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Investigation: CM reveals images of the dogs’ work

Soft toy found by death smell

The cadaver odour on Madeleine McCann’s soft toy was proved when the sniffer dog was able to find it while hidden inside a closed cupboard.

The process of the toy’s marking is demonstrated by the images from the investigation’s videos that are published by Correio da Manhã, as well as the moment when the springer spaniel that is trained to detect the smell of death, changes its behaviour next to a piece of Kate’s clothing.

The cadaver odour on the soft toy was marked inside the residence that was being occupied by the McCanns in July 2007, but the experts repeated the diligence in a scenario outside the house, where the dog, ‘Eddie’, gave signal again.

Confronted with the indicia that resulted from the inspection done by the dogs, which are widely used in the United Kingdom – English expert Martin Grime asserts that in over two hundred searches, the sniffer dogs have never marked a false positive – the Polícia Judiciária questioned Kate and Gerry and made them arguidos. The authorities were forced to admit a possible involvement of the McCann couple in their daughter’s disappearance and to confront them with elements that could result in incrimination.

Kate McCann, who after Maddie’s disappearance was accompanied everywhere – and in a visible manner – of her daughter’s favourite toy, did not deny the fact that two pieces of her clothing and her daughter’s soft toy had been marked by the English dog that is trained to detect cadaver odour and justified the fact with her profession: she alleged that as a doctor at the Health Centre in Leicester she attended six death situations during the period immediately before her vacation time in Portugal.

Manipulated evidence

The soft toy was found on the bed where Maddie allegedly slept on the night that she went missing, but on the bed, no cadaver odour was detected, contrary to the soft toy. This fact led the Polícia Judiciária to believe that the crime scene was manipulated in order to better justify the abduction theory that is sustained by the McCanns and their friends.

In one of the investigation reports the inspectors write that the soft toy was placed on the bed’s end in a moment that was posterior to the disappearance. “There was an intentional modification, in an attempt to take advantage for the simulation of the abduction scenario”, the process reads.

McCann devalue dogs

Kate and Gerry McCann continue to defend that Madeleine McCann was abducted on the evening of the 3rd of May 2007, in the Algarve, and they devalue the indicia that was collected during the investigation – mainly the traces that were detected by the sniffer dogs.

“The frailty of these dogs was proved in a study that was carried out in the USA”, the McCanns stated in an interview to ‘Expresso’, reiterating the hope of finding their daughter alive: “We want to find her alive, but if she’s dead we want to know. There is nothing in the process to indicate that something bad has happened to her.”

Kate and Gerry say that they “firmly” believe that Maddie was abducted by a man and they criticise the former case coordinator, Gonçalo Amaral, who defends the homicide theory. “His behaviour has been a disgrace”, they said, considering that the success of his book is a case of “illicit enrichment”.

“Suing the McCanns is a possibility to consider” (Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of the Madeleine McCann case)

Correio da Manhã – How do you react to the McCanns’ statement that your behaviour is a disgrace?

Gonçalo Amaral – That happens in the sequence of a campaign, it’s normal for that hostility to exist. Concerning that type of accusations, they have to be pondered…

- Does that mean that you consider the possibility of suing the McCanns?

- Yes, it’s a possibility to consider.

- How do you interpret the fact that the McCanns devalue the dogs’ work?

- It’s a form of defence. To them, we are all incompetent, but that is not how the dogs are seen in the United Kingdom, where they are widely used and with success.

- The McCanns say that the English police are more experienced in abductions…

- They can present a formal complaint about their daughter’s abduction to the English police instead of using private detectives.

Details

200 searches – Expert Martin Grime asserts that in over 200 searches the sniffer dogs have never failed.

Vehicle – ‘Eddie’ and ‘Keela’, which are trained to detect the odour of human cadavers and blood, marked the car that was rented by the McCann couple among ten vehicles.

Robert Murat – The cars that were used by Murat, the first to become an arguido, were inspected by the dogs but nothing was detected.

Decisive – The investigation changed its course after the traces that were detected by the dogs.

Notes

16 months: Missing – Madeleine McCann disappeared 16 months ago from the Ocean Club resort, in Praia da Luz, Algarve, where she was spending holidays with her parents and her twin siblings. It was on the evening of May 3, 2007.

Detectives: 1.2 million – Kate and Gerry McCann, Maddie’s parents, guarantee that they have already spent 1.2 million euros from the FindMadeleine Fund, with the private investigation into their daughter’s disappearance.

Investigation: Case archived – In July, the Public Ministry archived the investigation into Maddie’s disappearance. The abduction theory was dismissed and homicide was pointed out as more likely.

source: Correio da Manhã, 07.09.2008 (http://www.correiomanha.pt/Noticia....ontentid=1927CC62-D478-40BF-BB91-D661A6ED2A11)

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Investigation: Images of the dogs’ inspection inside the apartment

Dogs mark trail next to the window

Animals detected cadaver odour and human blood traces in the living room, behind the sofa

by: Ana Luísa Nascimento / Eduardo Dâmaso

When trainer Martin Grime approached house 5A of the Ocean Club resort, the sniffer dog that is trained to detect cadaver odour “immediately changed” and as soon as he was released, “he entered the apartment with above average interest”.

This information is included in the report by the English expert who accompanied the dogs’ inspection of the apartment where Madeleine disappeared from on the evening of May 3, 2007, images of which are published by CM. The diligence culminated in the coincidental action of the British dogs: both ‘Eddie’, that is trained to detect cadaver odour, and ‘Keela’, that is trained to find traces of human blood, marked the area behind the sofa, in the living room, next to the apartment’s side window. The videos show the dogs jumping over the sofa and immobilizing between the sofa and the wall, barking until the piece of furniture was pushed away from the wall. To the Polícia Judiciária, this fact, which is reported in one of the investigation’s intercalary reports, “doubtlessly” proves that the sofa was pushed against the wall after the little girl’s death. On the other hand, taking into account that very few indicia were collected from this piece of furniture, which was positioned on the same spot where the dogs gave their signal, the PJ admits the possibility that it was “subject to washing” in order to eliminate possible traces.

Odour in the bedroom

Another area of the apartment that the sniffer dog ‘Eddie’ focused on was the McCanns’ bedroom, in a corner next to the wardrobe. In this case, the investigation’s video shows the dog immobilizing itself inside the wardrobe. In the room where the little girl allegedly slept when she disappeared, nothing was detected, except the soft toy, which the investigators believe was placed on the bed’s end afterwards, in order to sustain the abduction theory.

In the Polícia Judiciária’s final report, the inspectors underline that the British dogs only marked the detection in locations and on objects that were related to the McCanns: apart from the apartment and its patio, the vehicle that was used by Kate and Gerry (rented 24 days after the disappearance), two pieces of clothing that belong to Kate and Maddie’s soft toy were marked.

On the contrary, in the apartments that were occupied by the couple’s friends in Praia da Luz and in all the vehicles that were used by Robert Murat, the first person who was made an arguido, nothing was detected by the dogs, as well as in the house that was occupied by the McCanns afterwards.

Strong indicia for Amaral

Gonçalo Amaral, the former coordinator of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine, has defended that there was “sufficient indicia” to accuse the McCanns.

The inspector, who has already stated publicly that he was convinced that the process would be archived from the moment that he was removed from the investigation, believes that the parents could have been accused of concealment of a cadaver and simulating a crime. “With another Public Ministry, I admit that there could have been another decision”, he told CM when the archiving dispatch of the case was known.

Just like our newspaper reported, in prosecutor Magalhães e Menezes’ dispatch the Public Ministry itself discards the abduction theory, admits that the most likely possibility is homicide, but clears Maddie’s parents, while concluding that there was neglect from Kate and Gerry. The prosecutor argued that the McCanns had neither time nor means to conceal the body, given the fact that they had been in Portugal for only a few days. Despite this conclusion, the Public Ministry compiled a list of questions that remain unexplained, namely why the surveillance procedures were changed that night and how the twins did not wake up in the midst of the confusion.

Kate’s diary was not valued as evidence

Kate’s diary, which was considered as fundamental by the investigators because it revealed Madeleine’s mother’s profile, led the PJ to England to apprehend it but was never validated as evidence. The document, which Kate started writing following a psychiatrist’s advice, was discovered by the police in the Algarve apartment and was initially photocopied and analyzed. But it was only in April that the police was granted permission to formally apprehend the original document.

Dogs and tests render investigation expensive

The hundreds of forensic tests that were carried out in the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance cost the State thousands of euros. In the last volume of the process alone, there are five invoices that refer to DNA tests and analyzes on biological residues, all of them over twenty thousand euros. The total of expenses with forensic tests in Portugal and England is of approximately 145 thousand euros. The daily expense of the British dogs cost one thousand euros and the travel expenses cost over 2700.

Numbers from the case

443 searches were carried out by the Polícia Judiciária in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

300 policemen from various security forces were mobilized after the disappearance of the little girl from the Ocean Club resort, in Praia da Luz.

130 elements of the Polícia Judiciária, from several directories over the country – mainly Lisbon and the Algarve – were detached for this investigation.

700 persons were heard as witnesses by the authorities during the inquiry, 112 of them being staff of the Ocean Club resort.

2000 diligences were counted by the Public Ministry during the investigation.

3 persons were made arguidos: Robert Murat, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann.

Details

Manipulated evidence – The PJ believes that the McCanns changed the position of objects inside the apartment, manipulating the location in order to justify the abduction theory. The examples are the sofa, which was pushed against the wall, and the soft toy, which was placed on the little girl’s bed afterwards.

English under control – Kate and Gerry McCann kept the British journalists under control. In order not to be criticized, they offered photo shoots during their morning strolls in the Algarve – apparently routine but previously arranged, as revealed by Kate’s notes.

Distorted information – The PJ says that the information that was collected with the McCanns and their friends was “worked upon” in order to strengthen the abduction theory. The authorities conclude that “everyone lies” on the issue of the surveillance of the children, explaining that “fundamental” information was “distorted”.

Lack of credibility – The witness statement from Jane Tanner, who said that she saw someone crossing the street carrying a child, was not considered credible by the PJ, which doesn’t understand how the McCanns’ friend did not “act immediately” when she saw someone walking away from Maddie’s apartment.

No trace: 16 months without clues - Madeleine McCann disappeared from the Ocean Club, in the Algarve, on the evening of May 3, 2007. The little English girl was three years old and was on holidays with her parents and siblings. She was never seen again

Theories: Abduction and homicide – Abduction was the hypothesis that was pointed out after the disappearance of Maddie, and to this day it’s the theory that is defended by the parents. But the dogs’ work led the authorities to believe in homicide

Kate: Political pressures – Kate’s notes after her daughter’s disappearance reveal that the McCanns were in contact with the English prime minister, who they asked to pressure Portugal


source: Correio da Manhã, 08.09.2008, paper edition

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Published 08:29 h. 11-09-2008

“The McCanns hid the body on the beach”


Gonçalo Amaral was the first inspector who coordinated the search for Madeleine, the girl who disappeared in Praia da Luz on 3rd May 2007. In October 2007, after having considered the girl’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann, arguidos, of having hidden their daughter’s body, he was removed from the investigation. In July 2008 he decided to leave the police force in order to narrate his version of the events. The result is Maddie, the truth if the lie, published by Esquilo.

Q: According to you, what happened on 3rd May 2007?

R: Madeleine McCann died in an accidental manner, upon falling behind the sofa in the apartment. This sofa had been moved when the disappearance was announced. I think that someone found the body, hid it, cleaned everything and moved the sofa against the window.


Q: Who?

R:Madeleine’s parents


Q:Upon what basis do you make this statement?

R:The dogs provided by the British police discovered cadaver odour behind the sofa and in the parents’ room. Also on the little girl’s cuddly toy, on Kate’s clothing and in the cupboard and on the keys of the car that they hired later.


Q: How did they hide the body without anyone seeing them?

R: They were seen! An Irish family saw a man pass carrying a child at 22.05, heading for the beach. They later identified the child as Maddie. But they did not realise that the man they had seen was Gerry until they saw the McCanns arriving in the UK on TV.

Q: What happened?

R: The manner in which Gerry was carrying one of the twins and his way of walking were identical to what they had seen that night.

Q: But, 22.05 was when Kate said that the girl had disappeared and Gerry was with her...

R:The times are not clear. The only thing that is sure is that the McCanns contacted the National Guard at 22.40. So, before then, Gerry had time to hide the girl’s body on the beach.

Q: And nobody saw the body there? During the night they were already searching for the girl.

R: Yes, but they were looking for a living child, not a dead child. Furthermore, I am not saying that the body remained on the beach all of the time. It is clear that the first thing was to remove the body from the apartment. Afterwards they could find other solutions to hide it. Witnesses from the National Guard said that they had seen the McCanns go towards the beach twice very early in the morning. They surely found a better place quickly.


Q: How do you explain that the dogs found cadaver odour in the McCanns’ car? They rented it 24 days after the disappearance.

R: I was investigating that when I was removed from the case.

Q: Do you think that they preserved the body in a freezer for all of this time? Where?

R: There is a journalist who claims to have seen the McCanns enter an apartment block near to the beach, during the month of June.... But we do not know what floor of the block they went to. It is a building for tourists and many people go in and out.

Q: And why did the dogs not detect cadaver odour on Gerry McCann’s clothing?

R: Do you know what clothing Gerry was wearing that night? I still do not know.

Q: Is there any more information that hasn’t been provided?

R: We asked the British police for reports about the couple, whether they had a nanny in the UK, if they had any problems at work...we never received these replies.

Q: Why not? Do you believe the McCanns have high level connections?

R: I don’t know. I do not want to comment on this, but it is curious how the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, showed his support for the couple even after they were declared arguidos.

http://www.hola.com/actualidad/20080911656/entrevista/goncalo/amaral/1/

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"The McCanns are parents who have lost their daughter, whom they loved very much and I understand their pain and anguish"

The ex inspector from the PJ presents “Maddie, the truth of the lie”, an account of the investigation with he most media coverage of recent times.

Gonçalo Amaral, ex inspector from the PJ coordinated the investigation into the “Maddie case” for the first five months. Now he has presented a book about his experience in the case. 14 months after the disappearance, the investigation was archived with revealing the main question: Where is Maddie?


“Maddie, the truth of the lie”. That is the title that Gonçalo Amaral, ex inspector of the PJ and coordinator of the investigation into the “Madeleine case” during the first five months, has chosen in order to reveal how the search for the little Madeleine McCann who disappeared on 3rd May 2007 from the Algarve, was carried out.

The text summarises the doubts, facts and the questions of an unprecedented investigation. 14 months after the disappearance all suspicion has been lifted from Kate and Gerry McCann, the child’s parents, and the case has been filed, but little Madeleine is still missing.

Gonçalo is a tall and corpulent man, as we could imagine of a police officer who has worked against crime for more than 25 years and who, for the first five months bore the weight of the investigation with most media coverage of recent times, the disappearance of Maddie. Yesterday Gonçalo presented the book in Madrid, surrounded by a large media expectation and made room in his agenda to talk to Hola.com.


Q: The disappearance of Madeleine has been one of the most followed cases followed by the press in the world. Now you have decided to publish a book about the investigation, was there anything left to say?

I decided to write the book to defend our dignity. Part of the British press and even the McCann couple have defamed my name and that of the PJ in Portugal, I requested authorisation to speak but I never obtained it, that is why I decided to write the book.

Q: What relationship do you have with the McCann couple?

