Amaral and former policemen are investigating the "Maddie" case

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a "well based document" that will be delivered to the Attorney General, with the request to reopen the process that has been archived since July 21, 2007.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.