Articles by Duarte Levy

DNA test boosts parents' hope that Madeleine is still alive, 16 August 2007

DNA test boosts parents' hope that Madeleine is still alive Timesonline Paulo Reis in Praia da Luz, and Duarte Levy August 16, 2007 Traces of blood discovered in the bedroom where Madeleine McCann was sleeping on the night that she disappeared do not come from the missing girl, The Times has learnt. The conclusion that the blood came from a man follows two weeks of reports that the traces proved that Madeleine had been killed in the Algarve holiday apartment. The finding will give fresh hope to Kate and Gerry McCann, who have said that they continue to believe that their daughter will still be found alive 105 days after she was taken from her bed. The minute spots of blood, which were discovered on a bedroom wall by British sniffer dogs, had been sent for testing at the headquarters of the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham. The four pages of technical results conclude that the blood did not come from Madeleine. The analysis shows that the blood probably comes from a white man from the "northeast European subgroup". However, this conclusion is only 72 per cent accurate owing to the poor condition of the sample because of its age and also that the bedroom wall had been cleaned with a detergent. The Forensic Science Service is carrying out further tests on the samples. Detectives had already suspected that the blood came from a man who had injured himself while staying at the two-bedroom apartment after Madeleine disappeared. This explains why the blood was not discovered when Portuguese police examined the apartment in the first weeks of the investigation. The ground-floor apartment in the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz was cordoned off by police for five weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance before being handed back to its British owners. Mrs McCann contemplated for the first time yesterday returning to Britain to live without Madeleine: "We know we will be going back and I guess one day we will wake up and it will be right. We never thought that we would go before she came back. Now we just don’t know. We have the twins to consider. I can’t imagine how we came out as a family of five and going back as a four." The Times reported yesterday that Portuguese police have said for the first time that the focus of the inquiry is that Madeleine is now dead. Inspector Olegário Sousa, of the PolÍcia Judiciária (PJ), said: "The possibility of Madeleine's death is the one that we are paying more attention. However, none of the other possibilities is closed." Mr Sousa confirmed that one of the dogs had found a scent indicating that a corpse had been in the apartment. Kate and Gerry McCann, both 39, from Rothley, Leicestershire, are likely to face fresh questioning by police next week. The seven British adults with them at the Ocean Club are also likely to be requestioned. The couple and their friends were dining at a tapas restaurant at the resort complex on May 3 while Madeleine was asleep in the apartment with her two-year-old twin brothers and sister, Sean and Amelie. Mr Sousa said this week that the McCanns are regarded as witnesses and are not considered suspects. But he refused to rule out the possibility that their friends may have been involved. Portuguese police are believed to have found some new evidence in the case about two weeks ago which led to officers saying that they now considered it possible that Madeleine, who disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday, was now dead. However, reports that they are hunting a mystery British man who had stayed in Praia da Luz at the same time as the McCanns have been dismissed. James Gorrod, 34, a solicitor from Exeter, said that detectives had cleared him and his wife of any link to her disappearance. They had raised suspicion because they were a couple who were on holiday with the McCanns and had hired a car with a child seat. However, it transpired that they were travelling with their two-year-old son. Detectives in Portugal are expected to hold the first press conference on the investigation tomorrow for more than a month. A judge is expected to decide this month that the only official suspect in the case, Robert Murat, 33, should be cleared.

Detectives hunting for Madeleine on alert for series of new searches, 18 August 2007

Detectives hunting for Madeleine on alert for series of new searches The Times Paulo Reis in Praia da Luz, Duarte Levy and David Brown August 18, 2007 GMB LINK

Detectives' hunt for Madeleine 'was illegal', 25 August 2007

Detectives' hunt for Madeleine 'was illegal' The Times Paulo Reis in Praia da Luz, Duarte Levy andDavid Brown August 25, 2007 GMB LINK

Final report not yet sent to Portugal, 06 September 2007

Final report not yet sent to Portugal Gazeta Digital 6.9.07 Portuguese TV crew creates panic in Birmingham The final report of the analysis being made at Forensic Science Service (FSS), the British Police laboratory in Birmingham, wasn't yet sent to Portugal. Only some partial results were sent and Portuguese CID received it today, September 5. The British Police laboratory has been sending some partial results to the Portuguese authorities since the second week of August, as The Times referred, in August 16. Meanwhile, a Portuguese TV crew that was recording in front of FSS building, in Birmingham, was threatened and Police was called, by the private security of FSS. Tiago Contreiras, from RTP, was warned first, by a security element that "he should leave the place, immediately, for security reasons, as that area was off-limits for journalists". When the journalist questioned that order, somebody who introduced herself as the laboratory director, talking in a "very aggressive way", as Tiago Contreiras told, threatened the journalists, saying that if he didn't moved from that place immediately he would face some unpleasant consequences. A police car came to the place but the policemen remain inside and took no action. Inside the FSS building, there was total panic. As soon as a foreign TV crew was spotted, internal security gave orders to close all the windows and the building's entry was blocked, with orders to not allow anyone to go out or come inside. The TV crew has an interview scheduled wit Madeleine's grandmother but, after this episode, the McCann family Press Office called Tiago Contreiras and cancelled the interview. Paulo Reis with Duarte Levy in Birmingham

Madeleine McCann - One more witness contradicts Jane Tanner statement, 29 October 2007

Madeleine McCann - One more witness contradicts Jane Tanner statement NowPublic by pjcvreis October 29, 2007 at 11:55 am A teenager, who was with her family at Ocean Club, saw Gerry McCann and Jeremy Wilkins talking, the night Madeleine disappeared – but she didn't see Jane Tanner or a man carrying a child. The girl wasn't in the list of guests, as their presence at Ocean Club wasn't registered with the management. Father and daughter have been in Portugal, recently, to help Policia Judiciaria in the reconstruction of what happened the night of May 3 and to give a formal statement to Police, according to a source close to the case. Speaking to SOS Madeleine, the Irish teenager confirmed she saw Gerry McCann and Jeremy Wilkins talking, for a few minutes, near the McCann apartment: "There was only the father of the little girl talking to another man." The teenager went out for a cigarette, around the same time Jane Tanner said she saw a man carrying a child. She only mentioned what she saw to her family later, because she had also to confess the reason why she was there. Since the beginning, Police had some doubts about Jane Tanner statement, as Jeremy Wilkins, a tennis partner of Madeleine's father, told them he only saw Gerry McCann near the apartment. Jane Tanner description of the man she allegedly saw was used to draw a sketch that the McCanns released, yesterday, October 25. But Jane Tanner was initially quoted, in the British Media, as saying that the man was walking to the church. Later, British newspapers referred she said the man was walking in the opposite direction, to Robert Murat's house. Jeremy Wilkins told the Press he was walking his eight-month son when he met Gerry McCann, who was checking his children. The TV producer said he didn't saw a man carrying a child and he also didn't saw Jane Tanner: "It was a very narrow path and I think it would have been almost impossible for anyone to walk by without me noticing." After a few weeks claiming they couldn't talk to the Media because of Portuguese secrecy laws, the McCanns accepted being interviewed by Antena 3, a Spanish TV channel. Gerry McCann praised the Portuguese Police but, at the same time, the usual "family friends" were quoted by the British Media in another attack to the credibility of Portuguese police, who hasn't recorded the statements given by Madeleine parents. This is denied by a PJ source, who told that "all formal questionings of the McCanns were recorded, but no recording was made from the informal meetings with them." Statements given to Police, in the Portuguese legal system, are only used in the investigation and even confessions are not valued by courts, as only statements made during trial are considered evidence. Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis Gazeta Digitial http://www.gazetadigital.blogspot.com/

PJ detectives prepare for final steps of the investigation, 30 October 2007

PJ detectives prepare for final steps of the investigation Gazeta Digital 30.10.07 Paulo Rebelo called a meeting with all the detective's team working in Madeleine's case for today, October 30. Criminal coordinator Gonçalo Amaral, previously in charge of the investigation, was asked to participate in the meeting. The last days have been very busy for Paulo Rebelo and his team of around twenty detectives working in the case. Recently, a new witness has been in Portugal and went to PJ headquarters in Portimão. This witness, an Irish teenager, saw Gerry McCann and Jeremy Wilkins talking, near the apartment from where Madeleine vanished, in the night of May 3, but she is also sure that there was no man carrying a child or Jane Tanner around, at that time. Paulo Rebelo decided to call a special meeting to make a general analysis of the conclusions of the investigation, until now, after a careful review of all evidence collected, including the results of the samples already sent by Forensic Science Service. Yesterday, October 29, a team of detectives headed by Paulo Rebelo went to apartment 5A, at ocean Club, to check with detail some aspects of those conclusions. After almost four hours inside the apartment, the other detectives left to Portimão, while Paulo Rebelo went to the small square near the church with another PJ investigator. Before calling the meeting, Paulo Rebelo had a long talk with the national director of Polícia Judiciária, Alípio Ribeiro. News in the Portuguese Press referred that Portuguese police was still waiting, last week, for the list of phone calls made from Praia da Luz, using mobile phones from UK networks. A request has been made to Police in the UK to allow Portuguese police to check the calls with the list of guests and other people staying at Praia da Luz, since the McCann arrived there, on April 28. This meeting follows also the first public indications that the Portuguese Government is getting more uncomfortable with the violent attacks directed against the Portuguese police and the Judicial system. Mr. Santana Carlos, the Portuguese Ambassador in London, criticise the attitude of British Media, in a interview with The Times, and referred that there are "many more cases of abductions (in UK) than Portugal, and nobody talks about that, but this (Madeleine) case has come up very, very high in the news." Also last week, the McCann revealed, for the first time, they have hired a Spanish detectives private company, Metodo 3, to help find Madeleine. The company, according to Antena 3, was hired in August, before the McCann were named as formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter. The company set up a hotline and issued a sketch of an alleged abductor, seen by one of the friends of the McCann, Jane Tanner, less than 30 minutes Kate McCann found Madeleine was missing. Just a few days after the hotline was set up, Marita Fernandez, the general-manager of Metodo 3, told Spanish Media that witnesses calling the line have confirmed Madeleine McCann was alive and in Morocco. Metodo 3 told newspapers they had also found another kidnapped child, an American blonde girl, in the mountains of Rif. But a source from "Sureté Nacionale", the Moroccan intelligence services, denied this information and told us they didn't have any information about the American girl or Madeleine McCann sightings. The law that regulates privates detectives work, in Spain, demands that any information related to a crime must be immediately forwarded to Police. A PJ investigator considered "very strange" that a positive identification of Madeleine, as the one referred by Metodo 3, could be made available to the Media, instead of remaining absolutely confidential: "This could be a death sentence, if the child was in the hands of a paedophile network, what those Spanish detectives say it's also a possibility..." Moroccan authorities expelled a British citizen, recently, after he offered large amounts of money in exchange of specific statements about a blonde girl, to several staff members from a gas station in Marrakesh – the same city were Interpol will have its 76 General Assembly, between 5 and 8 of November. Duarte Levy (Marrakesh) and Paulo Reis (Lisbon)

