The English Gag by Goncalo Amaral

12/14/2009 Posted by Winnower


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EX POLICE CHIEF BLASTS MCCANNS

12/12/2009 Posted by Winnower

Show-offs!  Ex police cheif blasts McCanns
Vanessa Allen
12 December 2009
Daily Mail

Madeleine McCann's parents were accused of 'showing off' yesterday by the policeman who dragged them in for questioning as suspects. (See: Wikileaks Cable dated 28 September 2007)

Goncalo Amaral added to Kate and Gerry McCann's anguish as they returned to Portugal for the latest stage in their legal battle over his book about the investigation into their daughter's disappearance.

The disgraced policeman, who led the botched inquiry, claimed they had launched legal action against him to protect their public image in Britain.

Mr and Mrs McCann, both 41, came face-to-face with Mr Amaral for the first time since he ordered their interrogation as official suspects in their daughter's disappearance. He claims Madeleine is dead.

The couple have accused him of making 'obscene' amounts of money from the high-profile case and have previously won a court injunction to ban the book from being sold worldwide.

Yesterday, Mr Amaral's lawyer had been due to argue that the injunction should be lifted, but said he could not attend court because of illness. The hearing was adjourned until next month. As they left the courthouse in Lisbon, the McCanns were heckled by protesters shouting: 'Viva Goncalo Amaral, Viva Portugal! [Long live Goncalo Amaral, Long live Portugal!]'

Looking distraught, Mrs McCann said the detective's book had upset her family and could have damaged their search for Madeleine.
'Freedom of speech should not outweigh the rights of our family, our children, the right for a proper, reasonable and fair search,' she said. 'Freedom of speech should not include distortion of the truth, lies, fabrication and slander.' 
The McCanns took legal action against Mr Amaral after his book, Maddie: The Truth of the Lie, claimed that Madeleine died in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007 and that they faked her abduction. They deny the accusations and have been cleared by the Portuguese. (Note: Untrue - the case is shelved pending further evidence.  They have not been "cleared".)

Yesterday, Mr Amaral, 49, who was sacked from the investigation, threatened to counter-sue the couple for the suffering they had caused to his family.

He told a Portuguese newspaper:
'I owe nothing to them [the McCanns]. They're only here to show off, to keep the image they have in England. I will sue them for what they did to my family.
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Madeleine Mccann - Eddie & Keela dogs

12/05/2009 Posted by Winnower

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Full DNA Match in McCann's Car

12/01/2009 Posted by Winnower

Police 'Found Full DNA Match' In McCanns' Car 

Police have found a full DNA match which links Madeleine McCann's body to a hire car rented by her parents five weeks after she went missing.

Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt has the latest. 
Yes, I know, the video has been "removed by the user".  If anyone has a back-up copy, please let me know and I will link to it.  The FACT remains, this video  WAS aired.

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Amaral to train with former enemy

11/23/2009 Posted by Winnower

Amaral to train with former “enemy”
23 November 2009
24Horas
by Rute Coelho
(Joana Morais Blog, posted/translated by "astro")

João Grade


Gonçalo Amaral’s patron was Leonor Cipriano’s defender until the trial of five PJ inspectors over torture on Joana’s mother. Now they are great friends

Life’s irony: Gonçalo Amaral, who in court helped to condemn Joana’s mother over her daughter’s death, is going to train, from January onwards, at the Portimão office of João Grade dos Santos, Leonor Cipriano’s first lawyer.

On the other hand, João Grade stopped defending Leonor – who exchanged him for lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia – on the eve of the trial of the five PJ inspectors and former inspectors that stood accused by the Public Ministry of torture over Joana’s mother.

“Since the first moment of the Joana case, I never forgot that I was merely a lawyer playing my role, and Amaral was a policeman”, João Grade dos Santos told 24horas.

“Gonçalo contacted me to become his patron during the training, which is due to start in January. Given the fact that he resides in Portimão and I have an office there, I think he chose me for a practical reason”, he explains. “That would be the reason, otherwise he would have proposed to practise at the office of his lawyer, António Cabrita [head of the Faro District division of the Lawyer’s Order], with whom he has an excellent relationship”, the lawyer explains.

It’s been months since João Grade dos Santos and Gonçalo Amaral started regular contact. “We speak very often”, the patron says about the retired inspector. João Grade even believes that the former inspector who led the Joana case investigation “may have been the victim of an injustice in the process over torture against Leonor Cipriano”.

Gonçalo Amaral ended up being condemned, on the 22nd of May this year, to a penalty of one year and six months in prison, suspended for a similar period, over the crime of false deposition. He was acquitted of the crime of omission of denunciation. The former coordinator in the Joana case investigation has appealed the sentence.

“He knows more than a 20-year-old trainee”

According to the Laywers’ Order’s rules, the training starts at the Lawyers’ Order itself, for six months, and only then can the candidate start his practical experience at a lawyers’ office. It is always the candidate who must find a patron. The full training period lasts almost three years. Then, one still has to pass the Order’s exams to be accepted as a lawyer.

João Grade dos Santos believes in his new trainee’s abilities. “My instinct tells me that Gonçalo is going to be very good. He has a refined smell and a brilliant career at the Polícia Judiciária: he become a coordinator during the time when inspectors were still called agents”, he praises, considering that “with his experience, he already knows a lot more than a trainee in his early twenties”.

Criminal investigation gives experience. “I have no doubts that he will be very good in the penal law area”, he says. As for other areas, like civil or family law, the future “master” of pupil Amaral bets on the student’s ability to learn: “I will explain to him how a process works. He won’t know how to carry out a divorce or an evacuation action at the first attempt, but I believe he will learn quickly”. The patron and the trainee are from the same generation. João Grade dos Santos is aged 51, Amaral is 50.

He even gave him the book

Gonçalo Amaral offered his patron a copy of his book about the Maddie case, “The truth about the lie”. “I read his book and I was convinced, as I had been before, anyway, that it was not an abduction. But the book does not defame the McCanns, Gonçalo Amaral does not express his opinion in it, but an investigation thesis”, says João Grade. Long before they became friends, the lawyer refused to cooperate with Spanish detective agency Método 3, which, according to a special programme on SIC on the 12th of February, wanted to count on his help in the investigation due to the Amaral factor, which was common to the Maddie and Joana cases. Grade refused. Método 3 contacted Marcos Aragão Correia, who accepted.
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Jurors waiting for 16 thousand euros

10/23/2009 Posted by Winnower

Jurors waiting for 16 thousand euros
23 October 2009
ionline
Thanks to Astro for translation
The Faro Court decision that condemned Gonçalo Amaral can only move into appeal after the members of the jury are paid



The eight jurors that were present during the process of Leonor Cipriano against Polícia Judiciária (PJ) agents have not been paid by the Court of Faro, which is delaying the appeals that were filed by the lawyers at the Appeals Court. An amount that exceeds 16 thousand euro has not been paid and is standing in the way of a decision from the Appeals Court, given that the appeals concerning applied sentences and acquittals cannot move from the first instance into the Appeals Court unless the eight members of the jury are paid. The law does not foresee any legal deadline for appeals to reach the Appeals Court.

