Madeleine McCann parents fear their phones are being tapped in Britain

Here we have two stories, one about British police tapping phone calls and the other Portuguese police doing the same............


Madeleine's parents: 'British police are bugging our phone calls and emails'

By DAN NEWLING
Last updated at 12:14 20 September 2007

Kate and Gerry McCann are convinced they are being bugged by British police.
They believe their mobile phone calls and emails are being monitored by detectives collecting evidence on behalf of the Portuguese investigation.
As a result they and some of their friends and supporters go to great lengths to avoid being overheard when they are discussing sensitive issues in the case of missing Madeleine, meetforing face-to-face or talking on landlines which they believe to be harder to intercept.

Surveillance targets? Gerry and Kate McCann, pictured yesterday, are being ultra cautious about their conversations, say friends
Their suspicions were first aroused by questions they were asked by Portuguese police which were based on information that could only have come from private conversations.
During lengthy interviews when they were first made suspects, they were asked questions which implied they had conspired during mobile phone conversations to hide who was at the dinner party - and when - on the night that Madeleine disappeared.
They are also thought to have been asked why the toddler's Cuddle Cat toy was washed twice - information that could well have come from surveillance of phone calls.
Although the couple have been back home in Rothley, Leicestershire, for 12 days, they fear the practice is continuing. A source close to the family said:
"The assumption is that it is taking place. Everyone involved is very careful, particularly with their mobile phone calls and what they say.
"There was an assumption from the early days that their mobile communications were unsafe and could be listened to.
"They believed it in Portugal and they believe that is still happening now that they are back home.
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Madeleine McCann: Missing since May 3rd
"Gerry will often refuse to talk on a mobile phone - he prefers to use landlines as he considers that they are safer. They feel they are being watched at all times."
The source added: "It would be entirely wrong to say that their phone conversations are in any way furtive as a result of this.
"They are entirely innocent and have nothing whatsoever to hide - but they are being understandably cautious about what they say on the phone and in emails.
"They would obviously not want to disclose the way in which they plan to conduct their defence."
Leicestershire police yesterday refused to comment on the allegation.
But a senior police source said: "It is highly likely to be happening. There would need to be high-level meetings before anything like this could be done.
"But if I were someone in Government I would have got it done anyway to make sure that we knew as much as possible, given that the case involves UK citizens."
Dr Russell O'Brien and Jane Tanner, who were both on holiday with the McCanns, have spoken to friends of their belief that their phones were tapped in Portugal.
Portuguese detectives have reportedly admitted monitoring the emails of Robert Murat, the British expat in Praia da Luz who became the first suspect in the case.
However, this is the first time that anyone involved in the case has claimed the practice is taking place in Britain. A spokesman for the McCanns refused to comment.
? Police fitted a tracking device to the McCanns' hire car, it was claimed last night, to monitor their precise movements in the days after they came under suspicion.
A gadget the size of a wallet is capable of transmitting a signal to satellites - like a Sat Nav system in reverse - enabling police to watch where the couple go.
It is claimed the device was installed in the Renault Scenic during the 48 hours the police had the car in early August to gather forensic samples. It could have been placed in the boot or attached using a magnet under the bonnet.
It explains why detectives returned the hire car to the McCanns after their tests rather than impounding it.
"The police are not fools - they did not give the car back without reason," said a Portuguese source with knowledge of the investigation.
"They wanted to see where it would go and would have used a tracking device."
? Portuguese detectives have taken a step closer to being able to search the McCann family home.
Policia Judiciaria detectives believe something inside the Leicestershire house could yield a vital clue and have sought approval from the judge in the case to ask British officers to carry out the raid.
Yesterday Judge Pedro Miguel dos Anjos Frias agreed to the request.
• Portuguese police would have needed to apply directly to the Home Office for permission to bug a UK citizen's telephone or emails.
They would have filed a Mutual Legal Assistance request, which is the only formal way for a foreign police force to obtain evidence from another country.
Providing that the request is legal under UK law - the relevant law in this case would have been the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - the request would then be passed to the Home Secretary for final approval.
British police would also need Home Office permission to carry out telephone and computer taps.
Between January 2005 and March last year, the Home Office approved 440,000 requests for permission to intercept personal communications.
Most of these would be seeking telephone numbers one particular phone has called. Only a very small proportion would have been for permission to listen in on a call or read an email.


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Portuguese police tapping McCanns' phone calls and emails

Last updated at 17:49 11 September 2007

Portuguese police have been tapping Gerry and Kate McCann's mobile phone calls and hacking into their emails since early August, it has been claimed.
Under Portuguese law, police can tap phones or emails if they believe it will help solve a serious crime.
A family friend of the McCann's said: "Gerry told me police are listening to every word they say and reading every email they write."
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Kate McCann is also said to believe that the DNA evidence, on which the case against the McCanns appears to hang, has been placed there in a bid to frame them for Madeleine's murder.
A source close to Kate MCCann said today: "She believes the evidence has been planted - either by the police or even by the abductor.
"Gerry's view is if it is there, it has been planted or it has been accidentally transferred there."
Portuguese prosecutors were today due to start considering thousands of pages of police evidence as they received the full file on Madeleine, and to decide whether to bring charges.
In his blog on the website [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Mr McCann described the past few days as "unbelievably stressful and emotionally draining".
Portuguese police believe Madeleine McCann is now dead
He wrote: "The pain and turmoil we have experienced in this last week is totally beyond description.
Portuguese police declared the McCanns arguidos - or formal suspects - after a breakthrough in DNA tests conducted in Britain.
Police in Portugal now believe Mrs McCann killed Madeleine and her husband helped cover up the crime, hiding the body temporarily before disposing of it at least 25 days later using the hire car.
The McCanns say the claim is ludicrous and far-fetched and they fear they are being framed by the Policia Judiciaria.
Mrs McCann made her claim of being framed in a telephone call to a close friend after she was interrogated for 11 hours at Portimao police station on Thursday, where she was accused of killing her daughter.
The friend said: "When we spoke, the feeling was very much from her that they were being stitched up."
It is understood that the new legal team hired by the McCanns to defend them - they could face charges at any time - will scrutinise the forensic evidence and employ their own expert.
The McCanns have let it be known they are scathing about the standard of policing in Portugal, with one source suggesting that the forensics gathered could easily have been contaminated by officers inexperienced in modern policing techniques.
One source suggested that officers had failed to take the McCanns' fingerprints properly on the night Madeleine vanished and had to take them again the next day.
The officer who searched their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz wore only gloves and not the overalls which are standard practice in Britain to prevent contamination of evidence.
The McCanns could remain arguidos for up to a year, leaving them uncertain of their future.
But police could also issue arrest warrants at any time, forcing them to return to the Algarve, from where Madeleine vanished on 3 May.
The source said the McCanns were much calmer since returning home on Sunday and have regrouped to defend their reputation and continue the worldwide search for Madeleine.
"Now it has happened the way it has they are not unhappy at being home. They can return to some form of normality," said the source.
"They can get some rest and recuperation. They have easy access to lawyers and communications rather than being one stage removed in a hostile environment. They were increasingly isolated in the new villa."


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A phrase comes to mind.....nothing to hide? And another word....paranoia...and another...conspirators....Mmmmm

The fact that the Mc's deleted messages from their phone on the Night of the Vanishing, is reason enough IMHO to bug their phones. Why delete something under those circumstances unless it is incriminating?