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A Vatican trial of journalists and alleged whistleblowers who allegedly procured and revealed information and documents concerning “the fundamental interests of the Holy See” resumed on Monday, March 14.
The trial has been adjourned for three months to enable computer experts to recover deleted email, text and WhatsApp messages between some of the accused.
Francesca Chaouqui, a pregnant former PR adviser to the Vatican and one of the accused, has been granted the right to call as witnesses Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, and Cardinal Santo Abril y Castello.
Chaouqui has been accused of conspiring with Spanish priest Lucio Vallejo Balda and his assistant Nicola Maio, to leak secret documents they had access to as members of a commission appointed by Pope Francis to spearhead a financial clean-up shortly after his election in 2013.
The two journalists on trial, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, have published books based on the documents at the heart of the trial.
All five accused have been prosecuted under anti-leaks legislation, which could see them receive prison terms of between four and eight years.
The Vatican has been criticized by press freedom groups for pursuing the prosecution of the two journalists, who say they were only doing their jobs by revealing problems that believers and the broader public have a right to know about.
Sources
AFP/Yahoo News
The Irish Times
ANSA
Image: ANSA
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