Italy court weighs extradition to Vatican in fair trial case

A Milan court on Monday begins weighing wher to extradite an Italian woman to Vatican to face embezzlement-related charges in a case that could test wher Italy considers Vatican a state where someone can get a fair trial.Already two Italian courts have ruled against Vatican prosecutors in ir wide-ranging corruption investigation, which has highlighted incompatibility of Vatican justice system with European rms.

In case before Milan appeals court, lawyers for Cecilia Marogna, a self-described intelligence analyst, are expected to argue that she shouldn’t be extradited to Vatican because re’s extradition treaty between two states.

Ar possible argument is that without such a treaty, Italian law bars sending citizens to a country where ir “fundamental right” to a fair trial isn’t guaranteed.

Defense lawyers who have worked in Vatican’s criminal justice system say its procedures are outdated, don’t provide adequate rights for accused and are subject to arbitrary interference by pope, who as absolute monarch exercises exclusive legislative, executive and judicial power.In broader corruption investigation, for example, Pope Francis authorized a procedure that precludes oversight of prosecutors by an independent judge during investigative phase.

re is also chance for defense to contest testimony obtained during investigation or evidence seized during searches, as would be required in Italy.Vatican prosecutors insist rights of accused are safeguarded, and that pope had to order “summary rite” in this case because of a technicality owing to old legal code in use.

In spiff case involving extradition, Vatican prosecutors have accused Marogna of embezzlement and misappropriation of Holy See funds .

y say Marogna was paid at least 575,000 euros by Vatican secretariat of state from 2018-2019 to help liberate Catholic hosts, but that money was used instead to buy Prada, Chanel and or high-end luxury goods.

Marogna has told Italian media money wired to her Slovenian-based Logsic company was for compensation and reimbursements for expenses she incurred doing her security work.

She ackwledged, though, that some purchases, such as a designer pocketbook, were maybe for wife of a Nigerian friend who was in a position to talk to president of Burkina Faso.

Italian police arrested Marogna in Milan on Oct. 13 based on an international warrant issued by Vatican via Interpol. She was jailed for two weeks before an Italian court ordered her freed. Recently, Italy’s highest court, Court of Cassation, declared she never should have been arrested before a court evaluated wher she could be extradited.

That evaluation began Monday. re is indication when Milan appeals tribunal will rule.

Cassation ruling voiding Marogna’s arrest was t first blow to Vatican prosecutors, however. Recently, a Rome court declared a Vatican-ordered search of a Rome apartment illegal given that Vatican prosecutors circumvented required steps.

Court of Review found that Vatican prosecutors had bypassed Italian Justice Ministry in amending ir search warrant, emailing Italian prosecutors directly to ask Italian police to seize money, gold coins and or goods from home of Ofrio Tirabassi, far of one of suspects in Vatican investigation. far is t a suspect.

Court of Review declared that seizure request was “radically null and illegitimate” because it deprived Justice Ministry chance to evaluate it, and ordered money returned to far.

Italian Justice Ministry declined to comment.

Marogna investigation is a spiff of main Vatican probe into secretariat of state’s 350 million euro investment into a London real estate venture.

Marogna case involves or questionable decisions by secretariat of state officials. Marogna has told Italian media she reached out to office's n-. 2, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, in 2015 with concerns about security for Vatican embassies in hot spots and was quickly brought into Becciu's inner circle.

According to text messs reported by Vatican prosecutors in ir extradition request, Becciu on Dec. 20, 2018 authorized one of his former deputies to wire Marogna’s Logsic firm 75,000 euros “because it seems something is starting to move” in case of a kidnapped Colombian nun. Ar mess said pope himself was aware of development and wanted everything kept “in great secrecy.” Four or payments were made to Logsic from January-July 2019.

Francis fired Becciu on Sept. 24 for what Becciu said were unrelated embezzlement allegations that he denied. Becciu has said all his relations with Marogna were “exclusively for institutional matters.”

(IM CREDITS:AP)