Five appeals are at issue. One from the lawyer that represents former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral, who did not conform over the condemnation for false deposition. One from the representative of Leonor Cipriano, who did not agree with the acquittal of Leonel Marques, Paulo Cristóvão and Paulo Marques Bom. And a third appeal that was written by the lawyers who represent one of the Judiciária agents, António Cardoso, condemned over document forgery.

These three appeals are joined by two that were filed prior to the sentence and for which the PJ agents' lawyers are responsible. One of the requests focuses on the Lawyers' Order being made an assistant in the process – which the agent's defence considers not to be one of the Orders' purposes and says is at odds with its statutes. And the second one was filed because the defence considers it had a right to hear a statement from Marinho Pinto, the head of the Lawyers' Order, which was refused because he was an assistant in the process, The defence called Marinho Pinto (given that as a journalist he published Leonor Cipriano's photos in the "Expresso" newspaper) as a witness, but due to the fact that he made himself an assistant, the judge rejected his witness statement.

This is a total of five appeals that wait for delivery at the Appeals Court in Évora, in order to be evaluated. According to judicial sources that were contacted by i, the case may drag on for some time, given that the Judicial Court of Faro may not have enough financial resources for this year, in order to pay over 16 thousand euro that the jury is owed.

According to the Jurors' Statute, "after the sentence is read in the first instance, compensation is attributed based on every day that the function was effectively exercised". This means that each one of the jurors – four effectives and four substitutes – receives one account unit (102 euro) for each day of work. There were approximately 16 court sessions, three meetings of the jurors with the judges and one interview during selection phase, which sums 20 days of pay for each juror.

In this process, in which Leonor Cipriano accused the Judiciária inspectors of torture, it was the defence that requested a jury trial, although the use of jurors is uncommon in Portugal. According to statements made at that time, the defence lawyers wanted "for the people to judge the police agents".

Less serious cases are tried by a judge.
More serious cases are tried by three judges, or exceptionally, by a jury.
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Marcos Aragão Correia interrupted Amaral's 50th Birthday Party

10/05/2009 Posted by Winnower

Leonor Cipriano's lawyer interrupted the birthday party of Gonçalo Amaral
Paul Marcellin
Correio da Manhã
05 October 2009
[For Translation and Comments - See Joana Morais Blog]

Marcos Aragão Correia

Marcos Aragão Correia
  • attorney representing Leonor Cipriano

    • interrupted Amaral's birthday party at Portimão restaurant
       
    • made obscene gesture to party guests toasting Amaral after fireworks

    • spun tires, returned minutes later with PSP patrol
       
    • Gonçalo Amaral and Paulo Pereira Cristóvão spoke to PSP officers and Correia fled running
       

FULL TEXT:
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Why Gerry and Kate will never give up hope

9/13/2009 Posted by Winnower

Why Gerry and Kate will never give up hope
13 September 2009
The Sunday Life

Marcos Aragão Correia

Marcos Aragão Correia
  • Marcos Correia
    • human rights lawyer
    • relocated from Madeira to investigate Madeleine's case
    • convinced Madeleine in Algarve
    • said had information Madeleine murdered and body dumped in reservoir
    • told McCanns of suspicions but they decided not to back his search

FULL TEXT:
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A single sentence in cases of assaults in PJ

7/14/2009 Posted by Winnower

A single sentence in cases of assaults in PJ
Lusa
14 Julho 2009
(Original in Portuguese)


Four cases of alleged assaults by officers of the Polícia Judiciária of prisoners came to court, but only one within the Joana case resulted in conviction.

The first trial of inspectors came in 2000 when Chief Inspector José Abrantes and three other inspectors of the PJ in Lisbon were accused of crimes offense of assault and kidnapping of a qualified man referred to as a potential informant in the process of Gang da Passarelle.

Rui Nuno Marques accused the four inspectors of the PJ (that he was) kidnapped and transported to the facilities of the Judiciária, where he said he was assaulted with the intention of revealing information for the investigation of the case.

The court found as proven assaults on the premises of the PJ without, however, has found its authorship, so José Abrantes and three other officers were acquitted.

In September 2004, after the disappearance of an eight-year-old (Joana Cipriano), the mother, Leonor Cipriano, was questioned at the premises of the PJ in Faro, where she said the inspectors tortured her to obtain a confession of the responsibility for her daughter's death, along with her brother, João Cipriano.

Five current and former PJ inspectors were brought to trial by jury, with the Ordem dos Advogados (OA) (Bar Association) acting as assistant prosecutor in the proceedings for the first time in the history of Portuguese justice .

While Faro court has given as proven torture of Leonor Cipriano, could not prove who inflicted the injuries and how, so that Leonel Marques, Paulo Pereira Cristovão and Paulo Marques Bom were acquitted.

For his part, Gonçalo Amaral was acquitted of the crime of failure to report, but the panel of judges chaired by Henrique Pavão sentenced the former PJ inspector to one year in prison suspended for the same period for the crime of false testimony.

The fifth inspector on trial, António Cardoso, was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for the same period for the crime of forgery of a document.

In 2007, an inspector of the Porto PJ, Machial Pinto, had to attend trial session, after being accused of punching, during the interrogation, a man suspected of killing the woman.

The PJ's agent has refuted the allegations and stressed in court that the suspect, assisted at the Hospital de São João Porto, where he remained for 45 minutes due to a "head injury unspecified", "shot up to an inspector," by who was forced to intervene in support of their colleague and forced to subdue him "down."

The court did not finally condemn the Porto PJ inspector.

The Ferroviário Case also refers to 2007, with three PJ inspectors to be pronounced for alleged assaults on a man suspected of theft, with the postponement of the first session in the Tribunal Criminal de Lisboa (Criminal Court of Lisbon.)

The audience, still no date set, came to be scheduled for the same time the trial started of current and former inspectors of the PJ in the media Joana Case.

Because of the trial on the torture of Leonor Cipriano who complained, mother of missing girl in the Algarve in September 2004, the Government created a manual of detention conditions in PJ, so that the rights of detainees are respected.

Contacted by Lusa news agency, António Pragal Colaç ASFIC attorney (Associação Sindical dos Funcionários de Investigação Criminal da Polícia Judiciária) (Union Association of Criminal Investigation Staff of the Judicial Police), criticized the court for judging the cases of attacks attributed to PJ inspectors.

