BBC Video Interview with Goncalo Amaral

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7517883.stm
BBC
21 July 2008
VIDEO

The former lead detective on the Madeleine McCann case Goncalo Amaral has defended making her parents official suspects. Mr Amaral was removed from his post in October 2007 after reportedly criticising his British counterparts.

Transcript:

Gonçalo Amaral:

In this case, it wasn't purely and simply a decision taken by police officers - Portuguese and British police - there were others involved; Public prosecutors, the National Directorate of the Portugese police - they all knew there was a necessity to put everything on the table, in light of the advances we had made, the combinations of leads we had. There were no persecutions, the police do not want to persecute anyone, just to investigate what happened in a given case.

Steve Kingstone:

According to the McCann's then spokeswoman, it was put to Kate McCann in her police interview blood had been found in the car and we now know that that evidence was not conclusive, there will be people who say that the police bluffed in that inteview.

GA:

I guarantee there was no bluff in those interviews, not at all, and when all the documents are made public, people will see I am telling the truth.

SK:

Do you think it's possible that Madeleine McCann is still alive?

GA:

The evidence that we had gathered by the time I left the case pointed to the girl being dead and having died inside the apartment. I don't know what happened next, I can't say, we'll have to wait for the case files to be made public.

SK:

You know what people are going to say, back in Britain, they will say that this was a total failure by the Portuguese police.

GA:

Let's wait and the people will see the Portuguese Police and the British Police did a good job because various British agencies were involved. We tried and we worked hard, so we can't be accused of incompetence, or failure.

Continue Reading... Labels: BBC, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Policia Judiciaria

DNA blunder turned Kate McCann into suspect

DNA blunder turned Kate McCann into suspect
Evening Standard
Kiran Randhawa
21 Jul 2008

A key blunder by a British forensics team led to the McCanns being named official suspects, according to a leaked Portuguese report today.

The claim comes as Portugal's attorney general formally cleared Kate and Gerry of any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine in May last year.

According to the Portuguese, the British Forensic Science Service told them that DNA evidence found in the couple's hire car a month after the girl went missing was categorically Madeleine's.

This led to the McCanns being questioned and made suspects. But one month later the forensic service said it could not be sure whether the DNA belonged to Madeleine, her mother or to her sister Amelie, the report says. Madeleine's DNA was also allegedly found on the window sill of their Algarve holiday flat and in the car park. The McCanns always insisted that such DNA could have come from rubbish, including nappies, they cleared from the flat when they moved out.

Another error highlighted in the report was that when British "cadaver dogs" apparently caught the scent of death in the flat, Portuguese detectives did not take into account that GP Mrs McCann had come into contact with six patients who died before she went on holiday.

There is also strong condemnation of the police for paying too much attention to the media during the massive hunt for the girl. Evidence given by the seven friends the McCanns were dining with when Madeleine disappeared is criticised as they are accused of contradicting each other.

The report also talks about a key witness who contacted the police three weeks after the disappearance saying he saw Mr McCann carrying Madeleine away from the flat on the night she disappeared but later retracted his statement.

The report says there is a strong belief by British and Portuguese police that Madeleine is dead.

Kate and Gerry, both 40, who believe their daughter was abducted and is still alive, were aiming to spend today as routinely as possible. Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist, went to work at a Leicester hospital while his wife took their three-year-old twins to nursery school near their home in Rothley. She was then said to be seeing friends.

Madeleine was six days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished from her family's holiday flat in the Ocean Club complex at the Praia da Luz resort. The third suspect, Algarve property consultant Robert Murat, 34, also had his "arguido" status lifted.

The claim about the DNA evidence is likely to cause the Forensic Science Service embarrassment. Last week representatives of the service went out to Portugal with Leicestershire police to try to prevent the information being made public. Mark Williams-Thomas, a former police officer and a child protection expert, who has knowledge of the report, which dedicates 50 pages to the DNA evidence, said it was "damning".

