Culture Corner

Thursday, 7 September 2017

Maria Callas. What was she describing?

With the Edinburgh Festival ending soon the question arises at all decent dinner tables, “what was the greatest Edinburgh performance of all time?”

Contenders

 

In 1957 the glorious Maria gave us the complete Callas  – complete in the sense that the singing was preceded by hysterical tantrums and contract disputes and she was  “unwell” for two of the shows. Twenty years later the tenor-king  Placido Domingo famously broke female hearts while lilting in Carmen while Rudolph Nureyev,  always willing to please, did the same for  the boys in 1984.

Rudy, in characteristic pose

 

Richard Burton’s growling 1953 Hamlet became a legend, while in the weird sixties Marlene Dietrich was exhumed to perform cabaret songs, a significant  event since, the Bureau understands,  Dietrich returned to her dressing room to find many welcome bouquets missing, apparently stolen by one of Edinburgh’s numerous street-alkies. Turning to Bert Bacharach she asked icily, “Vair have all the flowers gone?” – and the rest, of course,  is history.

And, of course...

The Winner

 

But none of these can touch, in acting power or anything else, the stomach-churning performance put on at the festival in 2007 by the celebrity story-teller  Gerry McCann.  You can search for a transcript of the programme, which we watched, but you won't find it. You can search for a video but, like the transcript, it's gone. Under whose instructions? Who knows. None of the participants want to be associated with it, even the main interviewer Kirsty Wark, who'd given GM his first publicity leg-up on May 4 of that year. Ah, show business.

Winner: Gerry McCann (with Liar's Rictus Syndrome) in Edinburgh 2007

Facts Corner

The facts of that dramatic performance are simple: Gerry McCann lied from beginning to end on a colossal scale to an audience of many millions, and lied so prodigiously  that we haven’t got space to list all the deceptions.  

His central lie is a self-portrait of Gerry McCann and a history of the Madeleine McCann Affair, all in a few hundred words. He claimed in Edinburgh that he was utterly mystified by the rumours that he and his wife might be under possible suspicion, just as he claimed in May to be mystified by the loss of his child.  He couldn’t explain why people might be writing such things since there was, literally, not a single fact or event he could think of that might justify such weird slurs. Nothing? Nope.

 

Richard Burton could never remotely  approach McCann in his acting. That is one reason why the videos are gone. He went through the whole  range of his expressions and tones of voice  - bewilderment, pain, surprise, reproach - as he confessed that he just couldn't understand what it was all about.

 

He knew how good he was by then, knew that nobody without inside knowledge could possibly believe that he wasn't telling the truth - for only a monster could be able to lie so convincingly about something so close and intimate and raw, and nobody believed Gerry McCann was a monster. That was his greatest strength. To millions of people world-wide, he lied, without a blush or a stammer or breaking sweat: to the people who'd sent money to help find the child and were emotionally transfixed by her possible fate, he lied; to his own relatives he lied; to those who had trusted him he lied; to the police in Portugal  who knew, first hand and directly, that every single sentence he uttered  was untrue, he lied.  

“What I would like to direct all of your viewers to are the official statements from the Portuguese police, which bear no resemblance to the wild speculation and, you know, the police yesterday made it very clear. First of all, we are not suspects; two, that there is no evidence to suggest that we are involved in Madeleine's disappearance and, if there was, they are obliged by Portuguese law to make us official suspects. So, you know, they just... they do not bear resemblance and Kate and I learned, very early on, only to listen to information that's coming through official channels.” 

Further selected examples from the surviving, fragmentary reports to be found on Gerry McCann’s Blogs: “Mr McCann said that this wealth of speculation is being reported as fact in total disregard of the ongoing police investigation in Portugal…Clearly, he says, they [the media] are feeding each other…it's absolutely wild speculation with no foundation…pointing out that very early on in the process he and his wife were excluded as suspects…the pressure on journalists to find a story was leading to absolutely wild speculation about what had happened, he said, even early on, there was saturation coverage with nothing to report, and there are commercial decisions being made with filling column inches and time on TV. In the last six weeks particularly there has been been nothing…things have gone back to a degree of normality and some calmness has, errr... settled in.” 

"Wild speculation. Things have gone back to a degree of normality. Calmness has settled in. Nothing has happened in the case for the last six weeks." The date of this performance was August 25 2007.

During those prior weeks of "calmness":

- The police had told the pair to prepare for investigative changes.

- On  July 30 all regular meetings with the police ended.

- On August 2 the police raided their apartment with a search warrant and threw them out while the search was executed. On August 5 Apartment 5A was forensically examined. On August 6 their hire car was seized and held for forensic testing.  

- On August 8 they were interrogated, not merely interviewed, about the night of May 3. The police stated that they did not believe KM’s version of events.  She threw a fit of hysterics as they accused her outright of lying about when she had last seen the child.