"The courts were in Portugal to worry about chasing the thieves and not the police," he said, showing "concern" and "amazed" by the fact that investigators pursue criminal conviction for acts of violence against detainees.
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Money Bytes: Marcos Aragão Correia

7/02/2009 Posted by Winnower

Money Bytes:
Marcos Aragão Correia, Public Ministry, Portuguese Bar Association versus Gonçalo Amaral
2 July 2009
Joana Morais

Marcos Aragão Correia
Legal Complaints
  • Marcos Aragão Corrreia
    • Leonor Cipriano's psychic lawyer
    • filed 2 complaints in October 2008
    • requested 500.000 Euros as compensation from Gonçalo Amaral over Amaral's request that Correia be "interned" (sent to psychiatric hospital)
    • requested 500.000 Euros as compensation from Gonçalo Amaral to compensate Leandro da Silva (suspected of raping Joana Cipriano) over "torture, defamation and false statements" during investigation into Joana's disappearance.
    • complaints quickly advanced by Public Ministry
    • leaked documents and photos to which had access as lawyer
    • Quote: ''Target was hit, Gonçalo Amaral was convicted''
  • Gonçalo Amaral
    • filed criminal complaint against Marcos Aragão Correia for defamation, libel and slander in April 2008
    • complaint apparently stalled at Public Ministry
FULL TEXT:
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Maddie cop rap

7/02/2009 Posted by Winnower

Maddie cop rap
2 July 2009
The Sun
Leandro Silva and Leonor Cipriano


The disgraced ex-boss of the Madeleine McCann probe has been charged with torturing a witness in another missing child case.

Goncalo Amaral, 49, is accused of punching and slapping Leandro Silva - who wants £430,000 compensation - during the 2004 hunt for Joana Cipriano, eight.

Mum Leonor, 36, girlfriend of Leandro, was jailed for killing the girl in Figueira, Portugal, just miles from Praia da Luz where Maddie disappeared.
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Madeleine detective convicted of perjury

5/22/2009 Posted by Winnower

Madeleine detective convicted of perjury
Wesley Johnson and Sam Marsden
22 May 2009
12:32 PM
Press Association National Newswire

The disgraced former Portuguese police chief who previously led the inquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance was convicted of perjury in a separate case today, Portuguese media reported.

Goncalo Amaral was given an 18-month suspended sentence by a court in Portugal.

Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, said the couple thought the conviction "speaks for itself" and would be continuing their defamation action against Amaral.

Mr Mitchell said: "While Kate and Gerry McCann will not be commenting on the court's decision, they will be continuing their defamation action against Goncalo Amaral.

"Today's conviction speaks for itself."

The McCanns are taking action over Amaral's "entirely unfounded and grossly defamatory claims" in the media about the case, which included the allegation that Madeleine was dead and that her parents were somehow involved in concealing her body.

In the separate case, Amaral was one of five officers of the Policia Judiciara (PJ) in Portimao, Algarve, charged over an alleged attack on the mother of another missing girl.

The five men were accused of "scenes of aggression" against Leonor Cipriano, whose nine-year-old daughter, Joana, vanished in September 2004. The little girl's body was never found but Cipriano and her brother, Joao, were charged and convicted of her murder. She went missing from her home in Figueira, not far from where four-year-old Madeleine was abducted in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007.

It was claimed the attack on Cipriano happened when she was questioned over Joana's apparent abduction.

Today, three PJ officers were cleared of torture, but Amaral was convicted of falsifying documents and another officer, Nunes Cardoso, was convicted of falsifying evidence at the court in Faro, the Correio da manha, a Portuguese newspaper, reported.

Earlier this month, the McCanns said:
"We - together with our three children Madeleine, Sean and Amelie - are taking this legal action against Goncalo Amaral over his entirely unfounded and grossly defamatory claims - made in all types of media, both within Portugal and beyond - that Madeleine is not only dead, but that we, her parents, were somehow involved in concealing her body."

The decision was taken in a bid to prevent further publication of Amaral's "deeply offensive" book The Truth Of The Lie, his television documentary and his "disgraceful thesis" that the parents were involved in their daughter's disappearance.

The statement continued:
"The primary reason for our legal action is simple: to stop any negative effect that these absurd and deeply hurtful claims may be having on the ongoing search for Madeleine. "We can no longer stand back and watch as Mr Amaral tries to convince the entire world that Madeleine is dead. "Nor can we allow this blatant injustice to Madeleine, with its obvious risk of hindering our attempts to find her, to continue.

"Mr Amaral's entirely unjustified claims have not only brought indescribable devastation and suffering to our lives, they have hugely compounded the already immense pain and anxiety we have endured since Madeleine's abduction."

   
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Uncle admits having tried to sell Joana Cipriano

5/19/2009 Posted by Winnower

Uncle admits having tried to sell Joana Cipriano
Expresso
Maria Luiza Rolim
May 19, 2009

João Cipriano

[Portuguese to English translation-Google]


The brother of Leonor Cipriano concedes that "tried to sell the girl but is afraid to indicate where the corpse of her niece. (Click the image at the end of the text and read the confession)

Joana Cipriano may even be dead and the Attorney General's Office may reopen the issue and revise the sentence which condemned the girl's mother. A request to this effect was made today by Leonor Cipriano's lawyer and stepfather of the girl missing for nearly five years.

On the basis of application (see word document using the link at the end of text) is a written confession by the girl's uncle, Manuel Domingos João Cipriano, who says he "tried to sell" Joan.

The lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia also calls for the prosecution to establish "who are the individuals who wanted to 'buy' Joana Cipriano, and for what purposes, where the body of Joanna, and retrieve it in order to conduct medical-legal and forensics, and finally provide a decent burial to the girl. "

In the document sent to the attorney, the attorney says the uncle of Joana Cipriano yesterday signed a document stating "I tried selling my niece," thus confirming, without giving further details, the version of Joana's mother. And that "it just shows that he gave the girl fate following such transaction frustrated."

According to Leonor Cipriano, after the failure of the sale, his brother Manuel Domingos João Cipriano have murdered the child.

Marcos Aragão Correia also explains that "João Cipriano finally confessed the truth only because of the fear expressed that it could be murdered in prison by inmates at the behest of the criminals who tried to 'buy' Joana,  following public revelations of the girl's mother, especially Leonor after the interview, especially the cover page, the newspaper "24" on the 11th of this month. "

Also according to the lawyer, "the confession of João Cipriano as intended, according to it, to obtain state protection, and is the same fear that, also according to their own, prevents him from identifying criminals and others indicate the precise location the girl's corpse. "
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Sandra Felgueiras interview with McCanns 05.11.09 (Parts 1, 2 and 3)

5/11/2009 Posted by Winnower

McCann - Sandra Felgueiras 05.11.09 (Pt 1)



Discussion about Amaral's book "The Truth of the Lie".

