Vatileaks verdicts are in

A Spanish priest and an Italian lay woman at the heart of the so-called Vatileaks 2 trial have been given jail sentences for leaking confidential documents, while two journalists also on trial were cleared by the Vatican court on Thursday. Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda was sentenced to eighteen months in prison, while Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, who has a three-week old son, was given a suspended ten months sentence.

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.

Verdicts pronounced by the Judges

in the Vatileaks trial

In the name of His Holiness,
Pope Francis,
The Tribunal

regarding the accused Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi

relative to the existence, rooted and guaranteed by divine right, to the freedom of expression and of the Press guaranteed by the Vatican juridical system;

in respect of Articles 4, 5 and 6 of the Penal Code as it was modified relative to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the same Law on 11 July 2013, number IX;

in consideration of the fact that in the conduct of the case, the instruction of which was completed only during the course of the hearings, evidence has shown that the charges against the defendants took place outside the ordinary jurisdiction of the Vatican territory;

taking into account the fact that the same defendants do not hold, under criminal law, the qualification of public officials or any corresponding responsibility;

in view of the Motu Proprio issued by Pope Francis on 11 July 2013 In our time, with which it established, beyond the ordinary limits, the criminal jurisdiction of the courts of the Vatican City State in regard to offences relating to Law number IX, dated 11 July 2013, only if such offences are committed in the exercise of their duties as persons treated as public officials defined in number 3 of the same Motu Proprio;

declares

its lack of jurisdiction;

regarding article 59 of the Criminal Code, as replaced by Article 26 the Law dated 21 June 1969, number L, 63, and 64, 116 bis as it was introduced by Article 10 of the Law dated 11 July 2013, number IX, 248 as it has ben fully replaced by Article 25 of the same Law number IX;

regarding articles 413, 416, 417, 421, 422, 423 and 429 of the same Criminal Code as they were amended by Article 9 of the above cited Law L, dated 1969,

taking into account the fact that Law number IX, dated 2013 came into effect on 1 September of that year;

in relation to the accused Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui and Nicola Maio, given that the trial results did not reveal the existence of factors which would bring the alleged facts against the accused in the context of Article 248 of the Criminal Code, which was replaced by Article 25 of the Law number IX dated 2013;

we absolve

these same accused of the crime outlined in Article 248 of the Criminal Code, since they did not commit the crime;

regarding the accused Nicola Maio,

in consideration of the lack of evidence in the case, of constituent elements of the crime according to Articles 63, 64 - the hypothesis of which is less serious even if not challenged - and 116 bis, as it was introduced by Law number IX dated 2013;

we absolve

the same accused of the stated crime, since he did not commit the crime;

regarding the accused Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda,

in consideration of the fact that the procedural findings highlight the existence of constituent elements of the offence under Article 116 of the same Criminal Code;

in consideration of the aggravated and mitigating circumstances;

we impose

a penalty of eighteen (18) months of imprisonment upon the defendant

in relation to the accused Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui,

in estimation that the trial findings do not sufficiently show that the defendant has disclosed information or documents whose publication is prohibited, but demonstrates the crime committed by Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, in consideration of aggravated and mitigating circumstances;

we impose

the same penalty of ten (10) months of imprisonment;

suspending the execution of the penalty for five (5) years subject to the conditions of the law;

we impose

upon Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui the task of repaying the costs of this proceeding.

Vatican City
7 July 2016

Signed: Giuseppe Della Torre, President
             Piero Antonio Bonnet, Judge
             Paolo Papanti-Pelletier, Judge
             Raffaele Ottaviano, Chanellor

Vatican City
The Chancellor