Vatican City, 15 June 2016 – Yesterday afternoon a further hearing was held in the ongoing trial for the dissemination of reserved information and documents in Vatican City State Tribunal, according to information provided by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. The hearing was convened for 3.45 p.m., and was attended by the members of the Tribunal (Professors Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Piero Antonio Bonnet, Paolo Papanti-Pelletier and Venerando Marano), the Promoter of Justice (Professors Gian Pietro Milano and Roberto Zannotti), and the defendants, Ángel Lucio Vallejo Balda, Nicola Maio and Gianluigi Nuzzi, whereas the defendants Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui and Emiliano Fittipaldi were absent, although represented by their counsels for the defence. Therefore, all five legal representatives were present: Emanuela Bellardini, Laura Sgrò, Rita Claudia Baffioni, Lucia Teresa Musso and Roberto Palombi.
As requested by the counsel for the defence, the tribunal heard the declarations by Gianluigi Nuzzi who made various clarifications regarding the deposition of the witness De Santis. Finally, the two expert witnesses were heard: Professor Paolo Azzeni (first witness) and Stefano De Nardis (second witness), who provided information on the way in which the IT evaluation had been undertaken, and answered various questions. The two witnesses were fully in agreement with each other, as demonstrated in the evaluation itself, signed by both witnesses.
After each declaration or testimony, the relevant report was read and approved. As the lawyer Laura Sgrò had withdrawn her previous request for a supplementary expert witness, the session ended around 4.30 p.m.
The next hearings are scheduled to take place on Monday 4 July at 3.30 p.m. and n 5 and 6 July at 9.30 a.m., and will be dedicated to the closing speech of the Promoter of Justice and the pleadings on the part of the defence.
Note: as of last Saturday, the defendant Ángel Lucio Vallejo Balda is no longer in custody, but is instead in semi-freedom.
