Il eût vraiment été plus facile de participer à la reconstitution demandée par le MP. Eussent-ils accepté, l'enquête se serait poursuivie. SY aurait pu reprendre là où l'enquête portugaise s'était arrêtée et recueillir de nouveaux éléments en procédant à une reconstitution.
Les MC, qui ne se sont pas opposés au classement de l'enquête portugaise et d'une certaine façon en ont été contents ("Madeleine"), ont curieusement déclaré espérer que SY convaincrait les Portugais de rouvrir l'affaire, comme s'il s'était agi d'un mouvement d'humeur de la part du parquet. On peut bien sûr argumenter que cela prouve qu'ils veulent qu'on cherche leur fille, mais on peut tout aussi bien argumenter qu'ils ont poussé à l'examen afin d'obtenir l'"exonération" que l'enquête inachevée de la PJ et le rapport du PGR ne leur ont pas accordée, seul moyen d'écarter à jamais la noire auréole du doute.
L'enquête se limite essentiellement à demander à quelqu'un s'il a vu quelqu'un, s'il veut bien faire un dessin et demander à d'autres s'ils ont vu quelqu'un qui ressemble à une ou deux vagues images qui pourraient ressembler à la moitié des hommes du monde occidental.
Le stupéfiant, l'incompréhensible, c'est qu'ils n'aient pas entendu les témoins principaux, pas cherché à savoir pourquoi les MC, moins d'une heure après la disparition de leur fille, dans l'angoisse terrible que tout le monde peut sinon sentir, du moins imaginer, avait éprouvé le besoin d'effacer les appels et messages de son téléphone cellulaire.
Les Britanniques ont préféré chercher un méchant. Avaient-ils le choix ? Le PM leur avait après tout demandé une enquête spécifique et limitée. SY n'enquête pas parce qu'ils se sont dit qu'il fallait le faire, SY est aux ordres. À la question de savoir si les MC et leurs compagnons de voyage étaient sur la liste des personnes d'intérêt qu'aurait pu répondre DCI AR ? No comment était impossible, les médias en auraient fait leurs choux gras. Il n'avait d'autre choix que de répondre "non".
Lord Bradshaw, Lib Dem peer and Vice-Chairman of Thames Valley Police tells Channel 4 News’ Cathy Newman that David Cameron’s intervention into the Madeleine McCann case is a “PR exercise”
The Prime Minister has defended his decision to ask Scotland yard to review the disappearance of Madeleine McCann after an impassioned plea by Katy and Gerry McCann. A Downing Street spokesman said that Mr Cameron and Theresa May had asked the Met to review the evidence in response to a request by the McCann family because of the “exceptional” nature of the case. But some MPs said it could take years and cost millions of pounds to complete, although the money will be taken from the Home Office budget and not Scotland yard’s.
Lord Bradshaw told Channel 4 News: “I am mightily worried about the politicisation of the police force. What appears on the face of it to be fairly innocuous orders, it’s a fairly short step from there to telling the police they have got to investigate this rather than that.” He added: “This did take place in Portugal where the Met’s writ doesn’t run. I doubt if they have got many Portuguese speaking officers. I don’t believe that our police can investigate the Portuguese police force.” As a result, he said: “It becomes a PR exercise.” He said Chief Constables were “desperately worried that their operational independence will be compromised.” The controversy comes just days after Lib Dem peers, including Lord Bradshaw, helped inflict a Lords defeat on the government’s plans for directly elected police commissioners.
Lord Bradshaw’s concerns were echoed by the Labour peer Lord Harris of Haringey, who is a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority. He said he had worries about the way Cameron and the Home Office had behaved. “It raises very big questions about political direction of the police,” said Harris. “Of course it goes without saying that this is a very heart-breaking case, but what we are looking at is a case where the Met has no direct responsibility. “There is clearly an issue about the resources being used and are they in effect saying that the Met is the default investigator for every case in the world involving a British citizen? “It’s not just a question of direct costs, it’s a question of opportunity costs too. Our detective capacity is limited as it is.”
Downing Street and Scotland Yard have both denied the government had ordered the force to investigate. Scotland Yard said Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson had “received a request, which he considered, and took the decision that on balance it was the right thing to do”. Qui a envoyé la requête? The McCanns said in a statement: “The expertise of the Metropolitan Police is renowned and we are reassured by our government’s commitment to the search for Madeleine.” Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell added: “This is exactly what Kate and Gerry have been asking for. They wanted an independent force to examine everything, basically.” En quoi SY est indépendant reste à déterminer !