4:45 on - Sandra asks about the cadaver dogs:
How can you explain the coincidence of the scent of cadaver found by British and not Portuguese dogs?"
...
"Ask the dogs, Sandra"
"We've obviously looked at evidence about cadaver dogs and they're incredibly unreliable."
"Unreliable?"
"Cadaver dogs, yes. Thats what (???) if they're tested scientifically"

 

McCann - Sandra Felgueiras 05.11.09 (Pt 2) 



Questions about Gordon Brown. Gerry explains they are still in touch with Home Office and Foreign Office. Questions about Clarence Mitchell. Questions about the new Portuguese communications agency the McCanns hired, paid from the Madeleine Fund.
  


McCann - Sandra Felgueiras 05.11.09 (Pt 3)




Questions regarding one million euros McCanns seeking from Goncalo Amaral for alleged defamation. Sandra asks about Amaral's motives. McCanns reply that it was possibly for "financial gain".
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Axed Maddie cop: I'll talk for £75K

5/08/2009 Posted by Winnower

Axed Maddie cop: I'll talk for £75K
Jerry Lawton8 May 2009
Daily Star

McCanns in fury as he cashes in

The police chief sacked from the Madeleine McCann probe after declaring her parents suspects is selling interviews at £75,000 a time. Goncalo Amaral, 48, has already cashed in on Maddie's disappearance by writing a bestselling book. He also acted as adviser to a controversial TV documentary based on his belief that Madeleine died in her parents' holiday apartment.

Now Amaral is trying to rake in more money by selling interviews to TV firms across Europe. According to his representative Luis Varela Marreiros, the disgraced detective is willing to spout his views about the mystery "for `80,000 plus VAT'' - which works out at £75,000.

In an email Mr Marreiros said:
"Since he left Policia Judiciaria his main concern is to reveal the facts that occurred during the investigation. "If you prefer to interview Mr Goncalo Amaral at this moment he will be available but will charge a fee of `80,000 + VAT.'' 
Last night Madeleine's doctor parents Kate, 41, and Gerry, 40, slammed his money-making antics.

Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell raged:
"It is scandalous that anyone should seek to make money out of Madeleine's abduction.


"Further than that Kate and Gerry will not dignify anything that Mr Amaral says with any comment.'' 
They had to conduct their own search for their daughter - helped by public donations - after Amaral heaped suspicion on them four months after Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007. Kate quit her job as a GP to spend six months going through 17 volumes of police files.

Last night's Channel 4 documentary, Madeleine Was Here, highlighted potentially vital leads that Portuguese police ignored. These include five reported sightings of a sinister scar-faced stranger casing out the McCanns' apartment - by four witnesses.

The McCanns' investigators believe her kidnapping was a planned two-man operation. They think she may still be alive and not even realise she has been abducted.

BLOGGER QUESTIONS:
  • Was Amaral "selling interviews" or did this reporter contact his representative asking for an interview?  The email was obviously a reply rather than soliciting.
  • Every single reported sighting, including the ones listed in this article, have been proved to be false leads.  
  • How could a five year old child "not know" she'd been abducted?
  • Goncalo Amaral has clearly stated his reasons for writing the book and it was done in a quest to see the truth of the investigation available to the public.
  • Wikileaks published a cable indicating that the British police involved in the investigation came to the same conclusions as the Portuguese - Goncalo Amaral was not SOLELY responsible for making the McCanns arguidos.
  • The public donations have been used to pay the McCann mortgage and lawyers.
  • The McCanns announced in 2010 that they would be writing a book about the case and their publisher expects the book to result in over a million dollar profit for the McCanns.
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Gonçalo Amaral: "Prime ministers are not eternal"

5/03/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)

Gonçalo Amaral: "Prime ministers are not eternal"
03 May 2009
IOL Portugal Diário
Thanks to Astro for translation


With "some irony" and always defending the theory that Madeleine McCann died on the evening of the 3rd of May 2007, in the apartment in Praia da Luz, where she was spending holidays with her family, Gonçalo Amaral, a former Polícia Judiciária coordinator inspector, states to tvi24.pt that he has doubts whether the appearance of a corpse "would be enough to reopen the case". Despite that, he adds, "prosecutors are not eternal, prime ministers are not eternal either. We live in a democracy and things are going to change".

Two years after Maddie disappeared, the man who led the investigation for six months and ended up being removed from the case, states that, at the moment, "the will that exists is to keep everything silent, without talking much about the subject". Nevertheless, he awaits "someone influent" with the courage to reopen the inquiry. "That person will come and say: 'Let's find out, once and for all, what happened here'," he says, filled with hope.

From the investigation that he led, he draws two lessons. "Political pressure cannot exist within criminal investigations" is the first that he refers. But the second one is so much more personal: "We often say yes, but there's always that one time when we can say no. We can abdicate from our careers and do some good in the search for justice and truth".

"They wanted to fill us with sightings"

Having been removed from the case after controversial statements about his British counterparts, Gonçalo Amaral reaffirms his accusations and goes further: "There was information management done by the English police". "A lot was concealed and they wanted to fill us with sightings", he adds.

He offers two examples. The first denunciation associating suspicious behaviour by one of the members of the group of friends that was on holidays in the Algarve, David Payne, was made on the 16th of May 2007, by a doctor, to the British police. "The information arrived in Portugal in October, after I had already left", he recalls.

But if this information arrived several months later, others were never seen. The former PJ recalls that, with the consent from Portuguese authorities, an appeal was made for tourists to send in photos from the day and the night of Maddie's disappearance. The purpose was "to identify anyone suspicious who might appear looking at the family", he says. But despite "much that arrived at the English police, none of those images ever reached us".

Many diligences left to carry out

When questioned whether he is still investigating the case, Gonçalo Amaral refuses to use the term investigation because "he is dedicated to other things in life". But he admits that he has been "in contact with other people, including retired policemen, both Portuguese and foreign" and that "the entire process is being analysed, in order to understand what was done and what diligences are left to carry out".

Despite the archiving coming as no surprise, he defends that it was rushed and that "there is much left to clarify". Like, for example, "to find out whether or not David Payne, one of the last persons to see Maddie, was with Kate in the apartment and bathed the children". This name is actually a piece of the puzzle that he considers to be "crucial" to clarify "what really happened that day".

Still, he insists: "What happened is in the process. There are indications that the little girl's death happened in that space. Now, it is necessary to reopen the process to find out about the circumstances and the possible involvement of a third party, and to advance in that direction. That was what we were doing when I was removed".

