Rome: A Spanish priest and an Italian lay woman have been given jail sentences for leaking confidential documents, while two journalists also on trial were cleared by the Vatican court on Thursday.
The four were at the heart of the so-called Vatileaks 2 trial.
Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda was sentenced to 18 months in prison, while Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, who has a three-week old son, was given a suspended ten months sentence, Vatican Radio reported.
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.
Italian PR woman Chaouqui was found guilty of conspiring in the crime, but was not charged with the actual leak of the documents given a lack of evidence. She was sentenced to 10 months in prison for her role, however, the sentence was suspended for five years, meaning that she is free to go, but should she commit another crime within 5 years of her original sentence, she would have to go to prison not only for the new crime, but would also have to serve the 10 months of her initial charges.
Both she and Monsignor Vallejo will be required to pay for the cost of the trial.
Nicola Maio, Msgr. Vallejo’s secretary, pleaded not guilty and was fully absolved of all charges “for having not committed the crime.”
After his initial arrest Nov. 2, 2015, Msgr. Vallejo was transferred to the Vatican’s Collegio dei Penitenzieri, a residence run by Conventional Franciscans, on house arrest. However, after violating the terms, he was moved back to the cells of the Vatican Gendarme, before eventually returning to the Collegio dei Penitenzieri.
Each of the defendants have three days to make an appeal. Since Msgr. Vallejo confessed to his crime in court, it’s possible that his original 18 month sentence could be cut in half, leaving him more or less free to go should his 8 months in prison be considered time-served.
The sentences were read aloud by Giuseppe Dalla Torre, president of the Vatican tribunal. The rest of the court consisted of Judges Piero Antonio Bonnet and Paolo Papanti-Pelletier, as well as alternate judge Venerando Marano.
The prosecution, the Office of the Promoter of Justice, was represented by Promoter of Justice Gian Piero Milano and Adjutant-promoter Roberto Zannotti.
The unprecedented trial marks the first time the Vatican’s new laws have been tested after the leaking of documents was officially criminalized in 2013, after Nuzzi published a book containing confidential information given to him by Pope Benedict XVI’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, in what came to be known as the first “Vatileaks” scandal.
While Benedict XVI pardoned his butler of the crime, thus relieving him of any prison time, it has yet to be seen if his successor will do the same.
Shortly after the initial accusations were made, Pope Francis in a Sunday Angelus address called the theft and publication of the documents “mistake” and “a deplorable act that does not help” with ongoing reform efforts.
However, he said the “sad fact” of the situation wouldn’t deter him from moving forward with his collaborators in the continued restructuring of the Roman Curia.
Both Msgr. Vallejo and Chaouqui are former members of the Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA). The commission was established by the Pope July 18, 2013, as part of his plan to reform the Vatican’s finances. It was dissolved after completing its mandate.
They were arrested Nov. 2, 2015, in relation to the theft and dissemination of the documents. Chaouqui was released after spending one night in jail in exchange for her cooperation with investigations, while Msgr. Vallejo has remained in custody.
On Nov. 21, 2015, Msgr. Vallejo, Chaouqui and Maio were accused of working together to form “an organized criminal association” with the intention of “disclosing information and documents concerning the fundamental interests of the Holy See and the (Vatican City) State.”
They were accused of acquiring the confidential documents and passing them on to Nuzzi and Fittipaldi, who published separate books on the information.
Nuzzi and Fittipaldi were themselves accused of “urging and exerting pressure, particularly on Msgr. Vallejo,” to obtain the private documents and then publish books on the content.
After the initial accusations were made, the trial process began Nov. 24, and concluded July 7 after both the prosecution and the defense presented their final arguments.
When the prosecution presented their closing arguments July 4, they originally asked that Msgr. Vallejo serve a three year and one month prison sentence, and that Chaouqui, whom they held to be the “inspirer and the one responsible for the alleged conduct,” serve a three year and nine month sentence.
Due to Maio’s “limited role” in the affair, the prosecution asked that he be given a sentence of one year and nine months in prison.
They requested that Fittipaldi be acquitted due to “a lack of evidence” of his participation in the crime, while Nuzzi be condemned to a one year suspended sentence.
Their actual sentences, then, show a softer approach. However, while the Vatican’s final ruling might be considered by some as a slap on the wrist, the trial is still proof that they take the issue seriously, and won’t back down from a legal fight should one be necessary again in the future.