Joana Morais: McCanns vow to fight Gonçalo Amaral in the European Courts?

by **Jill Havern** 30.04.17 8:54

Joana Morais

McCanns vow to fight Gonçalo Amaral in the European Courts?
Posted: 30 Apr 2017 12:39 AM PDT

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

McCanns exclusive interview to the BBC | Photo: Joe Giddens/PA

"It seems increasingly clear that McCann case is no longer about what happened to a little girl, but an attempt — some say cover-up — to absolve "upstanding Brits" of any responsibility, conveniently blaming Portugal, the poor man of Europe, for a botched investigation and overall ineptness." - Chris Freind, 2013

On what is said to be an exclusive interview to be broadcast today by the BBC (for an undisclosed amount), the McCanns vow to take Gonçalo Amaral to the European Court of Human Rights, because “the last judgement is terrible”. True to their character, their blatant disregard for freedom of expression, constitutional rights and vindictiveness levelled at the former inspector of the Judiciary Police knows no bounds.

No one can forget that Kate McCann once had this to say about the former inspector: "He [Gonçalo Amaral] deserves to be miserable and feel fear." No one can also forget that the money that was donated to fund the search for Madeleine has been used to pay for a relentless PR campaign against the former inspector, but also against the Judiciary Police, against the Portuguese institutions and authorities since 2007. That same money donated by the caring and concerned public world-wide to the search fund turned into a legal fund used to attempt to silence the former inspector, numerous newspapers in Portugal and abroad, TV channels and anyone who would dare to present, factually, a thesis that didn't meet the McCann's criteria - a criteria that is based on the image the couple wishes to project to the world. The fund was also used to at least once pay for the McCann's mortgage and in detectives that were far more experienced in dealing with corporate spying, in mediocre rent-a-cops, some of which attempted to exert pressure in the PJ officers working in the case and it is alleged that some have even created fake leads and unexistent connections to dead little girls, victims without a name, only to sustain the abduction thesis, wasting police time and resources.

Unlike what the couple alleges in this BBC exclusive and has done in numerous other interviews along the years, the investigation in Portugal was archived, mainly, due to the lack of cooperation of the British authorities (ex. refusing to send financial information) and the McCanns' friends to cooperate with the Portuguese police, when for example, the crucial step of doing a reconstruction, in situ, with the whole group was refused because "it wouldn't have media benefits" i.e. it wouldn't be televised. And also because even before the McCanns were constituted as arguidos by the Portuguese prosecutors there was an enormous pressure, both political and economic, on the Portuguese authorities to investigate this case solely as an abduction, sabotaging all the other hypotheses the PJ attempted to explore. The English tabloid media distortion that was echoed in the world-media, was then and is now, essentially a calculated PR game to stir nationalistic emotions, to create a xenophobic rivalry intended to belittle the Portuguese authorities and whitewash the couple, this also played a role in the investigation archival.

The fact that the PJ has lost the public opinion battle is largely the fault of their successive national directors, Justice and Public ministers, who since 2007 allowed unscrupulous PR men and hacks to exert an enormous pressure on the PJ officers, their men to be crucified in the media and did not prevent the re-writing of the facts and events of investigation. Releasing the case files after the investigation was an unusual excellent step but was insufficient PR wise.

In essence, since the investigation was archived in Portugal the McCanns could have asked their friends, the group nicknamed Tapas seven, to come forward and take part of a police reconstruction, very needed to clarify the many contradictions in the whole group's statements, that would also pressure the Portuguese prosecutors to reopen the investigation since the reconstruction could not take place with the investigation archived. That step and plenty other alternatives to pressure for the reopening were never used by the couple nor by their friends. Which begs the question, where are the friends of the McCann couple now, who left Praia da Luz soon after Maddie's disappearance and whose contradictory and polemic statements were never confronted, who never helped in that crucial step that could have helped find or at least establish the truth of what happened to the little girl?

Instead what we were offered a few years later was a farcical reconstruction, a Met police/BBC co-production, in no way different from other misleading re-enactments, that used actors, including a porn actor, filmed in a coastal village in Spain - a crimewatch that was forbidden to be broadcast in Portugal. More could be said about a police force that seemed to be working in tandem with the media, for the media, that wasted £11 million of the British tax payer's money in nice photoshoots in the Algarve and decided from the start to exempt the McCanns and their group of friends from any suspicion. That onion it seems, was never meant to be peeled. What to say about the fact that the British ex-pat community in Praia da Luz, have never heard about the sexual predator that only targeted white English girls, oddly a Met press release that is no longer available online, nor about the recent far-fetched and unverified tabloid story of nannies using rape-whistles in that idyllic fishing village of Luz.