   
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The moment Gerry walked into kidnap flat... after 2 years

5/03/2009 Posted by Winnower

The moment Gerry walked into kidnap flat... after 2 years
Sarah Jellema
3 May 2009
People


This is the moment Gerry McCann stepped back into the last place he saw his daughter - to reconstruct the nightmare of the evening she was snatched.

Standing outside the bedroom where he had left three-year-old Madeleine asleep, he looked anguished as he relived the events of exactly two years ago.

Gerry, 40, walked into Apartment 5a at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz and said:
"We are a family and we are a happy family - but we are not a complete family.

"There is still a scar - a deep, deep scar - that is kind of knitted at the minute.

"But you still think the stitches of it might break or come loose." 
Meanwhile, Maddie's mum Kate, 41 - who did not return to the Portuguese holiday flat - said:
"I think we are far from normality.

"We need to get out there - she is alive, she is out there, she is findable.

"She might look different, she could be speaking a different language, she might have her hair different, she might have different interests. But she's still our daughter."
As brave Gerry and Kate today to mark the second anniversary of Maddie's disappearance, Channel 4 is preparing to air a TV documentary reconstructing the disappearance and spelling out how a team of British investigators have already uncovered new leads they believe will help find her captor.

More than 30,000 files released by Portuguese police after they shelved the hunt for Maddie last summer contain key witness statements about a suspicious man loitering near the McCanns' apartment.

Answer

The Cutting Edge documentary - to be screened at 9 pm on Thursday - reveals vital sightings around the Ocean Club complex in the days leading up to May 3, 2007.

Search leader Dave Edgar believes the key to the mystery lies within 10 miles of the Algarve resort.

The retired detective inspector, who has more than 30 years police experience, says:
"Someone local has the answer to this.

"This offence happened in Praia de Luz. It's a very self-contained resort and that's where we've started - and that's where I think the answer is."
The Portuguese files - which cost the McCanns £100,000 to translate into English - include a statement that seems to corroborate a sighting by Jane Tanner, one of the pals holidaying with the McCanns when their daughter went missing.

She told police she saw a man carrying a small girl near the apartment at about 9.10pm on May 3 - minutes after Gerry had last checked on Maddie.

The British investigators have now found the files show another family reported a similar sighting shortly afterwards.

The search team also uncovered statements from tourists who had spotted a suspicious-looking man near the McCanns' apartment on several dates BEFORE she went missing.

Investigators believe the reports suggest the family may have been staked out for days in the run-up to Madeleine's abduction.

Mr Edgar - who worked with witnesses and the McCanns to make the reconstruction for Cutting Edge - says:
"In my experience random just doesn't happen.

"Someone - a passer-by - doesn't go in and pick up a child and take it. These things are planned.

"So someone will have been in the vicinity of Apartment 5A.

"They may even have been watching the apartment for a week - or more." 
GP Kate and brain specialist Gerry, of Rothley, Leicestershire, reported Madeleine missing at 10 pm on the evening she vanished. They had been eating at a nearby restaurant with a group of pals - the so-called Tapas Seven - after putting Maddie and their two-year-old twins Amelie and Sean to bed.

The devastated couple have always insisted their daughter is still alive. And they have toured the world in their desperate search for some clue to her whereabouts. Last week they appeared on Oprah Winfrey's top-rated American TV chat-show.

They are also publicising a digitallyenhanced pictue to show what Maddie might look like now - as she approaches her sixth birthday. Launching the image and backing the TV reconstruction, Gerry and Kate said in a statement:
"It is two long years since Madeleine was taken.

"It is two years since we were a happy family of five.

"The pain does not lessen but our determination to find our beautiful daughter remains steadfast.

"It is our hope the reconstructed scenes will trigger somebody's memory and prompt them to come forward, giving us the key piece of the jigsaw we - and Madeleine especially - so desperately need.

"Madeleine is still missing. She has the right to be back with her family. We have a responsibility to keep looking for her. We urge you - please do not give up on Madeleine."

But their tireless crusade has been blighted by disgraced former police chief Goncalo Amaral.

Amaral was appointed head of the Portuguese hunt when Maddie first went missing.

Sleuths

But he was unceremoniously sacked after accusing British cops of being "too close" to her parents - who were later branded official suspects in the case.

Now Amaral plans to launch a private investigation into the disappearance - with the help of sleuths from across Europe, including the UK.

He has vowed to send the results of his probe to Portugal's judicial chiefs and demand the case is reopened. Amaral, who claims Maddie died in a "tragic accident" in the flat, said:
"This investigation is not aimed at finding evidence against Gerry or Kate McCann or persecuting anyone.

"We want to make sure the truth comes out and justice is done." 
Meanwhile, the McCanns are due to mark today's traumatic anniversary joining in prayers for Maddie at their local Catholic church, the Sacred Heart.

The front gates outside the couple's home are draped with green and yellow ribbons of hope.

And posters in windows throughout Rothley bear the words: "Still missing, still missed."
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Two years later

5/02/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)

Two years later
02 May 2009
Correio da Manhã
Matter of fact
Gonçalo Amaral
Thanks to Astro for translation

Two years after the death of Madeleine McCann, much has happened in the Justice sector, but the conclusion is that we are worse off, despite the great solutions being the same: when a certain process is unhelpful, it's archived.

But two years ago already, seven helpless English children were abandoned to luck, while their parents dined and socialised with their holiday companions, a light matter to some, who consider it normal, but something that is severely punished in England. For some, they were safe, despite one of them having been abducted, by Portuguese paedophile networks, admitting no other possibility, limiting and conditioning the investigation's purpose, pressing into that direction. As that was not enough, they demanded the end of the investigation and the precipitated archiving of the process, showing their satisfaction. For those, any police investigation, Portuguese or British, is not convenient, expensive private detectives and psychics are the solution.

They don't care about finding the truth, or about the unemployment and the crisis that were generated in Praia da Luz. They continued denying the child's death, despite the strong indications, because they run a millionaire fund that searches for a child that is alive and in good health, and any recoil will have baleful consequences.

   
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Ex-Maddie officer launches own hunt

4/30/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)

Ex-Maddie officer launches own hunt
30 April 2009
Metro
Jo Steele

A detective who was sacked from the hunt for Madeleine McCann is launching his own investigation into the youngster's disappearance.

Goncalo Amaral said he wanted justice for the missing girl.

He will work with investigators from four countries - including Britain - and has promised to hand over his results to officials in Portugal in the hope that the case is reopened.
'This investigation is not aimed at finding evidence against (parents) Gerry and Kate McCann or persecuting anyone,' he said. 'We want to help make sure the truth comes out and justice is done. The criminal investigation ended prematurely and there's a lot that still needs to be investigated.'
The father of three has written a book which claimed Madeleine died in a 'tragic accident' at the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, the day she was last seen in May 2007.

