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Justice 4 ALL Madeleine McCann Family
You need to be a member of this forum in order to view its entire contents.
We welcome applications to join the forum from genuine caring compassionate people that wish to support Mr Mrs McCann in their never ending resolve to finding their daughter Madeleine and bringing her back home where she truly belongs.

All applicants are checked out so people with no sense, no moral compass, no rationality and only half a brain cell and even less grip on reality and who are devoid of all logic - need NOT apply!
This also applies to ex-members, who no longer want to be members, yet spend their lives viewing this forum and telling people they no longer want to be members.
This is said without prejudice with no one in particular in mind.
Justice 4 ALL Madeleine McCann Family
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Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010

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Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010 Empty Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010

Post by Rosie Fri Jan 15, 2010 4:05 am

This was an impromptu statement given by Gerry outside the court, on his way to the airport t return back to the uk for work commitments. Wednesday 13th January 2010.
Excellent Statement.
Thanks To Tinks For Doing This


Short statement in response to questions about why are here.

The trial is really about Mr Amarals book and dvd and how we think that relates to the ongoing search for Madeleine. I'd like to remind everyone that its the book that's on trial and not Kate and I.

Right from day one after Madeleine was taken, Kate and I fully understood the need for us to be investigated and we considered that a matter of course and you may remember that we spent all day on the 4th May at the police station in pPrtimao and subsequently spent a lot of time there.

We stayed in Portugal during this period right through to September in an effort to aid the investigation. We also understood that every thesis had to be considered and we felt strongly that we had been eliminated from the investigation.

For those of you who have followed this case, when things turned sour for us in Aug 2007, we didn't disappear we stayed, we waited until we had our arguidos interviews even though that we did wish to return home because we felt that was the right thing to do.

We did wish for a reconstruction to be done very early as on as would be the norm certainly in UK and we were prepared to comeback to participate in the reconstruction. In fact, we would have been obliged as arguido to come back and participate and it wasn't our decision not to do it although
I have to say I do not think it would have helped very much in the search for Madeleine.

Over the last couple of days I think you've all heard a lot about Mr. Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead. I hope you have also heard that there is absolutely no evidence to support that thesis.

A thesis without evidence is meaningless and that is what we are challenging.

We strongly believe and in fact as a direct result of the searches which were actually directed at finding a missing body in and around PDL and the surrounding terrain, the fact that this thesis which has been tried to be proved quite firmly
has not found any harm to Madeleine, is actually in many ways reassuring and gives us more evidence that Madeleine is probably alive and I hope everyone remembers that there is a little girl missing who still needs to be found and we will keep on until Madeleine is found and also until whoever has taken her is brought to justice.

In response to a question earlier, that is why we carry on.

We have other children that miss Madeleine very dearly and we will be able to look them in the eye.and say we have done everything to help that search.

I have to return to England today I have work commitments that I couldn't cancel at short notice. I will be leaving, Kate will be staying on.

Questions.

UK - How emotionally draining have the last few days been given PJ the opportunity to bring old theories back to surface ?

I think whats been important is that things have been debated in a rational way in a court of law and that is the place where it should happen and that is where evidence is judged and can be done so within a legal framework.

From our point of view whats happened in the last 2 days as
I suppose in many ways expected these are Goncalo Amaral's witnesses. I think it is particularly disappointing that certain police officers within Portimao who considered us as possibly involved in Madeleine's disappearance have not been able to change their mind despite a lack of evidence and it is these officers who we are dependant on for pursuing the investigation within Portugal

Portuguese Sandra F ? We are trying to understand if you felt under trial here ?

Well the search is ongoing but there aren't many leads
and that's what we need to do we need to continue and get new leads until we find her.

S.F ? Do you really believe/have evidence that the search for Madeleine has been damaged ?

Well I think you heard Dr. Ricardo Paiva testimony yesterday,
he believes that Madeleine is dead how can he investigate further if he believes that.

Question unclear S.F :-


Well what I'd like to see are the actions that have been done
and what has been performed and at least with the file being released to us in July 2008 we've seen whats done

Question unclear UK - Never searched for M

No I think, I want to be clear about this, we are not harping over mistakes which were made, in particular, mistakes that were made early on and cannot be redeemed, what is done cannot be righted.

We made a mistake, in hindsight we made a mistake by leaving Madeleine and we have to live with the consequences of that. We cant change it and the search goes on.

What we do know and we saw it first hand, that there was a lot of effort to try and find Madeleine especially in those first 2 months and there are I am sure, many police officers who have tried very hard and done their best. Obviously for us it is not good enough that the search stopped and we have to explore other areas in which the search can continue and we will continue to do that

I'd like to also make it absolutely clear for the record, at least 3 direct pieces of information have been sent to the investigation in Portugal through our investigators they have been given to Leicestershire as well as being sent to Portimao

I'd like to make it absolutely clear that Kate has never had a dream that Madeleine was buried somewhere and I don't know if something has been lost in interpretation but that didn't happen.

S.F and the phone call happened ?

Not with those words, that's for sure.



