Portugal: Ex-PM José Socrates held in corruption probe

by sallypelt 22.11.14 11:06

Portugal’s former socialist prime minister José Socrates has been arrested over an investigation into tax fraud, money laundering and corruption.
The public prosecutor’s office says the inquiry centres on bank operations and money transfers from an unknown source.
Socrates was prime minister for six years and led a government that imposed austerity measures and was forced to seek an international bailout due to the financial crisis.
He lost parliamentary elections in 2011.
It’s understood that Socrates was one of four people held in recent days.

Read full article here:

http://www.euronews.com/2014/11/22/portugal-ex-pm-jose-socrates-held-in-corruption-probe/

Edited to remind new members who Jose Socrates is:

A little gem from the past:

Prime minister Gordon Brown has raised the case of missing Madeleine McCann with his Portuguese counterpart.
He held a "brief discussion" with Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates in Lisbon where a two-day European summit is taking place.
Mr Brown's spokesman said they agreed there should be the "closest possible co-operation" between the Portuguese and British police.
The talks came after the head of the police investigation was removed.
Paulo Rebelo took over the Portuguese police inquiry from Goncalo Amaral who is thought to have been removed for criticising UK police.
Since Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment in the Algarve on 3 May, Mr Brown has received regular briefings on the case.
He is known to have spoken to the Portuguese premier in early July when he thanked him for his help in the search for the four-year-old.
On occasions, he has had telephone contact with the missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
Clarence Mitchell, the McCann family spokesman, said: "We are aware that the British government has maintained an interest in Madeleine's case as a bilateral issue of importance whenever there has been ministerial contact between the two countries.
"Gerry and Kate will naturally be pleased to hear that Mr Brown is seeking such assurances and they welcome his continued interest in Madeleine's case."
Earlier this week, Mr McCann welcomed a review of the case by Mr Rebelo, the deputy national director of Portuguese police.
Madeleine vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, just days before her fourth birthday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7051637.stm

by Woofer 22.11.14 11:33

Jolly good - catches up with them in the end doesn`t it.

Sod`s law he gets away with it though.

by sallypelt 22.11.14 11:42

TVi 24

English translation (Google)

The former prime minister José Sócrates was on Friday arrested in connection with a process that investigates tax fraud crimes , according to a note from the Attorney General's Office issued tonight .

The former prime minister has been arrested on suspicion of corruption and tax evasion .

It's the first time in the history of Portuguese democracy that a former prime minister is held to judicial interrogation .

The journalist Maria José Garrido , in a report on Lisbon Portela Airport , found that José Sócrates was arrested in the parking lot P6 , away from journalists waiting at the airport arrivals , when he came to Paris.     According to the newspaper " Express " , the prosecutor Rosario Teixeira hearken Jose Socrates because of a dwelling house in Paris , having already left the Government , while I was studying .

he Attorney General's Office states that the detention of José Sócrates occurs under an action of the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action ( DCIAP ) , where « is investigating suspicions of money laundering and corruption , following steps , triggered in last days . " In all, four arrests were made , including that of José Sócrates .

Three of those arrested were already present judicial interrogation during the day on Friday . The questioning should continue this Saturday .

José Sócrates left the DCIAP at 1:19 and must spend the night in jail , since this will only be the first judicial interrogation also this Saturday .


« Searches were conducted in various locations , having been involved in pursuing four prosecutors and 60 elements of the Tax and Customs Authority and the Public Security Police ( PSP ) , entities who assist prosecutors in this investigation , 'says the RMP in statement sent to newsrooms .

Among the places where searches were made is the seat of the Lena Group , Leiria , but the company already has ensured that none of the detainees belong to their frames

http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/geral/22-11-2014/jose-socrates-detido-no-aeroporto-de-lisboa

by sallypelt 22.11.14 12:25

Another coincidence? A NHS link?

