1.Everyone shall possess the right to freely express and publicise his thoughts in words, images or by any other means, as well as the right to inform others, inform himself and be informed without hindrance or discrimination
2.Exercise of the said rights shall not be hindered or limited by any type or form of censorship
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Article 37.º
For once, grieving Kate McCann can find something to smile about. So often pictured as a sad, withdrawn figure, she and husband Gerry burst into laughter as they promoted her book about their lost daughter Madeleine.
The couple were in Amsterdam to launch the Dutch edition of the book which they hope will help to boost the search for Madeleine across Europe.
The heart-rending memoir has already topped the best-seller list in Britain and Australia, and hundreds of thousands of copies have flown off the shelves.
A spokesman for publishers Transworld said: “We hope it will reach number one across Europe and that somebody with important information will read it and be moved to come forward.”
Copies have been snapped up in Portugal, where Madeleine, then three, went missing from a seaside resort on the Algarve during a family holiday in 2007. The McCanns, both 43, from Rothley, Leics, have been given a boost by the amount which the book has raised towards their fund to back the continuing search for their daughter.
They say they have new hope that she will be found after Scotland Yard agreed to review the investigation into her disappearance.
It is said there is often a lot of nonfiction in fiction and a lot of fiction in in nonfiction. Kate McCann's new autobiography, Madeleine, is a prime example of this axiom. I say 'autobiography' because Kate's book is not so much about what happened to her missing daughter, Madeleine Beth, but about Kate McCann nee Healy - her life, her loves and her losses, her trials and her tribulations. In reality, very little of the book is about the missing little girl who vanished in Praia da Luz, the lovely vacation destination in the Algarve of south Portugal; it is a carefully crafted revisionist history of one of the most puzzling missing children's cases in recent years and a strident defense of the characters and behaviors of Kate and Gerry McCann.
Children go missing every day around the world but few children get the level of publicity that has surrounded the case of Madeleine McCann, who was almost four-years-old the evening she vanished from the McCann's Ocean Club apartment, allegedly snatched from her bed as she slept in a bedroom with her twin two-year-old twin siblings, Sean and Amelie. What set this case apart from so many is the fact that her parents were not at 'home' with their children when this alleged abduction occurred; they were off in the resort complex dining and drinking with their seven friends for the evening. For that matter, all of the infant and toddler children of the Tapas restaurant party were left alone to fend for themselves while their parents enjoyed their last night in town.
Madeleine and her brother, Sean, had spent a good hour of the previous evening crying for their parents and a couple of the other children were fussy or ill, one to the point of vomiting while her parents were off having dinner. Three of the families locked up their apartments while they were gone, but the McCanns, Kate and her husband, Gerry, say they left all the doors open so that someone, apparently anyone, could have easy access to the children. The parents of these children were hardly uneducated boobs. They were medical doctors and surgeons and folks of relatively high status back home in their British communities. The case made the tabloids, but, in fact, it was the McCanns themselves that courted the media relentlessly, making Madeleine the most recognized missing child in the world and, themselves a target of a good deal of criticism and skepticism. They claimed their campaign was to find Madeleine but a fair number of people think it was a smokescreen to cover their own criminal acts.
When Madeleine turned up missing at the end of the evening's revelries, the world was not only shocked that the little girl disappeared but that her parents were neglectful in their duties to provide a safe situation for her. Not only that, but rumors began to fly that the McCann children may have been sedated by their own parents so as to not be problematic again when left unattended and with that additional bit of disturbing information, the McCanns became victims and villains at the same time. Over the course of the next few months, the police came to believe that the only victim in this drama was Madeleine who they surmised died accidentally while left alone and that the McCanns hid little Madeleine's body somewhere in Praia da Luz, staged an abduction, and with the help of their friends covered-up the crime. Four years later, the case remains unsolved and the McCanns remain under suspicion.
Which is why Kate McCann wrote her book, Madeleine. Not, in my opinion, to re-energize the search for her daughter as she claims, but to convince people of her innocence and raise revenue. Considering the fact the book sold 50,000 copies of the very first day and was serialized for half a million dollars and the Amazon reviews are mostly glowing and supportive, I would say Kate has achieved her goals in quite a smashing way.
But, there are still hidden nuggets of gold to be mined from within Kate's version of what happened in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007. The one dangerous thing about telling yet another rendition of events is that there is often truth among the lies or lies among the truth; this is why police investigators always want persons-of-interest to keep talking and defense attorneys keep telling their clients to shut the hell up.