The official Portuguese inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance ended in July 2008 although private detectives hired by the McCanns have continued the search
13 May 2011- The Guardian
Madeleine McCann case: PM criticised for calling in Metropolitan police
Peers describe David Cameron's intervention in case – after Kate McCann's open letter to Sun – as PR exercise
Two peers who are members of police watchdogs warned that the independence of the Metropolitan police was under threat after the prime minister brought in Scotland Yard to review the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Insiders at the Yard played down any suggestions that their role could quickly lead to any breakthrough in the case, saying that the review, which will cost millions of pounds, could take months or even years.
Labour's Lord Harris, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, accused David Cameron of bowing to Rupert Murdoch's empire, referring to Cameron's decision to call in Scotland Yard after Kate McCann wrote an open letter in the Sun asking for his help.
Lord Bradshaw, the Liberal Democrat peer and vice-chairman of Thames Valley Police Authority, added his voice to the criticism, describing the prime minister's intervention as a PR exercise. "I am mightily worried about the politicisation of the police force. What appears on the face of it to be fairly innocuous orders – it's a fairly short step from there to telling the police they have got to investigate this rather than that," Bradshaw said.
Harris said: "This ... is entirely predictable in terms of the 'pulling power' of News International on Government policy ... However, his [Cameron's] intervention drives a coach and horses through the draft protocol issued by the Home Office designed to preserve the operational independence of the police." Writing on his blog, the peer added: "I can imagine that the senior leadership of the Metropolitan police are not exactly happy about this. It again embroils their officers in a high-profile investigation, where the chances of success are unclear, and which will divert limited investigative resources away from other matters."
In a statement Scotland Yard denied it had been ordered to review the abduction. It said that the commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, received a request which he considered and decided on balance that it was the best course to take. Toujours pas mentionné l'auteur de la requête.. Kerry Needham, the mother of Ben Needham, the British toddler who was abducted on Crete 20 years ago, said: "I am pleased for the McCann family and look forward to the government offering the same support to all the families with children missing abroad."
If the Yard is given access to all the Portuguese documentation the first task will be to have it translated. As part of the review the Met's team – likely to be led by a detective chief inspector within the homicide command – will also examine files held by Leicestershire police, the McCanns' home force, who gave some help to the Portuguese officers. There is also documentation from a number of private investigators hired by the McCanns over the last four years. Although there was irritation among senior figures at Scotland Yard at being bounced into an inquiry, one source predicted that it would be quickly overtaken by a desire to do the best job possible. "It was political. But at the end of the day a child is missing."
The Met has a copy of a review into Madeleine's disappearance completed by Jim Gamble, when he was head of Ceop, the child exploitation and online protection centre. It is understood to recommend that Scotland Yard be brought in to work with the Portuguese police on a review, but his report has been sitting on the home secretary's desk for more than a year until this week with no action taken. Scotland Yard released the letter to Sir Paul from Theresa May on Thursday. In it the home secretary says diplomatic contact has been made with the Portuguese police, who have indicated they would co-operate with Scotland Yard. But she made clear it would be down to the Yard to negotiate the details.
The McCanns repeated their thanks to Cameron, saying the Met's involvement was a positive step.
Lord Tobby Harris' Blog qui semble ne plus exister (le blog)
13 may 2011 - The Prime Minister's instruction to the Metropolitan Police to review the Madeleine McCann case is in breach of the draft protocol that is supposed to protect the operational independence of the police
David Cameron has instructed the Metropolitan Police to review the case of Madeleine McCann. This is in response to an open letter in The Sun and is entirely predictable in terms of the 'pulling power' of News International on Government policy. However, his intervention drives a coach and horses through the draft protocol issued by the Home Office designed to preserve the operational independence of the Police which says: 'The operational independence of the police service, and the decisions made by its operational leadership remain reserved to the Office of Chief Constable and that Office alone.' Whilst no-one doubts the desirability of doing what can sensibly be done to find out what has happened to Madeleine McCann, I can imagine that the senior leadership of the Metropolitan Police are not exactly happy about this. It again embroils their officers in a high profile investigation, where the chances of success are unclear, and which will divert limited investigative resources away from other matters.
En revanche celui-ci existe toujours
May 25,2011 - The Metropolitan Police Authority meets tomorrow at City Hall for the first time since the Prime Minister instructed/encouraged/invited/asked the Commissioner to consider a review of the Madeleine McCann case. And outside there will be a vigil to remember all missing children attended by relatives and campaigners. I am sure that those campaigners and relatives will be asking whether the cases in which they are concerned can be reviewed by the Metropolitan Police in the same way that the Madeleine McCann case is to be. And this is hardly surprising. The Commissioner will no doubt tonight be polishing up his answers as to why he made the operational decision (without being pressurised by a politician, of course) that the McCann case should be reviewed and whether the same factors will apply to the other cases.
He will also no doubt remind the Authority that the Home Office has offered to pay for the costs of the investigation. This is, I am sure, a welcome contribution to the Met’s budget, but will this cover only the additional costs of the investigation or will it cover the costs of the salaries of the detectives engaged in the review and, if so, where will the replacement detectives be found to cover the work that those detectives would otherwise have done?