English translation:

February 28, 2013

The former prime minister , José Sócrates , will sue the newspaper Correio da Manha due to the " campaign of lies and insults " published in " successive news " after his hiring as president of the Advisory Council for Latin American pharmaceutical Octapharma

The Proenca de Carvalho attorney who represents Jose Socrates , has confirmed that tomorrow will bring a lawsuit against the newspaper based " on organized campaign " against his client , particularly for intending to " this sequence of false statements and highly insulting " fix " one negative image in public opinion . " According to the lawyer , the action succeeds another filed in court against the same agency to prevent the same type of campaign compared to Jose Socrates

The DN knows that the former government disputes the veracity of the facts that support the news that has been published by the newspaper because " had no share in the government to do directly with changes to laws in the National Health Service " the Mail Morning report having been authorized by you , and that " unaware that these changes , according to the news hampered the multinational said " .

The former prime minister , it was found , also consider that this news ( see Related Magazines Press ) involving his name has an interest in giving " an image that is paying favors when unaware of the charge and the company before having been invited in August 2012 for a position , and that only accepted

http://www.dn.pt/politica/interior.aspx?content_id=3080865

28 fevereiro 2013

O ex-primeiro-ministro, José Sócrates, vai processar o jornal Correio da Manhã devido à "campanha de falsidades e insultos" publicadas em "notícias sucessivas" após a sua contratação como presidente do Conselho Consultivo para a América Latina da farmacêutica Octapharma.
O advogado Proença de Carvalho, que representa José Sócrates, confirmou que vai instaurar uma ação amanhã contra o jornal com base "na campanha organizada" contra o seu constituinte, designadamente por pretender com "esta sucessão de afirmações falsas e altamente injuriosas " fixar "uma imagem negativa na opinião pública". Segundo o advogado, a ação sucede a uma outra interposta na justiça contra o mesmo órgão para impedir o mesmo tipo de campanha em relação a José Sócrates.
O DN sabe que o ex-governante contesta a veracidade dos factos que suportam as notícias que tem vindo a ser publicadas pelo jornal, porque "não teve na ação governativa a ver diretamente com as alterações a leis no Serviço Nacional de Saúde" que o Correio da Manhã afirma terem sido autorizadas por si, e que "desconhecia essas mudanças que, segundo a notícia até prejudicaram a referida multinacional".
O ex-primeiro-ministro, apurou-se, consideraria também que estas notícias (ver Revistas de Imprensa relacionadas) que envolvem o seu nome tem interesse em dar "uma imagem de que está a pagar favores, quando desconhecia os responsáveis e a empresa antes de ter sido convidado em agosto de 2012 para um cargo e que só aceitou porque era fora de Portugal".

by **Tony Bennett** 22.11.14 12:41

sallypelt wrote:Portugal’s former socialist prime minister José Socrates has been arrested over an investigation into tax fraud, money laundering and corruption.
The public prosecutor’s office says the inquiry centres on bank operations and money transfers from an unknown source.

This could well relate to major allegations regarding corruption in relation to the large Freeport development on the Algarve.

Both the Portuguese Minister of Agriculture and Jose Socrates, the Prime Minister, were alleged to have recieved major corrupt payments for agreeing to the controverisal Freeport development, which led to an enquiry by EUROJust, the incipient judicial investigation arm of the European Commission.

The allegation was that major British banks had 'laundered' the payments to the Agriculture Minister and Socrates.

This was threatening in 2006 and 2007 to blow up into a major political scandal concerning the British and Portuguese governments.

The suggestion was made by some that there was this trade-off:

Gordon Brown to Jose Socrates: "We'll keep quiet about how British banks paid you millions in corrupt payments over Freeport if you get Amaral and his group of detectives off the Madeleine McCann investigation and put a tame police officer in charge who runs the investigation into the sand and clears the McCanns".

