Presse portugaise
McCann
couple demand books be completely destroyed
Nuno Miguel Maia (Diário de Notícias) - 10.01.2010 Traduit par Astro
The
McCann couple request Portuguese Justice to order the destruction of
all copies of the book and the movie that were authored by Gonçalo
Amaral, the former PJ coordinator who defends the thesis of
Madeleine's death. The parents return to Portugal this week.
Kate and Gerry McCann will be present the day after tomorrow, at the start of the rial over the injunction that forbids the sale of "Maddie – The Truth of the Lie", at the Civil Court of Lisbon.
Kate and Gerry McCann will be present the day after tomorrow, at the start of the rial over the injunction that forbids the sale of "Maddie – The Truth of the Lie", at the Civil Court of Lisbon.
Gonçalo
Amaral and the editor oppose the continuation of the order that
removed the book and the documentary, that defend the thesis of the
little English girl's death and the involvement of her parents in
concealing her cadaver, from the market.
This
injunction is linked to a main lawsuit in which the McCann couple
makes several requests. The main ones include the full destruction of
all copies of the book and of the DVD documentary that still exist in
warehouses, as well as the prohibition to cede author's rights or
divulgation rights into other countries or on the internet.
If
they win the action, the parents of the child that disappeared in
Praia da Luz, Lagos, on the 3rd of May 2007, further demand the
publication of the final decision in national newspapers, on two
consecutive days, in a way to, albeit partially, reconstitute their
image.
As well as the prohibition to divulge the thesis of the little girl's death, the couple asks Gonçalo Amaral and the other defendants in the lawsuit to be condemned to pay 100 thousand euros for every action that goes against the judicial decision.
As well as the prohibition to divulge the thesis of the little girl's death, the couple asks Gonçalo Amaral and the other defendants in the lawsuit to be condemned to pay 100 thousand euros for every action that goes against the judicial decision.
1.2
million euros
In
another lawsuit, Gonçalo Amaral is demanded to pay a compensation of
1.2 million euros. It was under this action that the seizing of all
of the former PJ coordinator's assets was ordered. Gonçalo Amaral
has summoned PJ colleagues that took part in the investigation as
witnesses, including Luís Neves, the national director of the heavy
crime unit.
Even the Public Ministry prosecutor who archived the process, Magalhães Meneses, was summoned as a witness. This magistrate, together with joint general prosecutor Melchior Gomes, have lamented the English people's refusal to participate in a reconstruction of the facts. In this way, the McCanns did not manage to "prove their innocence".
Even the Public Ministry prosecutor who archived the process, Magalhães Meneses, was summoned as a witness. This magistrate, together with joint general prosecutor Melchior Gomes, have lamented the English people's refusal to participate in a reconstruction of the facts. In this way, the McCanns did not manage to "prove their innocence".
British Cop invokes state secrets privilege to refuse to
testify
Nuno Miguel Maia (Jornal de Notícias) – 11.01.2010 traduit par Joana Morais
Trial on book about Maddie without key witness from the English investigation side
A detective sergeant from Scotland Yard invokes "State immunity" and obligation of secrecy on the investigations of the Maddie case in order to refuse to testify tomorrow, Tuesday, at the beginning of the trial that opposes the McCann couple to the former coordinator of the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral.
The hearing of witnesses tomorrow at the Civil Court of Lisbon, will be limited to the elements that were requested by the former head of the Judiciary Police of Portimão, most of which also collaborated in the investigation of the English girl's disappearance. The case concerns the order to withdraw from the market all the books "The Truth of the Lie", in which is defended the thesis of Maddie's death and the parental involvement in hiding the cadaver.
The English cop, incidentally with a Portuguese name (José de Freitas), was the liaison officer between the Portuguese and English authorities and the McCann couple. On several occasions he accompanied Kate and Gerry, who would be constituted as arguidos, after being confronted with evidence of human blood and cadaver odour in the apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, Lagos. The traces - remember - were detected by the English dogs "Eddie" and "Keela".
As is usual in the standard procedures of the British, all the contacts and signals expressed by the McCanns were registered, including those that contributed to support the decision to constitute them as suspects. And it's relating to that, and to other data, that Gonçalo Amaral seeks a statement.
