Cipriano Alleged "Torture"

Conversation regarding Cipriano "torture" case
Maddie Case Files forum  
19 March 2011
(used with permission):

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joana Cipriano, Joao Cipriano, Leandro Silva, Leonel Marques, Leonor Cipriano, Marcos Aragao Correia, Paulo Marques Bom, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão

Jurors waiting for 16 thousand euros

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.

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, Leonor Cipriano, Marcos Aragao Correia, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão

Marcos Aragão Correia interrupted Amaral's 50th Birthday Party

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:

Continue Reading... Labels: A Verdade da Mentira, Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, João Grade, Leonor Cipriano, Marcos Aragao Correia, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Policia Judiciaria, The English Gag, The Truth of the Lie

A single sentence in cases of assaults in PJ

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.

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Leonel Marques, Paulo Marques Bom, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Policia Judiciaria

Tale of how Maddie was dumped at sea infuriates McCanns

Police chief's tale of how Maddie was dumped at sea infuriates the McCanns
Vanessa Allen
19 March 2008
Daily Mail
Madeleine McCann's body was dumped at sea, a former Portuguese police chief claims in a novel about the case.

In Paulo Cristovao's fictional account the little girl's disappearance is never solved.  But Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman accused the ex-inspector - who never worked on the case - of trying to profit from the couple's misfortune, saying his claims were 'hurtful and distressing'.

Cristovao's novel, The Star Of Madeleine, follows two fictional police officers as they attempt to unravel the mystery.  They end their investigation staring out at the Atlantic Ocean and the case remains unsolved - an outcome the McCanns have described as their worst nightmare.  Cristovao has been a constant critic of the McCanns, and previously called for them to be arrested for leaving their children alone in their Algarve holiday apartment on the night Madeleine vanished in May last year.  At the novel's launch in Portugal, he made no apology for the anguish the story might cause, saying: 'I am sure Madeleine's parents will not like the book.'

Cristovao stopped short of accusing the couple, of Rothley, Leicestershire, saying: 'In their shoes, I'd behave in exactly the same way as they did during the investigation.  'I would defend myself with all the weapons that I could use. The difference in this world is that some have more weapons than others.'

But their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said:

'It is a great pity that people still feel the need to profit out of Madeleine's disappearance.  'That is very distressing for Kate and Gerry. The efforts that people are putting into this kind of profiteering would be better spent helping the investigation to find Madeleine.  'If Mr Cristovao feels he has any information relevant to that search then we would ask him to help with that investigation. Beyond that we won't dignify these so-called books with a comment.'

Cristovao said his book was 'pro-Portugal' and it contains thinly veiled criticism of Britain's political involvement in the case.  In the novel the police officers face pressure from British diplomats as they try to unravel the mystery.

In reality, Portuguese police have criticised Gordon Brown's decision to raise the investigation in meetings with his Portuguese counterpart, and have hit out at political interference.  Cristovao worked for the Policia Judiciaria for several years, on cases including the hunt for missing nine year old Joana Cipriano, who disappeared in 2004, from Figueira, just seven miles from Praia da Luz.

Her body has never been found. Her mother Leonor was later accused and convicted of her murder, but has since claimed that police beat her into making a confession. Cristovao and three others have been accused of torturing her.

The disgraced former head of the Madeleine inquiry, Goncalo Amaral, has denied claims that he covered up the torture.  Cristovao, who left the force following the case, has also written about a book about it, called The Star Of Joana.  Mrs Cipriano, 36, and her brother Joao were jailed for 16 years for the murder but her lawyer hopes to overturn the conviction at the European Court of Human Rights.

There have been several books published in Portugal about Madeleine, who vanished days before her fourth birthday.  The majority have been critical of the McCanns' decision to leave their children alone in their holiday apartment while they dined with friends.

Some have suggested they could have been involved in Madeleine's disappearance. (See: Wikileaks Cable dated 28 September 2007)

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Clarence Mitchell, Daily Mail, DISGRACED, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, Leonor Cipriano, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Policia Judiciaria, WikiLeaks

Police chief's tale of how Maddie was dumped at sea infuriates the McCanns

Police chief's tale of how Maddie was dumped at sea infuriates the McCanns
Vanessa Allen
19 March 2008
Daily Mail

Madeleine McCann's body was dumped at sea, a former Portuguese police chief claims in a novel about the case.