- On August 20, just five days before Edinburgh,  the McCanns appointed a criminal lawyer to defend them, having learned that they were due to be formally questioned by the police in the coming weeks.

Was there ever a bigger bastard of a liar? A more disgusting one? Anywhere? Anytime? The public thought that only a monster would lie on such a scale about a horrible, terrible family tragedy. They were right all along. He is a monster. 

The Blacksmith Bureau

Madeleine McCann eight-part Netflix documentary coming - what you need to know

More than £11 million has been spent on the probe to find the missing girl, who vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz

By James Rodger
10:41, 11 Sep 2017

A brand-new eight-part Madeleine McCann documentary is coming to Netflix.

Madeleine was three when she vanished from apartment 5A on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva in the Algarve village at about 9pm on May 3 2007.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have vowed to do "whatever it takes for as long as it takes" to find her.

British detectives working on the case revealed recently that they were pursuing a "significant" line of inquiry, with information received on a daily basis.

More than £11 million has been spent on the probe to find the missing girl, who vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

The case will now form the centre of a new as-yet-untitled, eight episode true crime series, featuring interviews with both investigators and key figures from the case.

This isn’t the first time Netflix has dabbled in controversial criminal cases, releasing last year a one-part documentary on Amanda Knox, the American student who served almost four years in an Italian prison for the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, before being definitively acquitted. 

True crime’s surge in popularity was certainly aided by Netflix’s own Making a Murderer, based on Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey’s conviction of Teresa Halbach.

A release date for the Madeleine McCann documentary has yet to be announced.

Coventry Telegraph

MADDIE 'LIE' BATTLE Madeleine McCann’s parents Kate and Gerry make final appeal in battle against shameless ex-police chief

The McCanns have been fighting a lengthy legal battle against Goncarlo Amaral after he wrote a book suggesting they were responsible for the 2007 abduction and 'death' of their daughter

EXCLUSIVE  By Nick Pisa
9th September 2017, 2:57 am Updated: 9th September 2017, 3:24 am

MADDIE McCann’s parents have made a last ditch appeal to the European Court of Human Rights after a Portuguese judge ruled against them in their battle against a shameless ex police chief.

Kate and Gerry McCann, both 49, have been fighting a lengthy legal battle against Goncarlo Amaral after he wrote a book suggesting they were responsible for the abduction and ‘’death’’ of their daughter in 2007.

The case has been in and out of court in Portugal with Amaral initially being ordered to pay £360,000 damaged in 2015 for the outrageous slurs in ‘The Truth of the Lie’.

But his legal team overturned that order and Kate and Gerry took out their own appeal against him in Portugal’s Supreme Court and earlier this year they were left devastated after judges again ruled in his favour.

In their 76 page ruling judges said Kate and Gerry had not ‘’successfully proved their innocence’’ - which left the couple from Rothley, Leicestershire ‘shattered’, according to a source close to the couple.

Initially they had considered dropping the whole case against Amaral they are more determined than ever that he should not get away with his vile allegations against them.

So far no money has been paid by either party and now they will square up to each other at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The appeal was lodged in July by their Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte and they are now waiting for a date to be confirmed.

A source close to the couple said: "They discussed the situation with their legal team and they decided that ultimately it was worth fighting the decision of the Portuguese court.

"They are upset that the court made this ruling but are also desperately upset at Amaral’s claims which are ludicrous and hurtful.’’

Last night the European Court of Human Rights confirmed an appeal had been lodged and officials were investigating its "admissibility’’ before deciding what to do next.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell told The Sun: "I can confirm that Kate and Gerry have lodged an appeal application at the European Court of Human Rights and the application is being considered.

"As such they will not be making any comment until a decision has been made. The case is being handled by their legal team in Portugal.

Insiders said it could take almost four years before a decision on whether to proceed in the case is made.

Maddie, three, disappeared in May 2007 from her parents holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s popular

Algarve coast while her younger twin siblings Amelie and Sean, now aged 12, were in the same room.

Earlier this week British detectives investigating her disappearance asked the Home Office for more cash so they could "pursue one final lead’’.

The Sun

Mixed messages as McCanns bid to take three-time court defeat to new appeal

Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on September 10, 2017

There are multiple mixed messages as the parents of missing Madeleine McCann are reported to be taking their three-time court defeat in Portugal to the very last point of appeal: the European Court of Human Rights.

British tabloids are already presenting the new situation as ‘a given’ - the Mail, for example, claims “it is understood that the result of the appeal will not be known for at least four years”.

But the truth is that it may not even get accepted.

The ECHR website carries no details of the action (believed to have been lodged in July) for the simple reason that it must first be considered to merit this final avenue of legal recourse - an outcome many believe is unlikely.