Question UK - If GA not in charge Madeleine might have been found by now ?

Mr. Amaral is only one of the officers involved and he was the coordinator and then a more senior officer one of whom you heard testify yesterday and I'd also like to make it clear that we had regular meetings with the senior officers involved and met them prob every 2 weeks and you know we were available to them for anything they wanted and we obviously put suggestions to them. I think again say, you know, Danny Krugels,which in some ways started the turn of the investigation he was suggested to us by many different people mainly from SA, we did a little bit of search, searching and felt well what have we got to lose. He paid his own way to come over, he identified an area where he said a signal was coming from, this was done in cooperation and that area was searched including with the cadaver dogs and nothing turned up.

So we are not any the worse for that, as I say with everything no evidence of harm to Madeleine has emerged and no evidence of our involvement in her disappearance so any other thesis is not supported by evidence.

Question S.F You said once GA had a financial gain in order to support this theory, what do think this inspector have in order to maintain the same theory here in court ?.

Well I think if you are rational objective and you are interested in proof & ? and law then there is none and
the key thing for me was the Prosecutor and for somebody who had all the evidence and he said you know that there is no evidence in that that Madeleine was dead.

S.F - But why should the inspectors maintain theory ?

I cant speak for the inspectors.

S.F - Well whats your opinion ?

Well you know that isn't, its irrelevant. What is relevant is that Madeleine is missing and the search continues.

Question unclear - Isabel Duarte ?

Do you mean Isabel Duarte ? I think she is a fantastic lawyer, she knows the law very very well. We are not lawyers we don't know the law. We take advice and that is what we have done. We've had more exposure to lawyers then anyone could ever wish for in a life time its the first time I've ever been in court so I don't understand it. We take advice we listen to peoples advice and then we make a decision. The advice from Isabel Duarte some time ago was to take action legal action, that's what we have done and its now a judicial process and we are happy with the judicial process and it will be the judge who decides and obviously we are confident that the law is on out side.

S.F Going through all this forces people to talk about a thesis you just wanted to shut up ?

There's no prob with a thesis in terms of investigating that. We fully expected that and we cooperated with it and that thesis has to produce evidence though it should it should remain a thesis which is there within the investigation circles but it shouldn't be made public and damaging people and the search for Madeleine without evidence and the proper place to air these things is in court.

If there was evidence of our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance then the prosecutor would have issued charges against us and we would be in court but it is not us that are in court because there is no evidence.


S.F - Everyone should have freedom of expression to say whatever they think is the truth ?

Well as I said before, freedom of expression is a fundamental right, there is no problem with that but we also have fundamental rights, Madeleine has rights and her brother and sister have rights to a family life and one that shouldn't be tarnished.

So everyone's entitled to freedom of speech, we all agreed on that and if you disagree about what someone has said and their right to speak then you issue proceedings and then a court decides whose right and that's what we have done, so its a court decision.

Question unclear ?

It is but in some ways its much better that its out in the open
in a rational way for them to be debated, because before people could say whatever they want on the internet and these are just wild theories, I can say whatever I want
but a thesis without evidence is nothing and you know there are many different theories to what happened. Kate and I thesis is correct for us, there's always been abduction that's what we believe because we know what we did.

Now its up to the police to investigate everything including what we did and what other evidence was there.

I find it quite disturbing that people can give opinions and air confidently on what has happened on what they have read in a book or even abstract stuff without having spoken to any of the other witnesses. There were many many witnesses in the Tapas area that night and around the apartment, we were there, we know certain things. .

S.F At this stage what do you thing about investigation, what is your personal opinion about investigation ?

Well, the investigation isn't finished. The investigation has to, well it was closed and the legal reasons, now this is my interpretation of it, I'm not a lawyer so but for me the prosecutor wrote a very fair report and that is what is. The PJ tried, well what we've seen very clearly is that one thesis in particular tried to be proven possibly more than any other and there was no evidence to support it.

That's about as much as I can say.

Question UK - Talking about evidence, from what we've seen yesterday and today the majority of evidence seems to be cadaver dogs ?

Hang on hang on a second lets be clear about it, the dogs are not evidence, the dogs are intelligence. Its like a witness saying Gerry McCanns across the road and someone goes to look and Gerry McCanns not there. The dogs alerted and their findings to the alerts were not corroborated and therefore they have to be totally discounted, they have to be supported by forensic evidence, that is clear in the report that is clear in the file and they weren't.


Question UK Re Bones and bodies found in jersey are you aware what the dogs found was not correct ?

Its the same dogs and we know about what was reported there and they were not substantiated there either, but you know, that the key thing, and that's available in the file its available for anyone that has access to see what the report says, they are intelligence and not evidence and that was always conveyed to us, I was told it was conveyed to the PJ as well.


Question UK - Do you think Investigation Incompetent at beginning has now taken a malicious twist and PJ trying to prove a point for their own purposes.?

There are many different motivations our motivation is to find Madeleine and to get the best investigation possible. I think under the circumstances then there was alot of effort put in, there was pressures put on people to get a result. We can understand what happens to people when they are put under pressure, but I don't want to speculate on what individuals motives are.