"The FSS was out in Portugal on a damage limitation exercise," he said. "They will lose credibility over this."

It is understood that even if the case is shelved, the files will be periodically reviewed and could be reopened if new evidence emerges.

The policeman in charge of the original investigation was revealed to be publishing a "tell-all" book. Gonçalo Amaral, who was sacked as head of the inquiry in October, took early retirement last month.

Mr Amaral, 48, authorised the decision to name the McCanns as official suspects and his book, called True Lies, will be released in Portugal this week.

He told BBC News today: "The evidence that we had gathered by the time that I left the case, pointed to the girl being dead - and having died inside the apartment. I don't know what happened next. I can't say. We'll have to wait for the case files to be made public."

Mr Amaral said the decision to make the McCanns suspects was taken by a number of officials and did not amount to a "persecution".

Mr Mitchell added: "It's a great shame that Mr Amaral apparently feels the need to make money out of Madeleine's disappearance.

"We hope that any profits he makes from this book will go to the fund to find their daughter but we are not optimistic.

"Until the judicial secrecy is lifted, he is covered by those laws in the same way as everybody else associated with the case is, and as a result Kate and Gerry's libel lawyers will read that book with great interest."

   

Continue Reading... Labels: A Verdade da Mentira, Forensic Science Services, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Libel case, Policia Judiciaria, Smith sighting, The Truth of the Lie

Madeleine police chief to launch 'explosive' book

Madeleine police chief to launch 'explosive' book
Ned Temko
20 July 2008
The Observer

The Portuguese police investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is heading for a stormy final act this week, with the former head of the inquiry promising 'explosive revelations' in a hastily written book.

Goncalo Amaral, who was chief of the criminal investigation police for the Algarve region, has scheduled a news conference in Lisbon on Thursday to launch the book, just three days after the widely expected announcement tomorrow that the case is being shelved by prosecutors for lack of evidence

In the book, entitled Truth About the Lies , Amaral is also likely to reopen his assault on the role of the British police in the investigation. He has publicly suggested that they were influenced throughout by the leads which Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, wanted pursued.

He is said to be convinced that Madeleine is dead, while the McCanns have continued to press investigators to follow the trail of potential kidnappers and ensure their daughter's safe return.

Amaral was taken off the case last October. He is now facing perjury charges in connection with an earlier case involving the disappearance of a young girl in the Algarve, in which her mother was later convicted of murder. The woman, Leonor Cipriano, has since accused the police of beating her into making a false confession.

The McCanns' Portuguese lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, said last night that, despite Amaral's promise to release 'explosive' revelations about the case, he expected the book to amount to 'speculation' that would not affect the future course of the search for Madeleine.

Madeleine disappeared 15 months ago, only days short of her fourth birthday, from the family's flat in a holiday resort in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast.

It is expected tomorrow that the McCanns, both doctors, from Rothley, Leicestershire, and Robert Murat will be cleared as official suspects in the case. The British-born Murat, who received pounds 600,000 in libel damages from a number of British newspapers last week, lives in Praia de Luz.

Spokesmen for the McCanns and Murat said that they had received no advance notice of the details of tomorrow's announcement, although it widely expected that the case would be 'archived' for lack of evidence.

Pinto de Abreu told The Observer that the expected 'archiving' of the police case would mean that the McCanns' legal team would also be given immediate access to the case files, which would be opened for public scrutiny after a further three weeks.

He said that the prospect of gaining access to the police files meant that the McCanns would, for the first time, be able to look in detail at the hundreds of pages of information that was turned up by the Portuguese authorities during the course of the investigation.

The McCanns' private investigators could follow up potential new leads, he said, and might later ask the police to reopen their investigation as a result of this.