Continuing with the sound-bites published today, it is also untrue the couple has "been formally cleared by the Portuguese". The McCanns have been alleging that they have been exonerated in multiple interviews for years, via their PR people, or unnamed sources. There's no doubt they have tried to use the legal action against Gonçalo Amaral to have some sort of an official document declaring that they were innocent, or rather not guilty, of any wrongdoings without ever being tried in a proper court. Both Lisbon Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Justice judges understood the tactical manoeuvre they were attempting and refuted their substantiations. The judges reasonings were made in accordance with the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and its related case law, and are very clear. It's doubtful they'll even meet the requirements to make an application. It should also be noted that the ECtHR cannot deal with complaints against individuals, so if the McCanns are going to sue anyone that will have to be the Portuguese state.

As to the trolls and fake news, maybe the McCann couple, their family, their unnamed sources, their PR people and also the media that had a role in it should apportion the blame of igniting the online vigilantes who have effectively caused the death of an innocent woman and for allowing, since they have never addressed this fact publicly, their followers to stalk, harass, threat anyone who dares to oppose the McCanns' version of events.

Copyright © 2017 by Joana Morais | Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Maddie: The Enigma, an in-depth report by CMTV
Posted: 29 Apr 2017 06:16 PM PDT

Video transcript (trailer) - Ten years after Maddie's disappearance, Gonçalo Amaral returns to the crime scene. An exclusive documentary with new clues and unprecedented footage. Maddie: The Enigma, an in-depth report by CMTV.

José Carlos Castro (CMTV News Anchor) - Gonçalo Amaral says that there was far too much diplomacy and even servility towards the British in the Maddie Case. These statements were published in this week's Sábado magazine, they are part of the documentary Maddie: the Enigma to be broadcast by CMTV next Monday to mark the ten years of the English child's disappearance.

Cut to footage from the report, unknown voice over - Gonçalo Amaral has returned to Praia da Luz in the Algarve to reconstitute the steps of the disappearance of Maddie McCann. Ten years later, the former Judiciary Police inspector has no doubts whatsoever that there was too much diplomacy and servility from the Portuguese authorities towards the British. This disclosures were published in this week's edition of Sábado magazine and are also part of the documentary Maddie: the Enigma that is going to be broadcast next Monday on CMTV.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Gonçalo Amaral, footage from the report - "The failure as I told you comes from this, it started immediately, nearly twenty-four hours later after that happened we had the (British) ambassador here and that is when the great political pressure starts. (...) It seems that we still have a certain submissiveness before the United Kingdom. (...) We sent the samples that were collected in the apartment to the English forensic laboratory when it could have been done in a Portuguese laboratory so we wouldn't be criticized, so no one could say that we had manipulated the final results, so Portugal wouldn't be called into question because in essence those were English authorities, those were English suspects, so we asked them to check the samples and the reality is that we were naive."

Voice over - Gonçalo Amaral was in charge of the Maddie case however he was dismissed of the post of coordinator of the Judiciary Police of Portimão after he criticized the performance of the English police.

Gonçalo Amaral - "What should have been done at the time and wasn't, was that the parents who were in fact responsible for the safekeeping of the child should have been suspected from the start, with what that entails and is necessary for the investigation namely the interception of telephone calls, surveillance, etc, of the parents but also of their group of friends, because we don't know, suppose for a moment that when that group of friends go to the apartment the child was still there, we have no idea if that happened or not."

Voice over - Gonçalo Amaral believes that Maddie's body was placed inside the casket where the remains of a British woman were, a coffin that was cremated later. This thesis emerged (from a statement) in December 2007 after three shadowy figures were seen entering the church with a bag.

Extract from CMTV night news programme, broadcast on April 27, 2017 (S17 Ep117)

by Philip Anders 30.04.17 9:23

Quote: Gonçalo Amaral, footage from the report - "The failure as I told you comes from this, it started immediately, nearly twenty-four hours later after that happened we had the (British) ambassador here and that is when the great political pressure starts. (...) It seems that we still have a certain submissiveness before the United Kingdom. (...) We sent the samples that were collected in the apartment to the English forensic laboratory when it could have been done in a Portuguese laboratory so we wouldn't be criticized, so no one could say that we had manipulated the final results, so Portugal wouldn't be called into question because in essence those were English authorities, those were English suspects, so we asked them to check the samples and the reality is that we were naive."

