Interview Alípio Ribeiro
Question: Do you consider or not that
there was a precipitation in establishing Kate and Gary (the
journalist doesn’t say Gerry) as arguidos (suspects) in this
process?
Alípio Ribeiro: In this moment, at
this point in time, with the experience that I have of the magistracy
from the Public Ministry… even, as you may know the constitution of
arguidos in the processes are not… the director of the Judiciary,
doesn’t give orders, constitute or not constitute, and he cannot.
…maybe, there should have been another assessment. For that I have
no doubts.
Q: There was some precipitation
then?
AR : There was some
precipitation. (asserting)
02.02.2008 - Público :
PJ’s National Director, Alípio
Ribeiro, considered yesterday that there was “hastiness” on
making Kate and Gerry McCann arguidos on the disappearance process,
in the Algarve, of their daughter Madeleine.
In an interview to the program “Diga
Lá Excelência”, a Rádio Renascença and PÚBLICO cooperation,
which will be published tomorrow, Alípio Ribeiro also assured that
the Ministry of Justice never gave him any instructions regarding the
investigation of any criminal process, thus denying last nights
accusations made by the Head of the Lawyers Bar. Alípio Ribeiro
rejected all the accusations made by Marinho Pinto about the
dependency of criminal police on political power.
He said he agrees that the PJ would
organically depend on the Government, as it happens with the other
police forces, but he assured there is no political interference in
the orientation given to investigations.
After having denounced last week the
existence of corruption on the State’s hierarchy, the newly elected
Head of the Lawyers Bar mentioned yesterday serious problems in
Portugal’s criminal investigation, making harsh criticism of the
PJ. On a interview on RTP, Marinho Pinto said some of the arrests
made in the Casa Pia process aimed to “decapitate the Socialist
Party, the PJ being responsible for these acts”.