I touched on this issue briefly on pages 39 to 41 of my article [2010] on Marcos Aragao Correia, the lawyer employed by the McCanns to prosecute Goncalo Amaral:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

19. The conclusion of the trial on 22 May 2009: A verdict against Gonçalo Amaral

On 22 May 2009, the Court delivered its verdict in the trial of Gonçalo Amaral. The decision was that he was guilty of the criminal offence of ‘filing a false report’ - roughly equivalent to our offence of ‘perjury’. It was held that when he told investigators that he was ‘unaware of any attack on Leonor Cipriano’, he was not telling the truth. His fellow inspector António Cardoso was also convicted of a similar offence. Here is how the Daily Express gleefully reported the news on Saturday 23 May. Once again, they used that favourite term of abuse of Mr Amaral: ‘Disgraced’:

QUOTE

“The disgraced former head of the Madeleine McCann police investigation was yesterday sensationally found guilty of falsifying evidence in the case of another missing girl. Gonçalo Amaral - who was thrown off the Madeleine inquiry - was handed an 18-month suspended jail sentence in Portugal. He was found guilty over a cover-up by detectives following the alleged torture of the mother of eight-year-old Joana Cipriano who went missing in September 2004. Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann are suing Amaral for defamation over his book ‘The Truth About A Lie’.

Amaral, 49, was in charge of the inquiry when the McCanns were named as formal suspects in September 2007. Portugal’s Attorney-General later said there was no evidence to link the couple to their daughter’s disappearance and they were formally cleared of any involvement. Father-of-three Amaral was already under investigation when he was put in charge of finding Madeleine. He was one of five senior police officers charged over the Cipriano case.

UNQUOTE

He was given a suspended prison sentence of 18 months for either ‘falsifying evidence’ or ‘falsifying a false report’, depending on which translation you prefer. As we understand it, under Portuguese law a sentence does not take effect until any appeal against conviction has been heard. Gonçalo Amaral immediately appealed against the conviction. The three co-accused detective inspectors under Amaral’s command, Cristovao, Leonel, and Marques Bom, were acquitted.

For reasons which have not been fully explained, his appeal has yet to be heard. Apparently, under Portuguese law, an appeal against conviction cannot be heard until the jury in the original trial has been paid. Up until recently, the news from Portugal was that, months later, the four jurors in the trial had not been paid. Certainly, at the time of writing, Mr Amaral’s appeal against conviction has yet to be heard.One of the most remarkable features of the day the decision against Mr Amaral was announced was Marcus Aragão Corrreia's brief but triumphant comment on the case: “Our target was hit. Gonçalo Amaral was convicted”.

We might well ask: If you were mainly there to represent the interests of your client, Leonor Cipriano, would you not emerge from the court to make a statement expressing your outrage that three of the detectives who had beaten your client into submission and forced a confession out of her, had been acquitted and got away with their crimes?

Leonor and João Cipriano and Leonor Cipriano’s former partner António Leandro David da Silva appear to have been used as no more than pawns in a complex chess game played by Mr Marcos Aragão Correia, Método 3, Brian Kennedy and of course the McCanns. The trial was highly unusual in a number of aspects, including:

1) Lasting nearly 7 months in total with five separate adjournments, most of them lengthy

2) The Lawyer’s Order making an unprecedented intervention in the proceedings, basically representing one lawyer (Marcos Aragão Correia) against

another (Gonçalo Amaral’s lawyer)

3) The acceptance of the CD of digital photographs in evidence. In the notorious ‘Freeport case’ in Portugal, which involved alleged corruption by high-ranking politicians, a controversial DVD became public. The Public Prosecutor at the time, Cândida Almeida, stated: “That type of evidence cannot be used in a Portuguese court because, among other reasons, they can be easily tampered with”.

Quite so. Yet a CD of photographs is easier to tamper with than a DVD. So why was it accepted as evidence in a case involving Gonçalo Amaral?

Questions arise as to why Marinho Pinto of the Lawyers' Order had himself created an ‘Assistant’ in the case. A probable reason was so that he could not be put on the witness stand and questioned about the provenance and chain of custody of a number of photographs of Leonor Cipriano, with her black eyes, that he had arranged to bev published, first of all, in the Expresso newspaper. Otherwise, he might have had to admit that he arranged for those photos to be released, wholly contrary to Portugal’s strict judicial secrecy laws.