The reasons for this is that the 75-page judgement the McCann parents are challenging - handed down by Portugal’s highest court - cited tenets set out by the ECHR, not to mention rights enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution.

As a source explained, “the parents have been told three times that the theory published by former PJ police coordinator Gonçalo Amaral did not overstep the bounds of freedom of expression”.

“Furthermore, the UK press fails to understand that Maddie’s parents can only make a case against the Portuguese state, and not against an individual person.

“For Gonçalo Amaral, the case is over. Done and dusted. He won, and the McCanns can’t ignore the decision simply because they are going to the ECHR”.

“Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira” (Maddie: The Truth of the Lie) is back on sale and has purportedly been published and translated in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Spain, and Belgium.

An English translation has been available online for years, and “read by millions” (click here).

But according to the UK Sun - which led with an ‘exclusive’ yesterday on what it is calling “a last ditch appeal” against a “shameless ex-police chief” - the reasons for the McCann’s new legal bid lie not simply in the fact that they “are desperately upset at Amaral’s claims”, but also that they are “shattered” that Portugal’s top judges did not accept that they had “successfully proved their innocence”.

This was perhaps the most devastating outcome of the Supreme Court ruling and one which saw UK tabloids go into overdrive (click here).

In other words, this is no longer a fight against what the Sun terms “the outrageous slurs of the Truth of the Lie”, but a battle now against Portuguese Justice.

As a legal source has commented: "The McCanns have effectively to prove that the Supreme Court made a massive mistake".

The appeal bid could also be seen as another way of stalling the hugely expensive outcome of all these years of painful litigation.

The Sun explains: “So far no money has been paid by either party”.

In January, the Mail suggested that the McCanns “could now face financial ruin as they face paying Gonçalo Amaral huge court costs and could be sued themselves by the former policeman”.

Amaral, for the time being, is keeping his counsel.

Marking the 10-years since Madeleine’s disappearance during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, he gave a series of interviews with the Cofina media group in which he repeated his theory, as set out in the ‘Truth of the Lie’, explaining all the reasons for it (click here).

Since then he has kept a low profile.

Meantime, the Metropolitan Police are seeking renewed funding for Operation Grange - the probe that has already cost over £11 million looking for answers in this unparalleled case (click here), while streaming service Netflix is said to be making a new eight-part documentary on Madeleine’s disappearance, interviewing “key figures and investigators”.

Parents Kate and Gerry have “refused to be involved”, writes the Sun - highlighting the word refused in capitals.

The McCann’s reasoning, says the tabloid, is that Grange “is still active” - though a decision on whether or not to extend funding, and therefore keep Grange alive, has yet to be made public.

Ten years and four months on, and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann shows absolutely no sign of disappearing.

Portugal Resident

'IT'S THE END OF THE ROAD' Madeleine McCann’s parents Kate and Gerry ‘have failed’ in their battle to silence ex-Portuguese cop over sick slurs

Pals of the parents have said Goncalo Amaral 'has won once and for all' because they don't have the 'time, energy or funding' to take him to the highest court in the land

Exclusive: By Tracey Kandohla
11th July 2017, 6:46 pm  Updated: 11th July 2017, 9:57 pm

MADELEINE McCann’s parents have failed in their latest battle to silence an ex-Portuguese cop over claims they faked their daughter’s kidnapping to cover up her death.

Pals of Kate and Gerry have said Goncalo Amaral “has won once and for all” because they don’t have the “time, energy or funding” to take him to the highest court in the land.

The parents have still taken no action to challenge the former cop in the highest court in the land despite vowing three months ago to continue the fight after a “terrible” ruling against them.

Mr Amaral claimed in a TV documentary and his bestselling 2008 book that the parents had killed Maddie and faked her kidnapping after she vanished in Praia da Luz in 2007 – but there is no truth in the claims.

A source close to the couple believe the lack of action by Maddie’s parents and their legal team indicates “the end of the road” in a bitter eight year fight against their tormentor.

The family pal said: “Realistically a European Court appeal was never going to succeed plus it would be too expensive to launch. It seems Mr Amaral, regrettably, has won once and for all. The fight is finally over.

“It means he can continue to spout his malicious lies about Kate and Gerry being involved in a cover up of their daughter’s death, which is almost laughable if it wasn’t so hurtful and damaging in the hunt for Madeleine.

“Kate and Gerry have always said they’ll keep no stone unturned in the global search and that’s what they want to concentrate on. I don’t think they have the time, energy or funding to lodge yet another appeal.”

The McCanns from Rothley, Leics, were left angry and disappointed after Portugal’s top court threw out their libel claim against Mr Amaral at the end of January.

The long-suffering couple pledged to take him to the European Court of Human Rights but have failed to do so.