I was the head of the department investigating the case within the PJ in Portimao. I was responsible for organising the work of the investigation and ensuring myself of following the direction of the investigation, and therefore I was with the couple once or twice as well as with all the witnesses and with inspectors working on the case. I do not want to discuss publicly with the McCanns, they have lost a daughter. Neither I, nor the parents are of interest, the only victim here is the little girl.

Q: We are obliged to ask this question. Do you know what happened to Madeleine?
Madeleine died in the apartment on the night of the disappearance. It is complicated to be sure how she died because there are many indications. What is certain is that the girl woke up, the girl has disappeared and that behind the sofa there was cadaver odour and human blood.

Q: You state that the girl fell from the sofa, they found her and that her father took her to the beach.

Yes. There are witnesses who claim to be 80% sure that Madeleine’s father was the person who was carrying a covered child towards the beach, in the apartment cadaver odour and the girl’s blood were found as well as in a car rented 23 days later. In the apartment there was a sofa next to a window, ata aheight of three or four metres from street level and which did not close propoerly. The sofa appears to have been pushed towards the wall again, as can be seen by the photos. What could have happened? That the girl woke up during the night, went to the window in order to look towards the restaurant where her parents were dining and could have fallen.

Q: The book says that the witness statements from the couple and theri friends are contradictory. Is it not normal for there to be some confusion during these moments of tension?

There are contradictions that are not possible in material terms. For example, the mother speaks of an open window (when she discovered the little girl to be missing) and I wonder how it can be that the witnesses responsible for checking on the children, who passed by the window, at a distance of only two metres, and who entered Madeleine’s room, said that they saw the window was closed. If events had occurred according to the first version, the window should already have been open. There are many contradictions that lack truth. If one reads a summary of the movements told by these persons, there are things that are not certain.

Q: How is it possible that the first examination of the site, carried out by the technical police, was not sufficiently rigorous in order to provide conclusive evidence?

Unfortunately this is something that can happen. The first police officers who went to the site thought of a possible abduction as well as theft, they did not find any door or window that had been forced, they searched for finger prints from people unrelated to the apartment and witness statements from people who could have seen something in the street. It did not occur to them that the parents could have had anything to do with the girl’s disappearance.

Q: Did you think from the beginning that this was not an abduction?

It is not normal that someone should insist and be determined that this was an abduction without considering another option. When a child disappears, one thinks she could have escaped and many other hypotheses. And the contradictions from all of them, lead one to think that something totally different happened. We worked on the abduction theory for two or three months and then we began to think about the theory of death.

Q: The police continued maintaining the abduction theory after considering that the girl was dead. Why?

The parents spoke of the abduction as a necessity. There was no security for the children because if there had been Maddie would not have disappeared. And the abduction theory was dropped when it was proved that it could not be based upon the open window.

Q: In the book you state that even Kate, the young girl’s mother, at one moment assumed the death of her daughter. Let’s talk of this moment.

Yes. As is mentioned in the files, once the entire world had been upturned with the search for the child, Kate received a disturbing email from a woman who claimed to have powers. This woman said that she had had a premonition according to which, Madeleine’s body was in a sewer in Praia da Luz. At that moment, Kate believed in the premonition and a search for the little girl was made. Kate began to act as though she were assuming that Madeleine had died; she even contracted a former South African Colonel who could locate the girl’s body using a machine that searches for atoms. The man participated in the search, but without success. There were many psychics who wanted to contribute. However, at that time Kate returned to her thesis that the small girl had been abducted.

Q: More polemic evidence. The dogs detected cadaver and blood odour, bu these conclusions were not admitted as official evidence. What credibility does dog tracking have in police investigations?

In England it has much legal value, as in the States, but not in Portugal. Its credibility has been undervalued, it has been said that dogs obey the trainer’s voice. But they found cadaver odour and human blood that coincided with Madeleine’s blood and although it was not admitted as material evidence, it did serve as information for the police.

Q: The consideration of Kate and Gerry as suspects was very polemic. However, in your book you say that the status of “arguido” brings with it the right to silence, or that of non self-incrimination, something advantageous for any person being interrogated. The press understood it as an attack.

They were considered “arguidos” on the moment when the evidence indicated that they Could have committed a crime. “Arguido” is not the same status as “accused” in Spain, it is a status that provides the rights to defend oneself and remain silent, and often serves in order to exculpate them later. If one speaks as a witness, one is obliged to speak of everything that happened, and therefore there are things that could make you culpable.

Q: The media has placed an important role in this case. Has all this media expectation helped to find the girl?

No. In my opinion, justice is done in silence. And with all this noise, it is very difficult. I say : who is interested in all this publicity? All the “sightings” of the girl around the world? Does this help to keep her alive? No, they would kill her. And the parents do now want their daughter to die, so why do they publicize the sightings? Because they know the girl is dead. Otherwise they would not do it.

Q: But, how can parents maintain the abduction theory of their small daughter, if they know what really happened to her?

It is a way of moving forward, of surviving. It is like a snowball that keeps growing in size. With everything that they have stirred, with the financial fund they created, how can they step backwards and say that she died? It is not a case of coldness but of survival. But the police investigation was also centred from the start on the principle that Maddie was alive. In effect, and all those sightings that were made public were not beneficial to the girl. If she were alive and not dead as we think, what would all this publicity do to the girl?

Q: How did you experience the search for Maddie? Has this case affected you?

There have been some very difficult moments. My family has suffered much, my wife and my daughters… I kept them away from the press and concentrated on the case. In September, when school started, they left our city for Portimao in order to be closer to me but they had to go back. The press followed us and tried to find out where we lived. It is only now that it is known who they were, now that I have decided to publish the book.

Q: Can we learn anything from such a tragic case as the story or poor Maddie?

Unfortunately for the girl, her case has served as a study case. Before I left the police force, on 30th July of this year, a commission had already been set up in order to establish a better way of dealing with this kind of situation.

Q: You have entitled the book “The truth of the lie”. What is the big lie in this story?

The truth of the lie is what we call the material truth, the pure truth. The truths are the analyses, the procedures and the mechanism that are covered in the case. The lie, or in other words, the lack of truth, is that the girl is alive. The girl is dead. The McCanns are parents who have lost a daughter whom they surely loved very much and I understand their pain and anguish.

Q: Do you relieve that we will know what happened to Maddie one day? Will we get to know the truth?

Yes. There were 9 people in this Holiday Group. Maybe they do not know that the girl is dead, but they could have received instructions about what to say, such as “you went to the room and you saw the girl”, however they know that this is not true. By that means the case could be re-opened; one day the full truth could be known.

The Expresso interview revisited by Gonçalo Amaral

“It is false, wrong, most of the replies are not true”

by: Hernâni Carvalho

Nobody is searching for Madeleine McCann anymore, but within the same week, an English newspaper revealed five minutes of the dogs’ work looking for Maddie, the McCanns spoke to ‘Expresso’ and Gonçalo Amaral spoke in an exclusive to ‘tvmais’. It doesn’t look like the same process anymore

The former PJ coordinator who directed the Maddie case, Gonçalo Amaral, is more accessible. He received ‘tvmais’ in his home in Portimão and he accepted to read the interview that the McCanns gave to ‘Expresso’ with us. He accepted to reply to the same questions, but he gave very different answers. “It is false, wrong, most of the replies are not true”, was what we heard him say most often. Concerning his relationship with the couple, he says they knew each other well. “They knew who I was and they knew what my functions were.” Gonçalo Amaral left a challenge for Maddie’s mother: “The lady should explain herself better. When she said that my personal behaviour was a disgrace, was she referring to me as a father?”.

Concerning the couple’s accusations, the former coordinator said very little. “I don’t know the McCanns’ concept of illicit enrichment. I wrote the book to defend my reputation, my dignity and that of all those who worked with me. I intend to continue to contribute to the discovery of the truth. Not everything one does in life is done for money. The statements from that couple seem to appear following an organized campaign of defamation that targeted me during and after the investigation. It will be interesting to discover who is actually responsible for that campaign.”

During the same week in which the McCanns spoke to ‘Expresso’, the PJ’s officer who was responsible for the Maddie case, Gonçalo Amaral, answered the same questions, in an exclusive for ‘tvmais’. The result could hardly be more different.

What impression did you get from the process? Were you shocked over its contents?
(The McCanns mentioned entire volumes of investigations about them.)
It is false. There were not those volumes about the McCanns that they mention in interviews.

Don’t you think that everything that was possible to do, was done? The investigation reached Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, Morocco…
(The couple refers examples of what went wrong with the PJ in Morocco.)
It is false. The PJ never went to Morocco because of Maddie. The sightings were always treated by the local authorities.

If Madeleine had disappeared in England, would things have been different?
(Gerry says yes because the English police is more experienced in abductions.)
Why did the McCanns never want to present a formal complaint about the girl’s disappearance with the English authorities? They have the legal competence to receive the disappearance of any British subject! Maybe the couple would have to explain the circumstances under which the little girl disappeared… Why do the McCanns insist in hiring private detectives? And by the way, has the English police already found the girl that disappeared in England, on the same day as Maddie?

If you have an important clue concerning Madeleine’s whereabouts, will you transmit it to the Portuguese police?
(Gerry said that only when the couple feels that they cannot advance any further on their own.)
I don’t know whether they will do it. But in order not to feel alone, they should contact the English police…

Do you trust the Portuguese authorities, after having been considered suspects?
(Gerry explains that the couple was only investigated months after the disappearance and that once the suspicion is installed, they cannot prove their innocence.)
The McCanns never trusted the Portuguese police. That is the feeling that I have. And it seems that they don’t trust the English police, either.

Didn’t you find it strange that the dogs found traces of blood in your room and in your rental car…
(Gerry states that “No blood was found!”)
What is strange is the blood and the odour that were marked by the dogs in a car that was rented 23 days after the girl’s disappearance.

40 apartments were investigated and the dogs only marked yours. Ten cars and they only reacted to yours.
(Gerry states that the dogs failed a test in the USA.)
The dogs only marked locations and items that were used by the McCanns, which is an indicium that cannot be simply erased and which must be clarified.

Were you surprised when you were made arguidos?
(Gerry says that the media spent weeks saying that the McCanns were suspects)
They knew it already. When they were summoned, Mrs Kate reacted aggressively and screamed at the inspector who notified them. There is a detailed report of that in the process, written by the person who notified them. The worries that were expressed by Mrs Kate at that moment are very curious.

Do you investigate information that point towards Madeleine’s death?
(We want to find her alive, Kate stated.)
The McCanns were the first who gave a signal that the little girl could be dead. They hired a South-African expert who finds dead missing people and it was Mrs Kate who gave us an email that mentioned that the little girl was dead.

Do you still believe that she’s alive?
(Kate: “There are great possibilities that she is alive, isn’t it? There is nothing in the process to indicate that something bad has happened to her…”)
Maddie is dead. The Public Ministry went further and objectively mentioned homicide.

But there are no indicia that she has been abducted, either.
(Kate refers that Jane Tunner [sic] and the Smith couple saw a man with a little girl.)
The only indicia with credibility result from the depositions that were given by the Smith family. They speak about a man carrying an inanimate child on the way to the beach area.

The PJ discredits Jane Tanner’s testimony. They say that when she saw said man with the child, you [Gerry] were chatting nearby and it was impossible that you hadn’t seen him as well…
(Gerry says he didn’t see because his back was turned while he was chatting with a friend.)
Jane Tanner’s testimony has evolved in an inverse manner to human mentality. Initially, she had seen only a person at a distance. As time went by, she started remembering details in such a manner that at the end, she even remembered the texture of the clothing that the man and the little girl were wearing. That was how she pointed at Murat. The only deposition that is credible is the Smiths’.

Later on, that family stated that the man they saw was Gerry…
(Gerry says that he was at the restaurant at that time.)
The time at which the alarm of the disappearance was raised was never confirmed. The time that was reported by the Smiths always places Mr Gerry away from the dinner table. I know that the Smiths exist since the 16th of May, 2007. The McCanns probably do, as well. Why did they never wish to mention them in public. Whoever took the little girl on that evening did in fact cross ways with the Smiths.

Was it a coincidence that you were made arguidos on one day and returned home the next day?
(“The PJ knew about our return.”)
It was no coincidence. We knew about the couple’s departure since the day that the dogs started working.

Were you afraid of being arrested?
(Obviously… It was scary)
False. They always knew that the crimes that were at issue, according to the Portuguese law, would not give origin to a detention unless caught in flagrant. “Concealment of a cadaver and simulation of a crime”.

Being in England, you would not be extradited anymore.
(Gerry: “It was better not to be in Portugal at that point in time.”)
Theoretically, extradition is an instrument of international judiciary cooperation…

Why?
(Kate: “Because of the hostile environment.”)
They were made arguidos in order to have more rights. They used them well.

Why did Kate refuse to answer questions during your interrogation, that Gerry accepted to clarify the next day?
(Kate says she was advised by the lawyer not to reply, Gerry says he was advised as well but preferred to disobey.)
Wrong. The questioning was not the same. There were questions that were asked from Kate, to which only she could answer. Those questions remain unanswered until this day.

Why didn’t you authorize the police to see the messages that you sent and received on your mobile phone on the eve of Maddie’s disappearance.
(Gerry: “Nobody asked to see my messages.”)
False. The couple signed an authorization and a document was made with the reading of their telephones’ registry. When we read those registries, we detected calls that had been erased and other curiosities that were noted in the process files…

The chief inspector in the case, Tavares de Almeida, writes a report where he says that your friends lied to save you, that Maddie died in the living room, and that you hid the body.
(Gerry: “Ask the police why they saw us as suspects.”)
Wrong, just read the process.

The majority of crimes where the victims are children are committed by the parents.
(Gerry: “Not in the case of abducted children.”)
And even in abduction cases, very often, they are related to the parents.

...........................................................................................

The “Sun” newspaper reduced 3 hours into 5 minutes

The dogs that are trained to detect cadaver and human blood odour were proposed to carry out searches in Praia da Luz by the English policemen themselves. Expert Mark Harrison suggested the use of British dogs that are experts in detecting cadavers, in a report that he sent to the English police. The searches that Keela and Eddie carried out in Praia da Luz were taped on video. Tvmais has already accessed the three hours of images. British newspaper “Sun” reduced them into five minutes, changed the recording order and omitted parts of the dog handler’s explanations. Eddie and Keela are sniffer dogs of the springer spaniel breed, especially trained to detect cadaver and human blood odour. In the video, Eddie (that detects cadaver odour) can be seen in a garage where ten cars are parked. The dog runs towards the Renault Mégane [sic] that the McCanns rented 23 days after their daughter’s disappearance. Keela (trained to find blood traces) marked the boot of the same vehicle. In the same video, the dogs can be seen marking the McCanns’ apartment after searching in 40 apartments. Tvmais knows that these dogs have passed all the tests that they were subject to by the FBI, and that they never gave a single “false positive result”. According to expert Martin Grime, the dogs have not failed in over 200 searches that they have carried out until this day. Faced with the same tests, the FBI dogs did not complete one third of the tests. Keela and Eddie are protected by an insurance of 7.5 million euros each. English expert Martin Grime recently signed a millionaire contract with the FBI to work for American police. He has not left for the US yet, because the searches for cadavers in an English shelter are ongoing and the dogs are on location, fulfilling their mission to 100 percent.

............................................................................................

Truth or consequence?

When Gonçalo Amaral published “Maddie, the Truth about the Lie”, the McCanns’ spokesman announced that the couple would sue the former PJ investigation coordinator. Clarence Mitchell knew that he was bluffing. Any process against Gonçalo Amaral will allow him to reveal issues that were devalued within the Maddie process, during a trial. The devaluation prevented the process from reaching a court room. It would not be now that the couple would want some questions to get there. Furthermore, the McCanns continue to state that they have not read the book…

Once again, Mitchell bluffed.