Perversely, far from representing Leonor Cipriano’s interests in these proceedings against Amaral and his colleagues, Marcos Aragão Correia may have made her situation worse. As a result of this trial, Leonor Cipriano could find herself prosecuted yet again - this time for perjury, as the chief judge stated in his judgment that he believed she had not told the truth in relation to her allegations against the PJ inspectors and formally referred the matter to the PJ for further investigation. As in the U.K., perjury carries heavy penalties.

by sallypelt 22.11.14 12:53

There is a mountain of information on Socrates. According to the article I posted above, there appears to be some "wrong-doing" that involves "pharmaceutical Octapharma"

According to Wiki'. this is what it says about pharmaceutical Octapharma:

Octapharma AG is the largest privately owned human protein products manufacturer in the world. Founded in 1983 by Wolfgang Marguerre, Octapharma employs more than 5,500 people globally. Octapharma is owned by Wolfgang Marguerre and his three children, two of whom, Frederic Marguerre and Tobias Marguerre, sit on the management board. Octapharma's core business is the development and production of human proteins from human blood plasma and human cell-lines. It is headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland.

Is the above the same company as the one mentioned in the J. Socrates article that I posted?

Full article here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octapharma

by sallypelt 22.11.14 16:48

Political interference as early as July 2007

Gordon Brown Raises Concerns Over Madeleine:

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann was discussed yesterday by Gordon Brown when he raised concerns about the investigation with the Portuguese Prime Minister.

Brown thanked Jose Socrates for his government's help in trying to track down four-year-old Madeleine after she disappeared from her bed in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz 68 days ago.

During talks at 10 Downing Street, Brown said he had been assured by Socrates that everything had been done to find the missing girl.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann of Rothley, Leicestershire, were concerned over delays early on in the police investigation and a lack of information released to the public.

Brown said: "I have talked to Madeleine McCann's parents. I have heard from them their appreciation of the work that has been done in this investigation.

"Obviously there are issues they want to be assured about and I have raised these with the Portuguese Prime Minister.

"He has assured me that everything that can be done will be done and obviously we look for progress in something that's heart-rending in its sadness, that a young child can be separated from her parents for so long."

Socrates said: "It's important for Great Britain but it's important for Portugal, and it's very touching in public opinion in Great Britain but also in Portugal.

"We have dedicated to this investigation all the resources we have in order to give it high priority and we are doing our best. Everyone in Portugal and the family knows we are doing our best."

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/gordon.brown.raises.concerns.over.madeleine/11497.htm

What Dr G Amaral said in an interview, earlier this year:

Q: Do you regret anything?

“I would do exactly the same [today that I did then], with a small difference: I would not leave the Polícia Judiciária. It could be a problem for the Polícia Judiciária. I did think about it then, shall I leave or not, if I stay with the police I’m a problem for the police, or if I leave, I have all of the other problems.”

“I don’t regret what I did, I did it with conviction, I did it to defend the investigation model, what a criminal investigation is supposed to be. Earlier, you spoke about the politically correct, the politically correct policeman. It is my understanding that criminal investigations cannot be politically correct, because they can’t be concerned with politics. And what happened, and continues to happen, is that we have to be politically correct, subordinate to the English power. That happens, it happened on the 2nd of October [of 2007] at the Lisbon Treaty, there were discussions between José Sócrates, then prime minister, and Gordon Brown, the English prime minister, who told the newspapers that he had asked the Portuguese prime minister about the [Maddie] case. So even before that it was already a political case. And when politics intrude into a criminal investigation, nothing will end well, whether the criminal investigation relates to a homicide, a burglary, a disappearance, or corruption.”

“Going back to the beginning of the question, I don’t have any regrets. I don’t have regrets because although principles and values don’t fill the fridge, I feel rich in another way.”

Q: Was Maddie McCann abducted or is she dead?

“Maddie McCann disappeared and since that time she is – she died. She died that night. Those are the conclusions that are reached in the process itself: In September of 2007, the Polícia Judiciária concludes – and this is a conclusion within an investigation that was not over yet but has a principle there – it’s a sequence of indications that are collected which reaches the conclusion that it is very likely that she died. She died that night. The circumstances of the death are still to be determined. What mechanism – what happened for that death to take place is yet to be discovered.”