Continue Reading... Labels: Cipriano case, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Joao Cipriano, Leonor Cipriano, Libel case, Policia Judiciaria

British police failed to stop DNA evidence in McCann case from being made public

19th July 2008
Daily Mail

British police officers were yesterday accused of trying to stop DNA information allegedly linked to Kate and Gerry McCann’s hire car from being made public. The claim was made in a Portuguese newspaper after Midlands detectives travelled to Portugal to meet the public prosecutor involved in the investigation into the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine. Under the headline ‘English in Portimao to Protect Secrecy’, the newspaper Correio da Manha claimed two Leicestershire officers tried to stop information – including results of a DNA test on a sample from the McCanns’ Renault Scenic hire car – from being made public.




Last year, the McCanns were the subject of allegations in the Portuguese press over DNA allegedly found in the boot of the car. The couple hired the car almost a month after Madeleine, then aged three, vanished while on a family holiday in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. The McCanns, both 40, from Rothley Leicestershire, have always insisted that if such traces were found, there were wholly innocent explanations for it. They deny any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.


Some of the forensic testing was done at the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham for Leicestershire police. Last night, Leicestershire police refused to discuss the details of a meeting between public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses and the officers. The force confirmed that officers held discussions about how some evidence would be disclosed at the end of the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, but refused to comment on the newspaper report.

Speculation is mounting that the McCanns will be officially cleared of having anything to do with their daughter’s disappearance. They remain ‘arguidos’- or formal suspects – but it is expected this status will be lifted next week. Portuguese police have already filed a report for prosecutors. It will advise lawyers to bring charges, request further inquiries or close the case.

On Wednesday, Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro, Portugal’s attorney-general, said: ‘The Maddie Case will have a solution on Monday and you will hear of it.’

Continue Reading... Labels: Forensic Science Services, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Leicestershire Police, Policia Judiciaria

Irishman was already discarded

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

Irishman was already discarded
07 July 2008
24horas
Gonçalo Amaral placed a strong bet on this witness
Carlos Tomas
Thanks to 'astro' for translation

When he was discharged, the former investigator of the Maddie Case was preparing to hear an Irishman, who was considered to be a very relevant witness. But the present investigators don't give him credibility

The statements from the Irish citizen who is considered to be a key witness in the Maddie case by Gonçalo Amaral, the man who lead the entire investigation, were not considered to be relevant by the investigators from the Polícia Judiciária who presently hold the process.

During the two depositions, both informal, the Irishman who is only known as "Smith" said that he saw the father of Madeleine McCann, Gerry, leaving the apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Algarve, carrying a child on the day that the little girl disappeared. This, during the period of time between 6 and 10 p.m., precisely when Maddie disappeared.

"He was one of the witnesses that should be questioned within the rogatory letter that was sent to England. But, due to the fact that he is an Irish citizen, the authorities in Leicester, England, failed to contact him. The diligence was not deemed relevant, given the fact that he was informally heard at the beginning of the process and his depositions were highly contradictory", a senior officer who is connected to the investigations revealed to 24horas.

The same source specified:

"First he said that he saw Maddie's father leaving the apartment carrying a child. But during a second hearing he said he was not certain that it was Gerry who carried the child. He even said he could not assert whether said person was actually carrying a human being. This type of witness is not admissible in court and they do not deserve credibility".

It is now up to prosecutor Magalhães e Meneses, who is analysing the process, to decide whether it is necessary to carry out further diligences, namely whether the hearing of the Irish citizen is necessary or not to reach a decision about the case, which apparently is to be archived concerning the suspicions of concealment of a cadaver and possible homicide that are pending on the McCanns.

(Note: See Martin Smith statements.  Smith never stated that he saw Gerry McCann "leaving the apartment".)

---

Witness testimony of Martin Smith, 26 May 2007
Date of Diligence: 2007.05.06
Location: DIC Portimao
Name: MARTIN SMITH

The witness states:

• That he comes to the process as a witness.

• Being of Irish nationality, he does not understand Portuguese in its written or oral form and is accompanied by an interpreter.

