Re: Portuguese police apologise to Madeleine McCann's parents

by crusader 31.10.23 7:31

Pat Brown has her say.

by CaKeLoveR 31.10.23 8:14

The current crop of Portuguese police are probably politically correct and woke. There could have been an agreement between three countries as well. Why the original team in Portugal have been treated like this by the new one is hard to fathom, when a main suspect refused to answer 48 questions about her daughter's disappearance, and now receives an apology.

by Silentscope 31.10.23 9:33

I think Pat Brown has missed HCW ‘Tears of a Clown’ face as described up thread.

The sadness mixed with surprise can be explained this way.

He has failed to nail Brückner, and his Credit is zero. He is being taken off the Case. Result sadness.

He was not informed about the ‘Apology’ storyline and then is trying to process this revelation. Result Surprised.

IMHO.

by **PeterMac** 31.10.23 10:15

NATASHA DONN is up to speed as always [ Natasha's bolding as in the article, My RED emphasis, Do we think that if it were true it would not have been reported months ago - at the time for example - by one of more of the Gutter press or even the Olive Press ! ?]
QUOTE
https://www.portugalresident.com/pj-police-confirm-steps-continuing-in-case-of-missing-madeleine-mccann/

Detectives have reportedly “apologised” for handling of case
In a statement issued today, Portugal’s PJ judicial police have clarified that “steps are continuing” as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, “to fully clarify the situation”.
The statement comes after the BBC in UK reports that “Portuguese police have apologised to the parents of Madeleine McCann for the way they handled the three-year-old’s disappearance”.
None of this is mentioned in the PJ statement*, which simply explains “that, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of an English child in the Algarve in 2007, steps are continuing to be taken to fully clarify the situation”.
The short text continues: “In this context, and as has been made public in due course, in close liaison with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities, formal investigation and forensic tests have been carried out in Portugal and abroad, as well as sharing information and revisiting testimonies.
“As is also normal in this type of situation and in line with good practice, face-to-face contacts were made with the relatives of the missing child, providing – only – the procedural situation within the scope of the ongoing inquiry pending before the Faro District Public Prosecutor’s Office”.
According to the BBC, “a delegation of senior officers travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year. They met Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s father, and apologised for the way detectives investigated the case and treated the family.
“The McCann family has not commented on the apology and their daughter’s disappearance remains unsolved.
“Portuguese police now say their initial investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance was not handled properly, there was insufficient importance given at the time to missing children and that her parents’ position as foreigners in an environment they did not understand was not appreciated”, the BBC’s report goes on.
Anyone who remembers those days and weeks following Madeleine’s disappearance will recall the massive press pack camped in Praia da Luz, and the apparent extreme importance given by authorities, both Portuguese and British, to the child’s disappearance. Thus why this reference to “insufficient importance” comes now – 16 years after the little girl went missing without apparent trace – is unclear. There do not appear to be any new leads in this mystery in spite of the flurry of activity around the Arade dam earlier this year.
Reiterating that the Portuguese police “have now admitted that the investigation was not conducted correctly”, the BBC’s report ends with the information that “after years of investigation, Portuguese officers this year backed the German authorities, who believe that German Christian Brueckner (sic) murdered the child”.
This is something that Mr Brückner himself has consistently denied.
The BBC’s report concludes that “Hans Christian Wolters, the German prosecutor in the case, welcomed Portugal’s apology, saying: “It’s a good sign. It shows that there is progress in the McCann case in Portugal”.
Again this observation is not immediately borne out by the content of the PJ statement.
*SIC Notícias on Monday evening carried a news item to insist that Portugal’s PJ police did NOT travel to UK to apologise to the parents of Madeleine McCann. They went, as the statement issued earlier today explains, to update the couple on the situation as of ‘now’.
‘Close liaison’ with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities can also not be interpreted as PJ police ‘backing’ the German authorities theory that Christian Brückner murdered Madeleine McCann.
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com

by **PeterMac** 31.10.23 11:06

The paper edition has been updated by Natasha

"Our paper edition story runs this way:

PJ confirm “steps continuing” in case of Madeleine McCann

By NATASHA DONN
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com
Investigation || In a statement issued on Monday, Portugal’s PJ judicial police confirmed that “steps are continuing” as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, “to fully clarify the situation”.