And was this offer of financial assistance a factor in the operational decision that the Commissioner made to have this review? And, if it was a factor, does the offer to pay guarantee anyone else a Metropolitan Police case review? Might be a nice little earner.
I am sure the Commissioner has also given thought to what will happen after the review has been concluded. Will the review be shared with the McCann’s? And, if not, what is the purpose of the review? I am confident that all will be made clear tomorrow.
27 November 2012
Les MC disent à la Commission Leveson pourquoi ils ont accepté le marché de News International
London’s first chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority said that the decision to review Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in Portugal was an example of political interference.
Lord Harris told Exaro: “It was not immediately apparent that this was a case where there was any remit for the Metropolitan Police. Whatever happened did not happen in London. “There was no particular connection. The McCanns do not live in London. It was simply a decision by the prime minister to ask the Metropolitan Police to review this case.” Cameron is accused of bowing to pressure from executives at News International (NI) (voir article plus bas) in May 2011 to order the Metropolitan Police Service to review Madeleine’s case. Harris said: “That was at a time when the government was pushing through its legislation on ‘police and crime commissioners’, and was making big points that chief constables had to be operationally independent.”
However, the McCann case “appeared very much to be a case where the government was saying we want you to carry out this investigation.” “I have total sympathy for Madeleine McCann and her family. I would like to see this matter sorted out.” “But this was, prima facie, direct political interference in an operational policing decision where there would not have been obviously a policing remit for the Metropolitan Police.” “When I chaired the Metropolitan Police Authority, I was always very clear that, while it was my job in providing political oversight, to ask questions about the resource decisions being taken, it was ultimately their [police officers’] decision to make. I had the right to challenge, but not necessarily to intervene.” Len Duvall, another former chairman of the authority who succeeded Harris in the role, said: “I would support an extension of the investigation provided that the Met police have new leads to follow up. If they do not, it would be a waste of money at this particular time of constraint in public spending.” “If the government asks the [Met] commissioner to investigate matters and provides the money, that would be fine, although there is a danger that sometimes police commissioners can be too accommodating to government demands.”
NI negotiated to serialise a book about Madeleine’s disappearance, authored by her mother, Kate. The serialisation would appear in two of the newspaper group’s titles, The Sun and The Sunday Times. Madeleine’s parents had long campaigned publicly for a review of the case, but they did not participate in NI’s behind-the-scenes lobbying of David Cameron, prime minister, to force him into ordering the review. A spokesman for the parents said that the review had “allowed the police to investigate thoroughly – and follow up – new leads.” Madeleine’s father, Gerry, said in testimony to Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry into newspaper practices, that they agreed to a deal with NI over the book after meetings with its then chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, and her deputy, Will Lewis. Gerry told Leveson: “We had a couple of meetings with the general manager and – Will Lewis and Rebekah Brooks and others – and what swung the decision to serialise was News International committed to backing the campaign and the search for Madeleine.” Quid des milliers de livres payés ? He and Kate had been trying to persuade “successive home secretaries” to order a review. “We felt that having News International helping in that,” he continued, “is what tipped the balance.”
Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents police constables, sergeants and inspectors, said: “It is very much for the investigating officers in the case to decide when, and if, the investigation should continue now in its present form, or whether it should be scaled back or continued.” “They are the ones who are fully aware of all the facts, and operational decision should not be impinged upon by others who perhaps are unaware of the subtle dynamics in which they are working.” Mais c'est quand même Mark Rowley, qui connaît mal le dossier, qui s'exprime !
John O’Connor, former commander of the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “It is worth renewing if they have viable lines of enquiry still open.” “It would be criminal to stop the investigation if they still have not sorted out all the lines of inquiry.”
27 November 2012
By David Hencke, Frederika Whitehead and Hui Shan Khoo - Exaro News
Prime minister David Cameron is accused of bowing to pressure from News International executives to order British police to investigate Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in Portugal. Madeleine was three when she went missing in 2007.
A former chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), Lord Harris, condemned what he believes was “direct political interference” in the case. Harris told Exaro that Cameron was wrong to intervene in an “operational policing decision” by asking the Metropolitan Police Service to review the case. British police had no jurisdiction in Portugal, he said. The issue is set to return to haunt Cameron with the publication on Thursday of Lord Justice Leveson’s report on his inquiry into newspaper practices. It is one of many issues explored by the inquiry. Harris said that Cameron requested the Met review following pressure from the newspaper group’s top-selling tabloid, The Sun, “and goodness knows what else.” (Voir article ci-dessus)
Police sources question why Cameron was willing to set aside £2.5 million for the review from the Home Office’s contingency fund and to see the Met tie up many specialist officers on the case. The £2.5 million will be spent by next month, say Whitehall sources, but the government is prepared to commit more money to the review – ‘Operation Grange’. Harris said: “It is not just a matter of compensating for officer time. There is only a limited number of senior detectives, experienced detectives. Obviously, someone investigating this cannot be investigating something else.”