In Paulo Cristovao's fictional account the little girl's disappearance is never solved.

But Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman accused the ex-inspector - who never worked on the case - of trying to profit from the couple's misfortune, saying his claims were 'hurtful and distressing'.

Cristovao's novel, The Star Of Madeleine, follows two fictional police officers as they attempt to unravel the mystery.

They end their investigation staring out at the Atlantic Ocean and the case remains unsolved - an outcome the McCanns have described as their worst nightmare.

Cristovao has been a constant critic of the McCanns, and previously called for them to be arrested for leaving their children alone in their Algarve holiday apartment on the night Madeleine vanished in May last year.

At the novel's launch in Portugal, he made no apology for the anguish the story might cause, saying:

'I am sure Madeleine's parents will not like the book.'

Cristovao stopped short of accusing the couple, of Rothley, Leicestershire, saying:

'In their shoes, I'd behave in exactly the same way as they did during the investigation.

'I would defend myself with all the weapons that I could use. The difference in this world is that some have more weapons than others.'

But their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said:

'It is a great pity that people still feel the need to profit out of Madeleine's disappearance.

'That is very distressing for Kate and Gerry. The efforts that people are putting into this kind of profiteering would be better spent helping the investigation to find Madeleine.

'If Mr Cristovao feels he has any information relevant to that search then we would ask him to help with that investigation. Beyond that we won't dignify these so-called books with a comment.'

Cristovao said his book was 'pro-Portugal' and it contains thinly veiled criticism of Britain's political involvement in the case.

In the novel the police officers face pressure from British diplomats as they try to unravel the mystery.

In reality, Portuguese police have criticised Gordon Brown's decision to raise the investigation in meetings with his Portuguese counterpart, and have hit out at political interference.

Cristovao worked for the Policia Judiciaria for several years, on cases including the hunt for missing nine year old Joana Cipriano, who disappeared in 2004, from Figueira, just seven miles from Praia da Luz.

Her body has never been found. Her mother Leonor was later accused and convicted of her murder, but has since claimed that police beat her into making a confession. Cristovao and three others have been accused of torturing her.

The disgraced former head of the Madeleine inquiry, Goncalo Amaral, has denied claims that he covered up the torture.

Cristovao, who left the force following the case, has also written about a book about it, called The Star Of Joana.

Mrs Cipriano, 36, and her brother Joao were jailed for 16 years for the murder but her lawyer hopes to overturn the conviction at the European Court of Human Rights.

There have been several books published in Portugal about Madeleine, who vanished days before her fourth birthday.

The majority have been critical of the McCanns' decision to leave their children alone in their holiday apartment while they dined with friends.

Some have suggested they could have been involved in Madeleine's disappearance.

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Clarence Mitchell, Daily Mail, DISGRACED, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, Leonor Cipriano, Marcos Aragao Correia, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Policia Judiciaria

Paulo Cristóvão talks about Joana case

from "Grande Entrevista", RTP1, Oct. 11 2007

Continue Reading... Labels: A Verdade da Mentira, Cipriano case, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão

Cop torture claim

Maddie detective accused of child-kill confession cover-up 
Cop torture claim
David Rose and Charles Miranda with Mail on Sunday
17 September 2007
Herald-Sun

The top cop in the Madeleine McCann case has been accused of covering up evidence that police tortured the mother of another missing girl into confessing to murder.

Leonor Cipriano later recanted her confession, but is serving 16 years' jail for the murder of her daughter, who vanished in Portugal's Algarve region three years ago.  The body of Joana Cipriano, 8, has never been found.

Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral, who heads the Policia Judiciaria in Portimao -- the nearest town to Praia da Luz, from where Madeleine vanished -- could appear before a secret criminal hearing as early as next month.  He is accused of concealing evidence over allegations that three of his colleagues tortured Cipriano, over 48 hours' continuous interrogation, to secure a confession. 

All four -- and a fifth accused of fabricating evidence -- deny the allegations.  They say Cipriano was injured when she tried to kill herself by throwing herself down police station stairs.