The statement came after the BBC in UK reported that “Portuguese police have apologised to the parents of Madeleine McCann for the way they handled the three-year-old’s disappearance”.
The BBC’s claim has since been widely repeated, leading to the PJ issuing a denial on Monday evening, in time for news bulletins. The denial however appears not to have been picked up by foreign media.

As the PJ statement on Monday explained “as part of the investigation into the disappearance of an English child in the Algarve in 2007, steps are continuing to be taken to fully clarify the situation”.

“In this context, and as has been made public in due course, in close liaison with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities, formal investigation and forensic tests have been carried out in Portugal and abroad, as well as sharing information and revisiting testimonies.
“As is also normal in this type of situation and in line with good practice, face-to-face contacts were made with the relatives of the missing child, providing - only - the procedural situation within the scope of the ongoing inquiry pending before the Faro District Public Prosecutor's Office.” [my italics and bolding - PM]

The ’only’ in that last paragraph was strategic.

Nonetheless, British news stories have run with the BBC theme, which insists: “Portuguese police now say their initial investigation into Madeleine's disappearance was not handled properly, there was insufficient importance given at the time to missing children and that her parents' position as foreigners in an environment they did not understand was not appreciated,”

Anyone who remembers those days and weeks following Madeleine’s disappearance will recall the massive press pack camped in Praia da Luz, and the apparent extreme importance given by authorities, both Portuguese and British, to the child’s disappearance.
The question therefore is why all this confused information is coming now.
Tuesday saw further stories in the UK media, involving an interview with German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters who said: “I can only say that we have only have one suspect at the moment. [Madeleine McCann died] in Portugal and we think maybe we know where it happened.'
German police have been saying this since 2020 when they first made their claims about suspect Christian Brűckner (a man who insists he had nothing to do with it). In the intervening years, the BKA has failed to come up with any evidence, or even charge Brűckner. And what they do not explain – and what has not been made clear in the British media - is that there can never be any other suspects in this case, as the Statute of Limitations in Portugal on crimes punishable with jail terms of more than 10 years have only a 15-year prosecution limit, and that ran out on May 3, 2022.

* * * * *

In other words it is a load of Tabloid Testicles.

by CaKeLoveR 31.10.23 11:11

I hope this is true.

by Silentscope 31.10.23 11:11

SIC Notícias on Monday evening carried a news item to insist that Portugal’s PJ police did NOT travel to UK to apologise to the parents of Madeleine McCann. They went, as the statement issued earlier today explains, to update the couple on the situation as of ‘now’.

Busted.

Bilton should be classed as a McCann Asset, after revealing to Murat that he was approached to Spy on the Press for the McCanns.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bbc-reporter-reveals-asked-act-10351623#

by **Tony Bennett** 31.10.23 11:18

I was very sad when I read these words in the press reports: “A delegation of senior officers travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year. They met Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s father, and apologised for the way detectives investigated the case and treated the family.”

I was sad to think that Portuguese police officers travelled all the way to England and back at Portuguese taxpayers’ expense to deliver this grovelling apology. Probably there stayed here in England for a night or two at a nice hotel. I wondered in fact if they knelt down before Gerry and Kate McCann, raised their hands in prayer, and asked, “Please forgive us!”

I was sad because this woeful BBC documentary and the accompanying press coverage seemed to be the ‘final nail in the coffin’, that is, as it were, to bury, in the public’s mind, any lingering belief that Madeleine might not have been abducted.

The truth, as it were, is being formally buried by this announcement, just as the truth has been buried for nearly 16 years under a veritable mountain of fabricated statements and fabricated sightings.

