Vatican City, 16 March 2016 – Yesterday afternoon the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., informed journalists briefed accredited journalists on the day's hearing in the trial for dissemination of reserved information and documents which began at 10.30 yesterday, Tuesday 15 March, at the Vatican City State Tribunal.

As on Monday 14 March, the hearing was attended by the College of judges (Professors Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Piero Antonio Bonnet, Paolo Papanti-Pellettier and Venerando Marano), the Promoter of Justice (Professors Gian Piero Milano and Roberto Zannotti), and the defendants Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, Nicola Maio and Emiliano Fittipaldi with their respective lawyers. As announced previously, the defendant Gianluigi Nuzzi was absent but his lawyer, Roberto Palombi, attended the proceedings.

The hearing, which lasted three hours, was dedicated to the interrogation of Msgr. Vallejo Balda by the lawyers representing the other defendants, after which the minutes of yesterday's interrogation were read and approved.

At around 1.30 p.m, the hearing was interrupted for an hour and a half. It resumed at 3 p.m. with the examination of the defendant Emiliano Fittipaldi by the Promoter of Justice and all the lawyers. At the end the minutes of the interrogation were approved.

The hearing ended at around 4.30 p.m.

Further hearings for the questioning of the defendants are scheduled for the afternoon of Friday 18 March, at 3.30 p.m., the morning of Monday 21 at 10.30 a.m. and the afternoon of Tuesday 22 at 3.30 p.m. After Easter, hearings will be held in the morning of 30 March at 9.30 a.m., 31 March at 9.30 a.m. continuing into the afternoon, 1 April at 9.30 a.m. continuing into the afternoon, and 2 April at 9.30 a.m. However, confirmation by the Tribunal is awaited for the forthcoming hearings.