We are here to deal with fact and evidence and then the judges will make decisions as to where the balance of evidence and ?

S'F. Question about criticising PJ.


No I think its completely different, we have never criticised openly the PJ investigation we have always worked with them. We have always realised that we are mutually well we are dependant on Portuguese police and we have tried to work with them.

GA is a retired police officer who has written a book which we felt should never have been written so we are here to debate that book and what it says. S.F interrupts, not sure what she says but Gerry replies - You can do that and that's fine but this trial is about the book and evidence and Kate and I's only thoughts are really to improve the investigation, the ongoing investigation.

No I don't feel under trial not at all.

We were exonerated and maybe for some people if we had been charged and gone to court and found not guilty then maybe they would have been happier. But the evidence, there is no evidence its as clear as anything. If that is evidence what you have heard in the last 2 days then there is no evidence, its simple.

S.F What will you do if judge permits book to go out again.

We will take legal advice!


Last edited by Rosiepops on Fri Jan 15, 2010 8:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Post by Catkins Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:59 am

I think Gerry McCann came across very confident and strong in this ......Well done him for not punching anyone....
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Post by Pedro Silva Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:29 am

I agree with you Catkins.

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Post by Tinkerbell43 Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:34 am

Gerry said:-

"I'd like to also make it absolutely clear for the record, at least 3 direct pieces of information have been sent to the investigation in Portugal through our investigators they have been given to Leicestershire as well as being sent to Portimao."

What has happened to this information ?

There is obviously a reason as to why Gerry has made this statement!
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Post by Guest Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:55 am

A very strong message being sent out by Gerry its a shame this isnt published in the papers!!

Kate and Gerry's conduct has been unquestionable unlike that of Amarals these past few days!!

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Post by clairesy Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:33 pm

Im not sure what that might mean tinks.

But i guess you take it to mean that hes reassuring folk that the info recently passed to Portuguese police by the investigators is also being investigated by British cops.

In other words...it isn't going to be ignored?? not sure
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Post by dianeh Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:15 pm

I am not suggesting that I can read Gerry's mind or anything like that. But I think 'direct information' refers to legitimate information that the detectives have either hit upon themselves, or have been informed of and investigated. "Direct" refers to the investigation, as opposed to tips via a hotline.

In other words, this direct information needed to be investigated by the PJ, as it is real leads.
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Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010 Empty Kate McCann Leaving Court Yesterday Afternoon (Thursday 14th Jan 2010)

Post by Rosie Fri Jan 15, 2010 8:53 pm

This is a transcript of a short interview that Kate Gave.

Once again Tinks has done the work - Thanks Tinks

I think it is important that the McCanns words are not forgotten, after all, they have not really spoken out so directly before, so we will endeavour to put their interviews up here for future reference.

I was struck how frail and gaunt Kate appeared yesterday, that breathing she does is breathing she has had to learn in order to keep her emotions in check, I recognise it, it is learned breathing that can help people in stressful times and it is also used to help alleviate panic attacks. and I feel so much for her, my heart goes out to her and Gerry, what courageous calm and dignified people they are, what honesty, despite the terrible distress visited upon them by Goncalo Amaral. What a contrast the dignified strong, honest and resolute Kate and Gerry McCann are next to Goncalo Amaral, who this week the world saw (and heard) what a cheap lowlife corrupt scum bag he actually is.

Tinks Transcript.....


Kate was asked whether she regretted taking the court action, she replied:-


Im ok actually Im fine Im pleased that we took this action
and I think it will benefit Madeleine which was our aim.

UK Question: Has it been a strain listening to all the evidence ?

Its not easy as I said this morning its never going to be as bad as what we've been through already but you know I feel its been quite positive actually so.

Before she left for the UK Kate said:-

I believe it was important to be here this week, myself and Gerry for Madeleine. Madeleine is still missing and she doesn't have any voice or any presence in the court so it was important for us to be here for Madeleine and for our family as a whole.
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Post by Catkins Fri Jan 15, 2010 11:03 pm

Tinkerbell43 wrote:Gerry said:-

"I'd like to also make it absolutely clear for the record, at least 3 direct pieces of information have been sent to the investigation in Portugal through our investigators they have been given to Leicestershire as well as being sent to Portimao."

What has happened to this information ?

There is obviously a reason as to why Gerry has made this statement!
Yes.,....I thought that it was deliberate too........ Tinks.
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Post by Tinkerbell43 Fri Jan 15, 2010 11:27 pm

dianeh wrote:I am not suggesting that I can read Gerry's mind or anything like that. But I think 'direct information' refers to legitimate information that the detectives have either hit upon themselves, or have been informed of and investigated. "Direct" refers to the investigation, as opposed to tips via a hotline.

In other words, this direct information needed to be investigated by the PJ, as it is real leads.


Totally agree Diane.

I think Gerry has been very shrewd here putting it on the record!