Abduction, disappearance or death?

The FindMadeleine Fund was created on the presumption that the little girl disappeared because she was abducted. The fund started to receive money from members of the public who wanted to contribute to the ongoing search for the little girl. Several detectives were hired for that, despite the fact that the McCann couple never presented a complaint about the disappearance of Madeleine to the English authorities.

And they should, just like other British subjects did in the past. In order to search for Madeleine, among others, the detectives from agency Metodo 3 were hired, who promised to deliver the little girl on Christmas 2007. And Oakley International, which states that it employs former members of the FBI and from the British secret services. What is known from this agency’s work is the discovery that Mr Joaquim Agostinho, from Altura, in Monte Gordo, resembled the photofits? Tvmais has discovered that Oakley has presented 30.000 (?) euros during the fiscal year of 2007. Which seems to indicate that spies are on sale. But no. Just the two invoices that were written by these two agencies almost sank the FindMadeleine fund.

Some multimillionaires that used to contribute to pay for the detectives (Brian Kennedy, for example) stopped doing so. The fund that was founded to search for a missing girl, will presumably end as soon as someone proves that the little girl is dead. At least that is what the British law foresees. Until then, the search for the girl continues. The McCanns received a compensation of over 500.000 euros from the British newspapers. With a little more money that the FindMadeleine fund may still hold, the search will continue. Maybe at more modest prices.

in: tvmais, September 15, 2008*

Translation by super-fantastic Summer

*paper edition.

Related: McCanns in Expresso- Interview

Copied from: http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1500&page=23 #339

Open Letter: Gonçalo Amaral's Wife reacts Ironically to Kate's Attack

Posted: 17 Sep 2008 02:30 AM CDT

Open letter to Mrs Kate Healy

Dear Madam,

You will forgive my boldness, but after I read your comment (in an interview to Expresso newspaper) concerning Gonçalo Amaral, my husband and the father of my daughters, I cannot avoid sending you these words of gratefulness. For many years, I have been trying to make myself heard in this sentiment that unites us both: "…as a professional and as a person his behaviour has been a disgrace." Look at it closely:

a) Professionally

- As a Coordinator of Criminal Investigation for the Polícia Judiciária, my husband has always refused to sit around from 9 to 5 in the comfortable chair in his office, as his hierarchical status implies. Instead, he spent the day (and very often, the night) with the investigators on the terrain, coordinating searches, surveillances, apprehensions and other diligences 'in loco'. A disgrace!

But if it was only the fact that he was subject to the weather, it wouldn't be serious, as our climate is not too bad, as you know. The problem is that this dedication to the cause has earned him a non promotion in his career. Indeed, I will explain this to you, even because this case happened when the searches for your daughter were under way. My husband applied to the category of Superior Coordinator, and in between drug apprehensions, sequestrations and homicides, he somehow managed to produce a thesis about drug trafficking by sea, which he defended in Lisbon, in front of a Jury that congratulated him. Full of hope, Gonçalo Amaral returns to the Algarve and awaits the result. To his surprise, he was passed over by other colleagues (real coordinators, truth be told), because he had not been able to score points in the "professional formation" parameter. That's right, Mrs Kate, my husband spent his life working, involved in complex investigations, he was the man who apprehended the highest volumes of drugs in Portugal, but given the fact that he had no time to go to Lisbon to parade himself up and down the corridors of the PJ's Institute, he was not promoted. A disgrace, madam, a disgrace!

- As you probably know, even because you seem like a very well informed person to me, my husband's salary was less than 1.5 times the lowest salary in your country. But as a wife, as a mother and as a Portuguese citizen, I can't complain, because Gonçalo Amaral's salary was equal to 4.5 times the lowest salary in Portugal. But pay attention to the following, which is an example of what I'm going to explain next: At some point, an individual shoots a member of the PSP [urban police] and flees into neighbouring Spain. A PJ team follows him, including my husband. They stayed there for over two weeks. Now at that time, the international expense coverage was around 100 euros. As you can easily imagine, it's not possible to sleep and eat in Spain with this amount of money, much less shortly before Christmas and taking into account that the value will only be paid at around Easter time (if one's lucky). But Gonçalo Amaral never refused, not even for one day, to search for the escaped murderer, relaying the expenses onto our family accounts. And this is just one example among many. At some point in time, I suggested that we should create a fund or something similar to deal with these extraordinary expenses, but he never listened to me. You see, we also have mortgages to pay around here… A disgrace, Mrs Kate, a disgrace!

b) As a person, his behaviour has also been a disgrace, because to begin with we could never distinguish that he even had a personal life, due to the manner in which he dealt with the profession that he embraced. But if my good friend Mrs Kate allows me, I can offer you some examples:

- 5 years ago, a child named Joana "disappeared". Her mother, just like you, Mrs Kate, tried to project the case into the media, but she didn't make it any further than SIC…

Eight days later, came the confessions and the evidence: during an incestuous act between mother and uncle, the child was beaten, then dismembered and her body dumped who knows where. Mother and uncle went to jail, in a process that was coordinated by Gonçalo Amaral and which earned them almost 20 years in jail, each. But let us go a bit back in time. The child died on the 12th of September. On Christmas eve, our family was reunited for prayer, when my husband asked me to prepare a bag with some food and warm clothes, because he had not carried out his Christmas act of penance. Can you, Mrs Kate, imagine where Gonçalo Amaral went on that Christmas night under heavy rain and thunder? He went to the Olhão Prison, where João Cipriano, Joana's uncle, a confessed murderer and a clinically diagnosed psychopath, is detained. According to my husband, to simply offer an alimony to some beggar was not a sacrifice to him. The fact that he embraced and shared his Christmas meal with João Cipriano was the sacrifice that he offered to God, in memory of Joana. Is this not a disgrace? You should also know that every year, on the 12th of September, my husband has a mass celebrated in memory of Joana Isabel Cipriano Guerreiro. He says that nobody will ever remember the poor little girl again. Right, but they remember to unjustly accuse him of actions and crimes that he never committed. Isn't this a disgrace, Mrs Kate?

- There is a last episode that I will report to you, one that I still find hard to talk about. Last year, in May, we started to move our family to Portimão. My husband was supposed to enjoy a holiday period starting on the day after your daughter's disappearance. "For obvious reasons" that didn't happen. I started on a new job, looked for a house, moved house, and tried to integrate our daughters in new schools and new routines. All of this I did alone, without any help from my husband, who for obvious reasons, was looking for your daughter, Mrs Kate. In October, on his birthday, a week after our daughters started school, Gonçalo Amaral was dismissed and returned to Faro. This was supposed to be the time of the family's reunion and it turned out to be another separation. Isn't this a disgrace? Our daughters never managed to understand, and we never managed to explain to them what obvious reasons were those that rewarded in this manner a father who left his own daughters to go looking for a child that he had never met and whose parents had neglected her. It was a pity that my dear friend Mrs Kate was not around anymore at that date, because you could have been very helpful to me in explaining these "obvious reasons" that led to their father's dismissal, to our daughters.

Finally, I can only report to you that intimately, Gonçalo Amaral is precisely what the latinos are famed for: shameless, as my pudency does not allow me to write any further.

I ask you, my good friend, to forgive these confidences from a wife and mother, but I'm certain that you will understand. I finish this letter asking you to send your mother my most sincere praises. She sounded so sincere to me, when during an interview she referred that she felt like slapping the face of the person who left her grandchildren alone. She spoke so openly that she sounded like a genuine Portuguese grandmother…

My dear friend Mrs Kate, without wishing to bother you any further, I would like to request one last favour from you: now that you have started to tell some truths, please continue, and let the world hear the truth that it has been waiting for.

Best regards,
Sofia Leal
Wife and Mother of the Daughters of Gonçalo Amaral


Source: Correio da Manhã (http://www.correiodamanha.pt/Notici...ontentid=4D0B78B7-BDAE-452F-A297-5B5A5C4C8B1F)

Copied from: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/JoanaMorais/~3/394965619/open-letter-gonalo-amaral-wife-reacts.html (thanks X!)

in Correio da Manhã (http://www.correiodamanha.pt/notici...hannelid=00000010-0000-0000-0000-000000000010) this morning:

Copied from: http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1533&page=2 #25

Faro: Inspectors that stand accused of beating Leonor Cipriano go on trial

Jurors known on the 17th of October

The jurors who will judge the five PJ inspectors that stand accused by Leonor Cipriano – who was condemned over the homicide of her daughter Joana – of aggression, forgery of document and omission of denunciation will be chosen on the 17th of October. But the fact that all the accusations are gathered in the same process may delay the start of the trial.

“The law does not allow for the crime of forgery of document to be tried by jurors”, defends António Pragal Colaço, the lawyer of four of the inspectors, “the judge decided to gather all the accusations together, but there is a request at the Appeals Court in Évora that will decide whether that can be done or not”. If the decision is against the joint trial, Pragal Colaço admits that he doesn’t know what will happen. “Maybe it has to start all over again”, he considers.

Yesterday, at the Court in Faro, 18 possible jurors were chosen by draw. On the 17th of October, they will be questioned by the Public Ministry, by Leonor’s lawyer, João Grade, and by the two defense lawyers, Pragal Colaço and António Cabrita. From this group, four jurors and four substitute jurors will emerge.

Pragal Colaço represents inspectors Leonel Lopes, Pereira Cristóvão and Marques Bom (accused of torture), as well as Nunes Cardoso (forgery of documents). The fifth arguido, Gonçalo Amaral (omission of denunciation), is represented by António Cabrita.

Leonor, the mother of Joana, says she was beaten on the 14th of October 2004, during questioning at the PJ in Faro, when her daughter’s disappearance was under investigation.

Details

Separation – António Cabrita considers that the accusations can be tried together, but if they are not, he admits “a separation of the processes”.

Trial – The start of the trial of the five inspectors, according to what CM had reported already, is scheduled for the 24th of October at the Faro Court.

Report– In a report, Marcos Aragão Correia, a lawyer for the Association Against Exclusion Through Development, says he believes that Leonor Cipriano was beaten.

"The little girl died in that apartment" - Gonçalo Amaral on TVI

This is the transcript of an interview with Gonçalo Amaral, Paulo Reis and Duarte Levy, by Júlia Pinheiro, on 'As Tardes da Júlia', TVI, broadcast live on or around the 28th of July 2008.

Copied from: http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1533&page=14 #206

Júlia Pinheiro (JP): The Attorney General’s Office has archived the process, but everything indicates that a new stage of the Maddie case is about to begin. Gonçalo Amaral, the PJ’s former coordinator has launched this book (Maddie – The Truth about the Lie) which is already here and also in my hand, where he numbers some surprising facts. He is going to be my guest today, he has not arrived yet but he will soon be here, and as these things work best with more than one accomplice, I have two journalists present to talk with me and to interrogate and talk a bit with Gonçalo Amaral. These are also two well known faces, who have been following the Maddie case in a committed and involved manner, please welcome Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis.

(applause)

JP: Hello good afternoon! Now tell me, you have obviously read the book already.

Paulo Reis (PR): Yes.

Duarte Levy (DL): Yes.

JP: Right away, right away.

PR: On the day before.

DL: Right on the day before.

JP: Right on the day before. So while we wait for Gonçalo Amaral, and we’re talking in his back, afterwards we will talk in front of him, what did you think? Duarte?

DL: There are still things that remain unsaid. I think that this book already opens a path, it already shows, clarifies a lot of things, many doubts that existed concerning the case, but I think that former inspector Gonçalo Amaral probably has a lot more to say.

JP: So there is a certain feeling that there could be more. Is that it?

DL: There could be more. I think that sooner or later he will do it. The book should maybe be read twice, because there is a lot between the lines but it’s a book that I strongly advise people to read.

JP: Paulo?

PR: Just one detail. We read the book on the day before like so many other journalists, because the editor offered copies to the journalists that requested them on the eve of the publication. I make a very simple initial analysis that is the following. I presume that what is in the book is what is in the process. Dr Gonçalo Amaral would not make things up and include things that are not in the process. And after reading the book, I remembered the PJ’s final report which led to the archiving. I went to re-read and compare both.

JP: And what about that comparison?

PR: The perception that I have is that there are two perspectives, the perspective with which the PJ looks at the process’ contents, in the light of what is contained in Gonçalo Amaral’s book, it gives me the idea that the PJ’s report focuses on what was not discovered.
While the book contains what was discovered and what was not discovered. This would be almost like looking at a glass of water that is filled up to half, and saying it is half full or half empty. But I think that the PJ’s report says that the glass is half empty, and Dr Gonçalo Amaral’s book says that the glass is two thirds full.

JP: And we are desperate to read the whole liquid, to drink the whole liquid, aren’t we? Gonçalo Amaral could not endure us speaking about him in his back and he is already here. A round of applause for Gonçalo Amaral. Please come in…

(applause)

JP: Good afternoon! How are you?

GA: Good afternoon.

JP: Please be seated.

GA: Here?

JP: Yes, here. I finally get to meet the man who everyone is talking about and I can’t resist the first question:
Are you apprehensive about the McCann couple’s threats?

GA: No. The book is based on facts and like someone told me it was written honestly, therefore it does not contain falsehoods and I’m not apprehensive.

JP: Why do you think that they went as far as making sure that it reached Portugal, especially that sentence: “He should be very careful” the McCann couple said two days before the book was published?

GA: I didn’t hear the McCann couple say that. I heard a person who says he is a spokesman. Therefore it is not a status within the process, I think he is even a witness in the process at the moment, so that gentleman should know what he is saying.

JP: You don’t give it anything more, another value…

GA: I have already thought about what I should do regarding that gentleman, but I’m keeping it to myself, therefore…

JP: With Clarence Mitchell?

GA: Exactly.

JP: It is curious that he is one of the persons that are not mentioned in the book.

GA: Yes because the book is about a criminal investigation of which that gentleman is not part. There may be an area, which is the journalistic area to understand the political pressure, but maybe a journalist could write about that area, even concerning the role of the media, the book doesn’t focus much on that.

JP: Yes but it also covers it.

GA: It mentions facts, a set of facts, diligences, testimonies and scientific and documental evidence that is featured in the process. Therefore that gentleman is not part of the investigation despite all the noise that he has produced in the investigation.

JP: Indeed and you report his entry into the process. There are so many questions that have not been clarified to this day

GA: The investigation does not have to worry about that gentleman, does it?

JP: Duarte Levy and Paulo, who will ask questions just like me, were saying that they were left with the feeling, may I call you Gonçalo?

GA: Yes.

JP: That’s settled, then. They were left with the feeling that you leave a lot out of the book. And that the book does not contain everything.

GA: Something has to be left out.

JP: Why?

GA: I’m a trained jurist, I’m a jurist, and we don’t say everything, do we. It may be for a second edition of the book, it may be for certain explanations that someone wishes, therefore… it’s my own secret.

JP: It’s your own secret. So there is a secret? You haven’t told everything?

GA: No, but it’s details, anyway.

JP: But I get the feeling, precisely in this book, you two can join the conversation if you wish (to DL and PR), that in this book the details are very important, in fact, it’s in the details that for people like us who follow things attentively, that this book becomes surprising. I’m going to let Paulo launch…

PR: A very precise, very direct question for Dr Gonçalo Amaral. Do you think that the PJ’s final report, which was widely reported by the media and even was published online by Expresso newspaper. Do you think that the report faithfully reflects, does it make an accurate balance of the investigation?

