Two Italian journalists face trial in Vatileaks case

Two Italian journalists who wrote books detailing Vatican mismanagement are to face trial, along with three people accused of leaking them the information.

Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi face up to eight years in jail if convicted of charges that they violated Vatican law by publishing news based on confidential Holy See documents.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ); Reporters Without Borders; and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) called on the Vatican to drop the charges against the two men.

Nuzzi and Fittipaldi called the process “Kafka-esque” on Monday. With hours to go before the start of trial, neither they nor their lawyers had seen the court file detailing the accusations.

They were indicted on Friday but Nuzzi only spoke with his Vatican court-appointed lawyer for the first time on Monday morning.

Even though they technically risk arrest by stepping on Vatican soil, both arrived shortly before the trial was set to begin, saying they want to understand the accusations and to report to the world what transpires.

“We are serene. There is evidently an interest in distracting from the embarrassing disclosures,” Nuzzi said.

Fittipaldi said they did not yet understand what they were being accused of. He added: “The only thing we did was publish the news, which was not denied, and documents that tell of scandals.”

Neither expected the Vatican would detain them, given the diplomatic incident it would set off with Italy: Since Fittipaldi and Nuzzi are Italian citizens, any sentence would presumably involve an extradition request. Both journalists said they believed no Italian judge would extradite them, given freedom of the press is guaranteed by the Italian constitution and that Italy would be loath to extradite two of its citizens to a state that does not respect the right to free expression.

Fittipaldi’s book, Avarice, and Nuzzi’s book, Merchants In The Temple, detail waste and mismanagement in the Vatican administration.

Much of both books was based on documents produced by a reform commission the Pope appointed to get a handle on Vatican financial holdings and propose reforms so more money could be given to the poor.

The three other people on trial are Monsignor Angelo Lucio Vallejo Balda; his assistant Nicola Maio; and Francesca Chaouqui, a commission member and public relations expert. All three are accused of forming a criminal organisation and of procuring and leaking confidential documents.

The CPJ urged the Vatican to drop the charges. Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE media freedom representative, said: “Journalists must be allowed to report on issues of public interest and to protect their confidential sources.”