Cardinal Angelo Becciu, on trial in a major financial crimes case, spoke in court after Judge Giuseppe Pignatone rejected his lawyers’ last resort to access the material.
A Vatican cardinal on trial in a major Holy See financial crimes case claimed Friday that he could not adequately defend himself against the “nightmare of these accusations” because prosecutors withheld important evidence from the defense.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu spoke in court after Judge Giuseppe Pignatone rejected his lawyers’ latest appeal to access the material.
In a decree read aloud, Giuseppe Pignatone sided with prosecutors, who argued that the transcripts of the interrogations and WhatsApp conversations are now part of another investigation and must remain secret.
Becciu, once one of the Vatican’s most influential cardinals and a close aide to Pope Francis, said he kept faith with the Vatican court but was “bitter” and “baffled” by the judge’s decision.
“The defense has been humiliated, they cannot fully exercise their right to defense if they do not have all the material,” he told the court.
Becciu is on trial, along with nine others, in a case involving the Vatican’s €350 million investment in a London property, which also includes allegations of embezzlement in Becciu’s donation of Vatican funds to a charity run by for the brother
Becciu has denied wrongdoing, as have the other defendants.
The material that prosecutors withheld includes transcripts of the interrogations of a key witness for the prosecution, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, as well as 126 WhatsApp conversations about him.
Alberto Perlasca was the Vatican official most involved in the London property deal and was the prime suspect at the start of the investigation, but became the prosecution’s star witness in August 2020 when he changed his story and turned against Becciu, his former boss.
The conversations came to light in November after Perlasca revealed to the court that he began cooperating with prosecutors after receiving threats and advice from a woman, Francesca Chaouqui.
The suggestion that Chaouqui may have trained Perlasca to betray Becciu, seeking revenge, has cast doubt on the integrity of the investigation.
The WhatsApp conversations were texts exchanged between Chaouqui and a friend of the Perlasca family.
Becciu’s lawyers wanted access to the conversations in order to prove that Perlasca was manipulated to fabricate accusations against the cardinal.
Source: Observadora
