Pope Benedict's butler accuses Vatican police of inhumane treatment Pope Benedict, right, with his private secretary, Georg Gänswein, top left, and his then butler, Paolo Gabiele, who is accused of aggravated theft. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP The papal butler accused of leaking the pope's private letters has accused Vatican police of treating him inhumanely while in custody. In a statement to a Vatican court, Paolo Gabriele said after his arrest in May he had been held for at least 15 days in isolation, in a room so narrow he could not stretch out his arms, and where the lights were kept on 24 hours a day. The 46-year-old told the three judges trying him for aggravated theft that the continuous light had "hurt" his vision, adding that officers had put him under psychological pressure, denying him pillows on his first night in custody. Attending the hearing was Domenico Gianni, the head of the Vatican police, who was left visibly blushing by the claim. The presiding judge, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, ordered an inquiry. After the hearing, a Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said Gabriele had been held in custody according to "international standards," adding: "I didn't have the impression that the conditions harmed the dignity of the prisoner." Although Gabriele has previously confessed to the theft of documents and letters from the pope's apartment, he told the court on Tuesday he was innocent of aggravated theft, albeit guilty of betraying Benedict's trust. The pope, he added, had loved him like a son. The former butler did, however, describe how he took photocopies of sensitive letters in the office he shared with the pope's secretary, Georg Gänswein. But he denied stealing a gold nugget and a €100,000 cheque made out to the pope which were found in his flat. Gabriele then leaked the letters - which revealed allegations of scandal, corruption and kickbacks at the Vatican - to an Italian journalist who published them in a bestselling book. Gabriele has described himself to police as "an agent of the holy spirit," seeking to lift the lid on Vatican sleaze and defend the pope. "It is easy to manipulate people who have the power to make decisions," he told the court. But he added that he had never wanted the letters to appear in a book. "It is difficult, if not impossible to find a reason for this irrational situation that happened to me," he said. Gabriele denied he had been aided by accomplices, even though he told police he had been in contact with four senior Vatican figures at the time he was collecting documents. A Vatican IT expert is also due to stand trial for harbouring documents for him.