ROME
The Bookseller
Published January 6, 2016 by Natasha Onwuemezi
The International Publishers Association (IPA) and the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) have condemned the Vatican for attempting to jail two authors who alleged corruption and financial wrongdoing in the Holy See.
The authors – journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi – are on trial along with three Vatican employees over documents leaked from the Vatican and then published in two new books: Avarice by Fittipaldi and Merchants in the Temple by Nuzzi.
The pair have been charged with criminal misappropriation and misuse of leaked documents. The three Vatican employees have been accused of illegally obtaining and leaking confidential documents.
According to the Telegraph, the books “lift the lid on alleged financial mismanagement within the Holy See, including the alleged use of charitable donations for refurbishing lavish apartments for cardinals and a former Vatican secretary of state.”
The IPA has joined with the AIE and European journalism and freedom of speech watchdogs to condemn the Vatican, with IPA president, Richard Charkin, calling the court case an “affront to the dignity of journalists and publishers everywhere.”
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