Diddi later said his office never interrogated the pontiff and that the reference was to the pope’s public statements.ĭiddi also strongly defended the decision to edit the tapes to preserve the secrecy of what he said were newly started investigations and accused the defense lawyers of making much ado about “nothing.” “Before doing what we’re doing, we went to the Holy Father and we asked him what happened,” Diddi told Perlasca, according to the videotape transcript. Diddi’s claim suggested contacts with the pope that were never transcribed or provided to the defense. The lawyer also cited an Apinterrogation of Perlasca in which there is no mention in the written summary that Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi challenged Perlasca on his version of events by saying he heard a different version from the pope. For those that contained the metadata showing modifications made to the tape, as much as an hour of testimony had been cut, the report stated. Panella submitted to the court a report from a technical expert who reviewed the taped material and found that the metadata for some of the interrogation files was missing. Attorney Fabio Viglione, representing Cardinal Angelo Becciu, accused prosecutors of “mutilating” the evidence.Īttorney Luigi Panella, representing the Vatican’s longtime money manager in the case, accused prosecutors of making “unjustifiable” cuts and noted that there’s no provision in the Vatican’s procedural law to edit evidence. But the tapes contained several cuts, which the prosecutors said were necessary for “investigative reasons.”ĭefense attorneys cried foul on Wednesday, demanding that the prosecutors abide fully with Pignatone’s order on July 29, and repeated on Oct. 3, after initially refusing a court order. Prosecutors deposited the Perlasca tapes with the tribunal on Nov.
He was initially under investigation, but in August 2020 he began cooperating with prosecutors who then removed him as a suspect. Perlasca was the Vatican official most intimately involved in the London deal and signed all the contracts with the brokers.
THE VATICAN TAPES CAST TRIAL
Prosecutors have indicted 10 people, including a cardinal, on a range of charges, although the trial is proceeding against only six of them for now while prosecutors redo their investigation for the others.ĭefense attorneys have argued that their ability to defend their clients had been harmed by the prosecutors’ refusal to turn over key pieces of evidence, including videotaped recordings of their interrogations with a key suspect-turned-star witness, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca. Vatican prosecutors have accused Italian brokers and Vatican officials of defrauding the Holy See in the deal, and of extorting the Vatican of 15 million euros to acquire control of the property. The trial concerns the Secretariat of State’s 350 million euro investment in a luxury London property development, much of it funded with donations from the faithful. If we manage to start,” Pignatone told the court. “It’s clear we need more time before starting. Pignatone has already nullified several charges against some defendants because of prosecutorial errors. 1 on a new defense request to throw out the indictment. The president of the Vatican City State tribunal, Giuseppe Pignatone, said he would rule Dec. VATICAN CITY (AP) - Defense lawyers in the Vatican’s fraud and extortion trial accused prosecutors on Wednesday of defying a court order by withholding pieces of evidence - including an alleged interrogation of Pope Francis - as the pontiff’s own role in a flawed London property investment again came before the court.
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