What have the PJ done about this information ?????
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Post by Tinkerbell43 Fri Jan 15, 2010 11:31 pm

Gerry said:-

"I think it is particularly disappointing that certain police officers within Portimao who considered us as possibly involved in Madeleine's disappearance have not been able to change their mind despite a lack of evidence and it is these officers who we are dependant on for pursuing the investigation within Portugal"

and this is the obstacle/mindset they are up against!

Poor Madeleine.
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Post by Sabot Fri Jan 15, 2010 11:47 pm

Tinkerbell43 wrote:
dianeh wrote:I am not suggesting that I can read Gerry's mind or anything like that. But I think 'direct information' refers to legitimate information that the detectives have either hit upon themselves, or have been informed of and investigated. "Direct" refers to the investigation, as opposed to tips via a hotline.

In other words, this direct information needed to be investigated by the PJ, as it is real leads.


Totally agree Diane.

I think Gerry has been very shrewd here putting it on the record!

What have the PJ done about this information ?????

I think that was probably the point. I doubt that The PJ have done anything.

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Post by maria Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:48 am

What has happened to this information ?

It certainly was not investigated, it is impossible under our system. Paiva said in court that he processed these pieces, but never explained what 'processing' meant. Probably filed as in 'archived' for future reference.
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Post by jean Sat Jan 16, 2010 4:55 am

my email to the home office ......

dear mr/ms john

i thank you for your reply to my email of 10 november 2009, but this does not answer my questions regarding scotland yard's special unit taking madeleine's case over. as i see it, at the present time there seems no point in the leicestershire police sending any information received to the pj because they have categorically stated that the case is closed. my question to you therefore is, what on earth is the point in giving them further information if this is the case. as for your comment regarding the british police having no jurisdiction
in portugal, i am afraid to say that i think this is one way of 'passing the buck'. madeleine is a british citizen, she is entitled to better than you are giving at the moment. she was abducted within the european union, britain and portugal are both members of the european union, surely this gives our police entitlement to cross boarders and make enquiries of their own. or is there a cover up of some sort in regard to the mishandling of the case by the pj????

i await your reply with interest.


their reply i have received from the home office today .....


Reference: T441/10
15 January,2010

Dear Ms,
Thank you for your further e-mail of 6 January about Madeleine McCann.
The question of police jurisdiction is a legal one, and applies equally to all countries. Thus for example, if a foreign national visiting the UK were the victim of a crime, the responsibility for investigating that incident would properly fall to the UK police force in which the event took place. Police officers from another country would have no authority to enter the UK to take over the investigation, nor would it be likely to be particularly practicable for them to do so. There are however, well established conventions for co-operation and information exchange between international law enforcement agencies and we pursue these to the full.
With regard to activity in this country, the Leicestershire Constabulary has extensive knowledge of the case and they continue to retain the lead in coordinating investigatory activity here. That is an operational matter for the police. However, there would likely be little advantage in transferring the case to another force. It is not our policy to divulge specific details of ongoing investigations. However, I can assure you that work is continuing in the search for Madeleine, exploring any new leads and drawing on the most appropriate UK policing resources as necessary.
Yours sincerely,


L Robinson

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Post by dianeh Sat Jan 16, 2010 8:14 am

Yet, still he/she avoids answering about the PJ having closed the case and failing to investigate information sent to them.

What we need now is a request that assurances are received at a higher level (between the relevant parties in both govts) that information passed by the Leic police (and that would mean that anything the detectives get goes through them) to the PJ is investigated and reported back to Leic police. Now it would not upset international relations too much for this to be requested by the British Ambassador of the PJ Justice Minister.

It is in the interest of both countries, AND it still leaves the PJ with jurisdiction and the lead in the investigation.
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Post by Robert Argiz Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:05 am

Kate McCann is terrifyingly thin and Gerry is boiling with rake, so why have the McCann's put themselves on trial?


By David Jones



Mail online -- Monday 18, 2010. Kate and Gerry McCann arrive at a court in Lisbon, Portugal, earlier this week. During the first few weeks after Madeleine's disappearance, Goncalo Amaral came to symbolise all that was wrong with the abysmally mishandled Portuguese police investigation into the case he was removed as head of the investigation after six months. And when he was later revealed to have perjured himself to cover up a brutal interrogation by members of his team, detractors scoffed that his name ought to have been spelt with an "o" as in "amoral."



