Lombardy seeks to join Crans-Montana proceedings as civil party
The Italian region of Lombardy has filed an application to be recognised as a civil party in criminal proceedings relating to the fire at the Constellation Hotel in Crans-Montana.
Lombardy seeks to join Crans-Montana proceedings as civil party
The region of Lombardy has filed an application to be recognised as a civil party in criminal proceedings relating to the fire at the Constellation Hotel in Crans-Montana. This is reported by Le Temps. The authorities in Milan state that they wish to contribute to clarifying criminal responsibilities and to obtain compensation for financial and non-financial damages that arose "for the institution and the Lombardy community".
In justification, they point to the fact that there were victims from the region and that eleven patients were treated at Milan's Niguarda Hospital. The fire on 1 January caused "direct and tangible damage", with social, economic and institutional consequences.
The chances of being recognised as a civil party are likely to be slim. Swiss criminal procedure law provides that victim status is granted only to persons whose rights were "directly" violated by a criminal act. Siblings of victims have already been rejected. Italy also submitted a similar application to the Valais public prosecutor's office at the end of April, which has not yet been decided. Italian lawyer Romain Jordan stated that the application had "logically not yet been contested" – which means it has also not yet been rejected.
The fire at the Constellation Hotel occurred on 1 January and claimed several lives. Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.
Source: Le Temps