Ex GP Kate, who has recently taken up a new medical job, said in an interview to mark the milestone 10th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance in May that Mr Amaral’s poisonous words had been “very upsetting and incomprehensible.”

A trio of Supreme Court judges ruled that Mr Amaral’s claims in his book were protected by freedom of expression laws and also that the McCanns’ were not “formally in the clear” over Maddie’s disappearance.

The Policia Judiciaria inspector led the initial bungled hunt for Maddie but was later pulled off the case after criticising British police assistance.

In his once banned book “The Truth of the Lie”, he claimed Maddie accidentally died in an accident at the holiday flat or by being given an overdose of sedatives.

Maddie’s parents fiercely denied his allegations and accused described Mr Amaral as a self obsessed, manipulative money-grabber.

Three-year-old Maddie vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007 while her parents were dining in a nearby tapas bar with pals.

Speaking ahead of the tenth anniversary in May, defiant Kate said her hope of finding missing daughter Madeleine alive will never fade – as she vowed to still buy her a present for her 14th birthday.

Kate and Gerry’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell today declined to comment on their failure to challenge Mr Amaral in the European Court, saying: “Anything on the legal side is up to their Portuguese lawyer to comment on.”

The Sun

A Disturbing Diary

Sunday, June 17th 2007

Kate McCann Diary Entry:

'I want to speak to someone now, but it's too late.
I changed my mind and I sent a text message to Ricardo (Portuguese police family liaison officer).
I don't know if was a sensible idea but I feel really annoyed.'

---

In January 2010 at a Court Hearing in Portugal, the above named Portuguese Police Officer, Ricardo Paiva the Family Liaison Officer to the McCann family, stated that Kate McCann had phoned him two months after the disappearance of Madeleine, it was at a time I believe when Gerry McCann was not in Portugal with his family. He further stated that Kate McCann had told him of a dream she had where Madeleine was dead, buried on a hillside in Praia da Luz.

An extremely angry Gerry McCann, leaving the Court, and not accompanied by his wife Kate McCann (who left later) had this to say to waiting reporters:

"I would 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 translation, but that didn't happen."

Gerry McCann denies PJ officers statements

It is perfectly clear from the above diary entry by Kate McCann that SHE DID make contact with Portuguese Police Family Liaison Officer, Ricardo Paiva two months after Madeleine disappeared - exactly as the officer had stated in Court in Portugal had happened.

What was said during that conversation, only Kate McCann and Ricardo Paiva know for sure.

What we can know for sure though, is that nothing was 'lost in interpretation' be that in a simple misunderstanding, or in interpretation of language - Officer Paiva I am sure was appointed the Family Liaison Officer to the McCanns as he spoke English - would be pretty daft to have sent an officer who didn't, as McCanns speak only the English language!

It would be very difficult to misinterpret someone saying they had a dream about their missing daughter being buried on a hillside. That's a statement that would have any police officer springing into action. And one would have to think that Kate McCann knew this.

Gerry McCann by his angry statement outside the Court, though is in fact declaring that Officer Ricardo Paiva lied.

Reading the material, police witness statements, interviews given by McCanns what comes across and overwhelmingly so, is that anyone, anyone at all, be that a member of the public, the police, from any nation, any witnesses who make a statement which is shall we say 'not helpful' to their still unproven story that Madeleine was abducted, have to be openly deemed as liars!

Gerry McCann stated also that there was no evidence that Madeleine is dead.

There is no evidence she was ever abducted.

The evidence gathered by the police investigation in Portugal, points to a very different scenario from that of abduction.

And, the Metropolitan Police have been unable, during the course of their two year investigative review of this case, to come up with any evidence of an abduction having taken place!

But why would all of these people lie, members of the public, police about what they saw or heard in relation to the McCanns, and Madeleine's disappearance?

They did not know the McCanns. They were simply individuals who came forward in response to police authority appeals, helping with police inquiries, giving their witness statements. They did not, and have not any reason to lie, make false statements.

On the other hand, the McCanns and their holiday companions, it is on record, well documented, have not been entirely truthful, have indeed made false statements, and on a grand scale.

It was Kate McCanns call to Officer Paiva, which he correctly reported to his superior officers which resulted it is said in the cadaver and blood dogs being brought to Portugal. The hillside being searched.

It would seem from Gerry McCanns outburst outside the Court, that his wife Kate McCann had not informed him of the contact she had made with Officer Paiva which had led to this search.

But why would any search for Madeleine be a bad thing? Is that not what the McCanns want/ed for 'no stone to be left unturned? It is a search one would have thought they would have welcomed.

What if Madeleine was buried on the hillside and the police had not taken action? I guess that too would have given Gerry McCann cause to complain about the police.