“And if the parents nowadays make us believe that their daughter is alive, or have to gamble on her being alive, they forget that right after the investigation it was them that were the first to signal death. They were the first to say that their daughter – that it was necessary for a coronel from the South African army to come with a miracle machine to find the body. So it’s the parents that invite him to come to Portugal, to find a body.”

“Later, years later they say that she is still alive. And now the Scotland Yard, apparently already with their agreement, or their tacit agreement, says that the child is dead. That is the obvious. What usually happens in this kind of situation – for years they have mentioned other cases – if a certain child disappears and reappears after several years, alive and even with children, with the abductor, then Madeleine may also probably be alive. But they forget a small detail. Actually, they don’t forget it, they just don’t enlighten us, because these people have all of the information, they have staff that works with the entire information, which is also a bit strange, but they forget a detail: all of those children that have reappeared, whether in Austria or in the United States, they weren’t three or four years old when they disappeared. They were all close to the age of 10. All of them were girls and close to the age of 9, 10. None of them disappeared aged 3 or 4.”

“When an abductor makes a girl his slave, what we have seen is that the age is not 3 or 4, but much closer to adolescence. They forget that detail.”

“I have no doubts about what happened to Madeleine McCann. Madeleine McCann died that day, that night, in that apartment, and her body disappeared.”

Q: On what do you base that conviction?

“On many things. A series of indications, a series of contradictions, the witness statements of the parents, the witness statements of their friends, the traces that were collected with the assistance of special English dogs that never failed in the United Kingdom, they now work with the FBI. They never failed. At the time, we were introduced to several cases and situations, all of them they worked in and never failed. The possibility is that they failed in Portugal. Maybe it was the heat.”

Q: Was there human blood in the car boot and inside the apartment?

“No doubt. Inside the apartment and in the car boot. That human blood, the English lab even says, there is a report in the process, that says it’s the daughter of – the daughter of Gerald McCann, it’s a descendant of his. Later on, they change the hypothesis, and say that the combination of the DNA may be from anyone. By coincidence, in that case the DNA is very similar, 90% similar to that of Madeleine McCann, but it could be DNA built by myself, by Júlio Magalhães or by you, and then it would result in that DNA profile. But the funny thing is that it results in the DNA profile of Madeleine McCann. It does not result in the DNA profile of Júlio Magalhães, or of Gonçalo Amaral or of Luís Filipe Menezes. Not even in that of the doctor who performed the test.”

“We have no doubts, and this was discussed even at the level of Portuguese justice, at the level of the Public Ministry, that there was an alteration at the English lab. The data was manipulated. The FSS, the British lab, which was already questioned over several situations, even concerning the IRA in Ireland, over bomb attacks, those traces, that way to find the DNA, to examine the DNA with low copy number, was called into question relating to traces found on a bomb in an Irish case. And that lab was called into question.”

“But there is a situation, concerning the lab, which has to be taken into account. There are the registers that are performed by the technicians, by the scientists that examine, and we have to look at those registers, at what they wrote. On an everyday basis, as they examined the evidence, the traces that were sent over, what they wrote along. And then we see the result in that report that they sent over to Portugal.”

“Then there’s another situation. It is still possible to find out or to collect indications of whether or not the dogs failed. If inside that car boot – I’m referring to the car that was rented by the McCanns some 15 or 20 days after the disappearance – blood traces were found, traces that the lab says may be, although there is no full certainty, that may be from Madeleine McCann, hair was also found. Hair which the laboratory says, from its coloration, which is how this used to be done in the old days, by comparing the coloration, if it belonged to the person or not. Nowadays it is possible to perform, and then it was already possible, to perform DNA tests on hair. Some say it’s only possible to identify the DNA profile with the root of the hair, the English lab says it’s not possible because these have no root, therefore they don’t perform the test. That hair is in Portugal, it was returned to Portugal. They are next to the process. It’s simple: the Public Ministry, that has the investigation, should take that hair and send it to a lab in Europe or elsewhere, where that type of test is done, without the need for the root of the hair.”