He was removed from the hunt for the three-year-old after he claimed that British police were 'too close' to Mr and Mrs McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire. The couple's status as 'official suspects' in the disappearance was lifted last year.
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Former PJ Inspector Gonçalo Amaral investigating Maddie Case

4/30/2009 Posted by Winnower


Former PJ Inspector Gonçalo Amaral investigating Maddie Case
30 April 2009
Transcript/Translation: Joana Morais

Marisa Rodrigues, Journalist:
What has started with an exchange of phone calls and emails about the Madeleine McCann process might be now the beginning of a private investigation. Along with Gonçalo Amaral, a group of former police inspectors from various countries have one certainty: the girl died in the Ocean Clubs apartment.


Gonçalo Amaral:
We are working on the death, the death of the child, which is an agreed point. And we are trying to understand what we can do in terms of diligences [coordinating investigative steps] to inspect the circumstances and the causes of that death; and afterwards we will inform the Attorney General of the result of that analysis.

Marisa Rodrigues:
The group, which comprises four retired police inspectors, investigates at their own expenses and without the use of funds. The objective is the reopening of the process.

Gonçalo Amaral:
The case should never have been archived; to be reopened it is a usual procedure. There are still many diligences to be made, they are in the process when it was archived; and that situation has to be emphasized and has to lead to the reopening of the process.

Marisa Rodrigues:
Two years after the disappearance Gonçalo Amaral does not give up, and asks for political bravery to those who have the power to reopen the process.

   
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Amaral and former policemen are investigating the "Maddie" case

4/30/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)

Amaral and former policemen are investigating the "Maddie" case
30 April 2009
Jornal de Notícias
Former coordinator reveals that Portuguese, Spanish, English and Germans are working with him
Alexandra Serôdio
Thanks to Joana Morais for translation

A group of former policemen from Portugal and other countries, which includes Gonçalo Amaral, is investigating the Maddie case at their own expense.

The former Judiciária coordinator told JN that the result will be communicated to the Attorney General.

Restlessness and curiosity were heavy and the bitter taste of a "precocious and political" archiving left them "brooding" on a solution. The words are from Gonçalo Amaral - the first head of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann - who reveals that the group of investigators, that is made up by Portuguese, Spanish, English and Germans, wants to "know the truth".
"We have been talking, exchanging ideas, trying to understand what happened, discussing possibilities and thinking about the entire process", the former coordinator of the Polícia Judiciária's Criminal Investigation Department in Portimão reveals. Despite refusing to reveal what is being done on the field and in what form, he asserts that "this investigation is not to arrange for evidence against the McCann couple".
"We want to contribute for the truth to be known and in that way, for justice to be made. If there are guilty people, they must stand before justice. This is a right that assists any citizen in this country, to fight for justice to be done in every case", Gonçalo Amaral sustained, stressing that "it's not only the courts, the policemen and the judges that fight for justice, anyone can do it".
Asserting that this investigation does "not intend to persecute anyone", the former coordinator stresses the need to understand "what could have been done back then and what can be done now". Always in an attempt to "find the truth and to understand what really happened to Madeleine". Opting not to reveal major details, Gonçalo Amaral says that the group is made of retired policemen, who investigate "at their own expense" and "without the use of funds".
What is established will then be put into a "well based document" that will be delivered to the Attorney General, with the request to reopen the process that has been archived since July 21, 2007.
"The criminal investigation was abruptly interrupted, before it even got halfway. There is still a lot to be investigated that may even lead nowhere, but it may lead to other paths and to the truth", the former coordinator advances, asking for "political courage" to those who have the power to "reopen the process".

"If the Attorney General's mailbox was flooded with, for example, three million requests to reopen the process, I believe the case might be reopened", the investigator stated.
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Freedom and Children's Rights

4/25/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)

Freedom and Children's Rights
25 April 2009
Correio da Manhã
Matter of fact
Gonçalo Amaral
25 April 2009
Thanks to Joana Morais for translation and addendum

In a time of carnations and odes to freedom, we can not forget how much is still left to do, namely in the protection of children. The criminal law does not protect children, they are being left to sleep alone, while the parents get drunk at social gatherings, falling from windows and balconies like ripe fruit, or drying inside vehicles without the according penal sanction occurring.

When the main source of risk and danger is inside the home or the family, the law seems to forget a fundamental right of the child: security.

The UN Declaration on Children's Rights is clear: "The child should grow supported by parents and under their responsibility, in an environment of affection and security."

The crime of abandonment or exposure is inadequate, one should criminalize the mere negligence in custody in order to recognize and safeguard the children's right to safety. Then, there would be no more doubts about the scope of the application of the criminal law, thus preventing relaxed tourists from abandoning our country, without any consequences, after neglecting the custody of their children, night after night, and now walking freely around the media stages.

---

1 in Declaration of the Rights of the Child Principle 6

The child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, needs love and understanding. He shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security; a child of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from his mother. Society and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a family and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of State and other assistance towards the maintenance of children of large families is desirable.

2 Gonçalo Amaral refers to Article 138 of the Portuguese Penal Code, which covers the crimes of exposure or abandonment. Portuguese law only punishes exposure or abandonment if intent exists, i.e. it has to be proved that the caretaker was aware of the danger that the person under his/her vigilance was subject to. In practical terms, this annihilates any possibility of a criminal accusation when 'simple' neglect takes place.
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The politicians are the same

4/19/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)

The politicians are the same
28 April 2009
Correio da Manhã
Former investigator launches criticism in Oporto
Manuela Teixeira
Thanks to Astro for translation

Gonçalo Amaral, the former Judiciary Police head of the Maddie investigation, thinks that the Freeport process is being handled at the same "power pressure" level as the disappearance of the little English girl.

'The politicians are the same. Take this at face value', Gonçalo Amaral said in Oporto yesterday, during the 'Desire' congress.

Concerning political pressures, Gonçalo Amaral stated once more that they existed in the Maddie case.
'There was pressure from London to archive that one, now it seems there is pressure from London not to archive the Freeport process in Portugal.'
The PJ investigator, who has retired in the mean time, even launched a challenge to the Freeport process investigators' team.
'The prosecutor could go and have tea with Kate McCann. Maybe she'd tell her the truth. And they might as well solve the manipulation of the forensics results', said Gonçalo Amaral.