"Any potential evidence [testimonial] that I can give may be subject to confidentiality and Immunity of the English Public Interest. Furthermore, since all the services that I performed were official, the principle of State immunity is applied and it will be necessary to gain the consent of the United Kingdom authorities to waive that State immunity before I could be subject to the jurisdiction of the Portuguese courts and be able to give any evidence, whether relevant or not. The State immunity covering my official acts is that of the United Kingdom and not mine, and can not be renounced by me, but only by the United Kingdom", wrote José de Freitas to the judge of the Civil Court of Lisbon after having been notified, in a letter that JN had access.
The police officer suggests that his witness statement should be instead requested through a rogatory letter or through the British Ambassador in Portugal. But subjected to prior authorisation by the English authorities, who have just set a tight regime of secrecy of the process in England (read the next article).
A detective sergeant from Scotland Yard invokes "State immunity" and obligation of secrecy on the investigations of the Maddie case in order to refuse to testify tomorrow, Tuesday, at the beginning of the trial that opposes the McCann couple to the former coordinator of the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral.
The hearing of witnesses tomorrow at the Civil Court of Lisbon, will be limited to the elements that were requested by the former head of the Judiciary Police of Portimão, most of which also collaborated in the investigation of the English girl's disappearance. The case concerns the order to withdraw from the market all the books "The Truth of the Lie", in which is defended the thesis of Maddie's death and the parental involvement in hiding the cadaver.
The English cop, incidentally with a Portuguese name (José de Freitas), was the liaison officer between the Portuguese and English authorities and the McCann couple. On several occasions he accompanied Kate and Gerry, who would be constituted as arguidos, after being confronted with evidence of human blood and cadaver odour in the apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, Lagos. The traces - remember - were detected by the English dogs "Eddie" and "Keela".
As is usual in the standard procedures of the British, all the contacts and signals expressed by the McCanns were registered, including those that contributed to support the decision to constitute them as suspects. And it's relating to that, and to other data, that Gonçalo Amaral seeks a statement.
"Any potential evidence [testimonial] that I can give may be subject to confidentiality and Immunity of the English Public Interest. Furthermore, since all the services that I performed were official, the principle of State immunity is applied and it will be necessary to gain the consent of the United Kingdom authorities to waive that State immunity before I could be subject to the jurisdiction of the Portuguese courts and be able to give any evidence, whether relevant or not. The State immunity covering my official acts is that of the United Kingdom and not mine, and can not be renounced by me, but only by the United Kingdom", wrote José de Freitas to the judge of the Civil Court of Lisbon after having been notified, in a letter that JN had access.
The police officer suggests that his witness statement should be instead requested through a rogatory letter or through the British Ambassador in Portugal. But subjected to prior authorisation by the English authorities, who have just set a tight regime of secrecy of the process in England (read the next article).
Maddie McCann's parents try to keep policemen away
Nuno Miguel Maia (Jornal de Notícias) - 12.01.2010
traduit par Joana Morais
English couple want to prevent witnesses from confirming the thesis that they concealed Maddie's cadaver.
Kate and Gerry McCann are trying to prevent the investigators in the case of the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine from being heard, today, at the Civil Court of Lisbon, at the start of the trial of the injunction that removed the book "The Truth of the Lie" from the market.
The argument for this request that was presented to the judge, over the last few days, is related to alleged "vices" [flaws] in the opposition that was filed by Gonçalo Amaral, the former Polícia Judiciária investigator in Portimão and the author of that book, which defends the thesis of Maddie's death and the involvement of the parents in the disappearance of the cadaver.
Today, several Polícia Judiciária officers that were summoned by the former coordinator are to be heard, who may eventually corroborate the same thesis. Magalhães e Menezes, the Public Ministry prosecutor who archived the process, has also been summoned.
In the final dispatch, this magistrate also admitted the possibility that the little English child is dead and that the McCann couple did not manage to prove their innocence – because the diligence of the reconstruction of facts was not carried out, due to the English friends being unavailable.
The lawyer who represents Kate and Gerry McCann argues that the facts that have been alleged by the couple in the injunction – which ordered Gonçalo Amaral's book and the documentary that was based on it, to be removed from the market – should be deemed as fact, because they have not been duly challenged.