The added information in Kate's book has enabled me to complete a Profile of the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann (US and UK). I had been reluctant to offer one for a long time because, in spite of the many police reports and statements and television appearances of Kate and Gerry McCann, I wanted to hear the story from one of their mouths, to know their answers to some very pertinent questions. Kate finally did me the favor when she wrote, Madeleine, and although most of the book is a defense of her behaviors and actions, it is through this defense that Kate has given me a much stronger insight into what likely happened the night Madeleine went missing and why certain things happened or did not happen. Even with time to meticulously choose what one wants to say, it is amazing that what actually ends up coming out is something that perhaps would be better left unsaid. However, personal agendas, narcissism, and a lack of objectivity can cloud the judgment and the end results might not be exactly what the person intended. And I thank Kate for that.
Let me tell you two of the biggest revelations in the book: Kate admits no one came through the window of the children's bedroom. Yes, after years of insisting that someone broke into the apartment by tampering with the shutters and forcing the window open, Kate now backs down from that claim, agreeing with the Policia Judiciaria that an abductor did not climbed into or out of the room. This is sort of a Bombshell Tonight. What this means is that Kate does not claim the police botched the evidence and while she still claims there was an abductor that opened the window for reasons that make no sense, her admission changes how I view what actually happened that night.
Another fascinating bit in the book is Kate's incredibly generous forgiveness of Jane Tanner for not telling her immediately that she saw a man carrying Madeleine off from the apartment; she is instead thankful that "someone had seen something". In other words, Kate is happy an abduction was seen going down, not that she was notified of it in time to do anything about it. This startling revelation tells me a lot about the mindset of the McCanns and adds greatly to the profile in determining what happened to Madeleine.
I hope Kate McCann does achieve her goal of re-energizing the investigation of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and that the truth of the matter will indeed finally come to light.
In their apparently ceaseless effort to prevent British subjects from ever setting foot in the Algarve again, the McCanns (conveniently) forget that the main reason that there are no cctv cameras in any public places, on Portuguese soil, is a Constitutional safeguard: the very same safeguard that they (conveniently) used to justify their attempt to silence former Judiciary Police coordinator Gonçalo Amaral.
The absence of cctv cameras covering public areas in Portugal is due to our strict privacy laws, which protect our citizens' personality and private life, and rule out any type of unauthorized capture of image and/or sound in public areas.
Naturally, there are some people in Portugal who would be prepared to give up some of that privacy, if indeed the presence of cctv cameras would help reduce the crime rate, acting as a factor to dissuade potential criminals. But it seems that there is no guarantee that this would be the case - as abundant examples, precisely from the UK, seem to indicate.
The debate about cctv cameras in public areas will continue in Portugal, independently of the opinion of prominent couples in England and their obedient newspapers. It is not a debate about cost; it is a debate about moral values and ethics. It is a debate about fundamental principles that many are not ready to sacrifice.
The court of Lousada has announced this morning that Afonso Dias, who stands accused of the abduction of Rui Pedro, who disappeared on the 4th of March, 1998, will stand trial. Judge Jorge Moreira Santos has issued a ruling that has pronounced the only arguido in the process over the crime of qualified abduction.
The judicial magistrate's decision has taken into account the arguments that were presented during the instruction debate that was held on the 26th of May.
The accusation in the Rui Pedro case was produced on the 11th of February this year, sustaining the "strong probability" of Afonso Dias having taken the youngster to a sexual encounter with prostitutes, in the early afternoon, in the area of Lustosa, Lousada.
After that, Rui Pedro was never seen again, despite the diligences that extended abroad and included the cooperation of Interpol.
Back in January 2010, on the second day of the book injunction trial in Lisbon, BBC East Midlands reporter Mike O' Sullivan asked the former Judiciary Police coordinator Gonçalo Amaral if his book was hurting the McCanns, Amaral's answer was "Não, fale com os McCann", which literally translated means "No, speak with the McCanns". In what appeared to be a pathetic attempt to smear Amaral's character, Mike O'Sullivan, who clearly doesn't know Portuguese, decided to bleep Amaral's reply (see the above video at 0:30) and broadcast to the world that Amaral had said "Fuck the McCanns". Though several other UK, Portuguese, Spanish reporters were present at the book banning trial Mike O'Sullivan was the only one who made that (intentional?) assumption. It took 16 months and several complaints to the BBC complaints department, to the PCC, and to Ofcom for the BBC to finally admit that Mike O' Sullivan was wrong [see bellow] and that Gonçalo Amaral reply was twisted, however no formal apology was issued.