GA: Well before anything else, I want to thank you for the work that you have done since that time, the manner how you have followed the investigation and the way that you have been solidary with truth and justice.

PR: That is my obligation as a journalist.

GA: You may not have done more than your obligation but I want to thank you and to thank all the journalists. Concerning that report, I have to be sincere, I haven’t read it yet. I haven’t had time to read it but if it is a report that led to the archiving, it cannot be faithful towards what exists in the process, so it’s an imposition, I would not like to comment much further on that, but it’s the position of police professionals who took it, that decision to write that report that was being very well written…

JP: Weren’t you curious to read that report? That final report from the PJ?

GA: No, no. I haven’t had time, either. I haven’t had any time at all to read it. This has been a bumpy ride…

JP: I find that absolutely impossible, I don’t believe it. Have you cut all bonds with what you left behind? Have you distanced yourself emotionally from all of this?

GA: No. I haven’t cut all bonds. No.

JP: I don’t believe it!

GA: But sincerely I haven’t read the report yet. I haven’t read the report, I know it’s on the internet, so I will read it but I haven’t read it yet.

JP: I’m not convinced at all but say it.

GA: But I’m telling you the truth.

JP: Yes, Duarte?

DL: There is a question. We heard, a short while ago, about the existence of an investigation into your private life, yours, inspector Tavares de Almeida’s private life and even Guilhermino de Encarnação’s private life. Carried out by private detectives that are connected to the McCann family. And in the book, at some point you mention your dog. What happened to that dog? This is a question.

GA: A mere coincidence, at the beginning of the investigation, the dog died. Surely nobody went there and killed him, it could have been other dogs, right.

DL: But during this investigation, did you never feel that maybe there was a pressure on you, on your colleagues…

GA: The pressure was the persecution that we were subject to, but it was not much of a persecution anyway, because they didn’t find out where I lived, they didn’t find out outside of Portimão and not inside either, which was 100 metres from the police building that we all lived, they just followed me during those 100 metres from the police building and from the restaurant where I had lunch, so that big investigation that was done, by those journalists from English tabloids, they only managed to check 100 metres, because in fact nothing more apart from that. Concerning those gentlemen’s investigation, it’s the first time that I hear about that, I’m not worried. I only hope that if it is true, I hope that the entities that have responsibilities in criminal terms in this country act, because in fact it has been too much time. There is a very serious interference that started after I left Portimão, to try to carry out investigations, not only in this case but also related to the Joana case. And I think that -

JP: In order to discredit you, to ruin your credibility, is that it?

GA: Me and the Polícia Judiciária. I mean, they tried to question both investigations, there are things that, people came up and told me that this is for the little girls, for Joana and for Madeleine. Therefore, and they want to obtain information and things, therefore. In Portugal, criminal investigation it’s well defined in the law who can carry it out, those gentlemen cannot do it and what they do here in Portugal has to be sanctioned somehow.

JP: Obviously. Before I let Paulo speak, I would like to ask a question which I don’t know whether Gonçalo will answer, but as you are not an inspector anymore and are now out of the circuit and haven’t even read…

GA: I was never an inspector. I was a coordinator… it’s a matter of…

JP: Coordinator, I apologize, but as you are not with the PJ anymore, maybe you can, we have already talked more about states of the soul, about impressions. You started shaking your head as a no, but anyway. The first contact that you had with the McCann family, father and mother, what did you think?

GA: Well, I don’t speak English, therefore the contact was made through other persons, but I had no reaction.

JP: But did you think that you were in the presence of a genuinely worried couple, desperate to find their daughter?

GA: I didn’t make that type of judgment. In a criminal investigation, we have to base ourselves in facts, we have to be objective and leave emotions behind. The parents’ situation of anguish is logical, there was anguish, now whether it was anguish over the disappearance of their daughter or over knowing that their daughter was dead, it’s different and it cannot be distinguished like that. But in fact there was anguish contrary to what is being said, not in the police building but it’s known that the little girl’s mother cried she apparently cried that morning, so that anguish could be over the loss of her daughter, right? Therefore if they are committed to searching, it’s not normal that on the first day, the first hour, the only possible lead was abduction, abduction and it’s extended into saying abduction by Portuguese paedophile networks, therefore, these conclusions are made too soon after the event, because several possibilities were open at that moment, therefore, from then onwards I also find that strange and we took it into consideration.

JP: And later on? When you continue the investigation, you cross ways with this couple several times, did your opinion change or do you think that…

GA: The idea that I got and that my colleagues got, things have to be put in their place, don’t they, I was the coordinator of an investigation team, which included English, Portuguese, joint national directors, vice directors, this was the operational part that was being directed from Portimão, where the investigation was based. The advance that happens, is relatively changed. There is a sort of flight forward, we can understand that, it happens and possibly not only in this case, but in other cases where people sort of, I don’t want to say lie, half truth, they stick to the idea that there is an abduction and they don’t think about anything except abduction and psychologists and psychiatrists have already mentioned that, so it’s as if they believed it was true, there is this flight forward, therefore, from that moment onwards they continue to say that they search for their daughter.

JP: But did they change their behaviour, or did they have a more cold, more reserved attitude, more contained or more emotional…

GA: There are situations that are reported in the book but there are others when there isn’t a normal behaviour, so the person despairs during a moment of anxiety and we actually try to understand, we try, if it’s an obstruction that was the issue there, if it was really a demand for ransom, and we try to negotiate with that individual who was in Holland.

JP: That episode is particularly surprising.

GA: And then we watch that, us Portuguese who were there...

JP: ... and the English...

GA: ... and the English, we watched it in stupefaction, he was sitting there with a lollipop laughing on the phone and we were all waiting...

JP: We’re talking about Gerry McCann, at the moment when, because someone did try a coup like that, correct? So while you were waiting for him to make contact with you…

GA: … maybe it was his way of reacting to that tension, maybe it’s justifiable but to us, we were shocked, it’s not. We were searching for his daughter, doing our job.

JP: While he visited sites on the internet...

GA: No, he was on the phone.

JP: Ah he was on the phone and sucking on a lollipop wasn’t it and laughing and chatting?

GA: Yes! Completely detached from what was going on and about to happen…

JP: So that shocked you in particular?

GA: Me and the colleagues who were present.

JP: Very well. Paulo wanted to ask a question. Let’s hear it –


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PR: A very specific question that stands out in your book. There are 7 witnesses, 4 friends of the McCanns, 2 English tourists that were there at the Ocean Club, and one of the nannies from the crèche who guarantee that they saw Robert Murat near the apartment on the evening that Madeleine disappeared. Robert Murat denies this, he says that he was with his mother, and then the Judiciária questions several members of the GNR, of the staff from the Ocean Club, and people who live there and who participated in the searches and who know Robert Murat perfectly because he lives there and all of those people deny those witnesses and peremptorily state that they did not see Robert Murat that night. This is the question that I ask you. Isn’t it obligatory even from a legal standpoint, faced with what to me seem like false statements, that certificates are extracted and that there are legal procedures against those witnesses because they are giving a false statement?

GA: Provided that the Public Ministry proves that they are really false statements.

PR: I’m aware it’s a decision for the Public Ministry, I only –

GA: I think they are. As a jurist, I think they are, I have that notion that they in fact don’t give a truthful testimony.

PR: But there is no news that those persons were targeted by a process from the Public Ministry.

GA: In fact there is another situation with Mathew Oldfield who says he went inside the apartment and states that he saw two windows, and his wife says that moments before that, minutes earlier, he had listened at the two bedroom windows, so that detail of the two windows, which seems to be a mistake but it’s not quite so, therefore, if they had been in the bedroom they would know that there was only one window in the bedroom, even outside of the bedroom if they had been listening it would only be one window as well, therefore there is only one window.

PR: So it is not known that the Public Ministry acted on the matter of the false testimonies by those witnesses, which in fact, Robert Murat’s lawyer has already announced that as soon as he has access to the process –

GA: Yes because there even was a confrontation between them…

PR: Yes precisely, precisely.

JP: So for now there are no consequences?

GA: Well, it seems not.

JP: It seems not. I insist on the questions concerning your impressions because it was maybe the aspect of the book that I was most avid to know whether or not you would take that route, and twice or thrice you let the text slide towards it, and I was really very surprised over that behaviour from Gerry McCann at the moment when the possibility of his daughter’s ransom is being discussed, which was obviously fictitious, but his behaviour relating to it and some observations that you make concerning Kate McCann. Namely a certain irritation and ill humour under several circumstances. Can you define who is Kate McCann?

GA: It is difficult to define, isn’t it. She almost cried in front of us, and then she lowered her head and when she returned she came back more aggressive, more –

JP: But within the couple she is the more combative, the more controlling person.

GA: I didn’t want to take that route in terms of rendering things subjective but…

JP: I noticed that.

GA: … but that is how it was. It was a bit, there was something not right there, but maybe a psychiatrist or someone could analyze the behaviour.

JP: Very well, you don’t want to say much about your personal impressions of her ahaha

GA: The issue here is not… I don’t have to worry about the McCann couple. What I have to worry about, or had to worry about is that little girl and find out what happened to her. It’s logical that knowing who the parents are and their behaviour, how they react, all of that is important within an investigation. But the most important thing is for us to integrate with what we have, to find the facts and to follow a route in terms of the final objective. Therefore, discussing the parents… it’s a question…

JP: But surely the second route that was chosen was the possibility that they are involved in her disappearance it had to do with that behaviour that we just referred… some coldness, some…

GA: No…

JP: It wasn’t only about that?

GA: It was about the entire investigation that is made isn’t it, but…

JP: And these elements aren’t analysed?

GA: We don’t base ourselves on empathies and we don’t like or dislike persons, we focus on the investigations.

JP: I’m not talking about empathies; I’m talking about behavioural observation. That is also analysed.

GA: It is, but –

JP: Ah!

GA: But what leads us into the direction of the little girl’s death is facts, not only looking at people and thinking that…

JP: Do you really reach the theory of an accidental death according to your theory, before the dogs arrive in Portugal, or…

GA: Yes, before the dogs come to Portugal, there are signs of death as I say in the book, signs which are given by the family that a cadaver is being searched. This gentleman comes from South Africa, and hair from the little girl, supposedly from the little girl, he places it inside a machine which he invented and we hear its contents which says that there within a certain area of the beach lies a cadaver. So he came on the couple’s request, otherwise he would not be requested. Then, the dogs’ intervention follows a work of analysis, of planning carried out by a British national consultant, from the British police, he was here in Portugal, he saw the area, he consulted the process with what happened, therefore with facts that existed, he went to the area, he rode a helicopter, consulted with academics, and all that and he reached the conclusion that we have to search for a cadaver. In order to search for a cadaver these experts have to be used, these dogs and that was what happened. So from there on…

JP: So that was what is called a good relationship between British and Portuguese investigators.

GA: Very good.

JP: Very good. Contrary to everything that was later reported by the press.

GA: Exactly.

JP: So your opinion is that an accidental death took place in that apartment.

GA: It is not my opinion. It’s the opinion of the investigation. This has to be made very clear. I have repeated this several times but it’s important.

JP: You are absolutely right, so according to the investigation…

GA: According to the investigation that was composed of English, Portuguese investigators…

JP: Exactly. The little girl died in that apartment?

GA: The little girl died in that apartment.

JP: On the evening of the 3rd of May.

GA: And we reached that conclusion with the data that we have.

JP: And before the time that was announced? Before 10 pm which is the time that was…

GA: The time is not known because the reconstitution was not carried out, which could be important in order to define the times and to verify if they could have attended all that vigilance from the parents, every 10 or every 5 minutes, so if they were having dinner and all of a sudden almost nobody dined, isn’t it. But it seems that only one plate went back, a steak that had to be warmed up. It was necessary to understand who it was that failed to eat that steak and what everyone else ate, how long the dinner lasted, how long the meals take to be confectioned, and all of those things in order to understand it all afterwards.
The reconstitution was not carried out and from there on it’s difficult to know at what time it could have happened. There is one piece of data in terms of accurate time that evening, it exists and it concerns the little girl, it’s the time at which she left the nursery.

JP: At 5.30 pm.

GA: At 5.30 pm, concerning the other witnesses that were at the beach there is the video registry, they were filmed by the camera that was there, at 6.36 pm they leave the beach, first the men and afterwards the women and children, in terms of times and then there is the time of the Irish witness who knows at what time his dinner ends, and he has the receipt of the payment with the time at which he paid, when he leaves the restaurant across the street –

JP: Across the street he sees a man walking down with a child…

GA: He sees a man walking down with a child.

JP: … who he only realizes to be Gerry McCann when he sees Gerry McCann descending with his children…

GA: Exactly.

JP: … when they return to England.

GA: The files that mention the testimony, they mention the clumsy manner in which he carried the child, the posture which we could call athletic, that he was an athletic individual and they offer a description, they reach the point of saying that, it was maybe possible in terms of saying who it is physically, but with those characteristics, the manner in which he walked, how he carried the child, they could know who it was. And so when he sees, when that family sees Gerry McCann descending from the airplane carrying the child and he starts to walk on the pavement, they realized. Now he says it’s 80%, if you tell me ah that is not evidence, I also agree it’s not evidence but at least it’s a piece of information and that information should always be worked out.

JP: And was it?

GA: When I left Portimão, on the 1st of October, I left on the 2nd but on the 1st we were arranging for those witnesses to come to Portugal. We already had permission from the national director, all that was left to do was to choose a hotel for them to stay and to schedule a date. After I left I know it took several months until the witness was heard, which happened around January or February this year, I don’t know, through a rogatory letter or a request for assistance under international cooperation.

JP: That is really one of the surprising bits of data. Another piece of data which is also surprising is related to that towel that Kate McCann gives for the first dogs, our dogs, the Portuguese. Why did she give a towel and not a piece of clothing? After this I’ll let Paulo speak.

GA: That is another question that has to be understood as well, doesn’t it? The towel because supposedly she had had a bath that day, right? It would therefore carry more of the little girl’s smell, the little girl’s odour, so this was an option between her, I think, and the members of GNR.

JP: The GNR which was there. Let’s hear Paulo.

PR: Now before I move on to another question, concerning the towel has the PJ established for example how often the bed sheets and the towels in the apartments are changed. Because if memory doesn’t fail me, the towel is delivered to the GNR 48 hours after the little girl disappeared.

GA: No. The towel was handed over right on that night.

PR: On that night.

GA: The GNR dogs also arrived that night. But the last time that the apartment had been cleaned was on Wednesday.

PR: A while ago, you mentioned an English policeman, a great expert, I suppose you were referring to Mark Harrison who is one of the two or three best British policemen in terms of investigating complex crimes. He was here, he spent a week in Praia da Luz, he rummaged through Praia da Luz, he walked everywhere, the saw the process upside down, he read the entire process, and then he wrote a report in which he concludes that the most likely hypothesis is the child’s death, and if I’m correct, he proposes the dogs’ coming, right?

GA: Exactly.

PR: Was he the policeman who also retired, a reference that you made during a press conference? That there was an English policeman who retired.

GA: No.

PR: Was there an English policeman who also retired?

GA: The English policeman who retired is from the Leicester police. Now the reasons I would prefer not to talk about him at the moment. As a matter of fact I’d like to talk to him personally and I don’t want him to be pressured so I would reserve myself the right not to comment any further.

PR: Just to make this very clear, is that English policeman, Mark Harrison…

GA: No, no, no.

