Vatican defends finance trial, says rights being respected

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Lawyers for defendants in a big Vatican financial trial are asking the Holy See newspaper to correct the record after it ran a front-page editorial this week largely defending the investigation and insisting that the rights of the defense were being respected. The letter to L’Osservatore Romano editor was signed by eight defense attorneys and follows a Dec. 20 editorial by the Holy See’s editorial director. The trial concerns the Holy See’s 350 million euro (nearly $400 million) investment in a London property deal but has expanded to include other alleged financial crimes. Vatican prosecutors accuse Italian brokers, Vatican officials and a self-styled security analyst of bilking the Vatican coffers of millions of euros, largely donations from the faithful.