The vilification of Amaral's character was regurgitated by the usual biased & xenophobic UK tabloid churnalists:
THE ex-cop who led the Madeleine McCann probe sparked new outrage last night after launching a four-letter tirade against the missing child's parents.
Brazen Goncalo Amaral spat, "F*** the McCanns" when asked by a BBC TV reporter if he felt his wild claims about their daughter were hurting them.
Producers bleeped out the slur when a report was broadcast in the East Midlands region where Kate and Gerry McCann live.
Amaral, axed after leading the abortive early investigation into Maddie's disappearance in 2007, flipped before entering a court in Portugal's capital, Lisbon.
Yesterday he denied making the outburst, claiming he had not even spoken to a British TV crew.
But the BBC insisted he had used "inappropriate language". And a source said: "It would not have been bleeped out had there not been sufficient cause for concern."
Amaral, 50, is trying to have a ban overturned on his book The Truth of the Lie.
In it, he makes lurid claims that Kate and Gerry faked an abduction and hid Maddie's body after the three-year-old died in an accident at their holiday flat in Praia da Luz.
And today he vowed to appeal to Europe if he loses the legal battle — saying his case is about "fundamental rights" for all Portuguese citizens.
Maddie's parents are tonight facing the prospect of years of court hearings if Amaral takes his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Yesterday he appeared to deliberately provoke the McCanns before the second day of the hearing began.
He sauntered into court brandishing a copy of his SECOND book on the case, The English Gag, in which he claims the parents tried to "silence" him.
He sat yards from Kate, 41, and began leafing through its pages. Upset Kate shook her head in disbelief.
But then she steeled herself and told a friend: "He's just promoting it."
She and Gerry, also 41, were forced to endure more insulting evidence as former Portuguese police chief Francisco Moita Flores backed Amaral's view and branded the abduction a "fairytale".
Outside court heart specialist Gerry, who is heading back to Britain to fulfil work commitments, cracked when asked by a female Portuguese reporter if the ordeal of the hearing was "worth it".
He barked: "Do you have children? Anyone who has children would go through this."
He added: "I'd like to remind everyone it's the book that's on trial and not Kate and I."
Gerry claimed the Portuguese cops' blinkered view that Maddie was dead - for which there was NO evidence, making it "meaningless" - was damaging the search for her.
And he said they were STILL ignoring leads passed on to them by the family's private investigators.
Speaking outside the civil court in Lisbon this morning, Kate said the case was "taking its toll".
She said: "If I'm honest, our daughter's been taken and nothing's ever going to be as bad as that.
"But it's still been difficult, it's been emotive, because I know what's in the case files, I know what the conclusions are.
"So it's difficult to hear something that's incorrect and inaccurate.
"At the bottom of all this is a little girl, and I think it's important that we don't forget that."
Last night, a visibly frustrated Gerry told reporters: "Over the last two days, we've heard a lot about Mr Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead.
"And I also hope you've heard that there is absolutely no evidence to support that thesis. A thesis without evidence is meaningless and that is what we are challenging."
Disgraced detective Goncalo Amaral yesterday let rip at Kate and Gerry McCann with a foul-mouthed outburst.
The former policeman was asked if his book about their daughter Madeleine was hurting the couple when he barked: "No, f*** the McCanns."
Amaral then laughed as he walked off, despite being caught on camera insulting a couple who have suffered so much anguish in recent years.
The disgusting slur came as Kate and Gerry had to listen to yet more accusations by Portuguese officers that they were involved in the youngster's 2007 disappearance.
It was made to BBC East Midlands Today reporter Mike O'Sullivan who confronted smirking Amaral outside the Lisbon court where the McCanns are suing him for libel over his book.
Mike said: "I was astonished, and so was my cameraman, that a former senior police officer could use a term like that against the McCanns. It really was crude."
A family friend of Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, added: "It's disgraceful and gives a true measure of the man."
After Amaral's tirade, Gerry laid into Portuguese detectives over their ridiculous claims he and his wife killed three-year-old Madeleine and dumped her body to cover their tracks.
The angry 41-year-old said: "The prosecutor had all the evidence and he said there was no evidence Madeleine was dead.