• That he has an apartment in Luz, Lagos, located in the Estela da Luz Urbanizaco, A1C. This apartment is co-owned by a friend whose name is L*** O*****. He normally visits Portugal three times a year. When here, he stays in the apartment. Concerning this period, he states that he arrived in Portugal on the 30th of April, 2007, with a booked return date of May 9, 2007. He arrived at Faro airport and flew out from Dublin.

• Concerning the facts under investigation, on the 3rd of May, he went with his family to the Dolphin restaurant in Praia da Luz where they dined. Around 21H00 they left the restaurant and headed toward "Kelly's Bar"; about a 50 metre distance from the restaurant, following the path, as it is very short. The walk took him a few minutes. In "Kelly's Bar" they consumed some drinks. They left that establishment around 21H55 as his son was due to return home very early the next day. This bar is located on Calheta Street.

• After leaving the bar, he travelled in the opposite direction and reached a set of stairs which gave access to Rua 25 de Abril (25th of April Street). On this artery they followed a second street, parallel to Rua 1 de Maio (1st of May Street) whose name he does not remember. He was heading toward his apartment (Estrela da Luz complex) which is located a little above the street that crosses the primary school. As he reached this artery, he crossed an individual holding a child. He notes that it is normal to see people carrying children, especially during the holiday season. This individual was walking the downward path, in the opposite direction. He is not aware where this person was headed. He only saw him as they passed each other. He assumed it was a father and daughter and thought nothing more of it.

• Urged, states that when he passed this individual, it must have been around 22H00. He did not know at the time that a child had disappeared. He only became aware of the disappearance of the child the next morning, from his daughter in Ireland. She had sent him a message or called him regarding what had happened. At this point he thought that MADELEINE could have been the child he saw with the individual.

• Regarding the individual he states that: he was Caucasian, around 175 to 180m in height. He appeared to be about 35/40 years old. He had a normal complexion, a bit on the thin side. His hair was short, in a basic male cut, brown in colour. He cannot state if it was dark or lighter in tone. He did not use glasses and had no beard or moustache. He did not notice any other relevant details partly due to the fact that the lighting was not very good.

• He was wearing cream or beige-coloured cloth trousers in a classic cut. He did not see his shoes and cannot describe the colour or form of the same.

• He states that the child was female, about four years of age as she was similar to his granddaughter of the same age. It was a child of normal complexion, about a metre in height. The child has blonde medium-hued hair, without being very light. Her skin was very white, typical of a Brit. He did not look at her eyes. As she was asleep and her eyelids were closed.

• She was wearing light-coloured pyjamas. He cannot state with certainty the colour. She was not covered by any other cover or sheet. He cannot confirm whether she was barefoot but in his group, they spoke about the child having no cover on her feet.

• Urged, he states that the individual did not appear to be a tourist. He cannot explain this further. It was simply his perception given the individual's clothing. He states that the individual carried the child in his arms, with her head laying on the individual's shoulders to the right of the deponent. He adds that he did not hold the child in a comfortable position.

• Having already seen various photographs of MADELEINE alongside her images on television, states that she may have been the child he saw. He cannot state this as fact but is convinced that it could have been MADELEINE. Indeed, this is the opinion of his family.

• Questioned, says that the individual did not speak nor did the child as she was in a deep sleep.

• States that it is not possible to recognise the individual in person or by photograph.

• Adds that in May and August of 2006, he saw ROBERT MURAT in Praia da Luz bars. On one of these occasions, he was inebriated and spoke to everyone. He did not use glasses at this time. He also states that the individual who carried the child was not ROBERT. He would have recognised him immediately.

• At being asked, states that he was accompanied by his wife, MARY SMITH and his son, PETER SMITH, his daughter-in-law, S***, and his grandchildren of 13 and 6 years of age (children of PETER) T**** and C***, his daughter AOIFE (12 years of age) and his other two grandchildren (A******* (10 years old) and E***** (four years old). These are children of his daughter B***** who was in Ireland.