In an extraordinary transformation of fortunes, however, he is now a Portuguese national icon "courageously" fighting for the right to express his bombshell theory that Madeleine was not abducted but died accidentally and her parents covered up her death. As Amaral arrived at a Lisbon court this week for the cause celebre case that has turned him into an unlikely "hero," he clearly revelled in his new-found popularity. Mobbed by cheering flag and banner-waving supporters [mainly women of older age] he smiled and signed autographs before a barrage of cameras. Though he is 50 and a father of three daughters, Amaral sported a faux diamond ear-stud recently given to him by his younger second wife, Sofia Leal -- surely a ludicrous accessory for a balding middle-aged man in a gumshoe's mac and trilby. Yet for Gerry and Kate who froze with contempt as the "star" witness sashayed past them to take his seat in court, this unedifying spectacle was just the start of a week that has once again tested their powers of resolve to the limit. Goncalo Amaral, who is accusing the McCanns of covering up their daughter's death. For three long days the couple was forced to listen as a procession of witnesses supported the distressing central assertions in the controversial memoir Amaral has written about the hunt for their daughter. Melodramatically titled "Maddie: The Truth of the Lie," the book had become a best-seller in Portugal by September when the McCann's won an injunction ordering it to be removed from the shelves. Up to 330,000 copies of the £10 paperback are said to have been sold in Portugal and Europe before it was withdrawn, reportedly netting Amaral more than £1 million. In the book, which has been turned into a TV documentary and DVD, the former police chief states with absolute conviction his belief that three-year-old Madeleine was not abducted from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, as her parents have always claimed. Instead, he claims she died by accident after falling from the sofa and hitting her head on the floor while the McCann's dined with friends in a nearby tapas bar. When they realised what had happened --according to his shocking theory-- they panicked and concealed her body thus precipitating the biggest and most perplexing missing person inquiry of modern times. Regardless of whether they believe these unsubstantiated views, the majority of the Portuguese people insist that Amaral has every right to express them. For in a country that threw off the shackles of dictatorship only 35 years ago and where state censorship is still remembered by the older generation, freedom of speech is sacrosanct. Having been pilloried for leaving their three children alone on the night their elder daughter vanished, Kate and Gerry find themselves under vitriolic attack from the Portuguese media yet again.



This week's court case was brought by Amaral who is seeking to have the injunction lifted so he can sell thousands more copies of his book which his publishers hope to launch on the huge U.S. and British markets. But the hearing would never have come about had the McCann's not sought the ban in the first place and instead allowed the public to make up their own minds about the unsubstantiated theories of a failed police chief with many axes to grind. This week's skirmish is not the end of the McCann's battle to silence Amaral. Win or lose, they are intent on suing him for libel damages to recoup every penny he has earned from the book, promising to donate the money to the fund they set up to find Madeleine. Amaral claims Madeleine died by accident after falling from the sofa and hitting her head on the floor while the McCann's dined with friends in a nearby tapas bar. For his part, should the Lisbon courts find against him, Amaral has pledged to fight on all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. Though this case will be decided within two months, the McCann's seem certain to be trekking back and forth between their home in Leicestershire and Lisbon for many months or even years to come. Watching the couple suffer more attacks on their reputations this week, Kate painfully thin and close to breaking point, and Gerry pugnacious as always, you have to ask why they have chosen to put themselves in the firing line yet again. Why have they embarked on a course of action that has effectively placed them-- rather than the man who bungled the police investigation-- on trial? A terrifyingly thin Kate and stressed Gerry are clearly not coping well with the trial, and worse, in a court where they can be subjected to the most damaging and baseless slurs without recourse to rigorous cross-examination. Many experts would have advised them to simply ignore Amaral and his unproven "theory" so depriving his book of the global publicity the case has received this week. Why have the McCann's embarked on a course of action that has effectively placed them --rather than the man who bungled the police investigation-- on trial? Before answering the question about the McCann's it is worth recounting the former police chief's part in the flawed inquiry and how his book came to be written. On May 3, 2007, when Madeleine vanished from Apartment 5A of the Ocean Club, Amaral was in charge of CID at the nearest big town of Portimao. As he recalls in the memoir, he was informed about her disappearance just after midnight. The McCann's are attempting to prevent the publication of Amaral's book Maddie: The Truth of the Lie. The McCann's were adamant that Madeleine, who had been left alone with her twin brother and sister, Sean and Amelie then 18 months old, must have been snatched. But he quickly became sceptical. When I spoke to him at length this week he claimed to have approached the case with professional dispassion, but his opinion appears to have been influenced at least partly by deep cultural differences between him and the McCann's. As a traditional Portuguese father with three daughters he was appalled to discover these British parents had left their three small children alone while they enjoyed dinner with friends, even though the restaurant was only yards away. As the hours and days passed, however, other factors coloured his views, not least the McCann's apparent determination to whip up publicity via what one witness this week described disdainfully as a "media circus." Though Amaral insists he has no time for conspiracy theories, it seems he began to see them everywhere. For example, why had the couple's holiday friends trampled all over the apartment, tarnishing potentially vital evidence? Was this contamination deliberate? Then there was the behaviour of the British authorities, including the police officers who arrived in Praia da Luz four days after Madeleine vanished. Why were they seemingly so unco-operative with the Portuguese police and protective of the McCann's? He remains convinced that his team was systematically obstructed by the British in some arcane plot orchestrated from on high, and he has just published a second book expounding this theory titled "A Mordaca Inglesa" [An English Gag]. According to the court testimony of the McCann's' liaison officer, Ricardo Paiva, the suspicions of Amaral and his team were hardened by what was seen as a turning point in the police investigation. It came when a weeping Kate supposedly phoned Paiva in late July 2007 to report a disturbing dream in which she had seen Madeleine lying on rocks overlooking a beach at Praia da Luz. The detectives took this to be a clear signal that the McCann's knew full well that their daughter was dead. Soon afterwards, sniffer dogs were called in to the search but though they were said to have detected "the scent of death" in the couple's holiday apartment and Renault Scenic hire car, no forensic evidence was found to support this. There are serious questions about the reliability of these dogs which also seemed to sniff out human remains at a Jersey children's home which has since been discounted. Furthermore, Gerry McCann insists Kate never had the supposedly incriminating dream, let alone reported it. "I don't know if something has been lost in translation, but that didn't happen," said the 41-year-old heart specialist struggling to maintain his composure during a break in the proceedings. "I think it is particularly disappointing that certain police officers who considered us as possibly involved have not been able to change their views despite the lack of evidence."