The British political and legal establishment were all over this case even before the ‘abduction’ was announced: the ‘dummy’ Madeleine page on the CEOP page on 30 April 2007; Robert Murat’s early morning dash to Portugal the following day; the bosses at the Sun newspaper directing Jon Clarke of the Olive Press to go to Praia Luz – as we now know, probably even before the Kate McCann cried, ‘Madeleine’s gone’.

In my honest opinion only something very wicked must have happened to Madeleine – something so wicked that the truth had to be smothered by the British political and legal establishment at all costs.

My comfort in all this is that I believe that there will one day, probably very soon, be the Day of Judgment, often spoken of in the Bible, where “...there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops” (Luke 12 vv 2-3) or, as Mark put it, “There is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad” Mark 4 v 22). All of us will face that Day.
So, anyone at all, from the McCanns to Mark Rowley, who has knowingly lied about the truth of what really happened to Madeleine McCann, will one day be answerable to God on that Day of Judgment, unless they first confess the truth.

by Verdi 31.10.23 11:18

crusader wrote:That's two out of 3, just need the Met statement now.

Since Brueckner first hit the headlines hack in June 2000, every time there is another media blitz of EXCLUSIVES it is said the Portuguese judiciary and London' Metropolitan Police are cooperating with the German authorities 'investigation'.

Well as many of the crimes allegedly committed in the name of Christian Brueckner were said to be on Portuguese soil, hardly surprising the two nations will be liaising. As regards London, they only ever respond by way of the media in the negative - their open investigation continues using the premise of a missing person. Technically correct without conclusive evidence to contradict.

The press/media reports like their audiences to believe the three nations are actively working together towards one goal - a conviction in the name of Christian Brueckner but this is just not true, it's press/media spin spin

.

It will die away like the rest .... until the next time.

by Verdi 31.10.23 11:41

Madeleine McCann hunt: German police make critical discovery at Portuguese reservoir

By Georgia Pearce

Published: 31/10/2023 - 10:29

German Prosecutor Hans Christian Walters says he "can't speak about the results" of the reservoir search

German prosecutors investigating the Madeleine McCann case have revealed that police are "searching for evidence" at a reservoir in Portugal.

Forensic teams descended on the Silves reservoir in southern Portugal in May this year, to search for any evidence in the case of missing Madeleine.

Police had said they have 'found' something at the the Portuguese reservoir but can't reveal or discuss it because of the developing case.

Madeleine McCann went missing on the evening of May 3 in 2007, during a family holiday in the Algarve in Portugal.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry returned to their Praia Da Luz apartment to find the then three-year-old gone, and have not yet had a conclusive answer on what really happened to her.

WATCH: Investigator Mark Williams-Thomas details evidence in McCann case

German Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has revealed details of the search, but admitted he "cannot speak of the results" as it may affect the investigation.

It is believed both Portuguese and German authorities were searching for evidence in connection with prime suspect Christian Brueckner, including discarded USB sticks.

Brueckner, 46, was made the prime suspect in the McCann case in 2022, and it is known by police that Brueckner once called the location is "little paradise".

It is also believed by investigators that Brueckner visited the reservoir just days after Madeleine's disappearance.

In a new BBC Panorama documentary, 'Prime Suspect: Who Took Madeleine McCann?', German Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters spoke of the reservoir searches and their conclusions.

Wolters said: "At the reservoir, we are searching for evidence, not for the body of Madeleine.

"I can't speak about the results because the investigation of the things we found there is still ongoing."

Friedrich Fulscher, Brueckner's lawyer, claims that the police were "only looking for Madeleine's DNA", and that the didn't find any.

Fulscher claimed: "There are certain parts of the files, the results of the investigation, which must always be disclosed to the defence.

"There are different types of expert reports, and in this case they were mainly DNA reports, and the expert opinions that I've seen so far only allow one conclusion, namely that this was a fruitless search."