Q: That was never done?

“That was never done. It was never done and what is said is that there may have been a contamination. But we end up not knowing whether that hair belongs to Madeleine McCann or not. That’s another doubt to discuss, to clarify. Now, there cannot be a piece of evidence while we’re here talking about the man who died under the tractor and quit his job a month before because there was 5 euro missing –“

Q: Why did neither the PJ nor the SY question the Smith family?

“It was on the day of the Lisbon Treaty, which happens to be my birthday, on the 2nd of October of 2007. It was the Lisbon Treaty, it’s my birthday on the 2nd of October, and I was “fired” from Portimão on the 2nd of October. And that is the time when we were preparing for the head of that family, a family of approximately 5, it was him, his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, his daughter, to come to Portugal. On the night of the 3rd of May, at around 10 p.m., when they were returning from a restaurant in Praia da Luz, they crossed paths with an individual who was coming down a certain street towards the beach, carrying a child with her head on his shoulder, as if she was asleep. Later on they say that - they see the news, because on the following day they returned to Ireland – they say it may have been Madeleine McCann and the person who was carrying Madeleine McCann.”

“These people were heard within the process right away in May/June, they came to Portugal, they were heard, they gave a description of the person, physically, how he walked, they described his clothes, whether he was Portuguese or not, they said he’d be a tourist because he was tanned, not a Latin man, they also indicate the person’s age, the age of the child, approximately, according to her size, and that was it.”

“It was only later, when Gerald McCann and Kate McCann leave Portugal to go to England, in September, after being heard as arguidos, when they flee, literally, they fled to England, and the English police followed suit, because they were here cooperating with us but then they also disappeared, and we concluded that the English police was in Portugal merely to somehow protect that couple.”

“But when they arrive in England, there’s an image that went around the world, which shows Gerald McCann coming down the stairs of the plane, the stairs that access the plane, and walking on the runway with one of the twins in the same position, in his arms with the head here [on the shoulder]. And what that family says is that this individual, from the way that he walks, the way that he carries the child, is the person that they saw on the night of the 3rd of May. They don’t say anything else. What happens? We initiated the diligences to bring them to Portugal, to hear him, it would be the father of the family that would come over, he was available to come, and everything was prepared. Authorizations from the PJ’s national director for them to come to Portugal, the tickets were about to be emitted, we still had to book a hotel, so it was only a matter of logistics.”

“And on the 2nd of October, after I was questioned by a paper, Diário de Notícias, about what I thought of the English police saying that Madeleine had been sighted in Morocco, I unburdened that they should worry about what really had happened to Madeleine instead of worrying about other situations because when the English police left Portugal, what was agreed upon between the Portuguese police and the English police was that the investigation had to move forward in terms of understanding how the death had occurred. The death of Madeleine McCann. And what had happened to the body.”

“We were not discussing abductions or that the child had been taken to become a sex slave, none of that. We were speaking about death and concealment of a body. And it’s on that 2nd of October that I leave. I left the investigation, it’s on that 2nd of October that Gordon Brown speaks with José Sócrates – it would be good if Mr José Sócrates would explain, if he is able to explain what happened – I think that his stance was one of – from what I could understand at that time, a stance of distance from the investigation, he didn’t give a lot of importance to Gordon Brown’s statement – Gordon Brown tried to involve the Portuguese prime minister in that controversy, so to speak.”

“But the person that later substituted me understands that it is not relevant to bring the Irish to Portugal. And that was it. So never again were the Irish heard, they were heard through –“

Q: How is it possible that the English prime minister’s spokesman quit Tony Blair to become the McCanns’ spokesman within 24 hours?

“That’s another mystery within the mystery. And if we understand that little mystery, maybe we can understand what lies behind, not the disappearance, not the child’s death, but behind the protection – why protect this family, this couple?”

Q: Have you noticed that couple’s power?

“Yes, I have. I even notice it in my bank account, in what I receive at the end of every month. This is what has been happening.”

