Accusing Pope of surveillance, Vatican trial convict takes case to UN
NEW YORK: One of the defendants in the Vatican’s big financial trial has filed a formal complaint with the United Nations, alleging that Pope Francis violated his human rights by authorising wide-ranging surveillance during the investigation.
A lawyer for Raffaele Mincione, a London-based financier, submitted a complaint last week to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights via a special procedure that allows individuals or groups to provide the UN with information about alleged rights violations in countries or institutions.
The Vatican on Thursday rejected the claim, saying the investigation followed all relevant laws and international agreements and that no surveillance was ordered for Mincione.
The filing marks the latest and highest-profile complaint about the Vatican trial, highlighting the peculiarity of the Vatican’s criminal justice system and its seeming incompatibility with European and democratic norms.
The trial, which opened in 2021 and ended in December, focused on the Holy See’s money-losing 350 million euro investment in a London property but also included other tangents. Vatican prosecutors alleged brokers and Vatican officials fleeced the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions, and then extorted the Holy See for 15 million euros ($16.5 million) to cede control of the property.
The trial ended with convictions for nine of the 10 defendants, including Mincione and a once-powerful cardinal, Angelo Becciu. Mincione’s complaint to the UN focused on the role of the Pope during the investigation, an area that was flagged as problematic by defense lawyers and external expert.