Defendant in Vatican trial takes case to UN, accuses pope of violating his rights with surveillance

One of the defendants in the Vatican’s big financial trial has formally complained to the United Nations about the trial. The filing by the financier Raffaele Mincione accuses Pope Francis of violating his human rights by authorizing wide-ranging surveillance during the investigation.The filing to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights marks the latest and highest-profile complaint about the Vatican trial. It highlights the peculiarity of the Vatican’s criminal justice system and its seeming incompatibility with European and democratic norms. The Vatican is an absolute monarchy where the pope wields supreme legislative, executive and judicial power.