He added that the police case into Madeleine's disappearance is "close to crashing down".

Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison term in Germany, has always denied he was involved in the case.

https://www.gbnews.com/news/madeleine-mccann-hunt-german-police-make-critical-discovery-at-portuguese-reservoir

by Verdi 31.10.23 11:47

Madeleine McCann hunt: German police make critical discovery at Portuguese reservoir

How does that ^^^ equate to this..

German Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has revealed details of the search, but admitted he "cannot speak of the results" as it may affect the investigation.

spin

On conclusion of said search back in May (that month again) 2023, it was reported a number of items had been found and sent to forensic science laboratory for analysis - it has since been said the forensic analysis is ongoing.

Don't mince words.

by Verdi 31.10.23 15:51

Anyone who really believes a contingent of Portuguese police called on the McCanns to apologise for the way they did their job and their treatment of the prime suspects must be off their troika.

Even Kate McCann in her book 'madeleine' highly praises the personal relationship they shared with the Portuguese police - at least until they were forced to withdraw as suspicion started to shroud.

They apologised for being nice?

So that instantly blows a hole in this ridiculous nonsense.

Back to the drawing board paint

.

by crusader 31.10.23 20:47

Sonia Poulton has her say.

by crusader 31.10.23 20:50

And an update from Pat Brown.

by **sharonl** 31.10.23 21:39

From the website of the Policia Judiciari yesterday

The Judiciary Police clarifies that, within the scope of the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which occurred in the Algarve in 2007, steps are still being taken, aiming at the full clarification of the situation.

In this context and as opportunely made public, in close coordination with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities, formal acts of investigation and expertise have been carried out, in Portugal and abroad, as well as information and revisited testimonies.

As is also normal, in this type of situation and corresponds to good practices, face-to-face contacts were made with the relatives of the missing child, transmitting – only – the procedural status of the investigation, pending at the Public Prosecutor's Office of the District of Faro.

by **sharonl** 31.10.23 22:28

PJ police confirm “steps continuing” in case of missing Madeleine McCann

https://www.portugalresident.com/author/natashadonn/]

Natasha Donn 30th October 2023

Detectives have reportedly “apologised” for handling of case
In a statement issued today, Portugal’s PJ judicial police have clarified that “steps are continuing” as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, “to fully clarify the situation”.

The statement comes after the BBC in UK reports that “Portuguese police have apologised to the parents of Madeleine McCann for the way they handled the three-year-old’s disappearance”.

None of this is mentioned in the PJ statement*, which simply explains “that, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of an English child in the Algarve in 2007, steps are continuing to be taken to fully clarify the situation”.

The short text continues: “In this context, and as has been made public in due course, in close liaison with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities, formal investigation and forensic tests have been carried out in Portugal and abroad, as well as sharing information and revisiting testimonies.

“As is also normal in this type of situation and in line with good practice, face-to-face contacts were made with the relatives of the missing child, providing – only – the procedural situation within the scope of the ongoing inquiry pending before the Faro District Public Prosecutor’s Office”.

According to the BBC, “a delegation of senior officers travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year. They met Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s father, and apologised for the way detectives investigated the case and treated the family.

“The McCann family has not commented on the apology and their daughter’s disappearance remains unsolved.
“Portuguese police now say their initial investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance was not handled properly, there was insufficient importance given at the time to missing children and that her parents’ position as foreigners in an environment they did not understand was not appreciated”, the BBC’s report goes on.

Anyone who remembers those days and weeks following Madeleine’s disappearance will recall the massive press pack camped in Praia da Luz, and the apparent extreme importance given by authorities, both Portuguese and British, to the child’s disappearance. Thus why this reference to “insufficient importance” comes now – 16 years after the little girl went missing without apparent trace – is unclear. There do not appear to be any new leads in this mystery in spite of the flurry of activity around the Arade dam earlier this year.