Kate and Gerry McCann said they haven't given up hope on finding their missing daughter when speaking to me during the court lunch-break on Thursday; however, Amaral remained defiantly on the offensive. With a female supporter acting as interpreter, he said he wrote his 200-page book in just two months fuelled by endless cigarettes at his home on the Algarve. He didn't work from police documents or diaries but purely from memory, he told me, tapping his head for emphasis. And he used a personal computer kept disconnected from the internet for "security reasons." But what possible justification did he have for writing the memoir, the profits from which have been frozen by the court [though not before he could acquire a new Jaguar]) if it wasn't to get rich and settle scores in the process? "I would like to remind everyone that the book is on trial, not Kate and I," said Gerry McCann.



The decision was not taken lightly, Amaral said, but came after he had discussed the likely fall-out with his wife, a civil servant who has suffered clinical depression attributed to the stress of the case. [Mrs Amaral had recovered sufficiently several months ago to pose on the beach for a hello-style photo-shoot with her husband, for whom they chose to wear matching white outfits]. Amaral said that "this case finished my career and the British newspapers just vilified me. I saw it was necessary to defend myself," he told me while insisting that though he lost a third of his pension by resigning early, money was not a factor. "If everything had gone properly, I wouldn't have needed to write the book, but it was a need for me to write a testimony of all that was done. That was my intention: to make public that part of the investigation that was unknown, and defend myself before all those who were saying the Policia Judiciaria were incompetent or that I was incompetent." Mindful of the injunction he declined to elaborate on his theories about Madeleine's disappearance. Whatever her fate that night, though, didn't he have some degree of sympathy for a couple who had lost their daughter? "As a policeman I can't have sympathy or empathy because I have to be objective and leave my feelings apart," he said. "As a father, I sympathise with them and their pain and loss. It is not about blame or recrimination." This response is hardly convincing. As the case goes on, he will doubtless set aside his "fatherly" sentiments to renew his damaging accusations. Yet for all the torment the McCann's have endured this week [at one point, Madeleine's abduction was described as a "fairytale" that saved them from prosecution for child neglect] and the harrowing accusations to come, they maintain they are right to fight this case. "I would like to remind everyone that the book is on trial and not Kate and I," said Gerry. While he believes in the principles of free speech, the rights of his family --including the daughter he and Kate steadfastly believe to be alive-- have to be defended too. Though some will question the McCann's and their motives, according to the family's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, the hope that Madeleine will be found alive is the main reason they dragged themselves back this week to a country that offers them scant welcome and has brought so much heartache. "Obviously they were aware some of the old allegations and charges by certain police officers would be rehashed, but they feel this was a case that just had to be brought. People won't believe she is alive if they read this book and that could stop them coming forward with vital new leads. They believe it's important not only for their good name and reputation, and the damage Mr Amaral continues to do, but also because his allegations are damaging their continuing search for Madeleine." One of the things that greatly worry Kate and Gerry is this: if, as we now know, the Portuguese police did not investigate her disappearance properly from the outset because they didn't believe it had happened, then what has happened to all the information they received? And assuming it was retained and is gathering dust in a police archive, might it conceal that one little clue upon which Kate and Gerry's hopes rest? The clue which, if meticulously examined, could bring back their little girl after so many false dawns? Even if this is only a remote possibility, surely it should be explored, but not by a flashy detective who is so cocksure he knows all the answers he can't see beyond his own giant ego.





PS: Taken from the Daily mail website.

Robert Argiz
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Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010 Empty Re: Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010

Post by Rosie Thu Jan 28, 2010 1:29 am

Rosiepops wrote:
This was an impromptu statement given by Gerry outside the court, on his way to the airport t return back to the uk for work commitments. Wednesday 13th January 2010.
Excellent Statement.
Thanks To Tinks For Doing This




Short statement in response to questions about why are here.

The trial is really about Mr Amarals book and dvd and how we think that relates to the ongoing search for Madeleine. I'd like to remind everyone that its the book that's on trial and not Kate and I.

Right from day one after Madeleine was taken, Kate and I fully understood the need for us to be investigated and we considered that a matter of course and you may remember that we spent all day on the 4th May at the police station in pPrtimao and subsequently spent a lot of time there.

We stayed in Portugal during this period right through to September in an effort to aid the investigation. We also understood that every thesis had to be considered and we felt strongly that we had been eliminated from the investigation.

