Vatileaks 2 trial back in court, Francesca Chaouqui takes the stand
All five defendants were present Wednesday as the trial for the Vatileaks 2 case resumed. Francesca Chaouqui, one of the accused, took the stand.
According to Rome Reports, Chaouqui narrated events from February 2014. Speaking of co-defendant Msgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda, she said that by September of that year, he was feeling abandoned so she helped him get involved in charitable activities. She denied any sexual relations with the monsignor, but she revealed to the court that he made a "confession about his private life" to her, something that she would not disclose. From there, the priest apparently started to "show an eccentric behavior," going so far as consulting an astrologer.
She also admitted to introducing journalist Gian Luigi Nuzzi to Vallejo Balda some time in April last year, because the priest allegedly wanted to reveal the difficulties of his work. He was never forced to give information, Chaouqui said; instead, he voluntarily gave confidential information to the reporter.
She also denied having seriously threatened the priest and having leaked documents.
Her testimony contradicts those made by Vallejo Balda on March 14. The secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See testified and admitted to leaking confidential documents, passing them on to Nuzzi and another reporter, Emiliano Fittipaldi. Nuzzi also received five pages worth of passwords for emails and documents.
During the continuation of his testimony the following day, he said he gave confidential documents to the two reporters because he felt like he was being threatened. According to The Catholic News, Vallejo Balda narrated to the court what Chaouqui told him during a conversation in WhatsApp.
"I will destroy you in all the newspapers and you know that I can do it," she said.
"For me, giving those documents was a way to pay for my freedom," Vallejo Balda said during his testimony.
According to the New York Post, the priest also said that his and Chaouqui's relationship was "clearly for me as a priest compromising," suggesting that she seduced him.
Chaouqui is a member of the former Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See. Together with her and Vallejo Balda, the latter's former assisant Nicola Maio are accused of "committing several illegal acts of divulging news and documents concerning fundamental interests of the Holy See and the State." Meanwhile, Nuzzi and Fittipaldi are on trial for "soliciting and exercising pressure, especially on Vallejo Balda, in order to obtain confidential documents and news."
The case centers on two published books by the two reporters, the content of which prosecutors say came from confidential information leaked by Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui, and Maio.
