VATICAN CITY
The New York Times
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
NOV. 24, 2015
VATICAN CITY — Five people, including two Italian journalists, went on trial in a Vatican courtroom on Tuesday on charges of illegally procuring and circulating confidential documents that were used to write two tell-all books detailing suspected mismanagement and corruption at the Vatican.
The Vatican claims that by taking the documents, the defendants violated the “fundamental interests of the Holy See and the State,” language it used in a formal indictment issued on Saturday. The two journalists counter that the Vatican is violating their right to freedom of the press.
“We are not martyrs, we are investigative journalists and some principles must be defended,” one of the defendants, Gianluigi Nuzzi, the author of “Merchants in the Temple,” told the small pool of reporters allowed into the Vatican courtroom on Tuesday. “We just did our job.”
Media watchdog groups and organizations have rallied behind Mr. Nuzzi and his co-defendant, Emiliano Fittipaldi, the author of “Avarice,” calling on the Vatican to drop all charges against them.
The defendants face up to eight years in prison.
“Journalists should be allowed to carry out their role as watchdog and investigate alleged wrongdoing without fear of repercussions,” Nina Ognianova, Europe and Central Asia Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement on Monday.
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