Suspect in new Vatican leaks released early because of pregnancy?

November 06, 2015

Francesca Chaouqui, one of the two suspects arrested last weekend for leaking Vatican documents, was quickly released from custody because she is pregnant, according to a report in America magazine.

Chaouqui was arrested released a day after her arrest. Her alleged co-conspirator, Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, remains in a Vatican holding cell. The Vatican had originally announced that Chaouqui was freed because of “her cooperation with the investigations.”

According to the America report, Chaouqui was held in a convent, then set free, because she and her husband are expecting a baby, and Vatican officials did not want to put her in any situation that could compromise the pregnancy.

Chaouqui has maintained that she is innocent of wrongdoing, and said that Msgr. Balda is responsible for any leaks. “I am not a mole,” she proclaimed on social-media accounts.

 

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Further information:

• Dr. Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui is Released from Prison (America)
• Vatican makes two arrests for document leaks (CWN, 11/2)