For those of you who have followed this case, when things turned sour for us in Aug 2007, we didn't disappear we stayed, we waited until we had our arguidos interviews even though that we did wish to return home because we felt that was the right thing to do.

We did wish for a reconstruction to be done very early as on as would be the norm certainly in UK and we were prepared to comeback to participate in the reconstruction. In fact, we would have been obliged as arguido to come back and participate and it wasn't our decision not to do it although
I have to say I do not think it would have helped very much in the search for Madeleine.

Over the last couple of days I think you've all heard a lot about Mr. Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead. I hope you have also heard that there is absolutely no evidence to support that thesis.

A thesis without evidence is meaningless and that is what we are challenging.

We strongly believe and in fact as a direct result of the searches which were actually directed at finding a missing body in and around PDL and the surrounding terrain, the fact that this thesis which has been tried to be proved quite firmly
has not found any harm to Madeleine, is actually in many ways reassuring and gives us more evidence that Madeleine is probably alive and I hope everyone remembers that there is a little girl missing who still needs to be found and we will keep on until Madeleine is found and also until whoever has taken her is brought to justice.

In response to a question earlier, that is why we carry on.

We have other children that miss Madeleine very dearly and we will be able to look them in the eye.and say we have done everything to help that search.

I have to return to England today I have work commitments that I couldn't cancel at short notice. I will be leaving, Kate will be staying on.

Questions.

UK - How emotionally draining have the last few days been given PJ the opportunity to bring old theories back to surface ?

I think whats been important is that things have been debated in a rational way in a court of law and that is the place where it should happen and that is where evidence is judged and can be done so within a legal framework.

From our point of view whats happened in the last 2 days as
I suppose in many ways expected these are Goncalo Amaral's witnesses. I think it is particularly disappointing that certain police officers within Portimao who considered us as possibly involved in Madeleine's disappearance have not been able to change their mind despite a lack of evidence and it is these officers who we are dependant on for pursuing the investigation within Portugal

Portuguese Sandra F ? We are trying to understand if you felt under trial here ?

Well the search is ongoing but there aren't many leads
and that's what we need to do we need to continue and get new leads until we find her.

S.F ? Do you really believe/have evidence that the search for Madeleine has been damaged ?

Well I think you heard Dr. Ricardo Paiva testimony yesterday,
he believes that Madeleine is dead how can he investigate further if he believes that.

Question unclear S.F :-


Well what I'd like to see are the actions that have been done
and what has been performed and at least with the file being released to us in July 2008 we've seen whats done

Question unclear UK - Never searched for M

No I think, I want to be clear about this, we are not harping over mistakes which were made, in particular, mistakes that were made early on and cannot be redeemed, what is done cannot be righted.

We made a mistake, in hindsight we made a mistake by leaving Madeleine and we have to live with the consequences of that. We cant change it and the search goes on.

What we do know and we saw it first hand, that there was a lot of effort to try and find Madeleine especially in those first 2 months and there are I am sure, many police officers who have tried very hard and done their best. Obviously for us it is not good enough that the search stopped and we have to explore other areas in which the search can continue and we will continue to do that

I'd like to also make it absolutely clear for the record, at least 3 direct pieces of information have been sent to the investigation in Portugal through our investigators they have been given to Leicestershire as well as being sent to Portimao

I'd like to make it absolutely clear that Kate has never had a dream that Madeleine was buried somewhere and I don't know if something has been lost in interpretation but that didn't happen.

S.F and the phone call happened ?

Not with those words, that's for sure.



Question UK - If GA not in charge Madeleine might have been found by now ?

Mr. Amaral is only one of the officers involved and he was the coordinator and then a more senior officer one of whom you heard testify yesterday and I'd also like to make it clear that we had regular meetings with the senior officers involved and met them prob every 2 weeks and you know we were available to them for anything they wanted and we obviously put suggestions to them. I think again say, you know, Danny Krugels,which in some ways started the turn of the investigation he was suggested to us by many different people mainly from SA, we did a little bit of search, searching and felt well what have we got to lose. He paid his own way to come over, he identified an area where he said a signal was coming from, this was done in cooperation and that area was searched including with the cadaver dogs and nothing turned up.

So we are not any the worse for that, as I say with everything no evidence of harm to Madeleine has emerged and no evidence of our involvement in her disappearance so any other thesis is not supported by evidence.

Question S.F You said once GA had a financial gain in order to support this theory, what do think this inspector have in order to maintain the same theory here in court ?.

Well I think if you are rational objective and you are interested in proof & ? and law then there is none and
the key thing for me was the Prosecutor and for somebody who had all the evidence and he said you know that there is no evidence in that that Madeleine was dead.

S.F - But why should the inspectors maintain theory ?

I cant speak for the inspectors.

S.F - Well whats your opinion ?

Well you know that isn't, its irrelevant. What is relevant is that Madeleine is missing and the search continues.

Question unclear - Isabel Duarte ?

