David Rose
16 September 2007
The Mail on Sunday
The senior Portuguese detective jointly in charge of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is set to face a criminal hearing into an alleged cover-up involving another missing girl.
Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral has been accused of concealing evidence that the mother of eight-year-old Joana Cipriano, who disappeared in the Algarve three years ago, was tortured by police into confessing she had killed her daughter, whose body was never found.
The senior officer, who heads the Policia Judiciaria in Portimao, the nearest town to Praia da Luz from where Madeleine vanished, could appear before the secret hearing as early as next month, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
The revelation casts further doubt on the conduct of the Portuguese police, who have faced increasing criticism about their handling of the McCann case.
In a separate development, this newspaper has discovered that fragments of hair found in the McCanns' hire car, said to belong to Madeleine, cannot be matched to the missing four-year-old.
Sources close to the forensic scientists investigating the case say they have concluded the hair could belong to any number of people. This undermines earlier claims that DNA evidence proved the McCanns used the car to move their daughter's body.
The leaking of these original claims fuelled fears that Portuguese police were conducting a smear campaign against Kate and Gerry McCann as they faced increasing pressure for results.
Against this background comes the revelation that Chief Inspector Amaral has been accused of concealing evidence into allegations that three of his colleagues tortured the mother of missing Joana Cipriano in order to secure a confession.
Leonor did confess, after almost 48 hours' continuous interrogation, but later retracted her statement. But she was charged and convicted of murdering her daughter and is now serving a 16-year jail term.
The four detectives, plus a fifth accused of fabricating evidence, deny the allegations and say that injuries Cipriano sustained came when she tried to commit suicide by throwing herself down police station stairs.
The case has been adopted by the public prosecutor, and next month's hearing, which may be the first of several, aims to gather further evidence to help him decide whether to proceed to trial.
Amaral is not the only accused officer linked to the McCann investigation. Another is the recently retired Chief Inspector Paulo Pereira Cristovao, who has been writing a daily column on the Madeleine inquiry for a Portuguese newspaper that has been reporting sensational stories, leaked by sources close to the police inquiry, some of which have later been proven to be untrue.
Cristovao makes clear in his column that he considers the McCanns are probably responsible for Madeleine's death or disappearance.
In the Cipriano case, Cristovao is alleged to have been one of those involved in the torture, but not the cover-up. Leonor was unable to pick out her assailants from among the accused officers on an identity parade.
Sources say the prosecutor is now investigating the allegation that police paid outside thugs to beat up Leonor.
Like Amaral, Cristovao denies all wrongdoing.
Previous Article
