JUSTICE

Emanuela Orlandi: Gisotti, “two tombs in Teutonic Cemetery to be opened on 11 July”. “First phase of investigations already planned”

“The Office of the Promoter of Justice of the Vatican City State’s Tribunal, represented by the Promoter, Professor Gian Piero Milano, and the Adjunct Promoter, Professor Alessandro Diddi, established by the decree of 27 June 2019 the opening of two tombs in the Teutonic Cemetery”, the Holy See Press Office Director, Alessandro Gisotti, told journalists. “The decision – he explained – is part of one of the files opened following a complaint lodged by Emanuela Orlandi’s family who, as is known, in recent months has, among other things, reported the possible concealment of her body in the small Cemetery situated in the territory of the Vatican State”. “The operations will take place on 11 July in the presence of the lawyers of the parties (besides Emanuela Orlandi’s family members and the relatives of the persons buried in the graves concerned), with the technical assistance of Professor Giovanni Arcudi; the Commander of the Vatican’s Gendarmerie Corps, Domenico Giani; and personnel of the Gendarmerie”, the Vatican spokesman informed, noting that the execution of “the court order requires a complex deployment of men and equipment (with the involvement of workers of the Fabric of St. Peter’s and staff of the Security Operations Centre of the Vatican’s Gendarmerie (COS) for the demolition and restoration of the tombstones and for documenting the operations)”.
The decision comes after investigations were carried out by the Office of the Promoter – with the help of the Gendarmerie Corps – which have “looked into the main judicial stages of this long, painful and complex case”. “It is worth remembering – Gisotti said – that, for legal reasons, the Vatican’s prosecutors have no jurisdiction to investigate Emanuela Orlandi’s disappearance, which occurred in Italy. The investigations were conducted by Italian prosecutors – since the very early stages – meticulously and professionally. Therefore, the Vatican’s initiative will only investigate the possible burial of Emanuela Orlandi’s body in the territory of the Vatican State”. “In any case, the complex forensic operations scheduled for next 11 July are only the first in a series of already scheduled investigations which, after the opening of the tombs and the examination and cataloguing of the remains, will be followed by forensic examinations to establish the dating of the findings and the DNA comparison”, Gisotti concluded.