“Vatileaks” trial to end after nearly eight months

PanARMENIAN.Net - The trial of five people accused of leaking or publishing confidential documents depicting a Vatican plagued by corruption and mismanagement goes to a panel of judges for verdicts on Thursday, July 7, according to Reuters.

The four non-clerical judges will retire after each defendant is allowed to make a final statement on Thursday morning. Verdicts in the "Vatileaks II" trial, which started in November, are expected for Thursday afternoon.

They will end a sometimes bizarre trial whose main protagonists were public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui, who is Italian, and Spanish priest Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda.

Chaouqui, Vallejo and his assistant Nicola Maio are accused of forming a criminal association and conspiracy to divulge private documents. Vallejo is the only non-Italian.

The Vatican made it a crime to disclose official documents in 2013 after a separate leaks scandal, which the media dubbed Vatileaks and which preceded the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

The two journalists among the five defendants - Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi - are accused of putting pressure on the other three to get the documents, which published in two books last year.