The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the Vatican to drop charges against a pair of Italian journalists facing trial Nov. 24 for allegedly pressuring a source to "obtain and publish" confidential information.
Each wrote books about corruption and mismanagement in the Vatican, allegedly based on leaked documents.
Both also face up to eight years in prison under a 2013 law that criminalizes leaking.
“We call on the Vatican to drop all charges against Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said in a statement “Journalists should be allowed to carry out their role as watchdog and investigate alleged wrongdoing without fear of repercussions.”
Nuzzi and Fittipaldi are being tried along with three former Vatican officials accused of leaking the information.
