Vatican computer expert convicted in leaks case

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  Reuters/Reuters - A general view of St. Peter's square as Pope Benedict XVI conducts a special mass in Vatican City in this October 21, 2012 file photograph. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini /Files

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Vatican court on Saturday found a Holy See computer expert guilty of obstruction of justice in the investigation of leaks of sensitive papal documents to the media by Pope Benedict's former butler.
The same court which last month convicted Paolo Gabriele, the Pope's former butler, gave Claudio Sciarpelletti a two-month suspended sentence. It ruled he "helped obstruct" the investigation by changing his version of events several times under police questioning.
The leaks unleashed one of the biggest crises of Pope Benedict's papacy, embarrassing the Vatican at a time when it was struggling to overcome several child sex abuse scandals involving clerics, as well as mismanagement at its bank.
Vatican watchers are skeptical that Gabriele could have acted alone, suggesting he may have been forced to take the blame in order to shield bigger players inside the Holy See. They say both men could be pawns in a palace power struggle.
Sciarpelletti's sentence was reduced from four to two months because he had no criminal record and suspended because of his long service with the Vatican. The defense said it will appeal.
The defense argued Sciarpelletti, a friend of the former butler, was confused and in shock after his arrest, which explained why he gave investigators different versions of events.
"Why would a man who had so much to lose, his job, his reputation, obstruct justice for someone else?" defense lawyer Gianluca Benedetti said.
SEALED ENVELOPE
When Vatican police searched Sciarpelletti's desk in the Secretariat of State - the nerve centre of the Holy See's administration - they found a closed envelope addressed to Gabriele marked "personal".
It contained a printed e-mail and documentation relating to a chapter in a book about Vatican corruption and intrigue written by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, who had received confidential documents from Gabriele.
Gabriele, who was one the four witnesses who testified on Saturday, was convicted of aggravated theft at a separate trial last month and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
The former butler told the court that he gave Sciarpelletti some papers but none of them were confidential. He said he wanted Sciarpelletti's opinion because of a widespread sense of malaise in the Vatican about allegations of corruption
One of the pope's closest household assistants, Gabriele admitted leaking the documents in what he said was an attempt to help disclose corruption and "evil" in the headquarters of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic faith.
Sciarpelletti spent one night in a Vatican jail cell on May 25, two days after Gabriele was arrested when police searched the former butler's home and found copies of papal documents, some alleging infighting in the papal court and corruption at the highest levels of the church.
In four sessions of questioning in May and June, Sciarpelletti provided "wavering and contradictory" answers, according to a court indictment.
On the night of his arrest, Sciarpelletti said he only had a "working relationship" with Gabriele. But he later said the two were friends, that their families had gone on outings together and that he knew Gabriele's childhood had been tough.
Sciarpelletti initially said Gabriele had given him the envelope. But he later said it had been given to him by someone in the Vatican identified only as "W" in court documents only to change his story again later and say it had been given to him by someone identified as "X".
During the proceedings "X" and "W" were revealed to be two monsignors who work in the same department as Sciarpelletti, including his immediate supervisor, Carlo Maria Polvani.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Pravin Char and Jason Webb)

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