And that therefore it is unnecessary to hear the investigators in court, including Tavares de Almeida and Ricardo Paiva, from the PJ in Portimão, Luís Neves, the PJ's heavy crime unit director, and Guilhermino Encarnação, the former PJ director in Faro. The former PJ inspector, Francisco Moita Flores, has also been summoned as a witness. As JN reported yesterday, another key witness for Gonçalo Amaral was a Scotland Yard officer who cooperated with the Portuguese investigation. In order to refuse to testify, José de Freitas (an English subject, despite the Portuguese name) sent a letter to the court in which he alleges his obligation towards confidentiality and "State immunity" of the United Kingdom.
The McCann couple argue that the constant spreading of the former PJ coordinator's thesis unjustly places them as suspects – in contradiction with the archiving dispatch – and that it hurts the search for the little girl. They refuse the possibility of death and insist on the abduction thesis.
On the other hand, the former PJ coordinator alleges that he is not the only one to defend the possibility that Madeleine is deceased and the possible involvement of her parents in the disappearance of the body. He stresses that it is based on facts that are gathered within the process – including "indications" that were detected by English dogs.
traduit par Joana Morais
English couple want to prevent witnesses from confirming the thesis that they concealed Maddie's cadaver.
Kate and Gerry McCann are trying to prevent the investigators in the case of the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine from being heard, today, at the Civil Court of Lisbon, at the start of the trial of the injunction that removed the book "The Truth of the Lie" from the market.
The argument for this request that was presented to the judge, over the last few days, is related to alleged "vices" [flaws] in the opposition that was filed by Gonçalo Amaral, the former Polícia Judiciária investigator in Portimão and the author of that book, which defends the thesis of Maddie's death and the involvement of the parents in the disappearance of the cadaver.
Today, several Polícia Judiciária officers that were summoned by the former coordinator are to be heard, who may eventually corroborate the same thesis. Magalhães e Menezes, the Public Ministry prosecutor who archived the process, has also been summoned.
In the final dispatch, this magistrate also admitted the possibility that the little English child is dead and that the McCann couple did not manage to prove their innocence – because the diligence of the reconstruction of facts was not carried out, due to the English friends being unavailable.
The lawyer who represents Kate and Gerry McCann argues that the facts that have been alleged by the couple in the injunction – which ordered Gonçalo Amaral's book and the documentary that was based on it, to be removed from the market – should be deemed as fact, because they have not been duly challenged.
And that therefore it is unnecessary to hear the investigators in court, including Tavares de Almeida and Ricardo Paiva, from the PJ in Portimão, Luís Neves, the PJ's heavy crime unit director, and Guilhermino Encarnação, the former PJ director in Faro. The former PJ inspector, Francisco Moita Flores, has also been summoned as a witness. As JN reported yesterday, another key witness for Gonçalo Amaral was a Scotland Yard officer who cooperated with the Portuguese investigation. In order to refuse to testify, José de Freitas (an English subject, despite the Portuguese name) sent a letter to the court in which he alleges his obligation towards confidentiality and "State immunity" of the United Kingdom.
The McCann couple argue that the constant spreading of the former PJ coordinator's thesis unjustly places them as suspects – in contradiction with the archiving dispatch – and that it hurts the search for the little girl. They refuse the possibility of death and insist on the abduction thesis.
On the other hand, the former PJ coordinator alleges that he is not the only one to defend the possibility that Madeleine is deceased and the possible involvement of her parents in the disappearance of the body. He stresses that it is based on facts that are gathered within the process – including "indications" that were detected by English dogs.
Gonçalo
Amaral in Court: Witnesses defend that book results from the
Investigation
Lusa News Agency - 12.01.2010
traduit par Joana Morais
At the first trial of the action brought by the McCann family against Gonçalo Amaral, that took place at the Palácio of Justiça in Lisbon, the four witnesses argued that the theory of the former agent does not affect nor prevent any investigation for the discovery of a live Madeleine.
The first to refute the arguments of Kate and Gerry McCann, who were present at the session, was the prosecutor of Portimão Magalhães e Menezes, who, via video conference, said that the thesis that the "child was dead was one of the options originally put forward by the PJ" which led to "the constitution of the English couple as arguidos".
The holder of the investigation to the disappearance of British child, on May 3 2007, stated that it "remained in open the thesis of the crime of homicide and cadaver concealment for not knowing what had happened to the child" and stressed that "nothing in the investigation evidenced that the McCann couple had committed any crime", which lead to the archival.