So who do we believe - Gerry McCann (who on behalf of his wife denies that she made any such statement) Gerry McCann, a man not known for being truthful in the case of his missing daughter. A man WHO CHANGED HIS VERSION OF ACCOUNTS OF HIS MOVEMENTS on the night his daughter vanished - OR, Police Officer Paiva?

Police Officer Paiva has no reason to lie - why would he?

It is interesting that Officer Paiva stated that Kate McCann told him she had a dream about Madeleine being buried on the hillside in Praia da Luz. Why would he say a hillside?

Perhaps this next diary entry by Kate McCann throws a little light on the matter, as it is clear Officer Paiva would not randomly say that Kate McCann mentioned a hillside!

Diary Entry

Monday May 14th

After getting back I decided to go running' for the first time since THE day (already 11 days ago). I knew that it was going to be physically difficult, but I also knew that I wasn't going to give up, because it was for Madeleine and also because the level of pain is far higher now.
No cameras or journalists, which was great. I went running towards the beach and then along it and again climbed that hill so steep 'without stopping! (I carried a photo of M in my hand to keep me going.)
END

So Kate McCann went running for the first time since Madeleine vanished or since ‘THE’ day as she describes it in her diary entry, and AGAIN climbed that hill (presumably by this statement, she climbed 'that hill' at some point before Madeleine’s reported disappearance if this was her first time out running since?)

I would say from this, it reinforces the truth told by Officer Paiva!

Kate McCann, as early as 11 days after her daughters disappearance went running on the hillside. She states 'again' therefore she had done this also at some point before this '11 day' marker (before Madeleine vanished?) And she would no doubt have done so more times after this date in May when she made the entry in her diary, and the time she contacted Officer Paiva in June 2007.

There can be no doubt as to where the 'hillside story' came from - Kate McCann!
To be noted also, on that same day, Monday, May 14th 2007 Kate McCann made this following entry in her diary:

" I slept well last night after a not very good end of the day, frustration with the FLO (Portuguese police family liaison officer) asking me where would my little M be."

***Her 'little 'M' being Madeleine***

Again this statement confirms that Kate McCann did speak with Officer Paiva with regards where Madeleine could be and on more than one occasion!

So Officer Paiva had asked of her at some point - where she thought Madeleine could be, and this had caused her frustration?

Did this prompt the call to Paiva some weeks later, telling him of her dream that Madeleine was buried on the hillside?

I would suggest Kate McCann was rattled by Paiva asking her this question as to Madeleine's whereabouts (in May 2007)...I would further suggest that she did not have a dream about where 

Madeleine was buried, but dreamed up a story to tell Paiva, the Portuguese Police some weeks later in June 2007...

This type of tactic by the McCanns has been used so very often throughout this case - look there, not here!

When it comes to the truth of matters, I know who my money is on!

Rather interestingly too is that Kate McCann said:

"No cameras or journalists, which was great."

Much has been said about the McCanns not being able to do anything unseen or unhindered, after Madeleine vanished - the press were always around - how could they have done this or that - their every movement monitored.

If we are to believe Kate McCanns diary entries, she did an awful lot, and when Gerry was not around too, and there were as she said -

NO cameras or journalists. So they could have done anything really, and unnoticed.

Would the press have missed the opportunity to snap Kate McCann running up the hillside, photo of Madeleine in hand?

So which is it? They could not move without being hounded by media - OR did Kate McCann invent her little story of carrying Madeleine's picture up the hillside? Her running gear has no pockets, so unless she stuck the pic in her running shoe - or elsewhere... And why did she not take cuddle cat for a jog up the hillside? Was he only a prop for when there were cameras and journalists around?

But how interesting she states - no cameras, no journalists?

Goncalo Amaral said that Kate McCanns book 'Madeleine' may become a document of evidence - I think we can safely add her diary to that too...


l-azzeri-lies-in-sun.com
27th July 2013


__________________________________________________________________________________________


The Telegraph

By Fiona Govan in Lisbon
7:30AM GMT 13 Jan 2010

Madeleine McCann: mother's dream was 'turning point' in investigation, court hears

Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance began searching for her body after her mother, Kate, told detectives about a dream which suggested the toddler was dead, a court heard.

Police Inspector Ricardo Paiva, who acted as a liaison between the McCanns and Portuguese detectives in the days following their daughter’s disappearance, said the dream was a "turning point" in the investigation.

He said that Mrs McCann told him in a tearful telephone conversation in late July 2007 that she had dreamt that Madeleine was on a hill and that police should search for her there.

The claims came as Kate and Gerry McCann appeared in court to hear evidence on the first day of a hearing to challenge the publication of a book written by Algarve detective Goncalo Amaral.
Insp Paiva told the hearing in Lisbon: “Kate called me, she was alone as Gerry was away and she was crying.
“She said she had dreamt that Madeleine was on a hill and that we should search for her there.
“She gave the impression that she thought she was dead – it was a turning point for us.”

