Kate McCann reaches out to Madeleine in Praia da Luz

Kate McCann reaches out to Madeleine in Praia da Luz
Updated: 18-Dec-2009


By CHRIS GRAEME AND ELOISE WALTON
Kate and Gerry McCann were in Praia da Luz on December 12 for the first time together since both were named as arguidos, or suspects, in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine in 2007.

Writing on the Find Madeleine website, Kate said: “I have longed to come back here for two years for personal and emotional reasons.”

It is not known whether the couple visited the apartment at the Ocean Club holiday apartment complex, from where Madeleine disappeared, during their two night stay in Praia da Luz.

However, they visited the Nossa Senhora da Luz church before walking along the beach in the early morning.

“Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting at the same time since we feel closer to Madeleine,” said Kate.

“We then walked down to the rocks on the beach, with its crashing waves and sense of vastness and freedom - another place where I’ve always felt able to reach out to Madeleine and find a little solace.”

The couple spent the day catching up with friends before attending an evening mass at Nossa Senhora da Luz church led by Portuguese priest José Manuel Pacheco.

Isabel Duarte, the McCanns’ lawyer in the libel case against a book published by former police chief Gonçalo Amaral, who headed the initial investigation to find Madeleine, said that Kate had wept at the thought of returning to Praia da Luz.

“She was crying but very much believes Madeleine is still alive. She felt she had to return to Praia da Luz as it was the last place she saw her and that is what she remembers,” she said.

“She feels she left part of herself there.”

The couple arrived in Praia da Luz from Lisbon where they attended a Civil Court hearing for the planned trial relating to the injunction on Gonçalo Amaral.

The trial was postponed until January because the former police chief’s lawyer has been quarantined with the A (H1N1) virus.

“As the injunction remains in place, we have no reason to be disappointed. For us it was important to be there, especially for Madeleine,” said Kate McCann.

Following the court appearance, Gonçalo Amaral again mentioned the possibility of suing Kate and Gerry McCann for defamation of character during the launch of his latest book, A Mordaça Inglesa, The English Gag, in Lisbon’s Ler Devagar book shop.

Seeking justice

The McCanns flew into Lisbon late on Thursday evening to attend the first day of a scheduled three-day hearing at Lisbon’s city centre Palace of Justice Civil Court, Palácio da Justiça Tribunal Cível de Lisboa.[/size]


When they arrived at Portela Airport, the McCanns made it clear in a statement that they were “not in Lisbon to meet Mr Amaral”.

“We are here to make sure that freedom of speech doesn’t allow you to distort the truth. We believe it has damaged the search. If people believe that Madeleine is dead then it’s damaged,” said Gerry McCann.

When asked about how he felt about meeting Gonçalo Amaral again, he said: “I haven’t thought about it. We are here for the trial. We’re not here to meet Mr. Amaral. We believe that the law will do justice.”

It was the second time that Kate McCann had returned to Portugal since leaving the Algarve over a year ago. The first time was to meet with lawyers and advisors in Lisbon in September.

“Freedom of speech does not mean spreading fabrications, lies and slander,” she said outside the courthouse.

The couple entered the court building on Friday via a side entrance shortly after 9am, avoiding the pack of photographers and television crews waiting outside the main entrance.

Gonçalo Amaral, the author of the contested book, Maddie – A Verdade da Mentira (Maddie – The Truth of the Lie), arrived at the court building’s main entrance at 9.20am and made brief declarations to the press that “Portugal is a country with freedom of expression”.

His book challenges the McCanns’ version of what happened to Madeleine on the night of May 3, 2007 at a Praia da Luz holiday complex in the Algarve.

Because of libel laws in both the United Kingdom and Portugal, the Algarve Resident cannot repeat any of the suggestions made in that book.

The McCanns succeeded in being awarded a temporary injunction on the sale of the book in September, which prohibits its sale in Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and other countries.

Kate and Gerry McCann are now seeking a permanent publication ban on the book and around one million pounds (1.2 million euros) in damages, which they say would help them continue the search for their missing daughter.

Amaral supporters

At the launch of his new book later on Friday, the former inspector, who was removed from the case after a 15-month investigation, repeatedly dodged questions about what was actually “new” in his ‘sequel’ to Maddie – the Truth of the Lie.

Instead, Gonçalo Amaral insisted that the McCanns were trying to “stifle his right to freedom of expression”.

The new book essentially recounts what the former Polícia Judiciária inspector calls “persecution by the McCanns and the British justice system” against the publication of the original book into the case.