• States also that when he passed this individual mid-street, traffic is minimal or non-existent.

• He adds that the group passed him some metres away so that they could make out the individual from various distinct positions.

• He has added a sketch indicating the direction of the locale and the sighting.

• He has no other elements to offer the investigation.

• And nothing more was said. He reads and finds it in conformity, ratifies and signs together with the interpreter.

---

Additional statement by Martin Smith, 30 January 2008

I hereby declare that this statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and that I make it knowing that if it is tendered in evidence I will be liable to prosecution if I state in it anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be true.

I would like to state that the statement I made on 26th May 2007 in Portugal is correct.

The description of the individual that I saw on 3rd May 2007 carrying a child is as follows. He was average build, 5 foot 10” in height, brown hair cut short, aged 40 years approximately. Wearing beige trousers and darkish top maybe a jacket or blazer. He had a full head of hair with a tight cut. This individual was alone.

I saw Gerard McCann (sic) going down the plane stairs carrying one of his children on 9th September 2007 BBC news at 10 PM, I have been shown the video clip by Sergeant Hogan which I recognise. A clip I have seen before on the Internet.

In relation to the video clips of Gerard McCann and the person I saw on 3rd May 2007 when I saw the BBC news at 10 PM on 9th September 2007 something struck me that it could have been the same person. It was the way Gerard McCann turned his head down which was similar to what the individual did on 3rd May 2007 when we met him. It may have been the way he was carrying the child either.

I would be 60-80% sure that it was Gerard McCann that I met that night carrying a child. I am basing that on his mannerism in the way he carried the child off the plane.

After seeing the BBC news at 10 PM, footage on the 9th September 2007 I contacted Leicestershire police with this information.

During that time I spoke to all my family members who were with me on the night of 3rd May 2007 about this and the only one who felt the same way as me was my wife. She had seen the video clip of Gerard McCann walking down the stairs of the plane earlier that day. We did not discuss this until some days later.

This statement has been read over to me and is correct.

Continue Reading... Labels: Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Leicestershire Police, Policia Judiciaria, Smith sighting

There was more politics than police

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

Gonçalo Amaral and Madeleine's case: "There was more politics than police"
Gazeta Digital
04 July 2008
Paulo Reis, Transcription with help from Claudia

The former Polícia Judiciária investigator criticised the PJ director and the Justice minister, in an interview, tonight, with TVI, a Portuguese TV channel. Asked if he believed that Madeleine was dead, Gonçalo Amaral said that he was "convinced" she was dead "based on the evidence collected". When the journalist asked: "Was she killed, there (in the apartment)?", the former PJ inspector said: "She died there". About Madeleine's parents being named as formal suspects, Amaral spoke about "strong evidence" as the base for the decision and referred that "there was a common understanding", between Portuguese and British police officers involved in the investigation, about the fact that Madeleine was dead.

"There was evidence, about two different crimes which were referred by the defence lawyer, Pinto de Abreu, in a public statement and it was hiding a body and a criminal simulation. That was the situation, when I left the investigation," Mr. Amaral said. The former PJ inspector, who has a Law Degree from Lisbon University, mentioned the fact that "these kind of cases of disappearance, frequently bring with it other crimes, sometimes fake statements or physical abuse".

Questioned about the fact that the McCann were not accused of negligence or child abandonment, Amaral said that "it was clear they (the McCann children) were not safe", when Madeleine disappeared, but reminded that it's easier, with UK laws, to charge parents in those kind of situations, once the Portuguese Law is more complex, it requires the existence of intention to leave the children in a dangerous situation.

Gonçalo Amaral refused to comment any decision from the Public Prosecutor's Office of from the Courts and refused to admit that he was "frustrated" with those decisions. Asked about his removal from the investigation, the former PJ inspector told the journalist that he had no contact with PJ director, on that day, and he only knew the reasons when he had a "private conversation" with Alípio Ribeiro refusing to give details about it.

