George Pell wins High Court appeal against child sex abuse convictions
Tòa án tối cao Liên Bang Úc tha bổng Hồng Y George Pell
Lúc 10 sáng ngày 7 tháng Tư năm 2020 tòa án tối cao Liên bang Úc đã tuyên bố Đức Hồng Y George Pell được tha bổng kể từ hôm nay. Quyết định tha bổng được Thẩm phán đoàn Liên bang do thẩm phán trưởng Susan Kiefel đọc tại tòa án tại Brisbane.
Được biết bản án 6 năm tù giam đã được tòa án Victoria thông qua ngày 19/3/2019 và tuyên bố trên truyền thông. Một sự kiện chưa có trong tiền lệ.
Sau những cáo buộc của một thanh niên rằng vào tháng 12/1996 và tháng 2/1997. Hồng Y Pell đã tấn công tình dục 2 cậu hát lễ (lúc ấy khoảng 13 tuổi) ngay trong phòng áo sau buổi lễ Chủ Nhật tại nhà thờ chính tòa Thánh Patrick Melbourne. Bồi thẩm đoàn và thẩm phán Victoria dựa vào lời khai của một thanh niên là 1 trong 2 cậu bé ấy. Sau gần 2 năm xét xử chỉ dựa vào lời khai của một người duy nhất. Đồng thời những cáo buộc từ cảnh sát sau khi phỏng vấn điều tra. Bồi thẩm đoàn với đa số đồng ý kết tội HY Pell.
Vụ kết án này gây chấn động không chỉ giáo hội Công Giáo Úc, mà toàn cầu. Rất nhiều câu hỏi vẫn chưa được trả lời. Đến tháng 6/2019 luật sư bào chữa cho HY Pell kháng án với những lý do về tính trung thực của lời tố cáo. Nhưng 2 vị trong 3 vị thẩm phán của Victoria đã bác đơn kháng án. Luật sư bị ca1od9a4 kháng án lên tòa tối cao Liên Bang với những lý lẽ mạch lạc rằng. Lời khai của một người không đủ để kết tội nếu không có những chứng cớ thuyết phục. Yếu tố không gian, thời gian và môi trường tội phạm xảy ra hoàn toàn không thể. Luật sư bảo vệ khẳng định những lời khai của một cá nhân không thể thành án nếu không dưa ra được những chứng cớ cụ thể và hợp lý. Sau 1 tháng tòa án tối cao đã đi đến quyết định tha bổng HY Pell.
George Pell High Court decision 
AAP: David Crosling Cardinal George Pell had maintained his innocence throughout the court proceedings. Cardinal George Pell will be released from prison after the country’s highest court quashed his child sexual abuse convictions.
The decision has been handed down less than a month after the High Court of Australia heard two days of intense legal arguments from the Cardinal’s lawyers and Victorian prosecutors.
The full bench’s ruling was handed down by Chief Justice Susan Kiefel in an almost empty High Court registry in Brisbane, due to physical-distancing measures introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The public gallery, which can seat up to 16 people, only contained three journalists to hear Chief Justice Kiefel deliver the ruling at 10:00am.
Cardinal Pell, 78, had been serving a six-year jail sentence after he was convicted in 2018 of abusing two choirboys in the 1990s, when he was the archbishop of Melbourne.
He had been accused of committing the crimes after he found the boys swigging altar wine in the priests’ sacristy after mass in Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral.
A jury convicted him in 2018 — a decision that the Victorian Court of Appeal upheld in a two-to-one decision.
But his lawyers went to the High Court, arguing the appeal court failed to take proper account of evidence that cast doubt on his guilt.
Pell to be released from prison today Today the High Court handed down its decision, granting Cardinal Pell’s application for special leave and acquitting him.
The decision means Cardinal Pell, who is Australia’s most senior Catholic, will be released from Barwon Prison today.
It is not known where he will be taken or where he intends to stay.
The decision by the High Court brings an end to a five-year legal saga, that saw the former advisor to the Pope become the highest-ranking Catholic official to be convicted of child sexual abuse.
Regardless of the decision, a number of civil cases are due to be launched against Cardinal Pell, either by people who alleged they were abused by him or who allege he did nothing to prevent their abuse at the hands of other priests.
More to come.
Timeline of events in George Pell case:
2015: A former choirboy tells Victoria Police he and another boy were sexually abused by George Pell in the 1990s, shortly after he became Archbishop of Melbourne
February, 2016: The Herald Sun newspaper reveals a Victoria Police taskforce is investigating Pell for historical child sexual abuse, the first time the investigation is made public
October, 2016: Detectives question Pell in Rome about a number of allegations. The Cardinal denies any wrongdoing June 29, 2017: Pell is charged with historical child sexual abuse offences. He says he is looking forward to his day in court
June 29, 2017: The Pope grants Pell leave to return to Australia to fight the charges
May 1, 2018: Pell pleads not guilty after being committed to stand trial for historical sexual offences. The most serious of the charges against him are struck out
August 15, 2018: A trial into the allegations Pell abused two choirboys when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s begins at the County Court of Victoria
September 20, 2018: The jury is unable to reach a verdict and is discharged November 7, 2018: A second trial begins
December 11, 2018: A jury finds Pell guilty of one count of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 and four counts of committing an indecent act with, or in the presence of, a child. A suppression order banning all reporting on the trial is in place until the delivery of a verdict in another case
February, 2019: The other case, relating to separate historic sex offence allegations, is dropped by Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions
February 26, 2019: The suppression order is lifted and the guilty verdict is made public March 13, 2019: The County Court of Victoria sentences Pell to six years’ jail, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months
June 5 – June 6, 2019: The Victorian Court of Appeal hears two days of legal argument as Pell appeals against his convictions on three grounds
August 21, 2019: The Victorian Court of Appeal unanimously rejects two of the grounds for appeal, and a 2-1 decision rejects the third ground. Pell’s convictions are upheld
March 10 – March 11, 2020: The full bench of the High Court of Australia hears two days of legal argument from Pell’s legal team and Victorian prosecutors. The court reserves its decision
April 7, 2020: The High Court of Australia delivers its decision in Brisbane, quashing Pell’s convictions