Vatican proceeds with Vatileaks trial

(AGI) Vatican City, Nov. 24 - After being in custody in theVatican's Gendarmerie for almost a month, Father Vallejo Baldaappeared in the Vatileaks trial's first hearing on Tuesday inclerical grey and a short hair-cut. "I feel fine, very wellprotected," he assured reporters on his condition of health.After 20 days in custody, the priest was smiling, although helooked thinner and obviously stressed by his detention.Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, the former public relationsexpert for COSEA, the Committee set up to investigate theVatican's financial system, appeared without a trace of makeupand with her jeans unbuttoned "to avoid trouble" since she isin early pregnancy. The two did not appear to be particularlyclose and Fr Balda talked to all the defendants except her. Emiliano Fittipaldi, one of the defendants in the case, toldreporters in the courtroom during a pause in the proceeding: "Ihad never set foot in the Vatican before now". Gianluigi Nuzzitold the media, "We are not martyrs but reporters." Hecontinued: "There are principles that need to be defended. Itis our duty to be here today. Compared to the Italian justicesystem, the Vatican's is excessively fast." The defendants'chat with the media was the most interesting part of the trial,which was devoted to the entry of appearance and preliminaryexceptions, all of which were rejected by the court, includingthe request filed by Fittipaldi's defence to drop the chargesagainst him. In a voluntary statement, Fittipaldi explainedthat this request was based on the charges being listed"without describing the facts to which they referred." He said:"The lack of specification is a completely unacceptablecondition because the defendant cannot know what he is todefend himself against and the prosecution can at any timeextend the indictment to any of the documents or news containedin my book." Lucia Musso, Fittipaldi's attorney, formalised therequest specifying that her client's name is only mentioned onpage 8 of the 10-page indictment decree although no mention ismade of incriminating facts, making it impossible for him todefend himself. Roberto Zannotti, the Vatican's AssistantPromoter of Justice, replied that the indictment decreecontained all the necessary elements, including the charges andthe possible aggravating circumstances. The fact that thecharges are simply listed does not mean that they areimpossible to understand. The court's panel of judges, chairedby Giuseppe Dalla Torre, also rejected the request by MonsignorVallejo Balda's attorney, Emanuela Bellardini, to extend theperiod for filing a defence because his previous defencecounsel had renounced his assignment and she only received thedefence briefs on Monday. The court's decision was motivated bythe fact that the next hearing will be on Nov. 30, giving herample time to study the briefs. The president of the court alsoannounced that the claim filed to engage lawyers not accreditedwith the Roman Rota will have to be decided by the Court ofAppeals, whose president is on leave. . .