PR: … who comes here, writes a report, no, I’m not talking about the retirement issue, I’m just saying that he came here, that he is an expert in complex crime, one of the most prestigious from the English police, he walks the streets of Praia da Luz from one end to another, he measures, routes, timings, he analyses the process and after that he writes a report in his quality as one of the finest English experts, where he writes black on white that the most likely possibility is that the child died in the apartment, is that correct?

GA: Correct.

PR: That is what marks the turn in the investigations.

GA: Correct.

PR: And then the famous dogs arrive…

GA: Yes, to detect cadaver and human blood odour.

<continues>

<continues>

JP: So you don’t want to tell why your colleague retired. He has his own reasons. But you are aware that all of this thickens the public’s perception of a Machiavellian conspiracy theory. I understand your position, maybe at the moment you don’t want to say more or you can’t, it’s a fact that your book has brought us something more but we still fail to understand everything. Mainly, possibly the macro-structure that surrounds all of this. Duarte?

DL: No, I just wanted to talk about the issue of the English lab’s reports.

JP: That is very important, yes.

GA: The reports from the English labs… the English reports arrive shortly before the questionings that were scheduled. And it contained certain conclusions, if they thought they were inconclusive they shouldn’t have mentioned it, the question of the 15 alleles in a profile of 19 from the little girl, stating that they match Madeleine McCann, but they also say that it could have been a construction let’s say from various donors, from other persons, a contamination could have produced Madeleine McCann’s profile by coincidence. But there are no excuses for saying that it is not from Madeleine McCann because they held the profiles of the father, the mother, the siblings, therefore there are no doubts that at least within that family they only matched Madeleine McCann’s.

DL: In Portugal, for example, we only need a match of 15 alleles out of 19 in order to determine someone’s paternity, therefore… That is the first fact. The second fact is that at this moment, the institute for Forensic Medicine is already prepared, they already own the same equipment as the FSS in England to carry out this type of analysis. Why does the Public Ministry or the Polícia Judiciária not request, or don’t they have any more samples to carry out…

GA: As far as we know, they have all been destroyed by now, namely the hair. Nothing can be done.

PR: Concerning the FSS reports –

GA: And the samples were microscopic, weren’t they…

PR: Are you absolutely certain that the reports that reached you, namely those concerning the blood residues in the car boot, are exactly the reports that left the FSS?

GA: I have no doubts whatsoever, in fact, they were delivered by a senior official from Leicester police, it carries a logo, they came and went by email, so there is an existing origin, therefore the report is signed, so I have no doubts about that.

JP: You have no doubts whatsoever about that.

GA: On the official document.

JP: But wasn’t it published in Belgium that…

DL: … that there are two reports. There is one report that left the FSS and there is a second slightly different report that arrived in Portugal.

GA: There is a recent report and there are two other reports. The first one mentions 15 alleles and here is the main question, it places the focus, they place the focus on that part of the exam from the vehicle, in the second [report] they then focus on the apartment, if on one side 15 alleles were not enough, in the other there were only 5 alleles that matched Madeleine McCann’s genetic profile, what could be read there was that there were almost no problems. Because it’s easily justifiable. It may not be justifiable with the cadaver odour on the spot where the blood sample was collected, but therefore, inside the house it is easy to justify, it’s more difficult with a car that was rented more than twenty days later. So this is where the major confusion lies.

JP: Yes, Paulo?

PR: At a given moment in time, around the 9th or 10th of May, starts what you mention in your book, a wave of sightings of Madeleine. Madeleine is first seen in Morocco, by a…

GA: First she is seen here in Portugal. The wave starts to spread in Portugal.

PR: Exactly. Portugal and then –

GA: Then she is seen in the North, then jumps to South America, Brazil…

PR: One that was largely publicised by the English newspapers, was from a Norwegian lady who was spending holidays in Morocco and who swears that she saw the little girl. What the English press does not mention at that time is that the lady is Norwegian but she is married to a man who was born and bred in Rothley, the town where the…

JP: It could be a tremendous coincidence.

PR: … the McCanns resided for the last few years. This is the question that I ask you: The wave of sightings, namely in Morocco, where witnesses state that they are 100% certain that it was the child, I have no doubts. Beyond the usual confirmation with Interpol, Interpol and the police forces in those countries were requested to investigate those sightings and those witnesses.

GA: The witnesses, it was necessary to hear those witnesses and she lives in Southern Spain. She lives near Valencia. That is one of the diligences that possibly remained to carry out. But concerning those sightings in Morocco, it was through the cooperation with the English police, with liaison officers with the Moroccan police that tried to obtain the video tapes from that petrol station where the little girl was seen, in order to try to find out if it could actually be her or not. It was all handled from there.

JP: And you don’t value the fact that really the lady who saw is married to someone who coincidentally is…

GA: That was actually taken into account and it happened later, as Paulo Reis said, and as a matter of fact it’s something that should have been worked upon in terms of being heard.

JP: Well, let’s talk about what worries…

GA: But I can also say that apart from those sightings all over the world, in Praia da Luz there were little girls that strongly resembled Madeleine, blond with blue eyes, many of the same age as her. Therefore, someone could have spotted Madeleine there, in Praia da Luz, something that was not done.

JP: That’s true, that’s true. In your opinion, Maddie, in the opinion of the investigation and of your colleagues and the team that you coordinated, did Maddie die that evening?

GA: She died.

JP: And someone took her from that apartment and placed her where?

GA: Look, when we are in an investigation of this kind we have to understand what the knowledge of those persons is, if they know other people, what contacts they have. If they have means at their disposal. We have to know the area itself, to know about the facility or the almost material impossibility to conceal the corpse within few hours and few minutes. And the conclusion that we reach with all of this, with all of this data is that, if there was any involvement from those nine persons, the corpse could only be in the beach area. And that is in fact where the gentleman…

JP: The investigator.

GA: Not the investigator, the Irish witnesses…

JP: Ah yes!

GA: … see a person passing, a man carrying a child, a little girl, they say that it is in effect Madeleine going towards the South area, let’s put it that way, towards the sea side. Now whether or not she stayed there, that is another question. For how long she stayed there, what happens next, only the development of the investigation of that area of death, let’s put it that way, could take us there.

JP: Would you have followed that investigation line?

GA: It was the direction that I was following at that time so until we emptied it we weren’t stopping, were we…

JP: It sounds so unbelievable, the possibility that a body was placed on a cliff, or in any other area on the beach, and then removed and transported in a rental car.

GA: The corpse couldn’t have remained there all the time. It’s impossible.

JP: So where was it taken next?

GA: If we take into account that, if we consider the traces that were found in the car boot…

JP: … which are in fact…

GA: … which are in fact from the little girl. In order to justify that bodily fluid as the lab says, it could only have been preserved and conserved in the cold because otherwise it would have been…

JP: That means that…

GA: … in an advanced state of decomposition, at least it’s a hypothesis. Therefore it’s a question of a deep freezer, or something similar, and there we had to search for it and that was what we were doing. This means, the contacts that they had, where they went, where they were seen… There are people who say that they were seen entering an apartment block near the cemetery in Praia da Luz. At that point in time we weren’t able to detect which apartment they entered, who lived there, because it’s also a bit complicated because you have to understand it’s a tourist area and often it’s not known who the apartment belongs to.

JP: Of course, of course…

GA: Who lives there, for how long they live there, so all of that was being worked upon. To try to understand the support…

JP: If someone discovered a deep freezer in the area and…

GA: If it was actually a deep freezer, it doesn’t exist anymore now.

JP: Is that still possible to find out? I imagine…

GA: Look, a few years ago on the Azores, after a homicide that had taken place years earlier, we managed to locate a vehicle that was already in a junk yard in which a taxi driver had been killed, a taxi driver from Praia da Vitória in the Azores. But we were unlucky, normally the van’s back had a carpet but it didn’t exist anymore. That carpet didn’t exist anymore, so if we had found that carpet it would have been possible to prove that the death had taken place there, so anything is possible.

JP: Anything is possible. I don’t know if Paulo and Duarte have any further questions, you have to be brief, we’re almost finishing.

DL: One more doubt, I read in your book that you never received the medical report, Madeleine’s clinical history. For example I also know that –

GA: We think, because that’s the way it is, we spoke to the English police, they said right away that there were problems in England to hand that over within the rogatory letter’s context. There is a rogatory letter that was carried out but before that there was another rogatory letter that was being prepared which also contained those questions and which also contained questions about other tests, other tests by the dogs with the friends that were there, namely on the clothes with those same dogs in order to try to find cadaver odour or any other trace, that was important. So there was that rogatory letter…

DL: And you never received those reports, you receive the reply that the McCanns had no credit cards, you already knew that was false, could it then be said that there were two English teams working on this case? The one that in fact stood beside the PJ and the one that worked against…

GA: I don’t speak with the English police, I can assure you…

JP: And now we don’t speak at all because we’re arriving at the end. I only want, Gonçalo Amaral, I only want to know one thing. Will Maddie return to your life one of these days, or not?

GA: I think yes. This book has the will of clarifying and of contributing to the investigation, I think yes, there are more things to talk about.

JP: Is that your mission?

GA: It’s not a mission, it’s a question of recovering my dignity and my honour and that of my colleagues and of this institution to which I was so proud of belonging to for so many years, and of justice being done for the little girl.

JP: Thank you. A round of applause for Gonçalo Amaral. Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis, thank you very much.

(applause)

"Revisiting the &#8220;Maddie case&#8221;

Was it the Portuguese and English governments that decided to sabotage the investigation and to get the parents &#8220;off the hook&#8221;?

by Domingos Amaral*

Now that the Maddie case has been archived by the Public Ministry due to a lack of evidence; now that the process has been opened for public consultation; and now that the PJ inspector who coordinated the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral, has already published a book about the issue, it has become possible to list my conclusions about the case. Here they are:

1 &#8211; Contrary to what was suggested by the British press, which presented him as a negligent policeman who spent his life in long lunches, washed down with plenty of wine, and with little investigative capacity, the impression that I got from Gonçalo Amaral, both from the tv interviews and from reading the book, is that he coordinated a competent investigation, that followed the rules, that was neither biased nor tendentious, and that he did everything to crack the case.

2 &#8211; All the evidence that was collected by the PJ pointed, right from the first days onward, to the little girl&#8217;s death inside the apartment and the subsequent concealment of the cadaver, probably by her parents.

3 &#8211; The indicia that was collected, both from witnesses, and later from the DNA tests, pointed into that same direction.

4 &#8211; The behaviour of the little girl&#8217;s parents&#8217; friends is very strange. There are contradictory depositions that seem to have been &#8220;built&#8221; to lead the PJ into the direction of the abduction theory. On the other hand, the fact that all of the friends abandoned Portugal in a hurry is extremely disturbing.

5 &#8211; The manner in which the little girl&#8217;s parents behave, speaking to Sky News on the same day and transforming the case into a media event, obviously forcing the abduction theory, is extremely surprising. It does not seem normal to me that a father and a mother, when confronted with the disappearance of a daughter, establish as their first and only priority to transform the case into a worldwide media event.

6 &#8211; Since the first hour, the English press accepted the abduction theory, which was communicated to them by the parents, without judgment. Like a brainless flock, they fell on Praia da Luz exercising enormous pressure on the PJ, suggesting that Portugal is a third world country, and complicating the investigation. We remember that it was an English journalist that &#8220;invented&#8221; the suspicions about Robert Murat, thus forcing the PJ to investigate him and to waste time with a situation that was lateral, but which suited the parents&#8217; purpose.

7 &#8211; The fact that the little girl&#8217;s father is a personal friend to Prime Minister Gordon Brown led to the English government making available to the parents, media specialists who built and forced the abduction theory. It was a highly professional operation that used sophisticated marketing techniques, in the press and on the internet, with meetings with international personalities, which culminated with the visit to the Pope in the Vatican.

8 &#8211; This remarkable public campaign was accompanied by a political pressure behind the scenes, with the English government exerting pressure on the Portuguese government, in the direction of the abduction theory.

9 &#8211; For many months, it was evident that the PJ had lost the public opinion battle and that it was not prepared to handle a media and political pressure of such proportion. In terms of public communication, the case was very badly managed by the PJ and by the Public Ministry.

10 &#8211; Despite these tremendous political and media pressures, the investigation proceeded on the terrain and was approaching important conclusions, which clearly pointed to the parents&#8217; guilt, at least of the crime of cadaver concealment.

All of these conclusions lead me to formulate two questions: Why were the directory of the PJ and the Public Ministry incapable of having the courage to accuse the parents, like the investigation suggested? Was it the Portuguese and the English governments that decided to sabotage the investigation and to let the parents &#8220;off the hook&#8221;?

Some day the truth will emerge, but for me, and even without bulletproof evidence, a case like this should never have been archived and those parents should be tried in court.


source: Diário Económico, 01.10.2008 (http://diarioeconomico.sapo.pt/edic...pinion/columnistas/pt/desarrollo/1153541.html)

Copied from: http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1574&page=17 #254

*Portuguese journalist and author

24hours, 21 Oct 2008, http://www.24horasnewspaper.com/total.php?numero=2975&link=07

Copied from: http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1748&page=16 #233

Document sent to Prosecutor
BARRA DA COSTA TRIES TO REOPEN CASE

The criminologist Barra da Costa sent, Friday, a document to the national prosecutor which, taken in context, could lead to the re-opening of the Maddie process.

In an investigation undertaken at his own cost and risk, according to what he told 24horas, the ex-inspector for PJ found a witness that he considers fundamental, and which was not taken into account in the investigation. "[The witness] denounced certain facts to the GNR, but this statement does not appear in the process which is now archived."

After thoroughly examining 60 volumes and thousands of pages, Barra da Costa did not find a single reference to this witness. Given such, he contacted the witness and, amongst other details, sent the results to the prosecutor responsible for the case.

According to what 24horas has determined via a judicial source, the document contains the deposition of a witness who claims that Father Pacheco - who gave the McCanns keys to the church so they could pray - has been involved in crimes of a sexual nature towards minors. The priest, contacted by 24horas, denies any such accusation. "This is an attack on the church. I have never been involved in any process related to these things. I only met the McCanns after the disappearance," he insisted.

Barra da Costa criticizes the investigation and believes there are many open questions needing resolution. During the investigation it became polemic to suggest that the McCanns were "swingers" (exchanged partners). It was criticized, but throughout the various pages of the process, now available outside the secrecy of justice, there are questions raised by the PJ inspectors to the friends of the couple with the intention of clarifying this question.

"The disappearance needs to be treated as a homicide, because that is a more serious crime."

-Sónia Simões

SIDE BARS

SUPPORT

The multimillionaire, Brian Kennedy, has been the principal financier of the McCanns since Maddie's disappearance. He is the one who pays, for example, Clarence Mitchell, former government employee, who is the spokesman for the English couple.

ANOTHER FILM

Even prior to Maddie's disappearance, a film was being shot in the USA, directed by Ben Affleck, which told the story of a blond girl, 4 years sold, who disappeared while on vacation with her parents.


DETECTIVES DON'T WANT TO WORK FOR MADDIE'S PARENTS
[fotos of Mário Costa, Pereira Cristóvão and Aragão Correira]

Mário Costa (large foto) and Pereira Cristóvão are not interested in working with the McCanns, as opposed to Aragão Correia (small foto, below)

HELP THE McCANNs, NO WAY!

The McCanns want to hire a new detective to search for Maddie. But in Portugal they won't find much help.

Portuguese detectives are not very interested in helping with the investigation related to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The millionaire, Brian Kennedy, one of the principal financers of the international fund created to find Maddie, announced that he is looking for a detective to lead the investigation. But he's not having much luck.

