Vatican court clears journalists, convicts two in Vatileaks trial

Fr Lombardi

A Spanish priest and an Italian lay woman at the heart of the so-called Vatileaks 2 trial were given jail sentences for leaking confidential documents, while two journalists also on trial were cleared by the Vatican court on Thursday. Mgr Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda was sentenced to eighteen months in prison, while Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, who has a three-week old son, was given a suspended ten months sentence.

The two Italian journalists, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who wrote best-selling books based on the leaked documents last year, were cleared by the court on the grounds that the Vatican judiciary has no jurisdiction over them.

A fifth defendant, Nicola Maio, an assistant to Vallejo, was found innocent at the end of the eight-month trial.

Speaking outside the court, Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office explained that the trial had to take place because a Law was promulgated in 2013 specifically to contrast the illegal leaking of documents and information.

The proceedings, he continued, had to go ahead in order to give tangible evidence of the firm decision within the Holy See to put an end to all tensions and controversial discussions surrounding internal Vatican matters that too often - in recent times - have stemmed from the leaking of confidential information to the media and have resulted in ambiguous and negative contexts.

"To be able to understand and evaluate the diverse aspects of this situation", the right thing to do - Lombardi said - was to courageously tackle the issue and understand which was the effective responsibility of the journalists notwithstanding predictable polemical comments regarding press freedom issues.

Father Lombardi said the trial was conducted by competent Lawyers and Judges within the full respect of Laws and procedures and in full (and public) transparency.

The verdict - he concluded - was formulated by the Judges taking part in the formation of the Court in full autonomy, with an attitude of justice and clemency.

Source: VIS