Portugal's police have faced increasing criticism of their handling of the McCann case.

The Mail on Sunday claims fragments of hair found in the McCanns' hire car -- said to be Madeleine's -- 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 Madeleine's body.

The Cipriano case has been adopted by the public prosecutor. 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.  Cipriano was unable to pick out any assailants from among the accused officers.

Sources say the prosecutor is now investigating the allegation that police paid outside thugs to beat her up.

One of the police officers accused of involvement in torture in the Cipriano case is recently retired chief inspector Paulo Pereira Cristovao.

He has been writing a daily column on the Madeleine case for a Portuguese newspaper that has been reporting sensational stories leaked by sources close to the police inquiry, some of which have later proved untrue.  He makes it clear he considers the McCanns are probably responsible for Madeleine's death or disappearance.  Like Chief Insp Amaral, he denies all wrongdoing in the Cipriano case.

In Britain, Gerry and Kate McCann are putting $200,000 of their own money into a Europe-wide advertising campaign, featuring Madeleine's face on billboards, TV and newspapers, to try to solve her May 3 disappearance.

It comes as Portuguese police planned to stage a full reconstruction of Madeleine's disappearance.

And British police will quiz Mrs McCann themselves early next week.

Two days ago, Portuguese police declined a BBC offer to film a reconstruction for its successful Crimewatch show. This prompted the McCanns to launch their own campaign.

The McCanns' village of Rothley, in Leicestershire, has been inundated with up to a thousand letters a day from all over the world, many containing money.

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, Leandro Silva, Leonor Cipriano, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Policia Judiciaria

Joana was killed for not revealing she had been raped by her uncle

5 September 2007
"I did not harm her, only to kill."
IOL Diario
Investigator: Joana was killed for not revealing she had been raped by her uncle
By: Sara Marquese

Joana Isabel Cipriano Guerreiro, or simply Joana. She was eight when she disappeared. The mother and uncle were convicted of murder, but the body never turned up. The case emotionally stirred the country, made the headlines and experts from all areas talked about it. Only one version had been left to tell: the PJ.

Two years after the disappearance of the girl Figueira, one of the inspectors who worked on the investigation, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, opens the book with 177 pages and account, details of the case that moved, "because the cops also cry", and took him out of the PJ. "A estrela de Joana" ('The Star of Joana) arrived in bookstores today.

'The intelligent of Lisbon'

Joana had been missing for a month, Leonor and João Cipriano had confessed to the murder but did not say where the body lay.

The pressures were many, especially those responsible for Lisbon and the media. No visible results of researchers of the Algarve, PJ sends three reinforcements from Lisbon, between them is Paulo Pereira Cristóvão.

Viewed with suspicion by colleagues from Faro and with little information about the case, outlining a strategy based on interrogations and forces to go back and start the investigation from the beginning. It is on this stage that the book speaks.

The interrogation of the siblings, João and Leonor, have proved key. In the book, the former PJ makes the portrait of the arguidos: João was a manipulator, controlled but became angry when he drank and he lost control and became violent. And the day Joana vanished he spent the afternoon drinking.

João had an ongoing sexual appetite "and" PJ believes that he was having sex with his twin sister, Anabela. João also had a clear control over his sister Leonor. This was narcissistic, cold.

He was forced into prostitution by his own mother and no (?) history of "sexual relations between siblings and parents, family violence and the possibility of inbreeding."

Leonor had several relationships. Besides Joana, Leonor had two more children that lived with her and another who lived with her paternal grandmother, who would not know the mother. Still have had several miscarriages (? or abortions).

Violating was worse than killing

Joana caught her mother and uncle having sex, and threatened to tell her stepfather and was then killed. This was the version told by João Cipriano. But PJ suspected that the story has not been the case.

Joana liked the mother, so the researchers do not believe that disclosure. Just something more serious would explain that passed over the love she had for Leonor.

Therefore, they believed that João had raped his niece, before the passivity of the mother. When Joana threatened to denounce them, she was attacked by both.

This version would also explain why they did not want the body found. João preferred to admit he killed his niece than revealing that he had sex with her. If the body was not found, you never know.

The uncle (João) confirmed the attacks, says that after you beat the girl, she was "quieted down". They thought she was dead and had to get rid of the corpse.

