I dirigenti francesi di un bar svizzero affrontano un’indagine penale dopo un incendio

That’s the bare minimum

Fire safety rules are a thing Swiss authorities take very seriously.
I believe that if the analysis is bad there is prison on the line.

What’s missing from the report IMHO:

* Only the wife is currently listed as a managing director (“gérante”) in the commercial register. Since early 2024 the husband is officially listed only as an associate (“associé”).
* Photos found on facebook from 2015 show the acoustic foam seems to have been installed 10+ years ago.
* The cantonal law mandates the municipality MUST (or in this case likely “should have done”) to do yearly inspections.
* The municipality never reported an issue with the (clearly visible) acoustic foam, even though they should have (theoretically) done 10 inspections since installation.
* According to the husband “owner”(associate), there were only 3 inspections in 10 years – and nothing was found (and no demands for remediation were made) by the municipality.
* Maximum penalty (if someone is actually found guilty of all charges and counts): 4.5 years imprisonment, but a (semi or fully) suspended sentence or even just a monetary penalty is legally possible.
* My guess: Even if found guilty, they will either get maximum each a suspended 2 year sentence – or maybe one of them might actually serve 1 or 2 years in prison. But that’s it.
* And i expect multi year long trials, multiple rounds of appeals, finger pointing between them, the inspection authorities, etc. that won’t really “satisfy” (in the end) the feelings of the general public nor the surviving victims nor the victims families

Sometimes, norms exist for a reason.