Gonçalo Amaral revealed that the "statement" he gave to Diarios de Noticias and was the reason for his removal, according to the PJ director was not correctly reproduced and it was not a statement to a newspaper, but just an informal talk with a journalist from Faro, "very close to the family, a friend of my wife", who called him to ask about the email sent to the web site of Prince Charles, denouncing a former employee of Ocean Club as the kidnapper.

"What I said, talking not to a journalist, but with a friend, a personal talk, was that Police should concentrate in what was the common conclusion of British and Portuguese Police: the child was dead and it was necessary to consolidate the existing evidence and move forward, to find where she could be and what happened." At that moment, the kidnapping line of inquiry was "already closed", and "another door was opened", Mr. Amaral said.

When asked about the existence of political interference in the investigation, is answer was short and clear: "I think there was more politics than police."

"We did our job, the best we knew and we were the target of a lot critics and insults, from the British newspapers", the former PJ inspector said.

When the case of Joana Cipriano was first raised by the British Media, Mr. Amaral contacted the PJ director and called the attention for the risks, because those news about his alleged involvement in the "torture" of the mother of Joana Ciprianio would be, soon, a large campaign against him, and talked about the convenience of taking him out of investigation. "What they told me, later, was that I had all the support and should continue the work."

"Surprised" with his removal from the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral used a popular Portuguese phrase to explain what he felt, when he knew about his removal: "I felt as if I was kicked up in the ass, on October 2."

About the influence and importance of the McCann, Mr. Amaral said that "there is a all story to be told, about this case, and I think that the journalists that followed this case, have a great opportunity and responsibility, in helping to understand what happened. This is really, a case that is different from all other cases."

Gonçalo Amaral criticized the Justice minister, who said, after his removal, that "it was, now, time to work": "Mr. Justice Minister Alberto Costa, we worked hard."

Download the audio from the full TVI report and interview here

Continue Reading... Labels: Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Policia Judiciaria

TVI Interview: Gonçalo Amaral

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

"I was Kicked in the Butt"
04 July 2008
Gonçalo Amaral Former coordinator of the Madeleine McCann Process
TVI Interview


Are you convinced that Madeleine McCann is dead?

I do have that conviction. It is an interpretation in the light of the Law based in concrete elements, with the knowledge that I have of the inquest and of the diligences done. Yes, I am convinced that she died there.

If the father and the mother were constituted as arguidos it's because they were suspects'

They were suspects and there were evidences for them to be constituted as arguidos, actually, strong elements relatively to two types of crime: hiding a cadaver [corpse occultation] and simulation of a crime [faking the crime of kidnapping]. That was public and at the time that I left the investigation that was the situation.

And the crime of abandonment, for what reason aren't the parents accused?

The issue there is to know if the children were safe or not. For me it's evident, even because the parents talked about kidnapping, that there was no safety.

Don't you feel frustrated as the case isn't moving forward?

I do not feel any frustration over the decisions made in courts. I have been around for many years and I do have a great admiration for the magistrates. I understand up to where the work of magistrates can go.

However you don't understand why you had to leave?

No, not that. I respected the decision as a professional. There was an understanding between the Portuguese and British authorities that the girl was dead and that there was a need to solidify the evidences that existed and move forward to try to understand where she could be.

Do you believe that the PJ's reaction had to do with the politicising of the case?

I believe that there was more politics than police [at work]. But on the field we did our best and we never felt any defence .

Do you think that it is normal for the case to be archived?

It doesn't shock me.

Continue Reading... Labels: Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Policia Judiciaria

Since the day I left I knew the process would be archived

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


Carlos Rodrigues and Rui Gustavo Lima
4 July 2008
Expresso
Thanks to 'astro' and 'debk' for translation

The former inspector reveals some secrets from the investigation into the Maddie case. He guarantees that the process contains evidence, not personal convictions, and he reveals that Paulo Rebelo, his successor, never contacted him to talk about the case. When asked about what he would say to Gerry and Kate McCann, today, he replied: "I'm worried about the girl, not the parents".

