ROMA (ITALPRESS) – The Undersecretary of the Chairmanship of the Council Alfredo Mantovano, Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio, the Advocate General of the State Gabriella Palmieri Sandulli, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Interior, European Affairs and Civil Protection met at Palazzo Chigi the family of the victims of the fire of Crans Montana on New Year’s Eve.
A meeting convened to coordinate a common line on the judicial front, both in Swiss and Italian territory, and to assess the possible initiatives to take.
“The attention of the government, in particular the president of the council, since the explosion of this tragedy does not intend to limit itself to the first moments, but it intends to continue to address all the issues that have remained and which call into question objective data,” said Mantovano referring to the difficulties arising from the non-membership of Switzerland to the European Union. “This makes it even more necessary, and it is one of the reasons for the meeting, a coordination between the families and the lawyers who represent them – he added. The General Advocate is already working in the perspective for the establishment of a civil party in the proceedings opened in Switzerland and thus becomes a point of reference for those wishing to assert their reasons in this procedure. This will happen in the identification of interlocutors in the Swiss territory”.
The undersecretary specified that the attention, despite this meeting was addressed to the families of the victims, is also addressed to those of the wounded. “We mean as a government”, added Mantovano, “propose to European nations that, like Italy, have seen their citizens victims or wounded in this tragedy, a sort of coordination to support, in compliance with Swiss law but in accordance with the needs and rights of the damaged, the Swiss judicial authority. Finally, we would like to ask “as Italy, the European Commission, which is a civil part of the process in Switzerland. There are precedents. Here there are financial and economic interests because Italy is claiming expenditure but there is something more significant that cannot but find a representative seat also by the European Commission.”.
“The Italian jurisdiction in crimes committed abroad, even to damages by Italian citizens, is subject to strict constraints. One of which is the presence in the territory of the state of any persons responsible for dolo and dolo possible. In this case, there is no lack of jurisdiction,” said Minister Nordio. “We have news that the Prosecutor of the Republic of Rome has opened a file against unknown for the crimes of fire and manslaughter aggravated – he added. So they will ask the Swiss authorities to know all the circumstances that can be useful for the reconstruction of the event. Switzerland’s jurisdiction is sovereign, but we have ensured our closeness and collaboration with relatives and their legal representatives for all that can also serve for the involvement of supranational bodies.”.
“The idea is to be present and follow the initial part of the investigation and have access to the acts. At the moment we have no indications on the mode, because we do not know them. We want to give meaning to the presence of the state not only formal but also substantial help to families”, said the Advocate General of the State Palmieri Sandulli, who explained the nature of the meeting aimed at the formation of “a coordination and a common judicial line to optimize and give the cohesive and coordinated image of all the action of the state and of the individual families”.
Speaking of relatives, the lawyer highlighted the insistence of giving them support in “an emotionally difficult moment. The signal must arrive clear and strong: we want to be in their support”. “The Canton of Valais has decided to allocate ten thousand francs for each victim or wounded. The family members will be contacted directly by the cantonal authorities, but they can contact directly through an email address”, which will then be communicated.
“There is another tool: aid to victims of crimes provided by cantons in general. The families can turn to the canton of their choice,” said the Italian ambassador in Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, who reported in summary the decisions of cantons, general canton and federal government, regarding the aid made available to the relatives. “The terms for submitting applications are five years from the knowledge of the crime. These contributions will be of considerable size for which the Swiss Government decided, yesterday at the Council of Ministers, to ask Parliament for the authorization to give further financing to the cantons to cope with these claims that exceed the current availability”
“The meeting today was very important. We welcomed the use of coordination because we are in a country that is not part of the European community, so speaking with a unitary voice will lead us to results,” said the lawyer of one of the families of the victims of Crans-Montana, Alessandro Vaccaro. Vaccaro who highlighted the support of government and forces present at the meeting so significant that “a push to move forward. It is not a matter of compensation because the pain of families is far from this speech”, but it is, he added, of “igniting the facts and there is so much way to do. So the support of the Italian government will help us to make our voice heard that will be unified.”.
“The first phase is over,” said the Head of Civil Protection Department Fabio Ciciliano. “Resta in Switzerland a town that is still hospitalized at the Zurich hospital and the boys are admitted to the Niguarda hospital, one of which was transferred yesterday to the Milan Polyclinic for a complication. This activity has costs that will be put in the hands of the General Advocate of the State to propose the constitution of Civil Party”.
-Photo xl5/Italpress-
(ITALPRESS).