McCann friends breaking ranks, 07 November 2007

McCann friends breaking ranks Gazeta Digital 7.11.07 Lawyers from two of the McCann friends who were having dinner at Tapas Bar, on the night of May 3, have contacted Police, recently, and told their clients were willing to be questioned again, in order to "correct" some details that were mentioned in their initial statements. The two members of Tapas' group asked for their identity to remain confidential, as they fear the "clarification" they want to do, about the events on the night Madeleine disappeared, could bring some pressure from people connected to the McCann family. Contradictions among the seven friends that were having diner with the parents of Madeleine McCann have been, since the beginning, one of the reasons why the investigation of Polícia Judiciária has looked into other theory, apart the possibility of a kidnapping. After Gonçalo Amaral was replaced as the head of the investigation, by Paulo Rebelo, on October 3, a complete review of the case and all evidence collected has taken place. But the results of this review, until now, didn't changed the main line of inquiry – one that Portuguese police first referred on August 11, exactly hundred days after Madeleine's disappearance. Paulo Rebelo called a meeting with the all investigators involved in the case and invited Gonçalo Amaral to participate, last week, in order to be briefed about the review made by the team of experts he brought from Lisbon. Police is now getting ready for the final steps of the investigation: a new round of questioning of the McCann's friends, to take place in UK, after all the results from the samples collected at the crime scene and sent to the Forensic Science Service, in Birmingham. Until now, all evidence collected "gives consistency to the possibility of Madeleine McCann being dead and there are almost no leads than point to a kidnapping", according to a source close to the case. Since the end of May, when first reports were published in the Portuguese Press, casting doubts about the statements of parents and friends, the McCann started their own private investigation. They hired Control Risk Group, a risk management and security company, staffed with former members of the British Special Forces and Intelligence services, to help find Madeleine. But this contract was revealed only in September and, during that time, the couple from Leicester always made clear they trusted the investigation of the Portuguese police. When the former head of PJ team, Gonçalo Amaral, was replaced, after criticizing the lack of cooperation from the British Police, the McCann said they hoped the man in charge, Paulo Rebelo, would drop the status of "formal suspects" the parents were given, in early September, and go back to the initial theory – that Madeleine was kidnapped. At the same time, they hired Metodo 3, a leading Spanish detectives company, to set up a hotline for witnesses with information about the child. In the first weeks, dozens of alleged sightings were reported to that hotline, putting Madeleine McCann in specific areas, in Morocco. This weekend, Moroccan authorities made a clear denial of the existence of any clue about the presence of Madeleine McCann in Morocco and announced that one of the alleged "positive identifications", in the city of Fnideq, was a local girl who lives with her parents. The campaign to find Madeleine was supposed to start a new phase, in October, with Portugal, Spain and Morocco as main targets but no signals of that new phase are visible, yet. A request for an interview with the McCann, on behalf of French and Moroccan TV channels, was considered "very interesting" but postponed to a unknown date because, according to the McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, Gerry and Kate's lawyers advised them not to do any interviews. The last one, to Antena 3, gave the opposite results the McCann expected. Even with Kate McCann crying in public, for the first time, a pool showed around 70 % or Spanish viewers believed the parents are not telling the truth about their daughter. Duarte Levy (London) and Paulo Reis (Praia da Luz)

Maddie: Police conducting a battle between David and Goliath, 02 February 2008

Maddie: Police conducting a battle between David and Goliath SOS Madeleine McCann By Duarte Levy 02/02/2008 Thanks to 'beachy' for translation "In the McCann inquiry, given the obstacles that have been created in the United Kingdom, the better tactic would have been to continue the investigation without naming the parents as arguidos," said a source from the PJ about statements of their National Director, adding that "at the moment the investigation has become a battle between David and Goliath." The National Director of the Judicial Police (PJ), Alípio Ribeiro, considered yesterday that there had been "haste" in constituting Kate and Gerry McCann as arguidos in the disappearance of their daughter. Alipio Ribeiro also confirms that the right direction is being followed by the investigators and that this is an investigation and we must be patient. The statements by the Director of the PJ were made during the recording of the "Diga Lá Excelence" programme on Radio Renascença which will be broadcast tomorrow afternoon, in which he is questioned by journalists and Paula Paiva Celso Torres. Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann, responded rapidly to the statements by the National Director of the Judicial Police stating that the couple had "very well received comments from Alipio Ribeiro in which he accepts that Portuguese police officers under his authority had acted in haste in designating the McCanns as official suspects." Clarence Mitchell went further, and even before full knowledge of Alipio Ribeiro's interview, invited the Portuguese authorities to remove their status as arguidos, with "humanity." The former director of the British Media Minitoring Unit, who became head of public relations for the McCann couple, responded via the Find Madeleine web site, which now has a new design. The site has adopted a more low-key look and more pink, maintaining the sale of bracelets and T-shirts but no longer [reporting] the financial situation of the Madeleine Fund.

McCanns rented car: 11,229 kms in four months, 08 August 2008

McCanns' rented car: 11,229 kms in four months Gazeta Digital   Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis 08 August 2008   The Renault Scenic was rented by the McCanns on May 27, 2007 and sent back to the renting company on September 23. Mr. Alexander Cameron was also registered as a driver, on May 27. At the end of August, another driver was included in the list: Michael Terence Wright.   The final contract extension was signed until September 24. Before the end of the contract, there was a contact between the company and the McCanns, because Madeleine's parents were interested in keeping the car for more time.   But the company had also a renting contract with Renault Portugal and had to send the car back to them, so could not extend the renting period. The only way for the McCanns to keep the car was buying it, but they refused.   On September 23, the car was delivered to the renting company, in Lagos. A tall man, around 1,80 metres, with short grey hair, 60 to 65 years old, speaking English, took the car back and signed the delivery document. The car drove 11,229 km, between May 27 and September 23.   Payments to the renting company were made with credit cards. Several extensions of the renting contract were negotiated, with at least two different credit card numbers. The last extension was made on September 1, until September 24.

McCann case: 24 pictures that may help to re-open the case, 13 August 2008

McCann case: 24 pictures that may help to re-open the case Gazeta Digital 13.8.08 A tourist that was at the Tapas Bar, on the night of May 3, took several pictures where the table with the McCann and their friends is visible. The tourist was with his wife and another couple and they took pictures from each other, with the McCann table on the background. The owner of the pictures is negotiating with several British newspapers to sell the rights for an exclusive publication, but with a condition: before being published, the pictures must be sent to the Portuguese police. The tourist is well aware that the pictures may have important evidence related with a crime and not sending it to police is considered also a crime, in his country. Yesterday, a well known legal office from UK knew about the existence of those pictures and contacted the owner, offering to buy all pictures for 600,000 Euros. But the British lawyers didn't accept the condition set by the owner – that the pictures should be sent to the Portuguese police, just before the transaction. The lawyers' office wanted to be free to choose the moment when the pictures would be send to Portuguese authorities, so the offer was refused by the tourist. Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis

GRUESOME TWOSOME, 17 August 2008

GRUESOME TWOSOME   THE PEOPLE UNMASKS GHOULS CASHING IN ON MADDIE EXCLUSIVE   Vile fantasist ties to sell 'dynamite' Madeleine McCann pics The People   Exclusive by James Millbank 17 August 2008 GMB LINK

The People: Duarte Levy's response, 17 August 2008

Clarification about the article in the newspaper The People, of August 17, 2008  SOSMaddie   Duarte Levy 17 August 2008 The People: Duarte Levy's response Clarification concerning the article in the Sunday newspaper, The People, August 17th 2008. The information concerning me, published today in The People newspaper, is false. Between August 9th and August 15th, I was contacted by and met with several British journalists (*) at their request, about a witness who claimed to have seen Madeleine McCann in Brussels, and about the article published by me and Paulo Reis about the existence of 24 photos, taken on the the night of May 3rd by tourists who were at the Tapas Bar. These colleagues asked me for help, because, besides the fact that they don't speak French, they didn't know Brussels, didn't know where or to whom to direct themselves to investigate the case of the witness claiming to have seen Madeleine. As is the rule between professional colleagues, I met with these journalists and I helped them as much as I could. As is obvious, we spoke about the Madeleine McCann case, on the information published recently on my blog and on my colleague Paulo Reis' blog. We exchanged impressions and comments. I will not repeat the comments from my English colleagues, because private conversations are private conversations - at least for principled people. So that it is clear, I do not have in my possession, anything which is of interest to the authorities or which might concern the investigation of a crime. Duarte Levy 17 August 2008 (*) – Nick Fagge & Jonathan Buckmaster - Daily Express / Lucy Hagan - The Sun / Julie (?) Daily Mail / Emily Miller - The Mirror / James Millbank - The People (14 and 15 August)

Maddie: Private detectives received help from a "mole" within the PJ, 11 November 2008

