VATICAN CITY - A former employee of the Vatican was given a suspended four-month prison sentence for possessing cocaine, in a first for the Holy See's justice system, his lawyer said Monday.
The employee was fired around six months ago after an Italian court convicted him of drug dealing, the lawyer, Gianluigi Mattioli, told AFP.
Following the conviction, police searched the employee's office at the Vatican and found a stash of cocaine in a desk drawer.
The Vatican tribunal on Saturday found him guilty of possessing 87 grammes (three ounces) of cocaine, Mattioli said.
The unprecedented verdict was reached after three hours of deliberation.
It was a tricky case because the Vatican justice system still relies on the Italian penal code of 1865, which has no provisions for drug possession, Mattioli told AFP.
A law dating from 1929 allowed the judges to punish a crime that is not on the books, he added.
Mattioli's client does not plan to appeal the conviction.
Vatican City is an independent state within Rome covering an area of 0.44 square kilometres (0.17 square miles), with about 900 inhabitants and a crime rate that is much lower than Italy's.
05/07/2007 16:30 GMT