Your name and your career will remain connected to the Maddie case forever?

I'm not worried about that. I have always worked in a team, with the preoccupation and the goal of reaching the discovery of the truth. No policeman likes to leave a case halfway through.

Was that what happened with this investigation? Is it left halfway through?

Not according to my will.

Have you agreed with the decision of the former director of the PJ, who removed you from the case?

No. It's an unfair and dangerous decision. I was not removed from the investigation due to incompetence. I left because of the direction that the investigation was taking. But the strategy was not decided by me only. It was everyone. It involved the English police and other Portuguese policemen. And what was being investigated, was the little girl's death, even an accidental one.

After you left, was that course maintained?

I don't know. I'm very naïve and I want to believe that my exit from Portimão had the purpose of advancing the investigation, because the person that took over is much more efficient.

Do you believe that Madeleine McCann died in the apartment on the evening of the 3rd of May?

Yes. That is what I and other persons believe in. And this is not because we idealised it that way.

Is there evidence to sustain that thesis?

I can't enter any details of the process. I will only say this: I am certain that I, and the persons who worked with me, did a good job and I doubt that anyone else could do better. Some day, people will see the process, they may agree or not, but there is nothing in there that questions my professionalism.

Was the investigation's direction, homicide, disturbing the political power?

This case was more political than a police case.

Did any politician pressure you?

I was not pressured, I was removed.

If there was a homicide, where is the body?

That was what we were going to establish next. On the day that I was removed, I was carrying out diligences for a fundamental witness to come to Portugal. It was necessary for the PJ to pay for the trip, to arrange for lodging, and that was being taken care of. But then the important witness never came to Portugal and was never heard.

But why? Why was an exception opened? The English police was used by the McCanns to send the PJ information that often was nothing but noise?

Yes. And the fact that the couple had a press advisor, is a figure that is not even foreseen in the penal process code. In some way, we were all influenced by the campaign that was built, which said that the child is alive and must be found. I don't say that the English police were being ordered around by the McCanns, but it was influenced, like we all were. The PJ should have found a way to protect the investigators from everything else.

That is strange: you say that it was established with the English police that the direction that should be followed was the little girl?s death, that there were enough indices, but there seems to have been an inflexion.

Yes. And I was removed. I don't know whether there is a direct connection. I know that colleagues from the investigation have requested the police's directory for a syndication, to see whether the work was badly done. Whether mistakes were made.

Do you believe that you reached the truth?

I am convinced that we were on the right path and that we might end up knowing everything or not, but a great part. Now, that which we have collected and which we consider to be indices, may not be valued in the same manner.

One of the criticisms is that the results from the months when you were leading the investigation are lots of convictions and zero evidence. Do you agree?

I was the coordinator of the investigation from 3 May to 2 October. Five months. After me, there came other people that have been there nine months. I am not comparing, but we were professional and I'm not ashamed of anything. And when the process is public you will see if it is true that there is nothing. There are indications and they are in the files. We did hundreds of interviews and searches. Thousands of diligences and from that there are no results? The little girl went up in smoke?

Did the theory of the death of the child continue to be followed after your exit?

I don't know. I can say that ever since that day I knew the process would be archived.

That being so, is there still a death to be resolved?

There is. And diligences to be completed.

Who made the decision to constitute the McCann?s arguidos?

Everyone. And the national director was informed of all the decisions.

Alípio Ribeiro agreed with the decision?

Exactly.

But then he ended up saying that the decision was hasty.

Hasty? Four months later? When there were concrete diligences that reinforced some of the indications? While we waited for results of various tests? And beyond that, in our law there exists the principal of no self-incrimination. A person can't continue speaking forever as a witness and providing evidence ("indications"). There is certainly a stigma in the arguido status, but I don't know what is worse. They were made arguidos, this was public, for simulating a crime and hiding a cadaver.