Luís Arriaga, spokesman for the Gonçalo Amaral Justice Project, Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral, told the Algarve Resident that freedom of expression “seemed to be increasingly available to the rich and powerful that could afford top legal representation and called for a fairer legal justice system that defended freedom of expression and rights of all”.

The group, whose supporters on Friday sported T-shirts with the slogans “No More Censorship” and “Freedom of Expression”, has already raised 3,000 euros to help Gonçalo Amaral towards paying the legal fees in the lawsuit brought by the McCanns to ban the book but admitted that the sum was “clearly insufficient to fight the expected libel cases which could follow”.

“We hope to gain the financial support of people who could help with the setting up of a fund,” he said.

During the book launch, Gonçalo Amaral called the book’s banning “strangulation of the first degree” and said it was important to “mobilise public opinion to the need to recover the spirit of freedom of expression that had come with Portugal’s April 25th Revolution.”

http://www.algarveresident.com/story.asp?XID=34345

The search for Madeleine continues
Updated: 17-Dec-2009

By ELOISE WALTON

I can now say that I could find my way to and around Praia da Luz with my eyes closed.

Despite it being more than two years since a British child disappeared from the quiet seaside village of Praia da Luz, the search for her continues very much alive and well.

Under the noses of the locals, who have tried to return to normality after the police and media invasion, people still venture to the village from abroad to try and solve the mystery - what happened to Madeleine McCann?

Having started my journalism apprenticeship at the Algarve Resident on the eve of Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2007, I have seen many people from all walks of life, professionals and amateurs, psychic, clairvoyants and many weirdoes, trying to find one small child who disappeared without a trace.

One such attempt was again made this week by a British man called Derek Spring, who made contact with the Algarve Resident saying that he had visions of Madeleine alive and had come to the region to try and find her.

Normally, these sorts of claims are dismissed or the details are passed onto the relevant authorities for investigation.

That’s as far as this newspaper will take it, but this case just caught our attention at the office.

RESEARCH IN RUCKSACK

Derek Spring certainly did not come across as a weirdo or someone who was looking for self-promotion, or any other form of personal gain, which would usually put the press on the back foot.

He seemed a genuine man, so after an exchange of emails and telephone calls, I made plans to meet him, with our Operations Director Mark Rawcliffe, at the church in Praia da Luz.

He was not what I expected for someone who says he has seen visions of future events and missing children for the past 29 years.

Derek Spring is a softly spoken retired engineer and he met us armed with a rucksack filled with all his research on the case.

After a long conversation outside the church about Derek’s history of seeing visions of things before they come to pass, including the 9/11 and the start of the war in Georgia last year, we decide to accompany him to a field just outside of the village, where he believes there could be some clues to Madeleine’s whereabouts or indeed where she could be held or buried.

As I was walking along, I couldn’t help but replay his words in my mind of how he didn’t know why he started to get these visions and he just wanted to have peace of mind, which is why he tries to work out their meaning and funded his trip to the Algarve to see if he can solve the mystery.

His intentions were honourable, and the sceptic inside couldn’t help feeling sad for him and knowing that we weren’t going to find anything, while another tiny part was wondering…what if? What if we found her?

After spending the morning in Derek’s company, traipsing around field, with a scabby horse and wandering into ruined houses that are clearly used by squatters throughout the year, it was time to admit defeat, yet again, and return to the office none the wiser.

NEXT WEEK: Eloise reports on her experiences following her first encounter with a British press pack – in Praia da Luz because Gerry and Kate McCann were in town.

http://www.algarveresident.com/story.asp?XID=34372

I agree with you Rosiepops.

Oh Rosie, I do hope you are right! The bumpier the ride, the better imo.

It is a relief to read comments that are more connected with the real reality of the case that only very few are focusing on. Goncalo Amaral has always known that Gerry and Kate McCann had nothing to do with the disapperence of their daughter, but he must keep on with the show to obey the orders he received from above. I know this will only fall into deaf hears and blind eyes but I will continue to believe it, unless someone or something shows the contrary with solid evidence. Also, why is the direct accusation of Christopher Story not taken into account? He stated clearly -and in writing- that Madeleine McCann was kidnapped on orders by Jose Manuel Barroso, and that she is being held in captivity also on his orders. Why is this information dismissed as if it weren't true? Christopher Story has too much to lose by accusing Jose Manuel Barroso of ordering the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann. If you don't know who is Christopher Story search his name on Google and you will see.