Valais court extends Morettis’ restrictions for 90 days

Valais’ compulsory measures court has extended the restrictions on Jacques and Jessica Moretti for another three months, SRF reported, citing confirmation from the Valais public prosecutor’s office to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

The couple must remain in Switzerland and report to a police station every day. The measures will remain in force for a further 90 days, until October 9.

The Morettis, who are accused in the Crans-Montana fire case, had asked through their lawyers for the conditions to be eased. They want to make their daily report by video call instead of travelling to a police station.

According to the Italian news agency Ansa, the judge responsible is willing to modify the measure but will first assess whether video monitoring would be feasible and effective. The cantonal police could call the couple at any time to verify their presence. The public prosecutor’s office has yet to comment on the request.

Such substitute measures may be ordered to reduce the risks of flight, interference with the investigation or repeat offending while respecting the principle of proportionality. The couple surrendered their identity documents in January and paid bail of around 200,000 Swiss francs.