Maddie: Private detectives received help from a "mole" within the PJ SOS Madeleine McCann 11/11/2008 Thanks to 'annaesse' for translation A Spanish private detective reveals how the McCanns were able to gain access to confidential police information within the Maddie case. According to one of the Spanish detectives hired by Metodo 3 within their contract with Kate and Gerry McCann, a PJ inspector allegedly gave confidential information concerning the movements of the Portuguese investigators and their British colleagues in the investigation into Maddie's disappearance to the Spanish agency. The information thus obtained allowed the private detectives to inform the McCann couple and their entourage about work being planned by the Portuguese investigators: "Several of Amaral's men's initiatives failed thanks to information given by their colleague... but there was also information coming from informers linked to the British embassy," this detective states. This is the information that allowed us to know in advance what inspector Amaral and his colleagues wanted to do," the private detective continues during an interview recently recorded in Spain, stressing that, "the investigation would probably have ended differently without the intervention of the private detectives, but also of certain British professionals." In his interview, a video recorded in unusual conditions, and which will be included in a documentary for television about Madeleine McCann's disappearance, the Spanish detective clearly identifies the PJ inspector and also puts forward, "that he benefited from a certain protection by the PJ at Faro." The detective goes further and states, "that at times when the investigation was closed, thanks to information received from the Portuguese inspector, we created diversions in the media." "That didn't always work, because I noticed that certain operations were set up without our knowing in advance. I imagine that Amaral must have had his suspicions and that he limited access to information to the men he trusted," the detective adds. "The investigation was practically condemned in advance...we knew in advance what Amaral was preparing and the desired objective in his operations," states the detective who, after several months of working for Metodo 3, had even tried to make contact with the Portimao CID coordinator, before he was dismissed from the investigation: "I had personally met Gonçalo Amaral a few years ago, but he mustn't have remembered me and as soon as he heard that I was linked to Metodo 3 he refused to speak to me, arguing that if I had important information to bring to the case, this should be done in an official manner." "He (Gonçalo Amaral) was known to us as a hard guy, in particular in cases of fighting drug trafficking... he is incorruptible," the detective concludes. The revelation which risks creating controversy around the Algarve PJ, meanwhile confirms the suspicions raised by certain investigators. At least two PJ inspectors, contacted by SMM, directly put forward the name of the inspector who allegedly passed on the confidential information to the detectives of the Spanish agency. According to them, the man benefited from a certain protection from the Faro commission and his behaviour was not new, because he had allegedly previously committed the same offence in other investigations. We are no longer looking for Maddie.... me, in any case, I was never hired to do that." According to the same detective, he was allegedly never hired to look for Madeleine MCann: "We are no longer looking for Maddie.. me, in any case, I was never hired to do that. All I was asked to do was gather the most details in order to direct the Portuguese investigation towards Morocco or Spain. This former detective - who is no longer able to carry on his work - further states that the Spanish agency allegedly led British journalists to Morocco for them to meet previously selected and paid witnesses: "the aim was to spread the Moroccan lead in the media and thus confirm that it was indeed an abduction, which the Portuguese and British police did not want to believe," states the detective, stressing that he is unable to say whether the McCanns were behind this kind of operation. "The couple never asked me to lie about anything whatsoever. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the agency or the couple's entourage," the detective concludes. Duarte Levy --------------- McCanns had informant within the PJ TV Mais (appears in paper edition only) A PJ inspector supplied confidential information to Metodo 3, concerning the movements that the Judiciária and the British policemen made on the terrain searching for Maddie by Hernâni Carvalho 12 November 2008 Thanks to Joana Morais for translation The accusation is brought forward by one of the agents from Metodo 3, the Spanish detective agency that the McCanns hired, and was made during an interview that journalist Duarte Levy recorded for Belgian television. According to said Metodo 3 agent, the privileged information that the McCanns held were always delivered by an inspector who "benefits from a certain protection at the Judiciária in Faro" and by informants that are connected to the British Embassy. The PJ investigators' most confidential movements were always monitored by the McCanns or by their entourage. The information reached them through an informant from inside the PJ of Faro itself. The man from Metodo 3 goes as far as stating that numerous initiatives by Amaral's men were known before time due to the alleged informant. "That was the information that allowed for us to known in advance what inspector Amaral and his colleagues intended to do", the Spanish private detective said. The interview was videotaped in Spain a few days ago and will be part of a documentary about Maddie's disappearance that the journalist is preparing. In Belgium, the case continues to raise much interest and discussion. During that interview, the Metodo 3 agent identifies the man from the PJ in Faro. The Spanish detective states that he always knew that the investigation was condemned. And he explains that he always knew in advance about the purposes of the actions and diligences that were carried out by Gonçalo Amaral's team. The detective says that he tried to speak with the coordinator of the investigation at the PJ (Gonçalo Amaral), but the latter replied that, whatever he had to declare or to denounce, he should do it in an official manner. During the interview, the detective explains that he wasn't hired to search for Maddie and that he never did that. He says that was not his mission. His mission, he says, was to carry out actions that would direct the authorities that were responsible for the investigation and the search for Maddie, into Morocco or Spain. And that he says he did. The detective advances that the McCann couple never asked him to lie, but that he cannot say the same about the McCanns' team, or Metodo 3's team. When contacted by TV Mais, Gonçalo Amaral says that he knows what we are talking about, but that he believes this is not the time for clarifications. The former coordinator of the PJ's investigation about Maddie says he is still waiting for the lawsuit that the McCanns threatened him with, and at that time he will have much to say or to reveal. Another book... ---------- Inspector told everything to the McCanns 24horas (page 8) Former detective hired by Maddie's parents knew all the steps being taken in the investigation Text: Luis Maneta 13 November 2008 Thanks to Joana Morais for translation Soon it can be revealed the name of the inspector who belonged to Gonçalo Amaral's team and who was a 'snitcher' for the McCanns A former detective from the Spanish Agency Método 3 guarantees to have had "access to confidential information" during the investigation undertaken regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. According to the detective, at the origin of this alleged leak is an element of the Judiciary Police who "is protected" by the Directorship of Faro. The statements given by the Método 3 man - the detective agency hired by Kate and Gerry to search for Maddie's whereabouts - were recorded in a video by the journalist Duarte Levy and will become part of a TV documentary on the subject. "In the interview, the Spanish detective clearly identifies the PJ inspector", guarantees the journalist, adding that this statement "confirm suspicions arisen" by other elements of the Judiciary. "This information allowed us to know beforehand what inspector Gonçalo Amaral and his colleagues where going to do", summarises the detective, who believes that without this element the investigation "could have had a different ending". Failed Initiatives Quoted by Duarte Levy, the man form Método 3 says that the resultant information from an alleged "leak" in the PJ had repercussions on the process: "Several initiatives from Amaral's men failed (...) but there was also information coming from informants who where connected to the British Embassy". The former detective highlights that the investigation "was doomed" since there was a previous knowledge of all the steps to be taken by the Police. That until Gonçalo Amaral started having suspicions. Then, and still according to the detective, he started giving information only to his "men of trust". 24horas contacted the National Directorship of the PJ, however it did not receive an answer in time for publication. Gonçalo Amaral was out of reach up to the end of the closing of this edition. Facts Incorruptible In the interview, the detective reveals that he tried, without successes, to contact the coordinator of the investigation to the Maddie Case, Gonçalo Amaral. "He was considered among us as tough, especially in the fight against drug trafficking... he is incorruptible", states the detective. Abduction Guaranteeing that he was "never" asked to search for Maddie - he was only asked to collect information about alleged sightings - the Método 3 man says that his objective was to "spread broadly" the Moroccan lead to "confirm that it was an abduction."

