RSF hails acquittal of journalists in VatiLeaks 2 case

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) hails today’s decision by a Vatican court to acquit Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who were being tried for publishing leaked confidential information in their books about Catholic Church financial mismanagement.

RSF nonetheless points out that, under the right to freedom of expression, they should never have been prosecuted.

“This is an amazing decision and a great victory for the freedom to inform,” Nuzzi told RSF after the verdict. “Thanks to all those who waged this constant fight with us, journalists such as myself will be able to continue working.”

“By writing Merchants in the Temple and Avarice, books about continuing Vatican mismanagement despite Pope Francis’ reform attempts, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi simply exercised their right to provide information in the general interest,” said Pauline Adès-Mével, the head of RSF’s Europe-Balkans desk. “They should never have been treated as criminals, especially in a city-state that is supposed to respect media freedom.”

The two journalists were tried under a Vatican law adopted in July 2013, after a previous leak of confidential information under Pope Benedict in 2012 dubbed the “VatiLeaks” case.

The law says: “Whoever illicitly obtains or reveals information or documents whose publication is forbidden is punishable by a sentence of six months to two years in prison or a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 euros.”

In the so-called “VatiLeaks 2” trial that ended today, the court imposed heavy sentences on the two people who leaked documents to the journalists. Both were members of a commission set up to examine Vatican finances.

Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, a Spanish cleric close to Opus Dei who headed the commission, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, while Francesca Chaouqui, an Italian public relations consultant, was given a suspended sentence of ten months in prison.