement said.
In Switzerland, the presumption of innocence applies until a final conviction is pronounced.
The detention in custody imposed on Moretti to date “was not intended as a punishment”, the court stressed.
Wallis public prosecutors believe the fire started when revellers raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling of the bar’s basement level.
