Vatican court clears journalists, convicts two in Vatileaks trial

(Vatican Radio) A Spanish priest and an Italian lay woman at the heart of the so-called Vatileaks 2 trial have been given jail sentences for leaking confidential documents, while two journalists also on trial were cleared by the Vatican court on Thursday.

Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda was sentenced to eighteen months in prison, while Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, who has a three-week old son, was given a suspended ten months sentence.

The two Italian journalists, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who wrote best-selling books based on the leaked documents last year, were cleared by the court on the grounds that the Vatican judiciary has no jurisdiction over them.

A fifth defendant, Nicola Maio, an assistant to Vallejo, was found innocent at the end of the eight-month trial.