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Paedophile list hidden from PJ

4/19/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)
See Joana Morais Blog: Paedophile list hidden from the PJ


Paedophile list hidden from PJ
19 April 2009
Correio da Manhã
(full article appears in paper edition only)
Investigation: Attorney General's Office prevent police from gaining access to documentation on abusers
Tânia Laranjo
Thanks to Joana Morais for translation


An extensive dossier holding information about several dozen English paedophiles that reside in the Algarve was sent by the British authorities into Portugal within the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie McCann. It is now in the Court of Portimão, locked in the office of the prosecutor who headed the case, Magalhães e Menezes.

The Attorney General's office, led by Pinto Monteiro, accepted that said documentation was removed from the inquiry, at the British' request, and was not even handed over to the police authorities for the investigation into other cases that may involve Portuguese children.

These are hundreds of pages, with data, addresses and facts about English citizens that have been condemned over sexual acts with minors, who are living in the Algarve. There is also data about individuals who live in Southern Spain, in cities near the border, who have a criminal past due to sexual acts with minors.

The PJ in Portimão, that was confronted with this kind of information, checked out all of these men, when Maddie disappeared, in order to find out if any of them had been involved. Alibis were confirmed, and in some cases, telephone information was analysed, as well as the mobile phone locations, in order to verify where they were on the date of the disappearance. Nothing was found, and during the following months, the English continued sending information into Portugal. Whenever someone was condemned over paedophilia and decided to settle in the South of Portugal, the authorities alerted the PJ.

When the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine was closed, the English demanded that the dossier was removed from the process, alleging the need to protect those individuals, given the fact that the process would be made public.

The dossier was handed over to Magalhães e Menezes and is now locked in his office. The PJ does not own a copy and cannot use the information for other investigations.

England has also stopped sending the Portuguese authorities information about the travelling of paedophiles.

Método 3 hired a homicide suspect

His name is Amor and he is in jail for raping his 19-year-old daughter. He has recently been indicted over the strangling of a prostitute, whose cadaver was found dismembered by an animal, in Faro.

During the past year, Amor was one of the men that were hired by Método 3, the Spanish detective agency that worked for the McCann couple, to demonstrate that Maddie was alive.

At the time, the man said that João Cipriano - the uncle of Joana, the girl that was killed in the Algarve a few years ago - had assured him that his niece was alive after all, and that she had been sold to a couple. Método 3 paid Amor to find her, with the intention of proving that Madeleine was also alive, by proving that someone had been convicted over a death that had not taken place.

The result was not what was expected. Amor took the money, but he knew nothing about Joana. Last year, in the summer, he went to the PJ to file a complaint against the Spanish detectives over attempted murder. The process was then handled by the PJ in Faro, and ended up being archived.

Abduction theory defended by English

The investigation into the disappearance of Maddie, on the 3rd of May 2007, in Praia da Luz, rapidly acquired the outline of a national case to the British. They bet everything and sent a liaison officer into Portugal, supplying all the data that might sustain the theory of abduction by a paedophile network. Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesperson, continues to sustain the same theory - that this was an abduction - and remains at the McCanns' side, after abandoning the English government, that has also supported Madeleine's parents.

Luz rejects the couple's return

The possibility that Kate and Gerry return to Portugal, before or after the date of the second anniversary of their daughter's disappearance, is not seen with pleasure by the residents in Praia da Luz. In the Algarvian village, the tiredness over the case's dimension, as well as the revolt against the parents, is evident. With major cuts in business and with the Ocean Club almost bankrupt, the residents even refuse to discuss the possibility of the couple returning to the area where the little girl was last seen. Gerry has recently been to Luz, and he was jeered at.

VIDEO: Portuguese Attorney General Office Hides List of British Paedophiles

19 April 2009
Translation by Joana Morais

In this interview, Gonçalo Amaral describes how the PJ was warned that British paedophiles were coming to Portugal or residing here; however that was only after Madeleine's disappearance. Gonçalo Amaral says that in the process of Maddie McCann, the sex offenders' list, sent by the UK authorities, was omitted by the PGR, the Portuguese General Attorney's Office, while other witnesses' names and addresses were published.

Investigation: PGR prevents Police from gaining Access to Documentation on Sexual Offenders

An extensive file containing information regarding several British paedophiles who live in the Algarve was sent by the British authorities to Portugal, in the scope of the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie McCann. The file is now at the Court of Portimão, closed in the office of the prosecutor who coordinated the case, Magalhães e Menezes.

(transcript & translation of the Correio da Manhã video interview)

British Police sent List of Paedophiles
Data was only sent due to the disappearance of the English child

Journalist [Tânia Laranjo]
At the time they sent an extensive document, with persons convicted for paedophilia, who would be here, in the Algarve.

Gonçalo Amaral
Indeed, we received that information, it was the first time ever that that type of information [list of UK British paedophiles] arrived. It was worked upon; everything was seen, and located. We reached the conclusion that it had nothing to do with this case. In fact, according to them [UK authorities], this little girl did not have the profile, and explains the why, due to the age reason…

Journalist
She was too young?

Gonçalo Amaral
Exactly, he focused that point, and it is a person with experience in that field. And who is here. These are people [the sex offenders] who are living here, or who have been here. It is important that the Police are able to keep that data. It’s in the office of the Prosecutor, who was in the process here in Portimão [Magalhães e Menezes]. When the process was made public, there was no care to avoid the names of the witnesses, their addresses, their phone numbers… There was more care regarding criminals, paedophiles, than with the common citizen, who had nothing to do with the case.

Journalist
In any case, the English only decided to send to the Judiciary Police that list, after a British girl went missing. That is, never before, never a priori [lat.].

Gonçalo Amaral
No, at least here in the Algarve, never. In fact, besides sending the list, two or three months later, there was a paedophile, coming from the UK convicted of paedophilia, which they informed that he was here, and we had to establish surveillance on that individual, for that time. So, they adopted then a new type of cooperation, of collaboration with the Portuguese authorities. They informed us of the coming of that man, something that they wouldn’t do before. And then they just stopped doing it. So, it was just during that period of time. [video cut] And here it seems that there is an excessive zeal, concerning one British child and it seems that the Portuguese children have fewer rights than the British children. In fact, that information only served for one child and cannot be used to prevent other cases that might happen here in Portugal.

Journalist
And this was the only file that was removed from the process? That the English were able to have removed from the process?