The senior detective said the land was searched but nothing was found. “That is when we decided to send the specialist dogs in. British police informed us about how they could detect the scent of death.”

He admitted that the police had been suspicious of the McCanns from the start of the investigation.

Insp Paiva added: “They disobeyed our request to keep quiet about the details of their daughter’s disappearance while we conducted our investigation. Instead they turned it into a media circus and that gave rise to some suspicions.”

He said that the McCanns should have faced prosecution for leaving their children alone. “They should have been pursued for neglect. People have been arrested for far less – even in the UK.”

The court also heard claims that Madeleine died in an accident in her family's Algarve holiday apartment and her death was covered up by her parents who then concocted a tale of kidnap.

“She died in the apartment as a result of a tragic accident and the parents simulated an abduction after failing to care of their children,” Tavares de Almeida, former chief inspector at Portimao police station during the initial months of the investigation, told the court in Lisbon.

“These were the conclusions of a police report signed by me on September 10 2007,” he added.
Lawyers for Amaral, who led the team that made the McCanns arguidos – suspects – in their daughter’s disappearance, called witnesses to support the claims outlined in his book. The McCanns arguido status was lifted after ten months in July 2008 when the Attorney General ruled there was no evidence against them.

The pair, from Rothley, Leics, came face to face with their detractor for the first time since they were officially made argiuidos in September 2007, four months after they daughter vanished days before her fourth birthday.

Mr Amaral, 50, led the initial investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007 while her parents dined with friends at a tapas bar nearby. He was sacked from the case, which remains unsolved.

His book, entitled “The Truth of The Lie”, published in July 2008 claims that Madeleine died in the apartment and questions her parents’ account of events that evening.

It became a best-seller in Portugal selling more than 200,000 copies and went on to be published in six languages and made into a documentary film.

After a year long campaign the McCanns succeeded in getting a temporary injunction banning further sales and it was withdrawn from shelves last September. The couple are suing for libel becuase they believe that the book is damaging the search for their daughter by asserting that she is already dead.

They are expected to ask a judge for around £1 million in damages which they will use to pay for their own continuing hunt for their daughter, who they believe was kidnapped and could still be alive and being held somewhere.

Mr de Almeida told the court: “We have always spoken of a tragic accidental death – not homicide. The McCanns did not kill her but they concealed the body,”

Mr de Almeida, who worked under Amaral and was also taken off the case in September 2007, said the decision to designate the McCanns 'arguidos' was made by police after sniffer dogs brought to Portugal from England had carried out their searches.

Giving evidence, Mr de Almeida said that the dogs had identified blood and the scent of a human corpse inside the children's’ bedroom and the dining room of the McCanns’ holiday flat.

The animals also reacted to traces on a piece of cloth in a villa rented by the McCanns after they left the apartment and in the boot of a rental car hired by the family several weeks after Madeleine disappeared.

Mr de Almeida also complained that Portuguese police efforts to investigate the McCanns had been frustrated by their British counterparts. “We were told that the UK would not accept any investigation of the McCanns – there was a lack of co-operation,” he said.

But later he said that the theory that the parents had covered up Madeleine’s death as outlined in Amaral’s book was one reached by British police on the ground in Portugal too.

“This wasn’t something invented by Amaral,” he insisted. “It was a conclusion reached by the team of Portuguese investigators as well as British police.”

Mrs McCann wearing a dark coloured floral dress sat impassively in the front row of the court room beside her husband. The pair held hands and exchanged occasional whispers and nods as they were passed notes by interpreters informing them of court proceedings, which were carried out in Portuguese.

Mr Amaral, dressed in a dark suit and purple tie, was seated at the bench beside his legal team, fifteen feet away from the couple. He spent much of the proceedings with his eyes closed avoiding the direct gaze of the McCanns.

Tuesday’s court hearing in the Portuguese capital was an opportunity by Mr Amaral to have the temporary injunction against publication of his book overturned. Neither he nor the McCanns will be called to give evidence in the hearing which is expected to last a minimum of three days.


The case continues.

The Telegraph

Kate's DREAM led to the McCanns becoming 'arguidos' (suspects)

Video courtesy of HiDeHo

Related: Kate's Diary

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A McQuestion Or Two

1 When the McCann’s fled Portugal in September 2007, the British Police assisting the Portuguese enquiry left also. Madeleine was still missing, supposedly abducted. So why did the British Police quit the search the day after they were both made official suspects?

2 Since that day in September 2007, not one legitimate Police force has been actively looking for Madeleine, why?

3 Why were the Tapas 9 so keen to control the early stages of the investigation by writing out all of their timelines on Madeleine’s sticker book, before the Police had even arrived on the scene?

4 Why did the McCann’s with their limitless amounts of money coming in from generous donations, hire people who specialised in fraud and bomb disposal?