While pretending to look for Leonor's daughter with partner (Leandro) and a friend (Carlos), João decided to cut his niece's body into pieces, to be easier to undo (?) her. Then he put it in a freezer.

Leandro did not believe that Joana ran. "It was very (prissy ?)." (Portuguese is "Leandro não acreditou que Joana fugisse. «Era muito certinha»."

Leandro confronted them with questions until he (they? João?) told the truth.

He did not believe until you see the body. Threatened - to help in hiding the corpse Eventually reach.

Parts of the girl's corpse was hidden in a junk car and taken to Spain, where the vehicle was burned and compressed. Inside were also the vessels that were to dismember the corpse.

This was the version that João Cipriano confessed.

First, just to the investigator and the next day, in the presence of his lawyer. But when asked if abused his niece, he replied indignantly: "I did not harm her, only to kill."

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, Leonor Cipriano, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão

Police chief quizzed over torture of mother

Police chief quizzed over torture of mother
David Pilditch
11 June 2007
The Daily Express

Leonor Cipriano allegations

• Five officers accused of torturing confession from Leonor Cipriano
• Three officers accused of torturing Cipriano
• One officer accused of failing to stop attack
• One officer alleged to have falsified documents
• attack allegedly occured in 2004
• Goncalo Amaral one of the accused
• Amaral insisted he was innocent of charges and was considering legal action against public prosecutor's office
• The McCanns were aware of the allegations
• police failed to seal off Cipriano house
• Joana's body never found
• Leonor Cipriano and her brother Joao were convicted of killing Joana and jailed for 16 years and 8 months
• Leonor later lodged formal complaint claiming police beat her into confession during the interview
• prison photos show bruises on her face and body
   
• police trade union
• claimed injuries caused when Cipriano fell downstairs

[Note: in May 2009, the three PJ officers were cleared of torture, but Amaral was convicted of falsifying documents and  Nunes Cardoso was convicted of falsifying evidence. Amaral has appealed the ruling. See: Joana Morais Blog:  Detectives Hired by the McCanns want to Frame Gonçalo Amaral ]

FULL TEXT

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Clarence Mitchell, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, Leonor Cipriano, Marcos Aragao Correia, Metodo3, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão

Joana case - Leonor and Joao Cipriano know the verdict today

11 November 2005
IOL Diario

Portuguese to English translation

MP calls for 24 years in prison for both defendants for the crimes of murder, desecration of a corpse and concealing the corpse. Defense argues acquittal, arguing that proved the involvement of the mother and uncle of the alleged death of Joanaa

The mother and uncle suspected of having killed a girl aged eight, disappeared in September 2004 in the village of Figueira, in Lagos, know today that a ruling in the Court Algarve town.

The sentencing of the brothers João and Leonor Cipriano accused by the Public Ministry (MP) of murder, desecration and concealment of the corpse of little Joana, is scheduled for 15:00, the Court of Portimão.

The two suspects were tried between 12 and 14 October by a jury - composed of three judges and four jurors - chaired by Judge Alda Casimiro.

The prosecutor, José Carlos Pinheiro, called for the condemnation of the accused for the crimes they are accused of a total of 24 years in prison, including murder (at least 20 years in prison), desecration of corpses (two years) and concealment of a body (two years).

In closing arguments, José Carlos Pinheiro, found that crimes in the indictment have been proven at the trial, despite the absence of the girl's body.

"The forensic evidence, laboratory and produced by hearing from 45 witnesses at the trial, are sufficient to convict the accused," argued the prosecutor.

Meanwhile, lawyers João Grade (Leonor defender) and Sara Rosado (defender João) asked for the acquittal of two siblings, arguing that there was no proof their alleged involvement in the girl's death.

For the barrister, João and Sara Rosado, 'only proven facts were off, "whereas" miserable "the evidence produced by investigators at the Judicial Police.

Leonor Cipriano is being detained since September 25, 2004, the jail of Odemira (Alentejo), while her brother, João Cipriano, was arrested two days later, lying in the jail of Olhão (Algarve).

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, João Grade, Leandro Silva, Leonor Cipriano, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Policia Judiciaria