Pope's Butler "Acted Alone," Lawyer Says

By Philip Pullella
London Free Press
July 21, 2012

http://www.lfpress.com/news/world/2012/07/21/20012216.html

A picture taken on April 18, 2012 shows Paolo Gabriele (Bottom L), the pope's butler, sitting in the popemobile next to Pope Benedict XVI as they arrive in Saint Peter's square for the pope's weekly general audience. (AFP PHOTO/VINCENZO PINTO)

VATICAN CITY - The pope’s personal butler, who has been detained on suspicion of leaking documents alleging corruption in the Holy See, acted alone and was not part of any wider plot, his lawyer Carlo Fusco said on Saturday.

Separately, Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said the butler, Paolo Gabriele, had been released from preventive custody and placed under house arrest following a seven hour interrogation on Saturday.

Gabriele was charged in May over illegal possession of secret documents and has been held in a secure room at the Vatican police station awaiting a decision on whether he is put on trial.

Lombardi said a magistrate would decide soon whether to order Gabriele to stand trial.