The Tapas 7 rogatory interviews in the UK, 06 December 2008

The Tapas 7 interviews in the UK - Volume 1 SOSMaddie   By Duarte Levy 06 December 2008 Thanks to 'AnnaEsse' for translation   All seven Britons were interviewed, in early 2008, before the Portuguese investigation was put on hold for lack of impartial and brave justice.   In the interests of the public, remembering that justice is always the conquest of civilisation over violence, of appeasement over endless revenge, of stability over chaos, the conversations (yes, it was more like conversations than real interviews) were recorded on video and the transcriptions will be available for download, only in English, at the end of each article. The videos will be opportunely disclosed.   Jane Tanner: selective memory, contradictions and other things...   After 11 months of the investigation, in spite of all that could have been said or done about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Jane Tanner, one of the Tapas 9, admitted to officer Ferguson of the Leicestershire police that she was mistaken about the arrangement in which the group were seated at the table. An apparently minor detail, but which is now more revealing: "Russell said he was sitting between Rachael and Diane. So, I think, I had Diane there, Russell was there. And I think Dave, I think that Dave could have been there and Fiona there."   Jane Tanner's interview, in April 2008, was recorded on video, to which I have had access and which will be disclosed at the right time in a documentary about Maddie's disappearance.   According to the new seating plan, Jane was sitting "in an anti-clockwise direction," next to Kate, followed by Matthew, Fiona, David Payne, Gerry McCann, Dianne, Russell and finally Rachael.   According to Jane Tanner, in her interview with the British police, Kate McCann was more anxious than usual during dinner on May 3rd 2007, the night of Madeleine's disappearance: "There is something I haven't mentioned (...) she had said that Madeleine had said something strange about where were you last night when I woke up. And as I said, I can't remember at what point in the meal she said that (...) I think she said "when Sean and me woke up," I can't remember if it wasn't when two of them woke up."   "I wondered, if there wasn't another reason, you know, why the checks were more frequent," Jane Tanner then stressed, indicating that Kate was wondering if Maddie might wake up.   Questioned about the length of time that Gerry was absent from the dinner table, Jane explains: "that would have been at least five minutes, if not more, because, I wonder, because he had left before I actually left there were conversations about whether he had stopped on the way. So, I mean, if, I think it must have been something like five or ten minutes, five or ten minutes after he had left. I can't say for sure though."   "(...) I went back up the road and I can't remember exactly, I know this, I know, I think that Gerry thinks he was in a different place from where I think he was standing, but I was quite sure, as I walked back up the road, they were standing, one of them was on the road and the other was just on the edge of the pavement, but I thought that it was at the side of the road where I was walking, but I know that Gerry thinks they were on the other side. But I think they were closer, because as I passed, I nearly went to greet them in some way and I thought at that moment Oh "they're chatting, chatting, chatting" and I thought, you know, I didn't, I didn't know if they had seen me or not, but I actually went to greet them and I think if they had been so far away I don't know if I would somehow have almost gone to say hello to them," states Jane Tanner admitting that she and Gerry don't agree about where they found themselves.   "I thought that they were, when you go up here, I thought they were more, euh, once again I know that this is where me and Gerry disagree, but I thought they were kind of closer to the alleyway. I think kind of (...) I think that one of them was on the road and I think, I thought that it was Jez on the road because he had the pram. And towards, I don't know, I can't remember in which direction he was facing. No, I mean, I think I remember that in my statement I said it, but I can't remember now in which direction he was facing.   "And I thought that Gerry was almost on the edge of the pavement or just, just kind of on the road, but certainly kind of alongside it, kind of closer to that alleyway. I don't think they were near the apartment gate, I thought they were kind of a bit further down, further down the road than that," Jane admits to the police, demonstrating - according to one of the British investigators, a quite strange memory.   "Madame Tanner gave a witness statement before the television cameras, she was interviewed by our Portuguese colleagues...now she is incapable of remembering most of the details - the Leicestershire police, however, got her to read her previous statements -, but curiously, she happens to clarify certain key points that agree with the story recounted by the other members of this group," states an officer from the British police after having viewed the videos of the interviews.   This British police officer, who no longer has contact with this case, is meanwhile one of the direct witnesses of the most important moments in the investigation by the Portuguese authorities. Bitter and deeply disappointed with the behaviour of the British government in this case, the man, from a legal point of view, no longer has the right to speak about Madeleine McCann's disappearance. A ban which he has not respected for reasons "of professionalism and moral conscience" in spite of the heavy consequences to come. "Oh, it's someone taking their child to bed."   Jane Tanner, one of the key witnesses, whom the McCanns have not left much space for manoeuvre, explains once again the layout of the premises and her movements: according to her witness statement, going out through the door of the Tapas Bar, she walked up the hill, passed by Gerry and Jez who were on her right.   "(...) Right, yeah, So, I went past them, um, going up the hill, and then getting to the top of the road, as I arrived at the top, this person, someone crossed the top of the road with a child. And obviously at that time - I just thought 'oh it's somebody taking his child to bed,' as they say."   "I think it was starting to get dark (...) there wasn't, apart from Gerry and Jez, there wasn't anyone else. (...) I really saw no one at all. I said, I think, that this made me think that it was even more strange, I think that when I had gone to check on other evenings at that time I probably didn't see anyone at all, it was earlier that you would see people here and there, carrying their children," Jane Tanner said, confirming that it all happened, " roughly, around ten past nine."   "(....) I was kind of jogging along, because obviously I was trying to do the check and get back as quickly as possible too, so I just thought 'Oh I'm just going to do the check as quickly as possible.." In answer to officer Fergusson, Tanner states that her intention was just to "check on Ella and Evie," because no one else had done it: "Gerry was there, so I thought he had just checked (his children). Matt had checked when he had, um, been (...). And we never checked Dave and Fi because they had their monitor, which they were quite happy with, so they didn't check at all, like that."   "Oh, a poor parent like us..."   "(...) just as I got to the top, someone crossed over. And the thing that really hit me was, um, the bare feet. And the thought that came to mind was, I was saying, that when we were in Leicester (...) we had the habit of walking to David and Fi's house for, um, the children, for dinner with the children, the children would play, we put them into travel cots there and we would sometimes stay a bit late and then carry the children to the house (...) We wrap them in a blanket or something, but their feet always stick out, and you think 'Oh, they're going to get cold feet' because they would always wriggle about. So, one thing I thought was 'Oh, a poor parent like us, you know, that child is obviously being taken home (...)   (...) That was the only reason that I looked at him really, I think. Because at that moment I thought it's somebody picking their child up from the crèche or, you know, just a father carrying his own child..."   To be continued.

McCann Case: Analysis of the phone calls reveals a clue, 16 December 2008

McCann Case: Analysis of the phone calls reveals a clue SOSMaddie   Duarte Levy 16 December 2008 Thanks to 'AnnaEsse' for translation   Justine McGuinness and the Vascão river   Justine McGuiness, spokesperson for the McCanns who accompanied them in fleeing to England immediately after they were made arguidos, left various documents in the apartment that served as the couple's headquarters, including photographs, establishing a possible connection between Madeleine's disappearance and the banks of the river Vascão, near the Spanish border. Today, 19 months after Madeleine's disappearance, the trail left by Justine McGuiness resurfaces. This picture is to give an indication of the general area, rather than define a specific spot   It is September 9th 2007, the day that Kate and Gerry take flight to England, four months after Madeleine McCann's disappearance that the PJ get their hands on a series of documents left in the Vista Mar villa, until then occupied by the couple, where photographs and even a sketch are found, indicating the detailed location of a place on the border between Alentejo and the Algarve, 20 km from Almodovar, crossed by the Vascão river. The PJ inspectors went into the house immediately after the McCanns left for the airport, thus taking advantage of the fact that the journalists were accompanying the couple. The documents left there by the McCanns' spokesperson, Justine McGuiness, were found under a sofa. In addition to the identification of a clearly defined geographic area, were numerous inscriptions which the PJ have never succeeded in interpreting. According to sources close to the investigation, nothing was done in this direction and the PJ employees who allegedly regarded the documents as being the work of an esoteric group, did not even take the trouble to visit the place indicated, considering the lead as being of no value to the case. The McCanns' spokesperson, who was with them throughout the time when they were constituted arguidos under Portuguese law, ended up being dismissed on her arrival in England, this in spite of the fact that she might prove to be one of the most embarrassing witnesses for the couple and the English authorities. The fact is that Justine McGuiness has never been questioned by the PJ and thus it is that the exact significance of the documents and photographs has never been explained. Ribeira do Vascão satellite picture (click to enlarge)   Thanks to Joana Morais / wikimapia for satellite image above   In statements recorded recently in London, sources close to the former Liberal Party candidate and specialist in public relations, confirmed that Justine McGuiness was even allegedly the target of various pressures, notably in the legal field, meaning, for her, that she should keep quiet about everything she saw and heard during the time she worked for Kate and Gerry McCann. What is certain is that the former spokesperson and her employers, the McCanns, were already at odds, particularly with Kate, on the day they left Portugal together and their "divorce" on arrival in England did not surprise anyone. Justine had always directed very harsh criticism towards Madeleine's mother, sometimes in the presence of journalists. And the poor relations between the two women were not limited to financial matters, on which Justine always demanded settlement for her work and for numerous extra hours spent with the couple, but also in meetings and dinners with journalists and representatives of the British authorities. Today, all this might have been forgotten if it were not for the results of an investigation into records of the McCanns' telephone calls and of all the people who were in contact with them, an investigation led by journalists, in collaboration with former operatives of the information services.   Swansea again (this section translated by Joana Morais)   While investigating the calls received and made on the McCann's mobile phones during their stay in Portugal, the investigators found a report from inspector Paulo Dias of the PJ where it is confirmed that Kate received, on the 2nd of May, at around 11h21, a call from Swansea (UK) which, later, she would justify to the PJ as being a mistake. A sufficiently important "mistake" that Madeleine's mother guarded the register of this call in her mobile, in spite of having deleted all the details of other communications.   More interesting, the investigators - some Britons, used to dealing with sensitive cases - also found the register of a phone call made on the same day, after lunch, between a mobile phone in Praia da Luz and the same number in Swansea that had contacted Kate McCann. The mobile from which the call was made does not belong to either of the McCanns or to the group of friends who were accompanying them and, up to today, the Judiciary Police, despite several requests to the English authorities, has never been able to identify the owner of that mobile nor have they obtained from the English support or willingness so that they can question whomever it was regarding these calls.   Now, while cross-referencing the results obtained next to the mobile telecommunication operators in Portugal and in Spain with the reports of the Judiciary Police - in particular the excellent work of the inspector Paulo Dias - investigators and journalists found a new element worthy of interest: the mobile phone used in Praia da Luz to call the number in Swansea, who had contacted Kate on May 2, was used to make and receive calls in the area indicated in the documents and in the photographs that the McCann's spokeswoman left under the sofa on the day of the return to England.   According to the records now known, the mobile phone was used near the Ribeira do Vascão on several occasions, namely between the days 12th and 15th of May, 2007 but equally in June and July of the same year. Those phone calls were always made to England or to Praia da Luz, except for one, which was made to the British embassy in Lisbon.