Do you think that you made any mistakes?

I made one. The error of the first hour. There are things about which I still cannot speak. But we know that there are things which could have been done in another way. No one should be shocked if we begin, immediately, to wonder if the parents were involved.

After leaving the investigation, did you ever speak with your successor, Paulo Rebelo?

No. It is an interesting question to consider. If they removed me for the barbarity of speaking to the press, and not for incompetence, it would be normal to be consulted. But this never happened.

If, as all seems to indicate, the case is archived, the public is going to hold the Portuguese police responsible. How will you react?

Archival is not a declaration of innocence. A process can be archived and reopened. The archival of this case could be the declaration of some incapacity of the police, or it could have a different meaning.

What would you say to Madeleine's parents?

I have nothing to say. My overriding preoccupation is with the little girl, not the parents.

Continue Reading... Labels: Alipio Ribeiro, Clarence Mitchell, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, Paulo Rebelo, Policia Judiciaria

Police chief is now free

Police chief is now free
01 July 2008
24horas

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

Gonçalo Amaral retired since midnight, to "savour freedom of expression"
Tuesday 01 July 2008
Thanks to 'astro' for translation

The controversial coordinator, who was removed from the Maddie case, says he "leaves proud" and that he is not "hurt". His last action was delivering the service mobile phone

The PJ's coordinator, Gonçalo Amaral, who was removed from the Maddie case over an opinion offence, is, from today onwards, a free man. At midnight, he went into retirement and, according to what he told 24horas yesterday, his first day "is going to be beautiful, with plenty to do and the ability to savour the plenitude of his freedom of expression".

Just enigmatic enough, Gonçalo Amaral, aged 49, had his last day at the PJ yesterday, "a perfectly normal day". He arrived early, finished the operation into the process that lead, over the weekend, to the apprehension of two and a half tons of hashish and the detention of six traffickers, and dispatched a few more cases. Before lunch, which lasted from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., the controversial coordinator of criminal investigation delivered his duty pistol, his badge and his card at the Faro Directory. At the end of the day, around 5.30 p.m., he delivered his service mobile phone.

In the evening, he hosted an "intimate dinner, with two colleagues that came from Lisbon into the Algarve on purpose".

In the investigation

In a statement to 24horas, Gonçalo Amaral revealed that the future includes "continuing to work in the area of criminal investigation, maybe as a consultant". "But not as a detective", he guaranteed. At the same time, the coordinator who is now retired from the PJ is going to carry out a stay at an Algarvian law office, in order to "maybe exercise [law]" within a year.

Gonçalo Amaral is also going to take advantage of his retirement to "dedicate more time to his wife and children" and assured that, despite everything, he does not leave the PJ with hurt feelings, because the institution and its servants deserve him "the utmost respect". "I leave, proud of having served the PJ and of having worked with very good people, excellent professionals that still remain here".

This, despite him confiding to 24horas, in a reference to the controversial Maddie case, that "many people remained upset" with him in Portimão.

Maddie book "is ready"

Gonçalo Amaral, who spent 28 years at the Polícia Judiciária, which he entered as an agent in 1981, having passed through many different departments, revealed to 24horas that the book about the Maddie case "is ready". It was written during his brief holidays, before he returned to the PJ in May, to leave now into retirement. But the publication depends on the "judicial secrecy" which was not lifted yet. The book promises fabulous sales figures, both in Portugal and abroad, mainly in Great Britain.

Continue Reading... Labels: A Verdade da Mentira, Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral, The Truth of the Lie

Goncalo Amaral speaks of pressures in Maddie case

1 July 2008
Goncalo Amaral speaks of pressures in Maddie case

Continue Reading... Labels: Goncalo Amaral, Gonçalo Amaral