Q: Is it true that one of the group’s members had been denounced earlier on by another friend over behavior that could indicate some extravagant behavior in terms of a tendency towards pedophilia?

“There is a mysterious figure, it’s another part of the mystery that may even be related to Clarence Mitchell leaving the British government to support the couple. You can say it’s a conspiracy theory, but it’s not. There is a British couple, also doctors, who went on holiday with the McCann couple two years earlier, with the children, with Madeleine, and with other couples of doctors, including a gentleman called David Payne. David Payne is the last witness. He is the witness that says that on the 3rd of May he went to the apartment and he saw those children and that they looked like heavenly angels, they were very clean, very white, something truly heavenly.”

“This is the person that bathed, during these holidays that he organized, he bathed the little girls aged 2 and 3. Not only his children, but also the other couples’ children. And it’s under those circumstances and in comments that he makes during a holiday period, and according to the statement of Dr Katherine Gaspar, this is the name of the person that denounces, the statement is in the process – and this is something, if we have time, that I’ll try to explain.”

“What she says is that he made gestures and asked questions about Madeleine McCann, to Gerald McCann, in front Madeleine McCann herself, who was then aged 2.”

Q: Did the investigation never explore the possibility of that person being a paedophile?

“Exactly, this is the question. That statement arrived in Portugal after I left the investigation. I left on the 2nd of October, they arrived a couple of months later. It’s a statement from Dr Katherine Gaspar and her husband, to the British police, on the 16th of May of 2007, two weeks after the disappearance, statements that the Portuguese police was not informed about, and which arrive in Portugal by mail, not by fax, underneath other documents, and those statements are loose, and someone with the British police, what he did was, here’s these statements, now you go and investigate, question. And never did anyone at the Portuguese police, those who substituted me, they didn’t question anyone. Neither did the Scotland Yard. Nobody interrogates, nobody investigates what is happening there.”

“Dr Katherine Gaspar, who denounced Mr David Payne to the British police, was never heard within the Portuguese process. And she was never included in the rogatory letter that was sent by the Portuguese authorities. This is the truth. We have abductions and burglaries, but the things that are in the process are not investigated.”

Q: This is never going to be solved, is it?

“I think that it will be solved. It will be solved as soon as there is the political will on both sides.”

Q: If it turns out that Madeleine McCann was in fact dead, do you want to be compensated?

“Well, if I use the McCann couple’s strategy, it has already been recognized. The Scotland Yard has already said that she is dead.”

Q: If you had the same financial resources that the McCann couple has with their fund, would you have found the perpetrators?

“I would have done a lot to try to find the perpetrators. There is plenty of information that remains unexplored. But in our country it is difficult to investigate, because a private person cannot investigate.”

Q: Were you removed from your post and sidelined until you left the Judiciary Police because you were too close to finding the truth?

“No, no. I left the investigation, I was removed from the investigation because the case had to be dominated politically. Just that. Because I opposed the archiving. I told directors in the Police directly that I did not agree with the archiving. They suggested to me, they told me that there are processes, there are investigations that do not end, that have no result. And that I shouldn’t do a lot. That I should consider the case had ended. I always opposed that. That is why I left the investigation, not because I was close to anything. I don’t see my leaving as being the result of someone fearing anything. The question was that the case is political. Only politics. It’s politics that is driving this matter. When politics enters the investigations, when investigations are politically correct, we get nowhere.”

Q: Who do you think is the author of the crime?

“We can remain simply in the area of an accident. There’s people who are responsible. Those who were the guardians of the child certainly have some responsibility. What kind of responsibility, I don’t know.”

Q: Maybe in seven years we meet for another follow-up…

“It’s a cycle. Seven years are a cycle in people’s lives. So they say.”