Reiterating that the Portuguese police “have now admitted that the investigation was not conducted correctly”, the BBC’s report ends with the information that “after years of investigation, Portuguese officers this year backed the German authorities, who believe that German Christian Brueckner (sic) murdered the child”.
This is something that Mr Brückner himself has consistently denied.

The BBC’s report concludes that “Hans Christian Wolters, the German prosecutor in the case, welcomed Portugal’s apology, saying: “It’s a good sign. It shows that there is progress in the McCann case in Portugal”.
Again this observation is not immediately borne out by the content of the PJ statement.
*SIC Notícias on Monday evening carried a news item to insist that Portugal’s PJ police did NOT travel to UK to apologise to the parents of Madeleine McCann. They went, as the statement issued earlier today explains, to update the couple on the situation as of ‘now’.

‘Close liaison’ with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities can also not be interpreted as PJ police ‘backing’ the German authorities theory that Christian Brückner murdered Madeleine McCann.
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com

by **PeterMac** 01.11.23 8:04

Tony Bennett wrote:I was very sad when I read these words in the press reports: “A delegation of senior officers travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year. They met Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s father, and apologised for the way detectives investigated the case and treated the family.”

Mercifully we now know and the BBC and all the Gutter Media knew at the time, that NO SUCH APOLOGY HAD BEEN GIVEN.

So judgment may still be given on a Temporal plane

by CaKeLoveR 01.11.23 8:12

We live in hope.

by crusader 01.11.23 9:23

I'd still like to know why they came to England to give the McCann's an update on the situation now.
I saw last night, they came to tell them they had done all they could do and the German and British police were dealing with it now.

by CaKeLoveR 01.11.23 9:34

The McCann's are strangely silent, considering this is an opportunity to get themselves in the limelight again.

by Silentscope 01.11.23 9:40

PeterMac wrote:
Tony Bennett wrote:I was very sad when I read these words in the press reports: “A delegation of senior officers travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year. They met Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s father, and apologised for the way detectives investigated the case and treated the family.”

Mercifully we now know and the BBC and all the Gutter Media knew at the time, that NO SUCH APOLOGY HAD BEEN GIVEN.

So judgment may still be given on a Temporal plane

Tony, you should be Rejoicing that your Opponent is so Inept, he is revealing his own Lies.

by Verdi 01.11.23 12:07

Silentscope wrote:Tony, you should be Rejoicing that your Opponent is so Inept, he is revealing his own Lies.

Who pray is Tony's Opponent?

by Verdi 01.11.23 12:10

Madeleine McCann: Portuguese Police apologise for failures as hope for her survival remains

by Verdi 01.11.23 12:15

Madeleine apology makes NO difference: Vicar close to McCanns on Kate and Gerry’s REAL priority

By Georgia Pearce

Published: 01/11/2023 - 09:40

Father Hubbard said Kate and Gerry McCann 'want to focus attention on looking for their daughter'

A vicar who spent time with Madeleine McCann's parents in Portugal has revealed the real priority for Kate and Gerry, after their daughter went missing in 2007.

Father Haynes Hubbard, who is a close friend of the McCann's, told GB News that an apology from the Portugese police into their handling of Madeleine's disappearance makes "no difference".

This follows a new BBC documentary for Panorama, which investigates the still unsolved mystery of what happened to Madeleine McCann, after she disappeared from a Praia Da Luz holiday apartment on the Algarve in Portugal.

The BBC have claimed that Portugese police recently travelled from Lisbon to meet with Kate and Gerry McCann, to apologise for how they handled the investigation when it first happened.

Recalling what happened following Madeleine's disappearance on May 3, Hubbard said they "became friends with Kate and Gerry" because they had young children and they "needed a place to come and hide".

He added that Kate and Gerry were "being pressed mercilessly by the police and by the press, to kind of say things that the police and the press wanted them to say".

Reacting to the BBC's revelation of an "apology" to the McCann's by Portugese police, Hubbard claimed: "From the very beginning, Kate and Jerry have not been in the least bit interested in any of the externalities.