Voice over - Gonçalo Amaral was in charge of the Maddie case however he was dismissed of the post of coordinator of the Judiciary Police of Portimão after he criticized the performance of the English police.

Gonçalo Amaral - "What should have been done at the time and wasn't, was that the parents who were in fact responsible for the safekeeping of the child should have been suspected from the start, with what that entails and is necessary for the investigation namely the interception of telephone calls, surveillance, etc, of the parents but also of their group of friends, because we don't know, suppose for a moment that when that group of friends go to the apartment the child was still there, we have no idea if that happened or not."

Voice over - Gonçalo Amaral believes that Maddie's body was placed inside the casket where the remains of a British woman were, a coffin that was cremated later. This thesis emerged (from a statement) in December 2007 after three shadowy figures were seen entering the church with a bag.

Extract from CMTV night news programme, broadcast on April 27, 2017 (S17 Ep117)
------------------------------------------------------------------

I seem to recall that the McCanns had a private meeting with the local priest who, very soon afterwards, asked to be moved to another parish.

by ChippyM 30.04.17 9:40

So the cremation and coffin theory resurfaces.

Earlier this year I was on a discussion forum with lots of 'pro McCann' people. I mentioned that this was one of G.Amaral's theories when they asked 'so how did they hide a body?'

They were enraged about this theory saying it was a conspiracy theory, it was sick, I was sick to mention it, it shouldn't be mentioned because it was morally reprehensible etc. etc.

Never mind that if the investigation had progressed and was looking for a dead child, you would have to consider where the body went, which is not going to be a pleasant exercise.

I imagine the UK press will have a field day with this to discredit Amaral like they did with the MI5 thing. They can already claim it's his latest 'conspiracy theory' as they reported him saying Mi5 hid the body last week!

by pennylane 30.04.17 9:48

An excellent article by Joana Morais! roses

"There's no doubt they have tried to use the legal action against Gonçalo Amaral to have some sort of an official document declaring that they were innocent, or rather not guilty, of any wrongdoings without ever being tried in a proper court. Both Lisbon Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Justice judges understood the tactical manoeuvre they were attempting and refuted their substantiations. The judges reasonings were made in accordance with the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and its related case law, and are very clear. It's doubtful they'll even meet the requirements to make an application. It should also be noted that the ECtHR cannot deal with complaints against individuals, so if the McCanns are going to sue anyone that will have to be the Portuguese state."

The McCanns libel suit loss has backfired massively, as the facts that they haven't been cleared, and that there remains many questions over their story, is officially documented in a very recent ruling by the Supreme Court! In addition, the public's rush to donate to Goncalo Amaral's defense fund, and how rapidly it rose, has further exposed the TM myth that they are trusted and believed.

The McCanns legal advisers would have informed them re going to the ECHR, and (imo) this latest threat is yet another bucket load of fake news from these two wholly accomplished perpetrators of it!

by Philip Anders 30.04.17 9:58

pennylane wrote:An excellent article by Joana Morais!

"There's no doubt they have tried to use the legal action against Gonçalo Amaral to have some sort of an official document declaring that they were innocent, or rather not guilty, of any wrongdoings without ever being tried in a proper court. Both Lisbon Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Justice judges understood the tactical manoeuvre they were attempting and refuted their substantiations. The judges reasonings were made in accordance with the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and its related case law, and are very clear. It's doubtful they'll even meet the requirements to make an application. It should also be noted that the ECtHR cannot deal with complaints against individuals, so if the McCanns are going to sue anyone that will have to be the Portuguese state."

The McCanns libel suit loss has backfired massively, as the facts that they haven't been cleared, and that there remains many questions over their story, is officially documented in a very recent ruling by the Supreme Court! In addition, the public's rush to donate to Goncalo Amaral's defense fund, and how rapidly it rose, has further exposed the TM myth that they are trusted and believed. The McCanns legal advisers would have informed them re the above, and going to the ECHR, and (imo) this latest threat is obviously another bucket load of fake news from these two wholly accomplished experts at it!