"If there was evidence of our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance then the prosecutor would have charged us.
"Officers who considered us as involved in Madeleine's disappearance have not been able to change their mind, despite a lack of evidence."
And the heart specialist insisted the blinkered theory by former police liaison officer Ricardo Paiva that their daughter has been killed was hindering the ongoing search for her.
Gerry added: "How could he investigate thoroughly if he believes that?
"We've also heard Mr Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead. There is absolutely no evidence to support that thesis.
"We are not harking on over mistakes that were made and cannot be redeemed.
"What is done cannot be righted. We made a mistake, in hindsight, by leaving Madeleine and we have to live with the consequences of that. We can't change it."
Gerry vowed to keep up the search for their little girl, who vanished from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz as they ate nearby with friends.
He said: "There is a little girl missing who still needs to be found.
"We will keep going until Madeleine is found and until whoever has taken her is brought to justice. It's not good enough that the search stops."
Gerry revealed three new pieces of information had been sent to investigators in Portugal from their team.
But the McCanns faced more accusations yesterday. The court was told Madeleine's abduction was a "fairytale" concocted by the couple.
Criminologist Francisco Moita Flores, a friend of Amaral, said: "No one believed Madeleine was kidnapped. I saw that window. It was impossible.
"The McCanns should be on trial for not guarding their children."
If, as has been suggested in Portugal, there was a "media circus" around the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, then it is the Portuguese police who are the clowns.
Cruel, stupid, spiteful clowns.
You would never guess it but Kate and Gerry McCann are not actually on trial in Lisbon.
Madeleine's parents have brought legal action against detective Goncalo Amaral, who they accuse of libelling them in his book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.
But the Portuguese plods have used the libel case to declare open season on the McCanns. One former policeman, Francisco Moita Flores, told the court that only the "distraction" of the "media circus" prevented the McCanns from being charged with negligence.
"No one believed it was an abduction," he told the court. "It was a fairytale, a fable."
But if Madeleine was not abducted, then what happened?
The Portuguese police were shown up as a bunch of clueless amateurs by the Madeleine case, and – shamed, embarrassed, infuriated – they turned their rage on the McCanns.
Even now, the Portuguese cops treat Kate and Gerry McCann with a grotesque lack of respect.
Asked if he cared that he had hurt the McCanns, Goncalo Amaral told a BBC reporter: "No, f*** the McCanns."
A class act, that fat copper, who has sought to make money out of a stolen child – and the endless grief of her parents.
And what a shock to see the faces of Kate and Gerry McCann back in our newspapers.
The indelible pain is stamped on their faces for ever.
The greatest tragedy is, of course, that a little girl was stolen from her family.
But it is also genuinely tragic that the Portuguese police did not seriously look for the bastard who stole her.
And that's because they have always been far too busy slandering that little girl's parents.
Martin Brunt, from Sky News who was in Lisbon covering the book banning trial was the only reporter who tried to set the record straight, he wrote the following in his Sky News blog on January 15, 2010:
Spare a thought for my new best friend Goncalo Amaral.
I’m beginning to think the former detective in the Madeleine McCann case has a point when he complains about the British media attacking him.
My Beeb colleague accused him of saying “F*** the McCanns” in an alleged off-guard moment when we all followed him out of court the other day.
What he actually said was “Fala com McCanns” which means “Ask the McCanns”.
The rest of us, through our interpreters, understood perfectly what he was saying.
I think he needs a good libel lawyer.
Isabel Duarte may be free when she has finished pursuing him over his book on the Madeleine case.
ECU Ruling: East Midlands Today, BBC1 (East Midlands), 12 January 2011[sic] Publication date: 30 May 2011
Complaint
The programme included a brief exchange between a reporter and Gonçalo Amaral (a former policeman who had worked on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and had since written a book on the case). One word in the exchange was bleeped, and the report gave the impression that this was because Sr Amaral had used offensive language about the MrCanns[sic]. A viewer complained that this was inaccurate and unfair to Sr Amaral.
Outcome
The reporter's belief, reinforced by others on the programme team who viewed the recording, was that Sr Amaral had indeed used an English phrase which included an offensive term applied to the McCanns. On further examination, however, it became clear that Sr Amaral had been speaking Portuguese, and that an inoffensive phrase had been misconstrued. Upheld
Further action
The Editor of the programme has discussed the outcome with the producer and reporter involved. In future, the team plans to use interpreters if clips from interviews are unclear.
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