VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost
AFP
Two investigative journalists accused of publishing stolen papers which exposed scandal in the Vatican were acquitted Thursday, while a whistle-blowing Spanish prelate was sentenced to jail time in the Vatileaks trial.
The drama of sex, greed and press freedom which had gripped the tiny city state for months peaked with the surprise verdict given by presiding judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre “in the name of his Holiness Pope Francis”.
Italians Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who had published books based on the documents at the heart of the trial, were not considered to have committed a crime on Vatican territory and therefore were outside the judges’ territorial authority.
Spanish prelate Lucio Vallejo Balda, who had admitted to leaking secret papers, was handed a 18-month prison sentence while his assistant, who prosecutors admitted had had little to do with the affair, was acquitted.
Italian PR expert Francesca Chaouqui, who had been involved in a review of Vatican finances and is accused of both “inspiring” and being ultimately responsibility for the leaks, was given a 10-month suspended sentence.
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