Personally I'd love to see them try & take it to the ECHR & lose another shedload of dosh in the process.

by Rogue-a-Tory 30.04.17 10:17

It's not the humiliation of a defeat in the ECHR I'm interested in, for that is a certainty, but how they would possibly keep a case/defeat in Strasbourg out of the British papers?

by **Tony Bennett** 30.04.17 10:23

Get'emGonçalo wrote:Joana Morais

McCanns vow to fight Gonçalo Amaral in the European Courts?
Posted: 30 Apr 2017 12:39 AM PDT

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

McCanns exclusive interview to the BBC | Photo: Joe Giddens/PA

"It seems increasingly clear that McCann case is no longer about what happened to a little girl, but an attempt — some say cover-up — to absolve "upstanding Brits" of any responsibility, conveniently blaming Portugal, the poor man of Europe, for a botched investigation and overall ineptness." - Chris Freind, 2013

On what is said to be an exclusive interview to be broadcast today by the BBC (for an undisclosed amount), the McCanns vow to take Gonçalo Amaral to the European Court of Human Rights, because “the last judgement is terrible”. True to their character, their blatant disregard for freedom of expression, constitutional rights and vindictiveness levelled at the former inspector of the Judiciary Police knows no bounds.

SNIPPED

Copyright © 2017 by Joana Morais | Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yes, Joana is right in what she says.

Gerry McCann makes a clear statement in the BBC video clip, released today, that the McCanns 'will be' taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

As I have some experience of taking cases to the ECHR (for others, and for myself), let me briefly make these points clear:

1. Applicants must make complaint to the ECHR within SIX MONTHS of the decision, or breach of human rights, they are complaining about. As the Portuguese Supreme Court decision in Goncalo Amaral's favour was at the end of January 2017, this gives them until the end of July this yar to file their application.

2. The ECHR DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER TO REVERSE THE DECISION OF THE PORTUGUESE SUPREME COURT. In short, their powers are limited to (a) declaring whether or not there has been a breach of any of the Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, and (b) awarding compensation to the applicants/complainants from the relevant government (in this case, Portugal).

3. The McCanns are most likely to complain to the ECHR under the following two Articles:

Article 6 - The right to a fair trial, or
Article 8 - Protection of one's reputation trumping (incertain cases) the right to freedom of speech.

They might for example argue that there has been some procedural defect in the proceedings (under Article 6) or that the Supreme Court struck the wrong balance between the right to freedom of speech and the right to protection of one's reputation (under Article 8).

4. Most cases in the ECHR are taking 3 to 5 years to get to the final hearing. Before the case can even get into the Court, there are two preliminary stages: (1) is the Court eligible to hear the application and (2) if yes, does the case 'have merit' (in other words, is there at least an arguable case?). In theory, the McCanns' application could fail at one of these two initial stages. As the McCanns' application would essentially be against the Portuguese government, the Portuguese judicial authorities will have the right of response at every stage. It wil no doubt take up thousands of hours of judicial time.

I conclude by repeating that the ECHR cannot overturn the Supreme Cour ruling in favour of Amaral.

However, the lengthy proceeding in the ECHR will undoubtedly give the media plenty more opportunities over the next few years to cash in on the ongoing saga of what really happened to Madeleine McCann.

(PS1 - I hope I have not breached Joana's rather stark copyright notice by part quoting her article)

(PS2 - I simply love the photo the BBC have used to illustrate their article; the Corporation could not have chosen a better picture to illustrate Kate's deep sense of joy, happiness, exhilaration, laughter and fun)

by pennylane 30.04.17 10:38

I believe they've already been advised this direction is dead in the water, and they're desperately clinging to one last ditch attempt to sabre rattle and flex some muscle. TM and their expensive entourage have spun themselves into oblivion!

Viva Goncalo Amaral! roses

by suzyjohnson 30.04.17 13:18

They might just wait until August (or September and the results of the SY investigation) then and then say they didn't realise it was too late to appeal?

by Portia 30.04.17 16:10

Philip Anders wrote:
pennylane wrote:An excellent article by Joana Morais!

"There's no doubt they have tried to use the legal action against Gonçalo Amaral to have some sort of an official document declaring that they were innocent, or rather not guilty, of any wrongdoings without ever being tried in a proper court. Both Lisbon Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Justice judges understood the tactical manoeuvre they were attempting and refuted their substantiations. The judges reasonings were made in accordance with the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and its related case law, and are very clear. It's doubtful they'll even meet the requirements to make an application. It should also be noted that the ECtHR cannot deal with complaints against individuals, so if the McCanns are going to sue anyone that will have to be the Portuguese state."