Maddie Case: What is Justine McGuinness hiding?, 17 December 2008

(click images to enlarge)   Maddie Case: What is Justine McGuinness hiding? TVMais (no online link, appears in paper edition only)   By HERNANI CARVALHO 17 December 2008   The former spokewoman of the McCanns left "some documents" behind and gave a hint to an inspector of the PJ. On returning to England she was dismissed but still remains silent. Why did she stop working for the McCanns?   When parted from the company of the McCanns, that morning of September 9, Justine McGuinness left behind a few documents. Forgotten - in the words of some, deliberately - to others. In the papers can be found a remote location explicitly placed deep in the Algarve and a few more details which have not yet been decoded.   What you do not realise yet is that this place has a mysterious connection with the Maddie case. There is no information that the PJ have ever gone there. But why did the official spokeswoman for the couple leave the papers in Portugal, forgotten underneath a sofa at the villa of the McCanns?   It is known is that she had barely set foot on British soil when Justine McGuinness was fired. "Because of the extra workload," explained the McCanns in those days. Justine never spoke and continues in silence, but tvmais knows that Justine McGuinness continues an aversion to the McCanns and that Kate McCann, the mother of Madeleine, did not have confidence in their official spokeswoman (see box) in Praia da Luz.   Justine McGuinness was a voice for the McCanns in the Algarve while Clarence Mitchell was still in contact with his prime minister. But Kate always distrusted her. "She never refers to her (Maddie) as a person and there seems no great emotion, sympathy or understanding with regard to my feelings," wrote the mother of Maddie in the notes. It was probably this that founded the doubts of Kate.   The day she departed for England, Justine McGuinness told an inspector of the PJ to read the documents that she had forgotten at the McCanns' villa.   Kate's relations with Justine were always tense and very suspicious (see box). But Kate did not imagine that Justine would forget some documents on the sofa, in the villa where the couple lived in Praia da Luz.   A source close to the investigation in those days told tvmais that, at the airport, Justine McGuinness told a PJ inspector to look at the documents that she had left at the McCann's villa. Until now nobody has given any importance to the PJ papers.   There was no response from the phone of Justine McGuinness, but Goncalo Amaral, contacted by our editorial, denies the information. "There were only a few papers about a group with links to esoteric things... Nothing important for research," the inspector coordinator of Portimao told us, explaining that the papers were found by the owners of the villa, whilst cleaning, after the couple had left for England.   tvmais recalls that in those days, the PJ inspectors visited the villa, after the McCanns had left Portugal.   In the "paperwork" included a detailed location of a place on the border between the Alentejo and Algarve, 20 km from Almodovar, crossed the river by Vascao. It is not easy for those who do not know Portugal to invent such a place... What happened there? When and why? Only McGuinness (for now) can tell, but she remains in silence. Until then, you know that tvmais runs (one more) private research.   Kate's distrust   The notes of Mrs McCann reveal what she thinks of Justine McGuinness.   Saturday, July 14 "Just got to 1h30m, after a conversation / a confrontation? with Justine about trust or lack of it. A little emotional - Justine, due to doubts about my trust in her and for questioning her professionalism and me for not taking into account, or at least recognising, my emotional state. Anyway, even though I feel uncomfortable, I feel that a conversation was necessary.   Tuesday, July 17 "I talked to Michael about them and he will help us after Trish and Sandy have a little party, and on the work of Dani and the relationship of Phil / Justine, and so on. Also return the call from Jill, although it is very difficult to find chat with people from home, other than those who were closely involved.   Wednesday, July 25 "I spoke with Trish about Justine. Some uncertainties. The key is to what extent she is dedicated to Madeleine. I need to feel that she is. She never refers to her as a person and there seems no great emotion, sympathy or understanding with regard to my feelings. Maybe this is not relevant to her role and her activities while managing the campaign, but I know that I would feel a little happier. The other concern, I think, is related to her remuneration and validation of her necessity and her "overtime" and therefore the request for more money. I think we all need to have a conversation soon. After having said all this, I cannot imagine how things would be without her and that worries me.

Suspicious phone calls launch new clue in the Maddie case, 18 December 2008

Suspicious phone calls launch new clue in the Maddie case 24horas (pages 8-9) Text: Duarte Levy 18 December 2008 - This is the same article produced on Duarte Levy's 'SOS Madeleine McCann' site, of 16 December 2008 (see above)

The Tapas Seven Rogatory Interviews, 27 January 2009

The interrogation of the Tapas 7: the words before the images SOSMaddie   Duarte Levy  27 January 2009   "Russell James O’Brien was questioned on the 8th of April from 9.55 a.m. until 8.18 p.m., divided into 5 distinct time periods (9.55 – 11.30 a.m., 12.01 – 12.50 a.m., 2.06 – 3.55 p.m., 5.15 – 6.56 p.m., and 7.37 – 8.18 p.m.). Officially, all the video images of this day were rendered useless because the video camera didn't work… which means that Enderby police wants us to believe that, even during pauses, they never verified if the interrogation was being recorded correctly. This was the official version, the one that was offered to the Portuguese authorities. Nevertheless, the truth of facts is different, and Russell O'Brien was questioned again on the 10th of April; this time the camera worked."   To make things easier, and given the number of documents in the process that have yet to be taken care of (including those that are still subject to judicial secrecy and are not included on the DVD that was distributed to journalists), I have decided to publish the original texts of the transcriptions that were made from the video recordings of the Tapas 7’s interrogation in Enderby in April 2008. All the texts will be made available here today. The texts are protected by a password, but all you have to do is to leave a comment under this post, as well as your email address, and a password will be sent to you promptly. The texts are available HERE. The video images will also be made available in the near future.

McCann - Charm Offensive, 01 February 2009

McCann - Charm Offensive SOSMaddie   Duarte Levy  01 February 2009 Thanks to AnnaEsse for translation   "New year, New Life"   In Portugal, as the start of each new calendar year is marked, the Portuguese, the eternal sardine munchers - as they were described by a few xenophobic British commentators - have the habit of using, along with best wishes, a typical expression: "New year, new life," which in French can be translated as "nouvelle anneé, nouvelle vie". An expression the McCanns probably learned from their Portuguese lawyers, not forgetting their Social Democrat friends.   Meanwhile, the recent visit to Portugal by Madeleine McCann's father is the epitome of a new kind of charm offensive which has allowed the couple to open "hostilities": after being in agreement with their seven British friends not to participate in the reconstruction of the events and actions of the night of May 3rd, the couple have allegedly found the willingness to cooperate with the Portuguese authorities, stating that they are convinced that there are still things that could be done in the investigation into their daughter's disappearance.   Reassuring the Portuguese media that there would be no legal action against them, while in London he was succeeding, once again, in making a British daily back down - forcing another "contribution," to the Madeleine fund - Gerry McCann announced, in preparation for Kate's next visit, that it was the first of many visits.   Arriving at Faro airport on January 13th, Gerry McCann stayed on Portuguese territory for twenty-two hours in order to meet, according to his spokesman, the couple's lawyer and the British Ambassador to Lisbon.   A "surprise" visit, announced in advance by several British and Portuguese media, who say that the year 2009, in terms of communication and image, would bring a few surprises.   Action - Reaction   Amongst the new resolutions adopted by the McCanns, always very aware of what is being said on the internet (blogs and forums) and in the media, we find the motto "action - reaction", evidenced in the recent "disclosure" of accounts for the fund created after the disappearance of Madeleine's body.   After the use of money from the Madeleine fund to pay Kate and Gerry McCann's expenses, without any direct connection to the hunt for Maddie, was touched upon by a Portuguese television channel (TVI), number one in the ratings, the couple's advisers reacted immediately, producing a summary of the accounts which explain nothing about the real use of the money. Some might even say that this reaction was designed to "pull the rug from under" foreign journalists, because, in the United Kingdom few still have the opportunity to doubt or to question the couple's good intentions, as can be deduced from the few articles published about the accounts.   In the United Kingdom, in spite of the restrictions imposed by the editors-in-chief and the huge sums paid without any kind of legal proceedings, some still happen to be writing about the McCanns.   According to a British tabloid, after 21 months "of agony" Kate McCann is allegedly "obsessed with the search for her daughter," spending three hours a day reading documents in the hope that they could answer the question: "where has our Madeleine gone?"   The very title of the article sets the tone: "Inside the mind of Kate McCann". The journalist doesn't explain how he managed such a feat (getting into such a "tortured" mind), but it is certain that the PJ would be interested to learn the technique which might lead them to find out the answers to the questions that Kate McCann refused to answer, notably this one: what did Kate McCann do on the afternoon and evening of May 3rd 2007.   According to this article - an integral part of the McCanns' new marketing campaign in the British press - Kate spends a significant amount of her time reading the thousands of pages of the 17 volumes of the investigation into her daughter's disappearance, the same documents which a few days ago, her husband and the couple's spokesman, said were still in the process of being translated, but "where there was no evidence."   Again, according to this tabloid, after Madeleine's disappearance, Kate McCann left her job as a general practitioner and while "the twins Sean and Amélie enjoy playing with their friends at nursery," she devotes her time to "digging up clues that would lead her to her daughter."   The article recounts a few more details of that surprising "visit", without, however, providing answers to the investigators' questions....we wonder what that journalist has been doing "inside the mind of kate McCann." It is probably for lack of response that the tabloid changed the title of the article.   Three months away from the second anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance, the McCanns' new public charm campaign has well and truly started and other similar articles are to be expected from the British press.   *   Note: The TVI talk show programme referred to in this article was broadcast on 21 January 2009, with guest speakers: psychologist Paulo Sargento, journalist Hernâni Carvalho and journalist Duarte Levy.

Maddie is a national security case, 20 February 2009

Maddie is a national security case Duarte Levy Wordpress   By DUARTE LEVY February 20, 2009 - 12:01 AM   In England, Leicestershire police, replying to a request from a British journalist, under legislation that regulates free access to information, refused to explain whether or not the recourse to phone tapping and the interception of electronic mail within the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case was covered by a warrant.   According to journalist Jon Clements, the police, after delaying its reply for several months alleging the need to consult other "agencies", replied that it had no obligation whatsoever to explain under which terms any surveillance means were used in the Maddie case, due to reasons of "national security".   Leicestershire police, which is considered to be England's 5th best municipal police, further explained to the journalist that it was equally dispensed from replying to him, because the requested explanation could be related to other "security entities", which, according to the legislation that regulates free access to information, equals several secret service bodies, such as MI5, MI6, GCHG, SOCA or the Special Forces.   Satellite facing Morocco at the moment when Maddie disappeared   Journalist Jon Clements' "adventure" is not unique, given the fact that in May 2007, only a few days after Maddie disappeared, a top official at the Polícia Judiciária's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Portimão asked his English colleagues, that had been sent to Praia da Luz, for access to images from the satellites that watch over the Algarve coast.   While the request itself could be seen as normal, as satellite imagery had helped the authorities in solving one or the other more complicated case in the past, the reply was surprising. According to the "experts" that had been sent into Portugal by the British government, at the time when Madeleine McCann was taken from apartment 5A at the Ocean Club, all the satellites were turned towards the coast of Morocco.   An unfortunate "coincidence" that would end up surprising the PJ men when, months later, they saw the same "experts" defending the theory of Madeleine's abduction into Morocco, supported on the fantasist statements from a Spanish detective agency which, in a public  statement, even said it knew who had taken the little girl, why and when, promising that she would return home before Christmas.