The detective Mário Costa says he is not available to join "this film." The ex-inspector for the PJ, Pereira Cristóvão, says he does not work on missing person cases. And only the attorney, Marcos Argão Correia, who in March was leading an operation at the Arade dam in an attemt to find the girl's body, was available to help.

"If my little girl had disappeared, I also would not stop looking," says Aragão Correia to 24horas, revealing that the searches in which he participated were done "together" with Método3, the Spanish detective agency contracted by the McCanns.

If Kate and Gerrry came knocking on Mário Costa's door, the response would be a resounding "no." "If the PJ, with all the people and resources involved, couldn't arrive anywhere, how is a private detective going to solve the case. Only if he were a master magician [king of witches]," he replied without mincing words.

Explaining that he considers the archival of the process by the Public Ministry "extemporaneous", the ex-inspector Pereira Cristóvão doesn't oppose the hirings of the McCanns: "It's a sign that there is still money to spend." However, in his case, he says he is not available to provide any assistance. "I only work for companies."


MÁRIO COSTA WAS APPROACHED

The detective Mário Costa was approached by intermediaries for the McCanns about assisting with the investigation. "I was approached via an illustrious attorney to understand up to what point I would be available to collborate," confirms Mário Costa. "If I had joined the project I might have half a million euros in my bank account, but I'd be burned for accepting a case which I am not capable of solving," explained the detective.
Even prior to Maddie's disappearance, a film was being shot in the USA, directed by Ben Affleck, which told the story of a blond girl, 4 years sold, who disappeared while on vacation with her parents.

TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT 31 Oct 2008

Júlia Pinheiro (J), Duarte Levy (DL), Paulo Sargento (PS)

Júlia Pinheiro: And now, something that is confusing us all. Happening in the courthouse in Faro, the trial of a group of inspectors and ex-inspectors of the Polícia Judiciária accused of torturing Leonor Cipriano, who was condemned for murdering her daughter, Joana, as we all remember.

What should have lasted two days has become a marathon. All because of an accusation against Gonçalo Amaral, the number one enemy of the McCanns, who was, step-by-step, coordinating the [Maddie] case. It’s a story that deserves our attention and reflection and, perhaps, shows a connection between the two processes.

Because of this, we’ve invited two specialists, known to all of us here at “Afternoons with Júlia”, the journalist, Duarte Levy, and the criminal-psychologist, Paulo Sargento. Applause for them, please.

OK, let’s try to understand: What does one case have to do with the other? The Joana Case, in which her mother, Leonor Cipriano, was condemned, happened before the Maddie Case.

Duarte Levy: Obviously.

J: Obviously. So what do they have to do with each other?

DL: The connection is Gonçalo Amaral. He continues to be, even though he has now left the PJ, a person who “inconveniences” many people. Not just the McCanns, but he also inconveniences many people in Portugal. And in this process, which appears to be connected to [police] brutality, he is the one who is – please excuse the expression - the man to take down. He is the visible target.

J: Let’s review some facts so that everyone remembers. What’s happening in Faro is a process against inspectors and ex-inspectors who interrogated Leonor Cipriano, back when she eventually confessed, right?

DL: She confessed before this interrogation in which she was allegedly beaten. In this current trial, there are three inspectors accused of torture, or aggression, a fourth who is accused of falsifying documents, and Gonçalo Amaral, accused because he was the coordinating inspector, responsible…

J: He is the one that had the ultimate responsibility, right? But, Duarte, how do you read all these facts and all this . . .

DL: To summarize quickly and with a good Portuguese expression, it’s a joke.

J: It’s a joke. Do you agree, Paulo?

Paulo Sargento: I completely agree. The recent history of this Joana Case is very strange. The connections that are made, and the way it appears… there are two connections that I’d like to highlight in terms of the defence for the Joana Case. Two things are strange: first, Dr Marcos Aragão who appears on the scene, we’re not sure how…

J: OK, let’s talk about Marcos Aragão. Who is he?

PS: Marco Aragão is a lawyer…

J: We spoke to him by phone, right, when he was looking for Maddie’s body in the lake.

DL: Near the dam, correct.

PS: He is probably best known for the time when, based on information he received from a psychic or that he received from “out there”… and which is now showing up again in the British newspapers, something which happens there as, every once in a while, the [British press] re-visits stories… but he received this information and with the support of Mr. Clarence Mitchell, he was looking for the girl’s body in the lake of the Arade dam. Which was very interesting because the theory was abduction and not homicide. However, if he was looking for a body, someone left the body there and someone killed the girl.

And now, he’s connected to this case…

J: But how did he end up connected to this [Leonor Cipriano] case?

PS: Because he volunteered to represent her.

J: Sorry, help me here. The original attorney for Leonor Cipriano wasn’t Marco Aragão, correct?

DL: No, no. That was João Grade. Who, for some unknown reason, was removed from the case and this Marcos Aragão – who is from Madeira and has several very curious stories behind him – he appears first in the Madeleine McCann story and then, via an organization in defence of human rights, on the Leonor Cipriano case. But I, after having heard everything happening in the Faro court, don’t believe he is there to defend the interests of Leonor Cipriano, much less the Public Ministry which is driving this process… something we should not forget… He is there, specifically, to go after Gonçalo Amaral. Because Gonçalo Amaral makes many people uncomfortable. Whether related to this case, or the McCann case, or several other cases…

J: So this is a manoeuvre from the past? Because to the public, this can be quite confusing.

PS: That’s the objective.

J: That’s the objective?

DL: That is the main objective.

J: To further discredit the investigation Gonçalo Amaral led into the Maddie Case? This is all coming from the Maddie Case and the McCanns, is that what you are saying?

DL: Not just the Madeleine Case but also other cases which do not have a direct connection, but which have served to, um, protect certain interests… I’m referring specifically to the Freeport Case…

J: What does the Freeport Case have to do with this? You blindsided me with this one!

DL: One of the things we published a short while ago, is that there was a meeting between those responsible for the British and Portuguese authorities involved in the Freeport Case. For now, we haven’t gotten very far in this – but for now, we will talk about – excuse the expression – a circumstance in which two individuals go to a brothel and unexpectedly meet. One says to the other, “You don’t say anything to my wife, and I won’t say anything to yours.”

The same thing is happening in the Freeport Case. The British authorities wanted to come to Portugal; they wanted to work with the Portuguese authorities, in order to investigate money transfers …

J: So the Freeport Case is also connected to England…

DL: Right. And the British authorities asked for authorization from the Attorney General to come to Portugal, to create a joint team and investigate money transfers from the UK to some “personalities” in Portugal. Which was refused…

J: [Transfers] to whom?

DL: This… um… [more about this] later… later.

JL: Later. (laughter) OK. Let’s go back to Leonor Cipriano.

PS: Beyond the question of Dr Marcos Aragão, who is currently representing Leonor Cipriano, there’s another question which is strange and has never been well explained, and which, given the institution which is under discussion, deserves a public explanation, which is the role of the National Bar Association in this case.

J: Why?

PS: Because the scenario of Dr Marinho Pinto [head of the Bar Association], a person who deserves respect, decided in support of human rights and, as a bit of justification, to treat this specific crime as a crime against humanity. Of course, every crime in which people are physically mistreated without provocation by the authorities is a crime against humanity. But it’s not understood why, specifically, this crime is a crime against humanity. So that, within this scenario, the Bar Association is, from my point of view, an institution which needs to continue to deserve the respect and credibility of the citizens and, naturally, needs to explain why this is a crime against humanity, why is the National Bar Association partnering and has constituted itself an assistant in this case…

J: It’s not common, then?

PS: No, I’ve never – I don’t know if Duarte has…

DL: No.

PS: I’ve never seen this and, more importantly, the inconsistency between the representative of the Bar Association of this country and his time which appears in the journals with some incongruence… These things need to be explained. What happens? It could be that nothing happens. It could be that everything was done here in total legitimacy, in accordance with the most honest of principals. But they have to be explicit about…

J: Clarify, right?

PS: Yes, it should be clarified. That is, there are always interpretations that leave questions. And the process is already the way it is. The National Bar Association has the superior responsibility…

J: It has to be transparent.

PS: It has to be transparent.

J: Duarte, what do you think? Leonor Cipriano was really beaten or not? That woman contradicts herself a lot, doesn’t she?

DL: I know that just a few days ago we completed an interview with ex-prisoners from the same prison complex, and I know that she was beaten inside the prison. I say this with absolute certainty. And, well, I’m not going to say this is normal but it happens a lot…

PS: It’s frequent…

J: I heard Paulo perhaps say, it’s frequent?

PS: Yes, there is a kind of honour code, that is, we have laws, and within prisons there is another law in which crimes, certain crimes…

J: against children…

PS: against children that involve the death…

J: or rape…

PS: or rape, committed especially by those close to the children, again, they often are… are crimes which the other prisoners don’t …

J: so they met out their own punishment…

PS: They take justice into their own hands. Using a code, not a code from a legal point of view, but it’s quite common.

J: It’s a kind of condemnation.

PS: It’s a custom. A custom.

DL: It’s a custom because, for example, any criminal who is in prison, or I should say that the majority of criminals, are parents and they have families. Just because they stole a car from A, B or C, doesn’t mean …

J: That they don’t have relationships…

DL: Generally, the child murderers and paedophiles are ...

J: They are poorly treated in prison.

DL: They are poorly treated in prison.

J: But these prisoners that were incarcerated at the same time as Leonor Cipriano were witnesses, they saw this…?

DL: They did it!

J: Ah! (laughter) I’m sorry. So it was this woman who hit her… who gave her a slap…

DL: Personally, personally, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, and I say this with all sincerity, if one of the inspectors had not given her a slap, that is, I wouldn’t be surprised. However, one thing is certain: after the interrogation in which she confessed…

J: It wouldn’t surprise us, but it can’t happen…

DL: OK.

J: Even though, considering the woman’s confession, I think she deserves to be run over. (laughter) She killed her daughter in a barbaric way. But this is just what we think, in an emotional way. What justice decides could be something else. She has rights just like everyone else.

DL: She, when she returned from the interrogation, the interrogation in which she was allegedly beaten, on this day, she had already confessed to the crime. There was no justification for being tortured, to confess something which she had already confessed. In fact, there is a guard, the chief guard, who was a witness in this trial who says that, in fact, she did return to prison with some red marks and that she said she had fallen on the stairs. That she was dizzy, she hadn’t eaten…

J: But isn’t there…? There is a document that says the woman was seen in a hospital before returning to the Odemira Prison and there is a document that says that woman had fallen down the stairs.

DL: Yes. That document exists.

J: So why is this being doubted now?

DL: Because, since then, she changed her statements. There exist some concerns about the actions of the Prison Director. In fact, the head of the guards said in court a few days ago that the Director asked him to change the reports…

J: But what was the goal?

DL: That’s a question the court has to put to the Director. Now, when I say this is a circus act, it’s because, if, for example, we have to take Gonçalo Amaral to court for being responsible for this team of inspectors then we also have to sue Alípio Ribeiro, who was responsible for the PJ, we have…

J: The [Public] Minister

DL: The Minister. And so forth. We are wasting time, money, when this country has other more important cases to investigate, principally, the case of Madeleine McCann which is stopped. It’s stopped. Voluntarily stopped.

J: It seems like it’s not. Right, Paulo? Something is happening.

PS: Yes, things are happening every day. That is, things are happening every day which is much due to our Duarte Levy who, thankfully, thankfully, has been very attentive and in a very interesting way, which is mostly via the blogosphere, and things are moving and very well. And new clues have been uncovered. A bit ago I was going to show Julia a British journal advertisement which Duarte says is normal and which is made for those still looking for Madeleine…

J: Do you have a copy? I don’t think we have this picture; it’s so big I think we can see it… Give it to me, Paulo. (takes paper) So here is a British newspaper, from yesterday, and here is Maddie.

PS: This type of poster, one fourth of a page… [shows Daily Mail with the PLEASE HELP FIND MADELEINE poster]

J: Two million pounds, right?

PS: Two million pound reward. The more time that goes by, the larger the reward we can say we will offer. That is, this type of reward, this type of announcement is part of a strategy that we can call relational marketing. Which attempts, at specific times, to respond to attacks. That is, this media…

J: Excuse me for interrupting, but with what frequency does this announcement appear?

DL: Every day.

J: Ah, it comes out every day. That costs a lot of money, doesn’t it?

DL: Normally, yes. A quarter of a page in a British journal costs an immense amount of money. The question is, I don’t know whether this announcement is paid or not. Or if there is an exchange…

J: An exchange of those indemnifications.

PS: An exchange of indemnifications. Or could be it goes to the Madeleine Fund. But the case is not stopped. It’s not and it will not be. Because there are many unanswered questions. In these circumstances, it serves… there is a kind of connection between this Portuguese case and the Joana case (which I’ll mention happened more than two years prior to the Madeleine Case) and the personalities of two people who are serving a sentence, in order to make a bridge to this case. And this is clearly being…

J: But that’s perverse.

PS: It’s completely perverse.

J: It’s completely perverse. We haven’t yet discussed a fact that arises here which is Metodo3… the famous… tell us…

DL: Picking up on what is happening in the Leonor Cipriano Case, it was via Julia Pinheiro, it was here on this show, “Afternoons with Julia”, that the fact that Gonçalo Amaral was being investigated by Metodo3 was discussed for the first time. At that time, when Julia put forth this question, a bit surprised, was not expecting the question, and didn’t know. Now, it’s been confirmed.

J: It was true, wasn’t it?

DL: It’s not only true, but also the report that Metodo3 wrote about Gonçalo Amaral is false. The are many facts that came from people such as Leandro [Leonor Cipriano’s partner] and other individuals connected to the Leonor Case and the Joana Case, all done to undermine the credibility of Gonçalo Amaral.

PS: It’s counter indicative.

J: What do you mean, Paulo? Counter indicative.

PS: The human memory doesn’t improve with time. The human memory is a function, from a psychological standpoint, that deteriorates over time. Amongst the witnesses contacted, who are highly unbelievable, for Leonor Cipriano, there are some that are particularly captivated by the thesis that there is “a cat hidden with his tail sticking out,” as the expression goes. Moreover, there is a fact out there that leaves me completely astounded. How can someone say that they didn’t even recognize the inspector Gonçalo Amaral, and later say, “Oh, now that I think about it, he also hit me. I remembered this after the interview that my husband gave.” This is completely impossible within the functioning of human memory. This type of thing doesn’t happen. This is a lie.

J: Didn’t Leonor Cipriano say that she couldn’t identify the people who beat her? Which is a strange thing…

DL: Ah, but now she can!

J: Ah, today she knows them…?

PS: It was Gonçalo.

J: Ah, Gonçalo! Ah!

PS: She didn’t know at first …

J: But if someone beat me, I think I would never ever forget them. Someone who had slapped me in the face, you know?

PS: Right. But Duarte has hit upon something important. Which is that there’s a fact that can not be excused in any way. That Gonçalo Amaral has been a man who has been consistently persecuted. [Close-up of Sun with photo of Amaral and the headline: “Did Cop Eat Maddie!”] It began with things like alcohol consumption, long lunches, sardines, etc. Which, curiously, you found also in a part of the Portuguese press, I don’t know if it was done on purpose, perhaps to follow a line of investigation that was a bit different, some journals like to do that, fine, it’s an option. However, it’s vital to understand the complete insistence upon denigrating his image and questioning everything Gonçalo Amaral has done in this country… it was investigated, this and everything in his private life. This is something that can’t be set aside by those who are interpreting these facts. And even for those who don’t have major paranoia, nor grand conspiracy theories, even to someone who is utterly uninterested in these things, this stinks. It smells bad. And I return to the idea that when the National Bar Association is involved in these things, it smells even worse. And, so, these things need to be put in their place. They need to be reviewed calmly. And they need to be honestly discussed much more than they have been up until now. And an honest plan relates to principals [ethics], and has to clarify why they are involved in this. And suddenly, this Leonor Cipriano Case arises without anyone understanding why? Without anyone understanding why. Even more than that …

J: It was expected to last two days, right? And Paulo Sargento is participating right? As a witness?