The McCanns libel suit loss has backfired massively, as the facts that they haven't been cleared, and that there remains many questions over their story, is officially documented in a very recent ruling by the Supreme Court! In addition, the public's rush to donate to Goncalo Amaral's defense fund, and how rapidly it rose, has further exposed the TM myth that they are trusted and believed. The McCanns legal advisers would have informed them re the above, and going to the ECHR, and (imo) this latest threat is obviously another bucket load of fake news from these two wholly accomplished experts at it!
Personally I'd love to see them try & take it to the ECHR & lose another shedload of dosh in the process.

That would be really really rich; the two most famous British (Irish/Scottish, who knows?) defendants now, at this juncture of time, with GB on the verge of abandoning the very sophisticated protective legal system, falling back on the very august European Court for Human Rights. Better hurry up then, who knows what will happen after June 8th. Maybe the venue will be inaccessible by then? Who knows!

by Portia 30.04.17 16:12

Rogue-a-Tory wrote:It's not the humiliation of a defeat in the ECHR I'm interested in, for that is a certainty, but how they would possibly keep a case/defeat in Strasbourg out of the British papers?

Yes, that. And proceeding in tandem with Brexit too. They and GB would be the laughing stock of the world

by plebgate 09.08.17 21:16

So they are not going to fight Rocky through the European Court.

Are we going to hear any time soon what is going on re. the court costs etc. or has some deal behind the scenes been done?

by Guest 09.08.17 21:24

plebgate wrote:Are we going to hear any time soon what is going on re. the court costs etc. or has some deal behind the scenes been done?

It's on public record, a short while ago, the McCanns (or a source close to the family) meekly admitted they've got to give up the fight against Amaral.

Can't remember where it was. I'll see if I can find it later - if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

by plebgate 09.08.17 21:31

Yes I know they gave up their fight but my question was really about the court costs to Rocky. Have they been paid yet and if not why not?

by **Jill Havern** 01.09.17 9:18

plebgate wrote:Yes I know they gave up their fight but my question was really about the court costs to Rocky. Have they been paid yet and if not why not?

Nope. But the new Judicial year starts today.

waiting

by **sharonl** 01.09.17 19:55

Get'emGonçalo wrote:
plebgate wrote:Yes I know they gave up their fight but my question was really about the court costs to Rocky. Have they been paid yet and if not why not?
Nope. But the new Judicial year starts today.

And that's the reason for the recent, Op Grange coming to and end and McCanns vow to continue the search, stories being plastered all over the media?

by Liz Eagles 01.09.17 20:10

How can Operation Grange come to an end? It had a dodgy beginning and an even dodgier middle. How can Operation Grange, ordered by the British Government (how a government can order British Police to do such a thing remains questionable) come to any satisfactory end?

Will Scotland Yard, with all their high profile bluster - helicopters, digging, sniffer dogs, seizing of files from Metodo3 offices in Spain, visits to Portugal from the lead detective(s) and the head of the CPS suddenly say they've taken things as far as they can and due to financial restrictions things cannot continue?

Scotland Yard is up a gum tree (and it's not a Koala). Operation Grange will continue the farce of scraping for money. The McCanns will continue to say they are bracing themselves to spend the 'pittance' left in their fund on a global search. The Press will continue to take instruction from 'sources close to the family' and create crises.

It's all a farce.

The sad thing is that there is no regard for the demise of a three year old girl.

by **Jill Havern** 01.09.17 20:36

And whilst Grange continues they don't have to answer questions from the public and media because, as they gleefully tell us with their pass-the-parcel letters: "It's an ongoing investigation".

Do we even know if they've actually, really, been funded all these years or is it, as Gonçalo Amaral once said "A mere show-off"?

A fake investigation of a fake abduction.

Nothing has been heard from DCI Nicola "I nick 'em so quick they are nicked before they even know they've been nicked" Wall. She won't be able to brag about that anymore will she?

Who knows what they're really doing. They've been looking everywhere but the bleedin' obvious and got nothing to show for it, obviously. $i don\'t know$

by Liz Eagles 01.09.17 21:15

When the McCanns are ordered to pay whatever costs they are required to pay as a result of the final decision of the Portuguese court in Lisbon, will their financial situation be taken into account in terms of using finances to protect their children and to grant them a life free from media intrusion, a life that every child is entitled to. Will the McCanns say that their children are at risk of being exposed by the Press and deserve a private education in order to protect them. The UK Press has just exposed the name of the twins' school. Will the McCanns be able to ring fence money from the Fund which is legitimately set up to provide assistance to the family in order to do the best for Madeleine's brother and sister?

The law is a strange thing. Anyone who has undergone a divorce will know that.

I'm just thinking out loud.