Inspector Tavares de Almeida, who participated in the investigation, reported the police work with the two dogs used to detect human blood and cadaver odour in the apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, where the child had been on vacation with her twins and parents, and in the car rented by Kate and Gerry.
He stated that in the investigation they "always talked about accidental death". Tavares de Almeida stressed that "all the actions were recorded, with image and sound", and he added that at that time the suspicions of the crime of hiding a corpse and simulation of an abduction were founded.
These conclusions were reproduced in a book written by Gonçalo Amaral, whose prohibition of the sale was ordered temporarily on the 9 September 2009, in the scope of a main action claim for the protection of freedoms, rights and guarantees of the McCann family.
"Gonçalo Amaral does not usurp the investigation conclusions, because they come from investigation", said Tavares de Almeida.
In his turn, the PJ inspector Ricardo Paiva, the liaison police officer to the English police, and later on to the McCann family, said "The thesis of the book of Gonçalo Amaral is the investigation" and ensured that there was "no intention" of the book author "to harm the couple".
Finally, the top coordinator of the Criminal Investigation and PJ national director of the Unit for Combating Banditry assured that the contents described in the book "are facts that were filmed and described and that are in the process". Nunes das Neves went on to say that the thesis of the Madeleine's death was "one of the hypothesis assumed by Kate".
However, he acknowledged that "There is no evidence to support" the death of the child, but emphasized "we know how things happened".
The prosecution, through the McCann couple's lawyer, Isabel Duarte, confronted the witnesses with alleged discrepancies in the book, like a walk during which an Irish couple reported seeing a man carrying a child in his arms, moving towards the beach, in the day of the disappearance.Lusa News Agency - 12.01.2010
traduit par Joana Morais
At the first trial of the action brought by the McCann family against Gonçalo Amaral, that took place at the Palácio of Justiça in Lisbon, the four witnesses argued that the theory of the former agent does not affect nor prevent any investigation for the discovery of a live Madeleine.
The first to refute the arguments of Kate and Gerry McCann, who were present at the session, was the prosecutor of Portimão Magalhães e Menezes, who, via video conference, said that the thesis that the "child was dead was one of the options originally put forward by the PJ" which led to "the constitution of the English couple as arguidos".
The holder of the investigation to the disappearance of British child, on May 3 2007, stated that it "remained in open the thesis of the crime of homicide and cadaver concealment for not knowing what had happened to the child" and stressed that "nothing in the investigation evidenced that the McCann couple had committed any crime", which lead to the archival.
Inspector Tavares de Almeida, who participated in the investigation, reported the police work with the two dogs used to detect human blood and cadaver odour in the apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, where the child had been on vacation with her twins and parents, and in the car rented by Kate and Gerry.
He stated that in the investigation they "always talked about accidental death". Tavares de Almeida stressed that "all the actions were recorded, with image and sound", and he added that at that time the suspicions of the crime of hiding a corpse and simulation of an abduction were founded.
These conclusions were reproduced in a book written by Gonçalo Amaral, whose prohibition of the sale was ordered temporarily on the 9 September 2009, in the scope of a main action claim for the protection of freedoms, rights and guarantees of the McCann family.
"Gonçalo Amaral does not usurp the investigation conclusions, because they come from investigation", said Tavares de Almeida.
In his turn, the PJ inspector Ricardo Paiva, the liaison police officer to the English police, and later on to the McCann family, said "The thesis of the book of Gonçalo Amaral is the investigation" and ensured that there was "no intention" of the book author "to harm the couple".
Finally, the top coordinator of the Criminal Investigation and PJ national director of the Unit for Combating Banditry assured that the contents described in the book "are facts that were filmed and described and that are in the process". Nunes das Neves went on to say that the thesis of the Madeleine's death was "one of the hypothesis assumed by Kate".
However, he acknowledged that "There is no evidence to support" the death of the child, but emphasized "we know how things happened".
"The book is full of inferences and deductions", said Isabel Duarte, at the end of the hearing, which continues on Wednesday with the questioning of defense witnesses.
In addition to Gonçalo Amaral, who led the initial investigation into the disappearance of the British child, in this trial are still concerned the publisher of the book Guerra & Paz, TVI, for having broadcast a documentary film based on the book and the producer Valentim de Carvalho, for having marketed the DVD of that documentary.