PS: Right. But I can’t talk about that. Nonetheless, it’s strange. And it’s important to understand how this started. How did those photographs appear in the Expresso two years ago? There are things that need to be said. There are relationships that have to be explained. And when things reach this point, people can’t close their eyes and say, “well, this is weird, whatever.”

J: Some say the photographs of Leonor Cipriano’s bruises were manipulated. Were…

DL: It’s a possibility.

J: It’s possible?

(Con't in Part 2)

(con't from Part 1)

DL: They are photographs from the digital era. They could have been manipulated. This is a fact. But I think what Paulo highlighted is very important. It would perhaps be good… In order to have some tranquillity surrounding this case and the Madeleine McCann case, too, for everyone involved, beginning perhaps with Dr Marcos Aragão [Cipriano’s new lawyer] , to clarify …

J: Dr Marcos Aragão said that he volunteered, right? He’s not receiving anything, correct? That’s what I read in the paper.

DL: He’s like a volunteer.

PS: He’s free to do that. I don’t have…

J: Obviously…

PS: I don’t have, I don’t have anything to say against that.

J: [laughing] Duarte has such a sceptical air…

DL: Yes, I’m not convinced. I’m not convinced. It could be that he is not receiving any money from Leonor Cipriano…

J: The lady probably doesn’t have …

DL: Right.

J: Could he be getting money from someplace else?

DL: It’s possible. I think there’s something here that needs to be further investigated, further verified. Just as, in the same way, I would like to see the National Bar Association clarify, in a more explicit way, its presence in this process. As well as the Public Minister.

PS: Definitely.

DL: There exists… If, in the beginning, the woman said then that she didn’t recognize any of the people who beat her, if the woman said at first that she was not beaten and then said that she was, how did those five men end up in court? And why Gonçalo Amaral? If she has said from the beginning that he did not touch her, did not beat her, was not even present, why is he there today? I’m not defending Gonçalo Amaral. I think that Gonçalo Amaral, whether a police officer or not, has become an unavoidable figure in these two processes… more so in the Madeleine McCann case. Because from the point at which he left, and is substituted by Paulo Rebelo, who might be an excellent inspector, I do not doubt that, by coincidence it was he [Rebelo] who was also involved in the Freeport Case…

PS: uh-huh, uh-huh…

DL: I think that Gonçalo Amaral is unavoidable. He was badly treated by the British press without the Portuguese authorities even trying to stop the damage. He is removed from the case because of an article which was false. For an article without veracity. I ended up talking to one of the authors of this article by phone, for on that day I was in London and wanted to talk to this person, and that article was an excuse created in order to remove Gonçalo Amaral.

J: And these are the facts.

DL: These are the facts.

J: And a case that wasn’t going to be very important, wasn’t going to take long to resolve, is now going to take how long to resolve, this case of Leonor Cipriano versus the ex-inspectors that she didn’t recognize that she now recognizes and tomorrow who knows?

PS: I hope that this will very quickly be resolved. Now, it will have consequences… in this there is no doubt.

DL: There will have to be. [consequences]

PS: There will have to be. There are many players in this gigantic soap opera that are going to have to be identified in a much more precise way. Because this puts at risk a very fundamental thing: Portuguese justice. And the impression that people are left with concerning what is Portuguese justice. Such that there is here an inversion of values. Look. We have here the notion that it is possibly our defenders, our judicial police that are becoming the culprits. This is an extremely bizarre thing! It’s absolutely bizarre. It confuses people. Naturally…

J: [It should] not place in doubt, because the case is objective.

DL: Wait. These are not investigators that started two years ago. These are men with 20-30 years in their careers. Who worked on the FP-25 case and others even more important. And who never, until today, had their professional capacities placed in doubt.

PS: It’s obvious, it’s obvious…

J: Your last words, Paulo.

PS: It’s obvious that no one is above the law.

J: Obviously not. No.

PS: No one is above the law. A police officer shouldn’t be on trial? No. He should.

J: If you hit someone, you have to respond to that.

PS: That’s obvious. No one disagrees with that. But this entire case has been bizarre. The players in this theatre, in this great novel, have appeared without anyone understanding how. And this is where we need to start.

J: It is.

PS: People, citizens have the right to understand; those in the process have the responsibility to clearly explain why they are doing this. All the institutions need to do this.

J: We all understand, Paulo Sargento. Applause for Paulo Sargento and Duarte Levy.

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2008/11/duarte-levy-paulo-sargento-on-cipriano.html
Transcription & Translation by Debk, minor Edits by Astro - thank you!

Copied from: http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1896&page=12 #170

Watch the video, here http://blip.tv/file/1460325

5a-feira, 18 Dezembro 2008 15º C Máx Lisboa

New leads in the Maddie Case

In a brook in the Almodôvar region, close to Spain, resides another lead for the case of the 19th month disappearance of Madeleine McCann, as noted 24Horas.

The former spokesperson for the McCann couple, Justine McGuiness, left various documents in her former Algarve apartment, including photographs, which point to a precise location on the margins of the Vascão brook, near Almodôvar.

According to the newspaper, the police found these documents on the day the McCann couple returned to the United Kingdom after having been made arguidos. 24Horas also notes that the PJ devalued this lead and the spokesperson was never interrogated.

Suspicious telephone calls

Tied to this revelation are also various suspicious telephone calls that Kate McCann received and made to England.
Maddie&#8217;s mother denied that these had any relevance to the case but the telephone registers demonstrate that Kate&#8217;s mobile was used in this exact remote location&#8212;the Vascão brook, on various days in May, June and July of 2007.

24Horas recalls that Justine McGuiness was always very critical of Kate McCann right up to the point she stopped rendering services to the couple and when the couple returned to the U.K. McGuiness meanwhile has been the target of various types of pressures in order to maintain her silence.

SOL

link: http://sol.sapo.pt/PaginaInicial/Sociedade/Interior.aspx?content_id=120466
Translation courtesy of: http://www.helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1981 #9 (Thanks Viv!)

Copied from: http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1981&page=8 #114

2008-12-22

Gonçalo Amaral criticises parents: McCanns use video of Maddie - Correio da Manhã

Case: Parents divulge video to find their daughter

Maddie&#8217;s voice in a new video

Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of the British child that disappeared on the 3rd of May 2007 in the Algarve, launched a video yesterday where Madeleine can be seen playing with her younger siblings. The film was recorded in December 2006, in the McCann family home in Rothley, in central England.

This is another request for help, made by the couple, to find their daughter Maddie. Nevertheless, this appeal from the McCann couple is different from the previous, as this is the first time that Madeleine McCann&#8217;s voice can be heard.

In this video, the couple opted not to appear in the film. According to the McCanns&#8217; spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, Kate and Gerry didn&#8217;t want to appear in order not to influence the viewing of the video and because it &#8220;speaks for itself&#8221;.

Still, a message from Maddie&#8217;s parents accompanies the image of the little girl playing with her siblings. &#8220;Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back&#8221;, the McCann couple appeals, adding: &#8220;This is our second Christmas without Madeleine. Please help us make sure we don&#8217;t have a third.&#8221;

Madeleine McCann disappeared from the apartment at the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, Lagos, when she was sleeping in the company of her two brothers. She was three years old when she disappeared.

&#8220;This resembles a toy campaign&#8221;

Gonçalo Amaral, a former PJ inspector and coordinator in the Maddie case, when questioned by CM about the divulging of this new video from the McCann couple to find their daughter, stated that there is clearly &#8220;a need to feed the idea that the child is still alive&#8221;. &#8220;They need to admit, once and for all, that the little girl is dead&#8221;, he said. The author of the book &#8216;The Truth of the Lie&#8217;, a work inspired in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, also compared this new film with Christmas toy campaigns. &#8220;This resembles more a Christmas toy campaign than the search for a child&#8221;, he said. The PJ inspector also lamented that &#8220;the videos of the child&#8217;s disappearance and about the motive for said disappearance were never divulged, because that would help the investigation, and it would help very much&#8221;.


source: Correio da Manhã, 22.12.2008

by astro

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/

The Sad Cases of a Policeman's Life

Matter Of Fact *

by Gonçalo Amaral


"Christmas reminds me of children that have already left. With violence or by negligence."

In this season it is usual to remember the past year, even the life that goes on, and the experiences we had. It is a time for memories and for wishes. For me, Christmas reminds me of children that have already left.

I remember the sad cases of a policeman's life. There is Joana, killed by her mother and her uncle. There is Mariana, kicked until death by her father. There is the one of Filipa, hanged by her father, for jealousy. There is that premature baby girl who died of starvation because her mother cut the serum tubes.

Those were violent deaths, but there also the deaths of children by neglect, abandonment, disregard. If the most atrocious suffering to which a human being can be affected by is to see their offspring passing, the most dastardly crime that humanity can witness is a parent who ends up with a life which she/he has created.

Of the cases I mentioned, the parents/murderers were brought to Justice and punished. But there are many infanticides in this world who do not know the face of the Lady which, blindfolded, holds the balance.

In this Christmas season, after the reminiscences, a wish jumps to mind: that [Lady] Justice removes the blindfold, that politicians do not hide behind obscure interests and give these children the only thing that we can still give them: Justice.



*Matter Of Fact is Gonçalo Amaral's monthly opinion article for Correio da Manhã

Source: Correio da Manhã

Copied from: http://the3arguidos.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=27054 (Thanks X!)

(Translation thanks to Joana Morias' Blog: http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2008/12/history-of-failure.html)

History of a Failure

Posted: 30 Dec 2008 04:30 AM CST
http://jn.sapo.pt/Domingo/Interior.aspx?content_id=1064044

by Marisa Rodrigues*

Precipitation, political pressures, manipulation, subservience to England and excessive media exposure dictated the failure of the investigation that made rivers of ink flow. The trace of Madeleine Beth McCann was lost at the age of three on the 3rd of May 2007, in Praia da Luz, near Lagos.

Archived due to a lack of evidence, the process leaves deep marks in the history of the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), that revealed itself as weak and permeable. It exposed the lack of independence of the institution, as well as its difficulty in dealing with an adverse environment of which there is no shortage of examples &#8211; the absence of cooperation from the British police and diligences that the PJ failed to carry out after refusals from the Public Ministry and from the Instruction judge in Portimão.

For the first time ever, the Judiciária was scrutinised and under attack from various fronts, both inside and outside of the institution. With the British ambassador travelling from Lisbon to Praia da Luz, in order to publicly support the McCann couple, in the name of his country&#8217;s government, the route that would lead to a dead end was starting to form. During the days after the disappearance, the PJ was forced to announce that Madeleine had been abducted, that there was already a suspect and a photofit. False. A short while later, the will of the English press was satisfied, with the forced nomination of a spokesman, an inspector who had nothing to do with the process.

The child&#8217;s parents didn&#8217;t help at all. Throughout multiple meetings, they insisted on the abduction theory and gave contradictory statements, just like the friends with whom they had been on holidays. Sending the biological residues to Birmingham was the ultimate shot in the foot. The results were late and inconclusive. Nothing changed, not even when the coordinator, Gonçalo Amaral, was dismissed, in October 2007, at a time when the theory of accidental homicide was gaining strength. Unable to handle the &#8220;lack of support&#8221;, he retired early and wrote a book, &#8220;The Truth of the Lie&#8221;, in order to publicise his theory. This year, during the era of Paulo Rebelo (who was nominated by the PJ to lead the Portimão department and to direct the investigation), the process did end up being archived. Thus the &#8220;prophecy&#8221; of the Attorney General, Pinto Monteiro, who announced &#8220;fearing&#8221; an unsuccessful investigation in May, came true. Three months [earlier], the then National Director of the PJ, Alípio Ribeiro, had already admitted that there had been &#8220;precipitation&#8221; in making Kate and Gerry arguidos.

source: Jornal de Notícias, 28.12.2008; online & paper editions

*this text is part of an article titled "10 things to forget about from 2008"

Maddie McCann case: International poll by Focus

61% say that they are guilty

an article by: João Vasco Almeida

The first international poll about the Maddie case, done by Focus, reveals that both Portuguese and British are certain that Kate and Gerry McCann are guilty over their daughter's disappearance. Concerning the little girl's destiny, the numbers are even colder: She is dead.

The number is crushing: more than two thirds of the British and the Portuguese population blame the McCann couple for the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, aged three, on the 3rd of May 2008 [sic], from an apartment in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve. An opinion poll that was commended to Eurosondagem by Portuguese Focus, and carried out in Portugal, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland leaves no margin for doubts. Despite the behavioural and cultural differences, the majority of populations replies affirmatively to two of the most direct questions of this inedited poll.

Nevertheless, when the numbers are evaluated according to nationalities, it becomes clear that in Portugal the blame that is popularly attributed to the McCanns rises to 77.5 percent. This means that only 22% of the population still believes that the Scottish couple has no responsibility in the disappearance of their eldest daughter.

The British, on the other hand, are divided, although the majority agrees with the Portuguese. The majority, 44.6 percent, states without a doubt that doctors Kate and Gerry are guilty over the disappearance of little Maddie.

The first question of the poll is unequivocal. In both countries, all the persons say that they know what happened on the 3rd of May. This means that it is not necessary to explain the McCann couple's drama to anyone. Everyone, really everyone knows.

What divides the Portuguese and the British is the belief in Maddie's destiny. While in Portugal it is believed that the child is dead, far away there is a hope that she is well. The abduction theory collects the sympathy of 72.9 percent of the British, against only 11 percent that sustain the death theory. But it is significant that 15 percent of the British wish to reply "I don't know" to the question concerning the cause of the disappearance.

Q1. Did you hear about the disappearance of an English child, on holidays in the Algarve, during the summer of 2007?

Portugal Yes: 100%

United Kingdom Yes: 100%

Yes: 100%*
Everyone knows

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann is the most covered event by the entire media in 2007 and 2008. There is no disaster, no attack or political subject that surpasses the media treatment that was given to the case of the little British girl in the media. As an example, there are one and a half million internet pages that are dedicated to the disappearance of the little British child. Sky News, an English television station, broadcast more than one thousand hours, dedicated to the case. In the four Portuguese channels, the number attains almost three thousand hours, with news, debates and special programmes. All the national newspapers, both in Portugal and in the UK, placed the case on their front cover hundreds of times. During the first few days, no element of the media in the whole world ignored the case, with news being published from Germany to Zimbabwe. It is even more interesting to know that for the same news item, like the possible sighting of the girl in Amsterdam, there are 1553 different texts in English, ranging from the BBC to the Public Australian Radio.

More than news, there are already four books about the Madeleine case, three essays and one work of fiction, which together sold, and only in Portugal, almost 200 thousand copies. The champion of sales is the book by Gonçalo Amaral, the policeman who coordinated the investigation of the case during the first few months and who is now retired from the Polà cia Judiciária. Due to him, editor Guerra e Paz has already sold more than 140 thousand books and prepares editions in Spain and in the United Kingdom.