Portugal: Sara Sofia is 3 years old and was abducted by her mother over one month ago, 20 February 2009

Portugal: Sara Sofia is 3 years old and was abducted by her mother over one month ago Duarte Levy Wordpress   Portuguese Child Abduction Alert System starts only in March and for now the information and communication means that are used by the authorities remain the same as before the Maddie case   By DUARTE LEVY February 20, 2009 - 12:05 AM   Although the case is being handled by the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) with the same seriousness as a disappearance, Sara Sofia Lopes dos Santos, aged three, disappeared on the first day of 2009 within the frame of a parental abduction.   According to information from the PJ's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Portimão, Sara was abducted by her mother and has been taken abroad, probably into Spain, where the investigators try to locate her with the cooperation of the Spanish authorities.   According to the same source, since the couple split in 2007, Sara's parents have been in conflict concerning the exercise of parental rights over the child, that had been officially entrusted to her father, who accuses the mother of abandoning the child. Sara's mother and her relatives tell a different version, accusing the father of abusing the child, a fact that was never proved.   Although Sara's abduction took place on the 1st of January 2009, it was not until now that the information was placed on the Polícia Judiciária’s internet site (www.policiajudiciaria.pt), where a recent photograph of the child can be seen.   According to information that was now publicised by the PJ's CID in Portimão – the same that was responsible for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann -, the last time that Sara Sofia was seen, she was wearing a pink Nike track suit and pink sneakers.   The little girl, of Portuguese nationality, has brown eyes and brown hair, and a red mark on her back as a distinguishing  feature.   According to a PJ source in Portimão, there is no connection whatsoever between the disappearance of Sara Sofia and the Madeleine McCann case, yet the investigators fear that their work may be harmed by the intervention of English media, as the fact that both children are of the same age and disappeared from the same relatively close geographical area "will certainly be used to re-launch the media focus on the Maddie case and to concentrate attentions on the Algarve, thus diverting suspicions from the McCann couple".   English press associates disappearance of Sara with the Maddie case   The information about Sara Sofia's disappearance would have gone completely unnoticed in England if it hadn't been for the intervention of a source that is close to the British authorities and to the McCann couple, who, unofficially, alerted a few journalists while stressing the fact that the investigation is under the responsibility of the PJ's CID in Portimão, the same one that investigated the Maddie case.   The information that was forwarded to the journalists doesn't even contain a single line about the possibility of a parental abduction, and the focus rests on the fact that Sara Sofia is of the same age as Madeleine McCann and disappeared "mysteriously" in the Algarve, the same geographical region where the British child disappeared from in May 2007.   According to the information that was offered to the English journalists, the disappearance of Sara Sofia in Portugal's Southern region is evidence of the possible existence of a predator, a fact that the Portuguese police had excluded in Madeleine's case.   Portugal adopts French Alert System model   From March onwards, the disappearance of children in Portugal starts counting on an "Abduction Alert" system which, through messages every 15 minutes, publicise the case and request for information through various platforms, from local radios up to public transportation terminals.   The system that is to be adopted in our country follows the French model, named "Alerte Enlèvement", which has proved its effectiveness in practice, on several occasions.   The Portuguese version that was studied by the Justice Ministry counts on the media to join the project, and to publicise a common alert message, that can be local, regional or national, during the first three hours after the child’s disappearance.   Just like in France, the decision to launch the alert will be taken by the Attorney General in conjunction with the PJ through a "Crisis Cabinet", in the case of an abduction or sequestration, and not yet including cases of parental abduction or simple disappearance.   In November last year, the Justice Minister, Alberto Costa, had already assured that the "Abduction Alert" system would soon be available, nevertheless stressing that in order for the system to be able to function, the cooperation between the Public Ministry (PM) and the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) would have to improve.   *   Update Duarte Levy Wordpress   By DUARTE LEVY February 20, 2009 - 12:25 PM   Portimão (Portugal)   According to the latest information from the Judicial Police (PJ), Sara Sofia, aged three, was abducted by her mother, Paula Lopes, supposedly accompanied by two individuals of German nationality.   The group includes another woman and three more children.   At least three people of the group, aged 38 to 62, were previously made arguidos in a breach of trust and falsification case for an estimated amount of 57,600 euros. The three adults were to present themselves regularly at the GNR of Lagoa.   Sara Sofia had left Faro's Refúgio Aboim Ascensão on 19th December, after the Court in Portimão had given exclusive custody to her father, Manuel Santos, who, on  1st January, entrusted the child to her mother with whom she was to spend the day. After 48 hours without news, Manuel Santos lodged a complaint with the Judicial Police and remains desperate, as, according to him, the child would be in danger in company of the group.   On her escape, the mother of Sara also took her three other children with her: two nine year old twins and a 13 year old girl.   Despite the fact that the Sara Sofia Lopes dos Santos case is a case of parental abduction, it is handled by the Judicial Police (PJ) with the same seriousness as for any other disappearance and the Spanish authorities have been informed.   According to the information from the PJ's Criminal Investigation Department (DIC) in Portimão, since the couple split in 2007, Sara's parents have been in conflict concerning the exercise of parental rights over the child, who had been officially entrusted to her father in December last year.   Manuel Santos accuses the mother of having abandoned the child. Sara’s mother and her relatives tell a different version, accusing the father of abusing the child, a fact that was never proven.   Although Sara's abduction took place on the 1st January 2009, it was not until now that the information was placed on the Judicial Police's internet site (www.policiajudiciaria.pt), where a recent photograph of the child can be seen.   According to information that has now been publicised by the PJ's CID in Portimão – the same that was responsible for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann  –  the last time that Sara Sofia was seen, she was wearing a pink Nike track suit and pink sneakers.   The little girl, of Portuguese nationality, has brown eyes and brown hair, and a red mark on her back as a distinguishing feature.   According to a PJ source in Portimão, there is no connection whatsoever between the disappearance of Sara Sofia and the Madeleine McCann case, yet the investigators fear that their work may be harmed by the intervention of English media, as the fact that both children are of the same age and disappeared from the same relatively close geographical area "will certainly be used to re-launch the media focus on the Maddie case and to concentrate attention on the Algarve, thus diverting suspicions from the McCann couple".

England introduced spies into the Maddie Case, 23 February 2009

England introduced spies into the Maddie Case 24horas/SOSMaddie   British police classified the investigation as a matter of 'national security'   By DUARTE LEVY 23 February 2009   - Main article is, in essence, the same as that produced by Duarte Levy on 20 February 2009, entitled: 'Maddie is a national security case' and reproduced below   *   The many casualties in the case of the girl abducted in the Algarve 24horas (page 8)   By DUARTE LEVY 23 February 2009 Translation by Nigel Moore   The investigation into the disappearance of Maddie has been marked by a large number of casualties among both diplomats and the police. In Portugal, after the exit of Gonçalo Amaral, removed from the investigation at the request of the British authorities, the PJ's then national director, Alípio Ribeiro, also left, as well as other inspectors. Guilhermino Encarnação, deputy national director of the PJ, is low due to prolonged health reasons, but was hit by the statements of a former Spanish private investigator, who assured the existence of a "mole" inside the PJ who would have provided information to the Método 3 agency. A "mole" would not be the director of the PJ in Faro but someone very close to him. The British Ambassador John Buck was replaced on 10 September 2007, the day following the establishment of Kate and Gerry McCann as arguidos. A month earlier, in August of the same year, the consul in the Algarve, Bill Henderson, left, completely abandoning his diplomatic career. His replacement, Celia Edwards, would also not stay for a long time in Portugal. Also, leaving the Foreign Office, were Sheree Dodd and Clarence Mitchell; the first, responsible for the communication of the English government, and the second, becoming official spokesman for the McCann couple, maintaining however, for some time, a "privileged relationship" with the British Government.   *   Nor were they frightened of Sócrates 24horas/SOSMaddie   By DUARTE LEVY 23 February 2009 Translation by Nigel Moore   The disappearance of Madeleine McCann deserved, from the first moments, special attention on the part of the British authorities: a crisis Cabinet, especially to support the McCann couple, was created within the Foreign Office before the arrival of the first inspectors of the Policia Judiciária.   The importance given by the British government to the McCann couple surpassed all expectations and even the elements of the secret services of Her Majesty, who travelled to Portugal, eventually showed surprise by the ease with which Kate and Gerry McCann entered into contact with Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.   The British government's commitment was such that neither the intervention of the Portuguese Prime Minister, José Sócrates, asking the politicians not to interfere in the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie, managed to convince the British to leave the PJ to work in peace.   *   The many "casualties" of the Maddie case Duarte Levy Wordpress (longer version of 24horas article)   By DUARTE LEVY February 23, 2009   The investigation into Maddie's disappearance, apart from the enormous worldwide media exposure, was marked by a relevant number of casualties among the diplomats and policemen who participated or touched this sensitive case.   In Portugal, after the exit of Gonçalo Amaral, who was removed from the Maddie case investigation by request from the British authorities, the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) also lost then national director, Alípio Ribeiro, as well as several other inspector.   Guilhermino Encarnação, a joint national director, responsible for the Directory of Faro at the moment when Madeleine McCann disappeared, may be the next confirmed casualty in this case. The man who became known in the investigation for having prevented Gonçalo Amaral from carrying out the interrogation of Kate McCann at a moment when she was, according to several inspectors who were present on location, "ready to talk", has been on long-term leave due to health issues and is not returning to active anymore.   Despite the former director's health issues, an internal source at the PJ in the Algarve advances that Guilhermino Encarnação only went on leave after the statements from a Spanish former private detective, who revealed the existence of a "mole" inside the PJ, who allegedly, and for months, provided information to Método 3, the agency that worked for the McCanns.   According to the statements from the former Método 3 operating officer, which were further confirmed by a PJ source, the "mole" wasn't the PJ director in Faro, but rather a person who was close to him and under his protection.   On the British side, some diplomats and policemen also fell, including the ambassador and the consul in Portugal, respectively John Buck and Bill Henderson.   Ambassador John Buck was replaced on the 10th of September 2007, the day following the constitution of Kate and Gerry McCann as arguidos. One month earlier, in August of the same year, the consul in the Algarve, Bill Henderson, had resigned, fully abandoning the diplomatic career. His substitute, Celia Edwards, would not stay in Portugal for a long time, either.   The Foreign Office also lost Sheree Dodd and Clarence Mitchell, the former becoming the head of communications for the English parliament, and the latter, becoming the McCann couple's official spokesman, while maintaining, for some time, a "privileged relationship" with the British government.