A Labour peer, Harris was the MPA’s first chairman, from 2000 until 2004. Exaro has established that Leveson’s inquiry team shares concerns about the lobbying behind the scenes by News International (NI) over the review – pressure that went beyond The Sun’s public campaign. Rupert Murdoch, who controls NI’s parent company, News Corporation, told Leveson during his testimony: “I have never asked a prime minister for anything.” However, in the McCann case, Murdoch’s executives did ask Cameron for something. Exaro has learnt that Leveson’s team was given a confidential briefing about the episode by a source familiar with NI’s private lobbying for the review. The briefing led to some telling questions by Robert Jay, counsel to the inquiry, during the hearings. However, the exchanges were overlooked in coverage of the inquiry amid many other disclosures.
Jay suggested to Rebekah Brooks, former NI chief executive, that it was “a case study… in the exercise of power”.
12h53 - Les questions portent maintenant sur la sérialisation des mémoires des McCann dans le Sunday Times. Brooks dit qu'elle s'entend très bien avec eux. Elle se souvient que Gerry McCann avait demandé unr révision de l'affaire par la police britannique. Bien sûr, il y en a eu une. Jay tente de déterminer l'impact de Brooks sur cette question. Elle dit qu'elle n'en a pas parlé, mais que Tom Newton-Dunn - l'éditeur politique du Sun - ou Dominic Mohan - son éditeur - en aurait parlé au No 10 ou au Home Office. "Le Sun voulait un résultat immédiat", poursuit Jay. En un mot il y eut un ultimatum - une lettre à la une du journal demandant une révision. La Home Office Secretary a été informée que, si elle était d'accord avec la révision, la lettre ne paraîtrait pas à la une, dit Jay. Brooks ne s'en souvient pas - ah oui, la défense classique de l'enquête Leveson. "Je suis très certaine qu'il n'y aura pas eu de menace", poursuit-elle. Mais il a été laissé aux deux éditeurs le soin de "exécuter la campagne". Elle nie toute affirmation selon laquelle elle est intervenue directement auprès du Premier ministre. "Je n'ai pas dit au Premier ministre que je mettrais Theresa May à la une du Sun chaque jour à moins que vous ... je n'ai pas dit cela", dit-elle. Brooks semble maintenant en avoir marre.Speaking to Exaro, the source who briefed the Leveson team said: “Downing Street was told that The Sun was going to demand a review, and that the prime minister should agree to the request because The Sun had supported Cameron in the election.” “A message was relayed via News International to Number 10 that unless the prime minister ordered the review by the Metropolitan Police, The Sun would put the home secretary, Theresa May, on the front page every day until The Sun’s demands were met.”
12:57 - Leveson intervient, il pose une question beaucoup plus générale. "Je faisais certainement partie d'une stratégie plus vaste", déclare Brooks, heureuse de se vautrer dans l'herbe longue de la nature générale de la question. Elle remplace "menace" par "persuasion" après avoir été invitée à le faire par Leveson. "Per-sua-sion," dit Léveson solennellement et pensivement, roulant le mot dans sa bouche comme du bon vin. Jay espérait évidemment qu'il s'agissait d'une étude de cas sur "l'exercice du pouvoir". Brooks dit que ce n'était pas une longue campagne et que ce n'était pas un gros problème. "Cela n'a pas pris longtemps, car le gouvernement a cédé à votre pression", dit Jay, ne semblant absolument pas convaincu par ses arguments. Il se retire, essayant d'amener Brooks à admettre que ce genre de chose n'est "jamais sans équivoque". Elle ne l'admettra même pas. Jay l'invite donc à dire que ce sont les lecteurs, encore une fois, qui étaient derrière tout ça. Oh oui, dit Brooks, maintenant très contente d'elle-même. Absolument.
A source close to the McCann family confirmed that two senior NI executives met two of Cameron’s closest aides in May 2011 to make the demands. NI had negotiated to serialise a book about Madeleine’s disappearance, authored by her mother, Kate. Madeleine’s parents had long campaigned publicly for a review (Voir article ci-dessus). They could not be reached directly for comment, but a spokesman for them said that they were “very grateful” for the continued funding of the review. The NI executives told Cameron’s aides that the prime minister must order a review, the second source confirmed. Otherwise, said the executives, The Sun would publish an open letter from Madeleine’s parents on the front page pleading for one. They also threatened that The Sun would put May on the front page every day until the demand was met.
Cameron told Leveson: “I do not remember any sort of specific pressure being put on me.” Voir ci-après
27 novembre 2012