5 Why did the McCann’s ignore crucial Police advice by publicising Madeleine’s distinctive mark on her eye, which would almost certainly have guaranteed her immediate death and disposal?

6 Why did the McCann’s make Madeleine a Ward of Court after she had vanished? Was it to prevent any details of her medical records and other information from being made public for 75 years?

7 Why was it necessary to hire such a large team of lawyers when Madeleine first vanished, which also included Pinochet’s infamous extradition lawyer?

8 Why did Kate McCann refuse to answer all of the questions put to her?

9 Why did the McCann’s claim to know instantly that Madeleine had been abducted, yet waited 40 minutes before first contacting the Police?

10 Goncalo Amaral’s book, ‘The Truth of the Lie’, has now been released in 6 European countries, but not in the UK. It has recently been banned in Portugal. It is a factual account of the early stages of the investigation based on information contained within the officially released Police files, so why has it been banned?

11 Why did the McCann’s want the investigation shelved? It was within their legal rights to ask for the enquiry to remain open, which they turned down? Why?

12 Why did 3 UK Detectives deliver several files of information to the McCann’s home, shortly after they got back to the UK whilst they were still suspects?

13 Why did the cadaver and blood sniffer dogs Eddie and Keela, only indicate to their apartment and their car? I believe 7 properties and 10 cars were searched in total that day, but only the McCann’s apartment and car tested positive.

14 Why did the Home Office refuse to hand over to the Portuguese investigators details of the McCann’s bank details, credit cards and medical records? These are one of the first things any Police force obtains at the start of an investigation. So why were they refused assistance?

15 The British Authorities later informed the Portuguese Police that the McCann’s did not own any credit or debit cards? So how did Gerry manage to pay for his holiday?

16 Why were the McCann’s and their Tapas friends never seriously interrogated? Instead, during their Rogatory interviews the British Police assisted them with some of their answers, which can be clearly seen in their statements.

17 Why did Gerry delete all the phone calls from his mobile on the 2nd of May, the day before Madeleine disappeared and also one received from Kate on 3rd May at 23.17 p.m., just over an hour after she had raised the alarm? Neither went to search for Madeleine, so why did Kate need to call him? Where did he go?

18 Why did Gerry have to fly home to obtain something with Madeleine’s DNA on? Did he actually supply an accurate representation of Madeleine’s DNA to the Police? Why was there no DNA of Madeleine’s found in the apartment the night she vanished?, an apartment which she had lived in for 5 days? Not one strand of hair was found there belonging to the McCann twins either. It’s like the apartment had been scrubbed clean.

19 Why is the case filed under Homicide, Simulating a Crime & Hiding a Cadaver and not abduction?

20 How did the scent of cadaver from a dead body get on Madeleine’s Cuddlecat, a child’s red T shirt, Kate’s black/white cheque trousers and her white sleeveless top? Why only these items?

21 Why did Gerry have to move the position of the sofa in the lounge? The exact same sofa which was identified by the blood dog Keela, as containing minute traces of blood in 3 different positions on the back panel. The exact same sofa that Eddie the cadaver dog also identified the scent of cadaver behind. Is this just a coincidence, or is this evidence of staging?

22 Why did the British Government intervene and support them on an unprecedented level from day one?

23 Why did the British Government feel the need to appoint a spokesman Clarence Mitchell, to speak in public for the McCann’s and is still assisting them today? Has the British tax payer been paying for his services all this time?

24 Why are the British papers only interested in reporting on the abduction line, when there is not one shred of evidence to support this theory? In 2008, one third of the official police files was made available to the general public. Facts that every newspaper could have easily been printed without any fear of litigation. So why have they ignored all of this information?

25 Why was Kate so annoyed at being asked to attend the Police station in the early days to identify a little girl caught on CCTV, that was believed to be Madeleine?

26 Why would the McCann’s leave Madeleine in an unlocked apartment knowing she had a tendency to wake up and wander frequently at night?

27 Why did the British Secret Service immediately put the McCann’s under telephone surveillance and not inform the Portuguese Police?

28 Why would SOCA (the Serious Organised Crime Agency) get involved with a missing child?

29 Why did the British Police withhold a statement for at least 6 months from the Portuguese Investigators involving David Payne and Gerry McCann, over lewd allegations of paedophile behaviour as witnessed by another Doctor friend of theirs on a previous holiday?

30 Why was Gerry in possession of sensitive Police manuals only used by Special Police Services and Government Agencies? Who gave them to him and why?

31 Why did the McCann’s want Leicestershire Police heading up the investigation and not Scotland Yard? They wanted the help from the Government, but not the top Police Force, why?