McCanns want to return to television, 31 March 2009

McCanns want to return to television Duarte Levy Wordpress   By Duarte Levy 31 March 2009   With little over a month to go for the second anniversary of the disappearance of Maddie, the little English girl that went missing in Praia da Luz on the 3rd of May 2007, her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, are once again negotiating a television interview, during which they expect to launch a new public appeal, according to a source close to the couple.   According to the same source, the McCann couple's interview would be recorded in England, but equally broadcast in our country, as there are contacts with a Portuguese television channel which, as usual, would be prepared to make a financial contribution to the fund that was created after Madeleine's alleged abduction.   Kate and Gerry McCann – as 24horas had already reported – are equally considering the possibility of travelling into our country, to the Algarve, to mark the second anniversary of their daughter's disappearance and to reinforce the campaign that is presently being carried out in the area of Praia da Luz and its surroundings.   The announcement of a television interview with the couple has even surprised the British professionals in the sector, as earlier this month, Madeleine's father had issued violent criticism against the work of English and Portuguese journalists, in front of a parliamentary commission.   After refusing to cooperate with the PJ in the official inquest into their daughter's disappearance, Kate and Gerry, already as arguidos, abandoned Portugal with the assistance of diplomatic representatives of the United Kingdom in our country. An escape that was recorded and broadcast live by various television channels.   The McCanns stopped being arguidos when the Public Ministry decided to archive the process, which currently awaits better evidence, after Gonçalo Amaral left and the process was handed over to Paulo Rebelo, who did nothing to pursue the line of inquiry that had been opened in the first months of the investigation, as the PJ's final report proves.   Several diligences remained to be carried out, including the reconstitution of the gestures and movements of the nine English adults who accompanied Maddie in Praia da Luz and who, according to their own statements to Portuguese and British authorities, were always very contradictory. Several Spanish, English and Irish witnesses were never heard in the process.

Five constabulary forces looking for Maddie, 01 April 2009

Five constabulary forces looking for Maddie Duarte Levy Wordpress   Duarte Levy April 1, 2009 • 11:23 am   Even if the Leicestershire Constabulary force has taken, in the public's view, the primary lead in supporting and co-coordinating the British Government's police response to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, several other Constabulary forces have also participated. These details are not exhaustive given the fact that the work of the "private services" and "others" are not available to the public. Not yet…   Nottinghamshire Police – HMIC Inspection Report (July 2008) • The force gave examples of support provided to neighboring forces, including the activation of overflow call-handling facilities (MIRWEB) to assist Leicestershire Constabulary in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann Lincolnshire Police – HMIC Inspection Report (July 2008) • A written protocol is in place between the five East Midlands regional forces, namely the East Midlands Regional Information and Co-ordination Centre (EMRICC). This collaboration was developed to maintain communication and co-ordination across the region, thereby providing effective identification and deployment of the necessary resources to a mobilization event, which will include either a spontaneous incident or a pre-planned event, either in or outside the region. EMRICC has been activated on four occasions, including for the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from Portugal in May 2007 and, more recently, during Operation Orca, which concerned the widening of the M1 motorway through the region. An ACPO lead is appointed on each occasion to direct EMRICC. Derbyshire Constabulary – HMIC Inspection Report (July 2008) • A written protocol is in place between the five East Midlands regional forces, namely the East Midlands regional information and co-ordination centre (EMRICC). This collaboration was developed to maintain communication and co-ordination across the region, thereby providing effective identification and deployment of the necessary resources to a mobilization event, which will include either a spontaneous incident or a pre-planned event, either in or outside the region. EMRICC has been activated on four occasions – for example, following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from Portugal in May 2007 and more recently an operation concerning the widening of the M1 motorway through the region. An ACPO lead is appointed on each occasion to direct EMRICC. Leicestershire Constabulary – HMIC Inspection Report (July 2008) • The force has taken the primary lead in supporting and co-coordinating the British Government’s police response to the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann (whose family live in Rothley, Leicestershire), from a holiday apartment in Portugal on 3 May 2007. It has committed significant resources and has established an incident room to manage its contribution to the investigation. It has also deployed a number of staff to perform various roles in Portugal. This ongoing enquiry will continue to be a demand on the force until the investigation is resolved. • Intelligence - The major crime investigation section (MCIS) has two dedicated analysts, although one member of staff has been committed virtually full time to Operation Task (the disappearance of Madeleine McCann). The MCIS analysts are primarily focused on evidential analysis as opposed to researching patterns, trends or predictive demands. A further analyst is in post to service protecting vulnerable people. Ample evidence was provided of the regular and routine use of problem and target profiles to support operations. Staff reported the regular use of horizon scanning and the use of open source and out-of-hours intelligence searches. There are sufficient resources in place to prepare the FSA and a range of National Intelligence Model (NIM) products that contain prevention, intelligence and enforcement activity. • The force can evidence effective use of gold groups and gold support groups in response to critical incidents; Operation Task (the disappearance on 3 May 2007 of Madeleine McCann in Portugal) is an obvious example. • In cases of hot intelligence, the superintendents heading major crime and SOC will direct and control resources and manage any competing demands. Good relationships exist regionally for collaborative arrangements; Operation Task (the disappearance of Madeleine McCann) illustrates how effective the arrangements are during times of excessive demand. • The disappearance of Madeleine McCann on 3 May 2007 in Portugal generated massive international media interest and placed considerable demands on Leicestershire, which had no legal jurisdiction in Portugal. The force responded immediately, dedicating staff and resources to create Operation Task. Initially, it deployed to Portugal a DCI, two FLOs and a DI to advise and support the Portuguese authorities. The force also established a MIR in Leicestershire, utilising HOLMES to manage the enquiries. The Metropolitan Police Services Specialist Crime Review Group commented (June 2007), "the volume of information collected during this enquiry can be compared to a Category A murder enquiry". The force also obtained short-term contract support from other East Midlands forces. On 14 May 2007, the force activated the MIRWEB system, which allows remote telephone call centers to be set up in other forces to direct the volume of messages received from members of the public away from the in-force MIR. Derbyshire Constabulary hosted and administered MIRWEB on behalf of the force; up to its closure in June 2007 a total of 3,577 calls had been received. The investigation remains active. • The ACC (crime) has performed the role of officer in overall command (OIOC) for Operation Task (the disappearance of Madeleine McCann) (…) Leicestershire Constabulary – HMIC Inspection Report (September 2008) • The force has taken the primary lead in supporting and co-coordinating the British Government’s police response to the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann (whose family live in Rothley, Leicestershire) from a holiday apartment in Portugal on 3 May 2007. It has committed significant resources and has established an incident room to manage its contribution to the investigation. It has also deployed a number of staff to perform various roles in Portugal. This ongoing enquiry will continue to be a demand on the force until the investigation is resolved. Northamptonshire Police – HMIC Inspection Report (July 2008) • Although there are no formal mutual aid agreements, successful mutual aid deployments of staff from East Midlands regional forces to deal with extraordinary demand was tested during 2007, when the force supplied HOLMES and MIRWEB staff to assist Leicestershire Constabulary in the Madeleine McCann enquiry. Specialist functions, such as test purchase and undercover operations are provided through the EMSOU and therefore the region’s forces can direct many resources into one or several forces for specific resource-intensive operations. The force has called on the SOCA for specialist resources in tackling kidnap and extortion enquiries. • A dedicated HOLMES team (a manager, three supervisors, eight indexers and clerical support) provides all the force HOLMES staffing requirements. Varying levels of indexing are used, depending on the nature of the enquiry, including minimal indexing. There are HOLMES suites in the five major incident rooms (MIRs). Collaborative arrangements to respond to extraordinary demand have recently been successfully tested by Leicestershire Constabulary during the Madeleine McCann enquiry. • Casualty bureau call-taking facilities are available in-force, operating on CASWEB through the training department, with 60 trained call-takers available for deployment. The capacity to link the call-taking facility to an MIR (via MIRWEB) is available, using the HOLMES team to set up a messaging unit. Collaborative arrangements for activating this facility during a large-scale enquiry have recently been successfully tested during the Madeleine McCann enquiry by Leicestershire Constabulary. • The EMRICC has been activated on four occasions, for example the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from Portugal May 2007 (…)

Police officers under investigation in Maddie case, 12 April 2009

Police officers under investigation in Maddie case Duarte Levy Wordpress   Duarte Levy April 12, 2009 • 2:20 PM   An investigation targeting several British police inspectors has been opened after a collaborator close to the McCann's stated that several internal police documents – considered as confidential – were sent from Portugal to a British journalist.   The documents in question, which officially were not known to the Portuguese authorities, all concerning the Madeleine McCann case, were "marked" which made it possible to determine their origin in the team that had accompanied the investigations into the claimed kidnapping, without however identifying the specific source of the leak.   According to the journalist, he supposedly received the documents without having asked for them, which is the reason why he supposedly delivered a copy to a collaborator of the McCann couple "in order to determine their authenticity".   According to a police source, the investigators already knew that the documents were in the hands of some foreign journalists, but it is only now, thanks to the contribution of the journalist and his spontaneous "source", that the investigation could start, the file being entrusted to "a national security authority".   It's since the beginning of the Maddie case that a large number of documents have been released from the British police files, part of which were published in full or in part in the media, as well as on the internet, where some did not hesitate to share some documents with complete strangers, allowing in this way certain parts of the file to end up in the hands of the people linked to the lawsuit.