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/press/83march14/portocanal_14_03_2014.htm

http://portocanal.sapo.pt/um_video/11onQvrULT3GzrYFv07K

by comperedna 22.11.14 17:15

That is a totally fascinating interview translation/transcript. I don't remember reading it before. Thank you for putting it up online. It is not that the information is new, but the tone and the low key way in which those facts are presented that is of so much interest.

by NickE 22.11.14 21:58

sallypelt wrote:Portugal’s former socialist prime minister José Socrates has been arrested over an investigation into tax fraud, money laundering and corruption.
The public prosecutor’s office says the inquiry centres on bank operations and money transfers from an unknown source.
Socrates was prime minister for six years and led a government that imposed austerity measures and was forced to seek an international bailout due to the financial crisis.
He lost parliamentary elections in 2011.
It’s understood that Socrates was one of four people held in recent days.

Read full article here:

http://www.euronews.com/2014/11/22/portugal-ex-pm-jose-socrates-held-in-corruption-probe/

Edited to remind new members who Jose Socrates is:

A little gem from the past:

Prime minister Gordon Brown has raised the case of missing Madeleine McCann with his Portuguese counterpart.
He held a "brief discussion" with Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates in Lisbon where a two-day European summit is taking place.
Mr Brown's spokesman said they agreed there should be the "closest possible co-operation" between the Portuguese and British police.
The talks came after the head of the police investigation was removed.
Paulo Rebelo took over the Portuguese police inquiry from Goncalo Amaral who is thought to have been removed for criticising UK police.
Since Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment in the Algarve on 3 May, Mr Brown has received regular briefings on the case.
He is known to have spoken to the Portuguese premier in early July when he thanked him for his help in the search for the four-year-old.
On occasions, he has had telephone contact with the missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
Clarence Mitchell, the McCann family spokesman, said: "We are aware that the British government has maintained an interest in Madeleine's case as a bilateral issue of importance whenever there has been ministerial contact between the two countries.
"Gerry and Kate will naturally be pleased to hear that Mr Brown is seeking such assurances and they welcome his continued interest in Madeleine's case."
Earlier this week, Mr McCann welcomed a review of the case by Mr Rebelo, the deputy national director of Portuguese police.
Madeleine vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, just days before her fourth birthday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7051637.stm

......and 2014-11-22
Former prime minister Gordon Brown is to announce he is to step down as an MP.

http://news.sky.com/story/1378498/sky-sources-gordon-brown-to-stand-down-as-mp

Whaaat a coincidence.

by jeanmonroe 23.11.14 1:35

NickE

....and 2014-11-22
Former prime minister Gordon Brown is to announce he is to step down as an MP.

http://news.sky.com/story/1378498/sky-sources-gordon-brown-to-stand-down-as-mp

Whaaat a coincidence.
--------------------------------------------
Beat me to it!

Brown getting 'out' before Socrates, to save his neck, starts 'singing like a canary'!

About Freeport and er, um, y'know, who knows what ELSE about!

"Anything you want to tell us about the 'removal' of the lead PJ inspector from the Madeleine McCann case, in 2007, Mr Socrates?"

by sallypelt 23.11.14 1:40

A little bit of "light" reading here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_S%C3%B3crates

It's a minefield

by Doug D 23.11.14 2:08

Portugal: Ex-PM José Socrates held in corruption probe çpço

Joana Morais had a blog dated 24th January 2009 re Freeport case.

http://joana-morais.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/freeport-case-english-wanted-to.html?m=1

by Guest 24.11.14 9:50

Tony Bennett wrote:

This could well relate to major allegations regarding corruption in relation to the large Freeport development on the Algarve.

Just a small point, but the Mall is actually at the southern end of the Vasco da Gama Bridge across the Tagus.

by Guest 24.11.14 9:53

comperedna wrote:That is a totally fascinating interview translation/transcript. I don't remember reading it before. Thank you for putting it up online. It is not that the information is new, but the tone and the low key way in which those facts are presented that is of so much interest.

Yes, I agree, that's one of the best summaries of the case that there is. I recently had to appraise my parents of a few things after they declined my polite request to stop buying the Daily Mirror in light of Carol Malone's lunatic rant. I gave them a transcript of that interview and a copy of the Gaspar statements. I think it shook them up a bit, actually. Still buying the bloody paper though.