32 Why was the McCann’s Lawyers worried that Kate’s answers could be seen to be incriminating, but not Gerry’s?

33 Why did they destroy Madeleine’s sticker book when there was a perfectly good note pad on the table?

34 Why was someone allowed back into the apartment to remove personal items before forensics had finished looking for evidence?

35 Why was Robert Murat made a suspect when none of the photo fits depicted a man who wears glasses?

36 Why did it take the British authorities nine months to pass the Gaspar’s statement over to the Portuguese investigators?

37 Francisco Moita Flores has said that “the mystery lies with one or two of the ten or twelve elements that used to enter that apartment”. Who are the other 3 people is he referring to?

38 In Kate’s diary she states, "I can't stop thinking about Madeleine, about her fear of pain". How would she know that Madeleine had a fear of pain?

39 Why did Kate in her group statement say that she pulled the curtains open, yet in the documentary state that the wind blew the curtains open?

40 Why did Gordon Brown and Jackie Smith both have to visit Leicestershire Police three days after the McCann’s flew home? Both have publicly claimed that they do not interfere in ongoing Police investigations.

41 Why did several members of the group claim Rachel made the Tapas reservation, when the receptionist has clearly stated it was a man?

42 Why was a CRG (Control Risks Group) fraud expert brought in on a missing child case?

43 Why did Brian Kennedy feel the need to contact the family who claimed that they saw Gerry McCann carrying a child in the streets just before the alarm was raised?

44 Why was it that only Kate’s fingerprints, was found in a position of opening that window?

45 Why did the McCann’s need a service wash the day after Madeleine vanished, washing clothing that belonged to Madeleine that could have been important to the investigation?

46 Why did David Payne not want the McCann’s to speak to Yvonne Martin, the Social Worker who tried to offer them help?

47 Why didn’t Dianne Webster want to rush off and check on her own grandchildren when Kate shouted Madeleine was missing?

48 Why did David Payne claim that everyone went to dinner together, yet Fiona claimed that David would stay behind to watch the children?

49 Why did the FSS when testing the hair samples found in the boot of the McCann’s hire car, refuse to confirm if it had come from a living or dead person, simply by checking to see if they showed any signs of proximal banding?

50 Not one single hair of Madeleine's was ever recovered from the apartment, so how did the McCann’s manage to find one to give to Danie Krugel the South African body finder?

51 Why did the McCann’s need to air their car boot?

52 Why did Gerry not tell Mrs Fenn that it was his daughter that had gone missing?

53 Why did Paul Gordon, the previous occupant of the McCann’s apartment, say he feels like a “chess pawn” after being contacted several times by Brian Kennedy?

54 How could Matt Oldfield claim to see the twins breathing laying inside their cots, when he never even entered Madeleine’s bedroom?

55 Why did Gerry first claim the doors were left locked, then changed his statement saying the patio door was left unlocked?

56 Why did the PJ need to forensically examine an apartment in Burgau in relation to this case?

57 Why did the Vatican remove Madeleine’s details from their website, one week after Kate and Gerry were made suspects?

58 Why would a missing child of only 13 days be made a Ward of Court?

59 Why did Stuart Prior when examining all the evidence against the McCann’s, say that "he had arrested people in England with much less", yet they never got arrested?

60 Why did the McCann’s and their supportive friends refuse to help the investigation by not doing a reconstruction?

61 Sir Christopher Meyer publically stated that the McCann’s did not want the press to be stopped, they had been asked, but they turned the offer down. So why did they later complain that the press were outrageous?

62 Kerry Needham, the Mother of Ben Needham who went missing from the Greek Island of Kos in 1991, has never received the same level of help the McCann’s got. Why was that missing child treated so differently?

63 Jill Renwick says she spoke to Kate at 7am, the morning after Madeleine vanished saying, ''Kate was at the police station in hysterics. When we spoke she said the police weren’t doing enough.'' Yet Kate did not go to the Police Station until that afternoon, so which one of them is lying?

64 Why have the McCann’s never once shown us the inside of Madeleine’s bedroom as it now looks?

65 Why were there other Doctors booked in the Ocean Club that week, not part of the Tapas 9 group?

66 Why did Gerry and Kate delete so many calls from their phones before the Police arrived?

67 When Oprah Winfrey asked Kate why she never showed any emotion, Kate said, “the last thing I want obviously is to cause any extra further harm to Madeleine”. Yet they have always stated there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm, so what “extra further harm” is Kate referring to?

68 Is it just a coincidence that on the 13th May 2007, Jose Barra da Costa, former member of the PJ publicly claimed that the McCann’s are swingers, then two days later on the 15th May 2007, Robert Murat is declared arguido?

69 Why did the McCann’s ignore Police advice concerning the dangers of highlighting Madeleine's distinctive eye, which would ensure that she was killed?

70 Why did David Payne say “we have a pact”? A child is missing and they feel the need to have some kind of agreement. What for?

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