No: 0%*
News became a soap opera

Several voices were raised against the apparatus that surrounded the case's coverage. If Kelvin MacKenzie, an editor with "The Sun", classified the news piece as the story of a lifetime, others underlined the danger of turning Maddie's disappearance into a pure soap opera. Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC correspondent and presently the McCann couple's spokesman, has issued hard criticism against the media coverage, classifying it as "soft" and unprofessional.

Q2. Do you consider Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, guilty over their daughter's disappearance?

Portugal Yes: 77.5%
No: 22.3%
Don't know/No reply: 0.2%

United Kingdom Yes: 44.6%
No: 38.4%
Don't know/No reply: 17%

Yes: 61%*
McCanns guilty

The fact that they left three children alone in an apartment in a foreign location leads to most replies to this question being affirmative. Here, what is asked is whether or not Madeleine's parents could have avoided the disappearance, if they were in their children's company. Much was speculated about the possibility of the couple being accused of neglecting the children's guard, while they were still in Portugal. Gonçalo Amaral, the man who conducted the case investigation during the first few months, sustains in a statement to Focus that there is an indicium that the parents did not take care of their three children. "But the Public Ministry did not consider the possibility of accusing them over that issue", the inspector says.

The law foresees that the couple can still be held responsible over abandonment or mistreatment, according to article 152, number 1, item a) of the Penal Code of 95, and presently according to article 152-A, item a) of the Penal Code in the redaction that was introduced by Law nr. 59/2007, of 04/09. But for that to be true, facts that are not sufficiently sustained by indicia or evidence would have to be proved, according to the Public Ministry. So it is common sense that prevails over this answer, given the fact that for the Latin culture, leaving children alone at home is something that completely contradicts a costume of permanent surveillance over children. The British accept this type of behaviour more easily, and give their children more freedom, leading to the McCann's behaviour being less penalized in the British poll.

No: 30%*
They are not guilty

If it is true that little Maddie disappeared from the room where she was sleeping with her siblings and without the supervision of an adult, it is also true, if the testimonies from the couple, from their friends and even from the employees of the Tapas Bar, the restaurant where they had dinner, are to be believed, that a system had been set into place that ensured checking on the children every ten minutes. Kate, Gerry and Matt were only some of the adults that went to the apartment on the night that the little girl disappeared, to verify that everything was quiet.

Q3. Do you think that Maddie was abducted?

Portugal Yes: 25.3%
No: 74.4%
Don't know/No reply: 0.3%

United Kingdom Yes: 72.9%
No: 11.3%
Don't know/No reply: 15.8%

Yes: 49%*
She was abducted

The British continue to believe that Maddie was abducted and is missing. The Portuguese, on the other hand, believe that the little girl is dead. The abduction theory is sustained on several testimonies, like that from the couple's friend, Jane Taylor [sic], who asserts that she saw a man on the street that led to the McCann's apartment, only a few minutes after the consensual hour at which Maddie supposedly disappeared. There is also the issue of the window to the three sibling's bedroom. It was supposedly closed until Kate made her last visit to the bedroom, when the mother noticed her daughter's disappearance. Another important testimony in the process comes from an Irish couple that asserts they saw, on the same night, a man carrying a child on the same street where the McCann's apartment is located. But this couple, apart from assuring "80 percent" that the man was Gerry McCann carrying a child, also places his march in the contrary direction of Jane Taylor's [sic]. Summarizing: There are two more or less credible, but contradictory statements about a man carrying a child in his arms on the night of the 3rd of May, in Praia da Luz. Apart from this point, the Policia Judicia¡ria and the media received hundreds of testimonies about sightings of Madeleine at various points of the planet. More: Scotland Yard, the British investigation police, even sent information to Portugal about the possibility of Maddie being involved in an abduction by a Belgian paedophile network.

No: 43%*
She was not abducted

The dogs that specialize in finding cadaver and blood odour found both in the McCann's holiday apartment and a vehicle that was rented by them, two weeks after their daughter's disappearance. The collected blood, according to analyses that were carried out both in England and in Portugal, belongs to one of the McCann's children, although only 14 out of 19 alleles are detected. But it is also certain that it does not belong to any of the younger twin siblings. Therefore, those who sustain the death theory, defend that if it belongs to one of the children, but not to the twins, and if the couple has no other children, then the blood belongs to Madeleine. There is also the cadaver odour and the fluids that were found in a rental car, which supposedly belong to Maddie. If DNA that could belong to the little girl is present in a car that was rented days after her disappearance, there are indicia that she may have been transported inside it. But once more, the scientific police was not able to obtain evidence.

Q4. Do you think the child is alive or dead?

Portugal Alive: 12.2%
Dead: 77.0%
Don't know/No reply: 10.8%

United Kingdom Alive: 36.7%
Dead: 47.1%
Don't know/No reply: 16.2%

Yes: 24.5%*
She is alive

Those who believe that Madeleine is still alive are a small minority, both in Portugal and in England. The police knows that, even if the little girl was abducted, the possibilities of remaining alive one and a half year after her disappearance are few. Kate McCann said, weeks ago, in despair: "I'd rather know that she is dead than to remain in this uncertainty", the mother said. The cases where a missing person that attained such a high media exposure remains alive are rare. The case of Mariluz, the Spanish girl that disappeared after Maddie, ended badly because her abductor killed her in fear of the media pressure. The cases of missing children have rare happy endings, but it is still possible that Maddie was delivered to a paedophile network for sexual slavery and due to the fact that she is blond with greenish eyes, she has a higher "market value", or even that Maddie was kidnapped and kept as a hostage to this day. The best known case of a hostage that survived captivity is that of Natalia Kampush, the young Austrian who was kept imprisoned in a basement for 14 years.

No: 62%*
She is dead

Dead: Out of the three main theories that were joined in the investigation, abduction, homicide and voluntary disappearance, none leaves major opportunities for Madeleine McCann to remain alive. The first one, which is explained above in greater detail, leads to any abductor, due to the girl's media expression, wanting to get rid of the most searched child in the world. The homicide theory contains the solution in itself: If Maddie was killed inside the apartment in Praia da Luz, there is no hope that she could resist. The third hypothesis, that the girl could have left the house on her own and fell off a ravine, into a hole or into the sea, leads to the belief that, one and a half year later, there is no possibility that the human body could survive such an ordeal. In one word, Maddie is dead.

Q5. In your opinion, even if they were not directly involved in their daughter's death, do you think that Kate and Gerry are responsible for her death, or not?

Portugal Yes: 89.6%
No: 6.6%
Don't know/No reply: 3.8%

United Kingdom Yes: 54.9%
No: 34.3%
Don't know/No reply: 10.7%

Yes: 72%*
They are responsible

Here, the opinion is the same in both countries. Above all, there is an important piece of data: This question was only answered by those who previously considered that Maddie is dead. Gerry and Kate McCann are held responsible over their daughter's death even if they had nothing to do with that possible homicide. During the first few months, analysts like Francisco Moita Flores or Barra da Costa underlined the "cold" behaviour of the parents, mainly of the little girl's mother. Gonçalo Amaral, on the other hand, pointed at the "atypical" behaviour of the couple. The PJ inspector says that the mother, after noticing her daughter's disappearance, abandoned the twins in the bedroom and ran to the restaurant where her husband was. If Maddie had disappeared, Gonçalo Amaral questions, wouldn't it be logical to at least protect the twins, phoning her husband and, above all, not leaving them alone?

There is more. The police was only called almost 40 minutes after the little girl's disappearance. If the phone call had been made earlier, the cited former policemen say, the case might have taken another direction. Another aspect of the guilt that is pointed at the McCanns is the "contamination" of the crime scene: the apartment where they spent their holidays. At the moment when they noticed Maddie's absence, all the friends went to the location, mixing fingerprints, footprints and DNA traces with those of the possible abductor. This means: Apart from leaving the child to death, the parents did not defend the crime scene, both Portuguese and British believe.

No: 20.5%*
They are not responsible

Contradicting the numbers, there is the simple fact that the disappearance of a child is something unusual and to which no father or mother is certainly prepared. It has been widely speculated that if Madeleine's parents were Portuguese, today they would be imprisoned over their behaviour. But there are some who believe that despite thinking that the child is dead, the parents are not responsible for the case. Namely: At the moment when the mother noticed the disappearance, she ran towards the restaurant, located only 50 metres as the crow flies, from the apartment, to call her husband in a moment of despair. All the testimonies coincide on the fact that Kate was very upset when she reached the restaurant. The friends immediately got up to attend to the situation and it is more than natural that they searched for the little girl, inside the apartment and in its surroundings, shouting out her name and even walking the streets, looking for her. The hard number of minutes that ranges from the discovery of the disappearance until the GNR was called may also be explained by the fact that the McCanns asked their friends to call the police from the resort's reception. Furthermore, the process that Focus was given access to reports that the receptionist first notified the resort's management before she dialed 112. The result: While the friends helped the couple to search for their daughter, the resort delayed calling the authorities.

Q6. In your opinion, is the McCann couple hiding something?

Portugal Yes: 78.3%
No: 9.7%
Don't know/No reply: 12.2%

United Kingdom Yes: 26.1%
No: 61.6%
Don't know/No reply: 12.3%

Yes: 52%*
They are hiding

The biggest doubt concerning the participation of the parents in the solution of the case resides in the 48 questions that Kate McCann, after being made an arguida in her daughter's disappearance, refused to answer. Therefore, the Portuguese majority says that the McCanns are hiding something. These replies do not allow concluding that the McCanns are hiding something that could lead to the discovery of truth about the case. Merely that the perception of the public is that the parent's behaviour is suspicious and that their media exposure, repeating the same message, asking everyone to do everything to find their daughter, while at the same time refusing to cooperate with the police, leaves the impression that they are withholding information. Kate McCann entered the Judicia¡ria in Portimiao as a witness, and after hours of questioning, the authorities decided to make her an arguida. At that point in time, being officially a suspect over the disappearance, Kate defended herself as the law permits. Another doubt that is left to those who answered "yes" is the refusal to return to Portugal for a reconstitution of the evening of the crime, and the leaving of the Algarve on the morning after the couple was constituted arguidos, in a trip that contradicted what the couple had always stated: "We will never leave Portugal until we find our little girl".

No: 36%*
They don't hide anything

Contrary to the Portuguese, the British do not believe that the McCann couple is hiding anything. The British press, which has always questioned the Portuguese police methods, was quick to point out the failures of the investigation. More than the McCanns hiding something, what the British public opinion seems to believe in is that the right questions weren't asked. Therefore, when the McCanns are made arguidos, it is better for them to return home with their children, than to stay in Portugal, risking ending up in prison. It is also conceded that the presence of Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC journalist and then an aide to the British prime minister, as the McCann's spokesman, contributed to raise their prestige with the population.

Q7. Do you think that Madeleine's parents should be penalized or not?

Portugal Yes: 70.4%
No: 16.6%
Don't know/No reply: 13.0%

United Kingdom Yes: 28.6%
No: 65.4%
Don't know/No reply: 6.0%

Yes: 50%*
Penalized

Once again, the public opinion in both countries is divided. In Portugal, the clear notion is that the couple of doctors should be held responsible and penalized over losing a daughter. Maybe that was why the couple, understanding how important it would be to have a good defense in the Country, hired one of the most renowned lawyers, Rogario Alves, a former head of the Portuguese Bar. The punishment that is expressed in this reply does not specify a form, therefore the only thing that can be concluded is that the Portuguese would at least like to see the McCanns punished over the lack of attention that they gave their children. The law, as previously seen, both in Portugal and in England, foresees that leaving minor children unaccompanied may be a crime, although with very different penalties under both jurisdictions. But the McCann couple continues to fight for their image to pass in a clean manner to the public opinion. For once, the parents of an abducted child have also the onus of proving that they are not guilty over the disappearance, although no evidence was found and validated against them.

No: 41%*
Not penalized

(continues in next post)

(continued from previous post)

The British public opinion considers that Maddie' parents should not pay for what happened. Far from the Latin behaviour of keeping one eye on the beach and the other eye on the child, the British generally accept easily that small children stay home asleep while they leave for moments. In the United Kingdom it is also common to educate the children under less pressure, allowing for individuals to become responsible earlier and less, in a popular language, "mother's children". Those who believe that the McCanns should not pay for what happened still believes that the couple is far from being guilty in the case, and even, according to the British press, that they were mistreated in Portugal. An article from prestigious "The Times" should be referred, in which the newspaper stated that the couple has been ignored by the police and that they don't get replies whenever they ask them from the Portuguese authorities.

* Indicative values of the average of replies, when summing the partials of both countries and dividing by two: POR + UK / 2 = Result.

Next:

The future of the case

Amid fraudulent detectives, bombshell books being edited in London and new reports, the drama is far from over

Over the last few weeks, the Madeleine case has seen new developments, although they are not as publicized as before. The case tires some of the public that wants to rest during the summer. But the truth is that during the summer, editors Guerra & Paz managed to sell the rights to Gonçalo Amaral's book, "The Truth of the Lie", into Spain, and is close to sealing a deal for the United Kingdom. But this was not the only novelty. A group of private detectives that was working on the case, desisted, cashing in on almost 600 thousand euros without yielding any result from their work. Oakley International left without results.

The money came from the fund for the search of Maddie, which is increasingly slimmer. The case of the detectives that abandon the investigation is a film that the McCanns had already seen before, when the Spanish detectives from Metodo3 also kept their money and failed to produce any results.

Meanwhile, Focus knows that during the first weeks of September, the couple's Portuguese lawyers are going to make a statement concerning the book by former inspector Gonçalo Amaral and announce which are the next steps that are to be made. On the other hand, Gonçalo Amaral is also waiting for September in order to decide whether he advances a process against the McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, or writes a new book.

Meanwhile, Focus was also able to establish that there are reports about the case, written by criminal scientists, that may shed a new light on the case, namely concerning the certification of the DNA that was found in the apartment where the McCanns spent their holidays in Portugal. Meanwhile, the case remains archived. When the judicial holidays are over, and if none of the parties requests the opening of the instruction phase, the reopening of the inquiry or of the process until then, the McCanns will definitely lose their arguido status. This is due to the fact that the Portuguese law foresees that, after the archiving, one of the interested persons may request the reopening of the process or the passing into the instruction phase, and in that case the former arguidos would recover their status. But it is unlikely that this will happen.

Thus the coming weeks will certainly bring news to the most media exposed disappearance of a child in the world, which took place on the 3rd of May 2007, in the Algarve, Portugal. Madeleine McCann, aged three. From that day onwards, with one single known destiny: missing.


Technical data - Euroexpanso/Impala/Focus poll
The analyzed universes are constituted by: Continental Portuguese population, from both sexes, of ages comprised between 18 and 64, residing in housing with a fixed network telephone; English population, from both sexes, of ages comprised between 18 and 64, residing in housing with a fixed network telephone. In both countries, the technique of telephone interview was used (CATI) with a structured questionnaire. The same questionnaire was used in both countries. 1221 interviews were carried out; 609 in Portugal and 612 in the United Kingdom. The interviews were distributed by sex and age in a proportional manner towards the universe. The collection of information on national territory was carried out between the 14th and the 17th of August 2008, having been secured by 22 interviewers that were selected and trained by Euroexpansão. In the United Kingdom, the collection was carried out between the 20th and the 22nd of August 2008, with the cooperation of nine interviewers. The collection of information was controlled in two forms: direct control accompaniment of the execution of the interviews; Telephonic supervision new contact with the interviewees, in order to confer the execution of the interviews and the conditions under which it was performed.

source: Focus 464/2008, September 3, 2008 (paper edition)

Translation courtesy of Astro: http://www.the3arguidos.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=22827&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15