Do you mean Isabel Duarte ? I think she is a fantastic lawyer, she knows the law very very well. We are not lawyers we don't know the law. We take advice and that is what we have done. We've had more exposure to lawyers then anyone could ever wish for in a life time its the first time I've ever been in court so I don't understand it. We take advice we listen to peoples advice and then we make a decision. The advice from Isabel Duarte some time ago was to take action legal action, that's what we have done and its now a judicial process and we are happy with the judicial process and it will be the judge who decides and obviously we are confident that the law is on out side.

S.F Going through all this forces people to talk about a thesis you just wanted to shut up ?

There's no prob with a thesis in terms of investigating that. We fully expected that and we cooperated with it and that thesis has to produce evidence though it should it should remain a thesis which is there within the investigation circles but it shouldn't be made public and damaging people and the search for Madeleine without evidence and the proper place to air these things is in court.

If there was evidence of our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance then the prosecutor would have issued charges against us and we would be in court but it is not us that are in court because there is no evidence.


S.F - Everyone should have freedom of expression to say whatever they think is the truth ?

Well as I said before, freedom of expression is a fundamental right, there is no problem with that but we also have fundamental rights, Madeleine has rights and her brother and sister have rights to a family life and one that shouldn't be tarnished.

So everyone's entitled to freedom of speech, we all agreed on that and if you disagree about what someone has said and their right to speak then you issue proceedings and then a court decides whose right and that's what we have done, so its a court decision.

Question unclear ?

It is but in some ways its much better that its out in the open
in a rational way for them to be debated, because before people could say whatever they want on the internet and these are just wild theories, I can say whatever I want
but a thesis without evidence is nothing and you know there are many different theories to what happened. Kate and I thesis is correct for us, there's always been abduction that's what we believe because we know what we did.

Now its up to the police to investigate everything including what we did and what other evidence was there.

I find it quite disturbing that people can give opinions and air confidently on what has happened on what they have read in a book or even abstract stuff without having spoken to any of the other witnesses. There were many many witnesses in the Tapas area that night and around the apartment, we were there, we know certain things. .

S.F At this stage what do you thing about investigation, what is your personal opinion about investigation ?

Well, the investigation isn't finished. The investigation has to, well it was closed and the legal reasons, now this is my interpretation of it, I'm not a lawyer so but for me the prosecutor wrote a very fair report and that is what is. The PJ tried, well what we've seen very clearly is that one thesis in particular tried to be proven possibly more than any other and there was no evidence to support it.

That's about as much as I can say.

Question UK - Talking about evidence, from what we've seen yesterday and today the majority of evidence seems to be cadaver dogs ?

Hang on hang on a second lets be clear about it, the dogs are not evidence, the dogs are intelligence. Its like a witness saying Gerry McCanns across the road and someone goes to look and Gerry McCanns not there. The dogs alerted and their findings to the alerts were not corroborated and therefore they have to be totally discounted, they have to be supported by forensic evidence, that is clear in the report that is clear in the file and they weren't.


Question UK Re Bones and bodies found in jersey are you aware what the dogs found was not correct ?

Its the same dogs and we know about what was reported there and they were not substantiated there either, but you know, that the key thing, and that's available in the file its available for anyone that has access to see what the report says, they are intelligence and not evidence and that was always conveyed to us, I was told it was conveyed to the PJ as well.


Question UK - Do you think Investigation Incompetent at beginning has now taken a malicious twist and PJ trying to prove a point for their own purposes.?

There are many different motivations our motivation is to find Madeleine and to get the best investigation possible. I think under the circumstances then there was alot of effort put in, there was pressures put on people to get a result. We can understand what happens to people when they are put under pressure, but I don't want to speculate on what individuals motives are.

We are here to deal with fact and evidence and then the judges will make decisions as to where the balance of evidence and ?

S'F. Question about criticising PJ.


No I think its completely different, we have never criticised openly the PJ investigation we have always worked with them. We have always realised that we are mutually well we are dependant on Portuguese police and we have tried to work with them.

GA is a retired police officer who has written a book which we felt should never have been written so we are here to debate that book and what it says. S.F interrupts, not sure what she says but Gerry replies - You can do that and that's fine but this trial is about the book and evidence and Kate and I's only thoughts are really to improve the investigation, the ongoing investigation.

No I don't feel under trial not at all.

We were exonerated and maybe for some people if we had been charged and gone to court and found not guilty then maybe they would have been happier. But the evidence, there is no evidence its as clear as anything. If that is evidence what you have heard in the last 2 days then there is no evidence, its simple.

S.F What will you do if judge permits book to go out again.

We will take legal advice!

Would just like to add the link to the video that accompanies this transcript. It is slightly different in as much as it doesn't have the journalists asking questions, however once I find that link I will put it here.
This is an exceptionally good interview and answers many of the questions that have sprung up as a result of the constant lies being told about this couple.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/video/article300101.ece?vxSiteId=0bc72527-aa8e-4487-a5e8-94aae448c9dd&vxChannel=Sky%20News&vxClipId=1347_SUN41656&vxBitrate=300
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Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010 Empty Re: Gerry McCann's Statement Outside The Court - Wednesday 13th January 2010

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