A Swiss court said on Thursday it had rejected a request to recuse the regional prosecutors investigating a New Year’s fire that killed 41 people in the ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The investigation into the disaster has faced sharp criticism from lawyers representing victims and their families, including questions over why the bar’s owners were not detained from the outset of the probe and accusations of delays in conducting searches and seizing evidence.
The recusal request was made by Garen Ucari, a lawyer for one victim’s father, who cited “an unprecedented number of serious shortcomings and errors… in the conduct of the proceedings”.
The criminal chamber of the Valais cantonal court rejected the request, saying it did not find “any particularly serious or repeated errors by the Public Prosecutor’s Office constituting grave breaches of judicial duty”.
The fire, which broke out in a bar in the ski resort early on January 1 as people celebrated the New Year, left 115 people injured, 38 of whom are still in hospital or rehabilitation clinics this week.
Ucari, voicing his “deep disappointment”, told AFP he intends to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court.
The lawyer said he was struck by the “complete lack of self-criticism on the part of the justice system” in Valais.
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Romain Jordan, another lawyer representing civil parties in the case, told AFP the court’s decision was “good news, as it allows the proceedings to continue”.
In sentiments echoed by several lawyers and relatives of the victims, Ucari said the prosecutors had not imposed measures early on aimed at mitigating the risk of collusion between suspects in the case. He also said delays in searching premises and seizing documents and mobile phones had led to evidence potentially being compromised.
Nine people are under criminal investigation in connection with the disaster, including the bar’s owners and current and former municipal officials, with prosecutors interviewing some of the suspects this week.
Twenty of the 41 killed were aged under 18.
