Berlusconi lawyer denies Vatileaks link

(ANSA) - Rome, December 1 - A lawyer acting for Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday denied newspaper reports that Francesca Chaouqui, one of the five defendants in the so-called Vatileaks 2 trial, had contacted the former premier or his brother Paolo in relation to the case.
    "President Berlusconi has never had any contact with Francesca Chaouqui, or indications from anyone, of requests made by her," Niccolò Ghedini said in a statement. "Besides, it would have been impossible to make demands since there is no possible link between President Berlusconi and 'Vatican affairs' or the Vatican bank," he continued. In regards to Paolo Berlusconi, Ghedini acknowledged that he had met Chaouqui "occasionally" in social situations, but said the reports of contacts in relation to Vatileaks 2 were "unfounded". Chaouqui, a PR expert, is on trial alongside investigative journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and his former assistant Nicola Maio for allegedly leaking confidential Holy See documents.
    Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui were both members of the now-defunct COSEA commission set up to advise Pope Francis on reform of the Holy See's economic-administrative structure.