Gonçalo Amaral
It appears to be like that, yes. But there are also other files who went missing, so, that is a matter of consulting the process, and understand what is missing there.
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Interview with Gonçalo Amaral

4/15/2009 Posted by Winnower

Documentário "Maddie - A verdade da mentira" foi o programa mais visto do ano
"Documentary "Maddie - The Truth of the Lie" was the most watched show of the year"
VIDEO
Interview with Gonçalo Amaral
Correio da Manha
15 April 2009
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There is no political will to reopen the case

2/25/2009 Posted by Winnower

See The McCann Files archive:  Gonçalo Amaral - The Interviews (July '08)

There is no political will to reopen the case
25 February 2009
24horas
Gonçalo Amaral says that the authorities wanted to abandon the Maddie case
Duarte Levy
25 February 2009
Translation by Nigel Moore



The former PJ inspector, who led the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, is strongly critical of the Portuguese and English authorities

In an interview recorded in Vigo, Spain in October last year, but only now revealed, the former coordinator of the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral, accuses the Portuguese authorities of not having the political will to reopen the case and the investigation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

"The political will does not exist; there is no political will to reopen," accused the man formerly responsible for the investigation and added that "when a process of this type is archived, with so many diligences to take care of, with so many facts that needed clarification, that's because there was no will to continue the investigation and that was clear when we left the investigation on the 2nd of October."

To Gonçalo Amaral, there was a clear intention of the Portuguese authorities to abandon the investigation and "it will be very difficult for the process to be reopened."

In the interview, available on video on the internet, Gonçalo Amaral reports the existence of "situations in the process which in our opinion have not been taken into account, which have not even been read or became known to those who had the duty to know it," stressing that the declaration of the couple of British doctors, that refer to a holiday in Majorca, where they saw the "gestures and words indicating the existence of a child molester within that group of people who were on vacation", were not taken into account before the process was archived.

To Gonçalo Amaral, those responsible in the public ministry should have read the details of the process, adding that he "cannot believe that they read such statements and passed over them."

UK accused of blocking

The author of "Maddie: The Truth of Lie," a successful book that continues without an edition in England - on the objective of cooperation with the British authorities - also accused those at the "top of the English police hierarchy" of having blocked the progress of investigations.

According to the former PJ man, on the ground, collaboration with the British officers "was very tight, very intense," but things have not progressed when it came to the hierarchy.

The Case is confidential in England

During the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the British police were "invited" to sign a document of confidentiality that prevents them today from talking about what happened in Portugal or in England, a procedure that is not normal for police in England. "It is normal in cases with the secret services, and that document is signed right at the beginning. Now with normal police, undertaking a criminal investigation, that doesn't happen," said Amaral.

The former coordinator of the Judicial Police of CID in Portimão goes further and notes that it was Stuart Prior, one of the most important officers of the British police sent to Portugal, who said, regarding the evidence collected against the parents of Madeleine, that "he had arrested people in England with much less."
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Maddie and Joanna: crossroads

2/17/2009 Posted by Winnower

SIC ONLINE
17 February 2009
'Método 3, the Spanish Agency that was hired by the McCanns to allegedly find their mysteriously disappeared daughter, recruited psychic lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia to incriminate Gonçalo Amaral. SIC had access to documents which apparently prove that the Spanish agency has tried to undermine the credibility of the Portuguese investigation on the Madeleine McCann Case.'
 


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Gonçalo Amaral is no longer a candidate

2/03/2009 Posted by Winnower

3 February 2009
Gonçalo Amaral já não é candidato
Gonçalo Amaral is no longer a candidate


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Gonçalo Amaral in local elections

1/20/2009 Posted by Winnower

20 January 2009
Gonçalo Amaral in local elections

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Joana's mother now says that her uncle killed girl

1/17/2009 Posted by Winnower

January 17, 2009
Joana's mother now says that her uncle killed girl
Algarve Reporter

Leonor Cipriano changed her testimony. Document written in prison Odmira, was handed to prosecutors yesterday

[Portuguese to English translation - Google]

Leonor Cipriano, mother of Joana, the girl disappeared from Lagos, in September 2004, revealed yesterday at the Prison Odemira, her brother, João Cipriano, also sentenced to prison in the same case, was the sole author of the girl's death.

Leonor's lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia, said the testimony of eight pages in the client account "the real story" was delivered yesterday morning at the Public Ministry and will be made available to reporters outside the Court of Faro.

According to the lawyer, who noted the written testimony, the client explained that her brother convinced her to give the girl a couple who would take her to Spain. In return, the family would receive money and the promise of a better life for the child.

'João said to her (Leonor) to be at peace because they were persons of confidence ", says the lawyer. "When Joana left home, the intention was to deliver her to people and simulating a kidnapping," he continues, citing the client.

The moment that Joana leaves home, her uncle comes in and picking up some girl's clothes, leaving shortly afterwards with a bag.

The 'business' of selling the girl will not run as expected.
"People had not agreed the money (a sum that Leonor has not disclosed) and João did not give the girl."

Yet the child "heard the conversation and said to the uncle that she would tell everything."

Thereafter, the Lawyer (Marcos Aragão Correia), citing Leonor Cipriano,
'João starts hitting the girl and ends up killing her to blow. "
When he returned home he tried to hide a murder, but at the insistence of Leonor, who had found blood stains in the pants of her brother, João ended up confessing.

João hid the body in a place close to home the next day and buried her "up there to the mountains of Figueira, 'says (Marcos Aragão Correia), citing the words of João Cipriano. In the face of "threats of her brother ',' (Leonor) decided to forget and say that she knew nothing."

The confession of her (Leonor's)  involvement in the killing have been made "under torture" when it was heard by the PJ inspectors, says the lawyer (Marcos Aragão Correia).

The decision to count only now the "truth" is justified by "faith" that Leonor has established with the new lawyer (Marcos Aragão Correia), and with the realization that she had nothing to fear. 'At the time of the crime, her brother threatened her saying that he would also tell them everything prey, but now she is stuck and can not get worse, "argues  Marcos Correia.

With this revelation, the defense intends Leonor: 'restart the search and retrieve the body of Joana, you make funeral and ask the court to find out who is the couple who tried to buy the child. "

The request for review of sentence shall be suspended until the outcome of the case in which five PJ inspectors are responsible for attacks against Leonor Cipriano during an interrogation.

The appeal for review of sentence, always appreciated the Supreme Court may be filed, in particular, where there is new evidence that rocks the justice of a conviction or sentence when one considers that a subsequent conviction resulted from the use of prohibited evidence. Evidence obtained through torture are prohibited. A review of sentence may involve a re-trial.

Remember that in November 2005, Leonor and João Cipriano were sentenced respectively to 20 years and four months in prison and 19 years and two months.

In May 2008, the Supreme Court reduced the sentences to 16 years and eight months in prison. The ruling had dissenting opinions, with some advisers understand that the sentence violated the principle of presumption of innocence and that the girl's mother, whose body never appeared, should have been acquitted.
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Ferreira Leite rejects bid from Gonçalo Amaral

1/16/2009 Posted by Winnower

Manuela Ferreira Leite rejects bid from Gonçalo Amaral
City Hall of Olhão
16 January 2009


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