"All they want is to focus attention on looking for their daughter. So a police apology really doesn't make much difference to them."

Reflecting on the impact of Madeleine's disappearance on her mother Kate, Hubbard revealed she "wants the world to focus on finding out what's happened to Madeline."

Hubbard told GB News: "All she's got of her daughter is old photographs of when she was three years old.

"You know, her daughter's now 19 or 20 or whatever Madeleine is, and Kate doesn't have any photographs of the last 16 years. That's what matters."

German Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has claimed missing Madeleine is dead, and that she died in Portugal.

Speaking in new BBC documentary, 'Prime Suspect: Who Took Madeleine McCann?', Wolters said he is "sure" Madeleine died in Portugal.

When pressed on whether the German authorities are aware of the location of the crime, Wolters simply replied "maybe".

Wolters also told the investigative journalist that they have "only one suspect at the moment".

They believe 46-year-old German national Christian Brueckner was the man responsible.

https://www.gbnews.com/news/madeleine-mccann-latest-police-apology-makes-no-difference-says-vicar

by Verdi 01.11.23 12:25

Madeleine McCann: Until there’s PROOF she’s dead – she’s NOT dead, crime expert

By Georgia Pearce

Published: 01/11/2023 - 10:17

Simon Harding says Portugese police 'potentially lost some significant evidence' in their initial investigation

Director at the Specialist Crime Consulting Group, Simon Harding, has suggested that Madeleine McCann could still be alive.

Madeleine, who was three-years-old when she disappeared, went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal on the evening of May 3.

Since her disappearance in 2007, many searches have taken place in a bid to find answers to the case, which remains unsolved.

In a new BBC documentary for Panorama, named 'Prime Suspect: Who Took Madeleine McCann?, investigators claim that Portugese police flew from Lisbon to London to meet with the McCann family and apologise for how they handled the case of Madeleine.

Portuguese police apologise to Madeleine McCann's parents - Page 3 Simon-10

Simon Harding says 'there doesn't seem to be anything concrete to suggest that she is dead'

Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster on GB News, Simon Harding reacted to the latest claim by the BBC and stated that Kate and Gerry McCann "haven't commented" on the apology.

He revealed that Kate and Gerry more than likely they "would have come out and said" that an apology wasn't made, as opposed to "being quiet on it".

In the BBC documentary, German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters claimed that he believes Madeleine McCann is "dead", and was "killed in Portugal".

The journalist asked Wolters whether the German authorities are aware of the location of the crime, to which he simply replied "maybe".

Reacting to the claims, Harding said: "I've led a number of homicide investigations in London and until you get actual proof that somebody is dead, of course you you shouldn't be thinking that way.

"You know, that's why they are still active on the case, because there doesn't seem to be anything concrete to suggest that she is dead.

"I know the the German police I think in 2020 suggested that their belief was that she was dead and this is the time that Bruckner became their key suspect.

Harding continued: "So I think in my opinion and I think the opinion of the Met Police, certainly the people that I know that work on that case before I retired would suggest that until there is something that tells them otherwise, then of course this is an active inquiry for somebody that's still missing."

Harding also shared his insight into the initial handling of the case by Portugese police, where in the first few months had wrongly claimed that Kate and Gerry McCann were involved in Madeleine's disappearance.

He highlighted: "The way that they were treated in the original inquiry, those prejudices and those judgements that were made about them to start with will have surely lost evidence, because you know you get tainted and you're blinkered in the way that you deal with something.

"And that's that's probably one of the biggest things, because the Met have come in and said 'what's left that we can do' and that's really the fundamental problem.

"That's why that apology should be there, because the way that you dealt with it in the very first start, the Portuguese police, has potentially lost some significant evidence and leads."

https://www.gbnews.com/news/madeleine-mccann-crime-expert-claims-missing-girl-may-still-be-alive