"There were mistakes on both sides", 13 April 2009

"There were mistakes on both sides" 24horas   Gerry McCann wants the Portuguese authorities to investigate his daughter's disappearance again. The PJ doesn't believe him   By Duarte Levy 13 April 2009 Thanks to Astro for translation   During his recent stay in Praia da Luz, Gerry McCann stated that it was necessary for the police to be able to look at the inquiry's results and say: "Where are the failures and what more can we do?".   Maddie's father adopted a conciliating discourse, stating – concerning the Portuguese police's work – that "they worked very hard and there were many pressures". And he admitted that he made some disputable decisions: "Looking back, there were probably mistakes on both sides".   Gerry's statements fail to convince the PJ inspectors who worked on the case since the beginning, under Gonçalo Amaral's orders, who continue to defend that Maddie was not abducted: "I don't believe that he wants the inquiry to be reopened… mainly if we take into account that they did everything to prevent the investigation of reaching a conclusion", a PJ inspector tells 24horas.   "The Public Ministry itself is not very interested in reopening the process because that means they would have to admit that it was an error to archive it", the inspector concludes.   McCann family controls the fund   Despite his promises of transparency, it was under great secrecy that Gerry McCann, Maddie's father, joined the group of directors who manage the financial fund that was created nine days after the little girl's disappearance.   The 'Find Madeleine' fund officially collected almost three million euros, but not being a charitable institution, it is legally exempt from publishing its accounts, exhaustively explaining how the money was used, which doubtlessly explains the fact that the recently disclosed documents don't include any reference to the payment of instalments of the mortgage on Kate and Gerry McCann's house, as well as other personal expenses.   Gerry McCann himself recently told several media that the 'Find Madeleine' fund money is running out.   Gerry McCann's entrance into directorship actually happens after several personalities, who had initially supported the family, started distancing themselves from the couple, which has also coincided with a major diminution of financial income.   With Gerry McCann's entry onto the abovementioned fund's board of directors, which officially took place late last year, Maddie's parents assured complete control over the 'Find Madeleine' fund, given the fact that the majority of its directors are members of the McCann family: Kate McCann, Gerry McCann, Peter Hubner, Brian Kennedy, John McCann, Edward Smethurst, Doug Skehan, Jon Corner and Michael Linett.   Tainted questionings   The inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine was archived by the Public Ministry shortly after Paulo Rebelo arrived to substitute Gonçalo Amaral as the coordinator of the CID in Portimão.   Paulo Rebelo, the same who had negotiated the return of Fátima Felgueiras to Portugal, was incapable of continuing the investigations and carrying out several diligences that were considered to be extremely important, namely the official reconstruction of what happened on the night of the disappearance.   It was also under the responsibility of Paulo Rebelo – who has now been transferred to the Lisbon Directory – that a PJ team went to England, where the inspectors, contrary of what was expected of them, were unable to follow the totality of questioning of the members of the so-called Tapas group, the seven English citizens that accompanied the McCanns on the night that Maddie disappeared. A failure with consequences that are still impossible to be precise.

Until when will the Public Ministry keep the "Maddie" case in a drawer?, 14 April 2009

Until when will the Public Ministry keep the "Maddie" case in a drawer? Duarte Levy Wordpress   Duarte Levy April 14, 2009 • 10:00 AM   It was through a press release that, on the 21st of July 2008, the Attorney General announced what was expected already: the archiving of the Maddie case, due to an alleged lack of evidence that any crime had been committed.   An incomprehensible decision, taking into account that 14 months after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, numerous diligences hadn't been carried out, witnesses remained unheard and, above everything else, a child had yet to be found.   Now, and according to statements by the AG himself, the Maddie case could be reopened if new data elements, but despite the appearance of several testimonies and documents, the Public Ministry has not manifested the slightest intention of continuing the investigative work that had been performed by the PJ in Portimão.   Even more incomprehensible, numerous documents from the process have come from England into the hands of journalists, and they all point towards a clear interference from the British authorities in an investigation that was well under way. It also remains beyond comprehension that the Public Ministry has decided not to prosecute all those who did everything they could to delay and damage the inquiry: the Spanish private detectives, António Toscano and his false allegations, etc.   Gonçalo Amaral, who was removed from the case allegedly due to having given a statement to a journalist, continues to claim that he fell prey to political and diplomatic pressures that could actually be verified through internal documents from the English Home Office and the police itself.   Today, almost two years after the death of Madeleine McCann, almost all of the indicia that were collected and analysed by the English lab has been destroyed, or its whereabouts are unknown, and nobody really knows what would be the famous element that the Public Ministry awaits to reopen the process, because so far, all of them have been ignored.   Several attempts have been made so far, and even with images and documents that were handed over to the police, the Public Ministry continues to ignore the real issue: the Maddie case is no longer a case that belongs to the McCanns, but rather a case that belongs to a society that needs to know the truth.

McCanns have not demanded reopening of the process, 15 April 2009

McCanns have not demanded reopening of the process Duarte Levy Wordpress for 24horas   Reopening of the case in the hands of João Melchior Gomes and Magalhães e Menezes   Duarte Levy April 15, 2009 • 6:05 AM   Contrary to what Gerry McCann had led to suppose in the statements that he made to the press during his passage through Praia da Luz, neither the McCann couple nor its lawyers have requested the reopening of the inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine, so far. The information was now confirmed to 24horas by a source at the Public Ministry.   During the filming of his version of what happened on the night of the 3rd of May 2007, the night of the alleged disappearance, the father of the English girl stated that it was necessary for the police to look at the results of the inquiry in order to see "where the mistakes are and what else we can do?".   According to the same source, after the Maddie case was archived, on the 21st of July 2008, several elements were appended to the process, but neither the joint Attorney General, João Melchior Gomes, nor the prosecutor, Magalhães e Menezes, have so far considered that "sufficiently strong" motives exist to reopen the inquiry.   Even today, almost two years after Madeleine McCann allegedly died – as Gonçalo Amaral defended in his documentary – the investigators continue to have no doubt that the inquiry was affected by a contamination that was carried out intentionally by Kate and Gerry McCann, with one sole purpose: to conceal their daughter's death. These are the suspicions that are part of a report that was signed by a chief inspector, on the 10th of September 2007, and which are part of the process but were ignored by the PJ's final report.   At that time, the investigator even suggested a change in the coercion measure of 'termo de identidade e residência' [obligation to state identity and residence] for the couple that had just been made arguidos, a fact that was also ignored by the Public Ministry, which actually allowed for Kate and Gerry McCann to abandon the Portuguese territory.   Gonçalo Amaral, the former coordinator of the CID in Portimão, continues to state that Madeleine died on the very same night that she disappeared, and in the documentary that TVI broadcast this week, he demonstrated the impossibility of an abduction, using a reconstitution played by actors to point out several contradictions in the testimonies that were given in Portugal and in England by the couple and the seven British persons that accompanied them, the so-called Tapas Bar group.   A source at the Public Ministry that was contacted by 24horas confirmed that the documentary, which is based on the book "Maddie: The Truth of the Lie", by Gonçalo Amaral, was "watched very attentively" and that it will "obviously" be appended to the process, while the same may happen to the documentary that will result from the filming that was recently carried out under the guidance of Gerry McCann in Praia da Luz.

McCanns go to Oprah, 16 April 2009

McCanns go to Oprah Duarte Levy Wordpress and 24horas   Maddie's parents will not receive money for going to the show on the day of the second anniversary of their daughter's disappearance   Duarte Levy April 16, 2009 • 8:24 am Thanks to Astro for translation   Kate and Gerry McCann will mark the second anniversary of their daughter's disappearance with an interview with Oprah Winfrey, on the most famous American talk show. 24horas had already advanced this news, but official confirmation of the show's date was lacking.   Maddie's parents are travelling to Chicago next week, where they will complete filming, which had been started in England, of a one-hour special that is dedicated to the case, which will be broadcast on the 3rd of May, and during which they intend to present a new digital image representing the child with the look that she would have today if she were alive.   Contrary to what he had announced in Praia da Luz early this month, the couple's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, confirmed Maddie's parents' participation in 'Oprah', stressing the fact that the couple is counting on the interview's broadcast in 144 countries to re-launch the searches for the little girl.   When questioned about payment or a possible financial participation by Oprah to the McCanns, Clarence Mitchell denied by saying that "Kate and Gerry won't receive the smallest dollar".   Reply to Gonçalo Amaral   Meanwhile, the documentary that an English television channel came to record in Praia da Luz, early this month, and in which Gerry McCann and two of the friends that spent their holidays with Maddie's parents participated, is going to be altered.   The producers thus want to include a series of 'replies' to the one that TVI broadcast on Monday, which is based on the version of Gonçalo Amaral. This information was confirmed to 24horas yesterday by a member of Mentorn Media, the company that is producing the documentary that Channel Four broadcasts in England on the 7th of May.   According to the same source, the changes were made at Gerry's request and take into account the version that was given in Valentim de Carvalho's documentary, where the former inquiry coordinator reaffirms his conviction that the child died in the couple's apartment at the Ocean Club resort.   The English version of what happened points at an abduction that was carried out by a local resident or by someone with Mediterranean features.   Documentary on the Internet   The documentary from Valentim de Carvalho that TVI broadcast last Monday is being a victim of its own success. The Portuguese company has already been forced to impose its rights with various internet sites, namely the video platform YouTube, where only hours after the end of the programme, the documentary could be seen in its entirety. Despite the action, numerous sites now allow for the programme to be downloaded.

Maddie, a two-year-old "pact", 06 May 2009

Maddie, a two-year-old "pact" Duarte Levy Wordpress for 24horas   By Duarte Levy May 6, 2009 • 10:59 pm   Two years after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the little English girl that was allegedly abducted in Praia da Luz, the Polícia Judiciária still cannot find the ending for a story that continues to move two countries and whose actors and victims are, to this day, confronted with the facts and theories of the most media exposed case of Portuguese justice.   There is no evidence that Maddie is alive and all indications, whether public or under judicial secrecy, have been confirming the child's death, but many continue to question themselves about the role that was played by each one of the actors in this case.   United in a veritable "pact of silence" against the Portuguese authorities, as Felícia Cabrita wrote, the nine English people from the Tapas Bar – as they ended up being known – are not a homogenous group anymore and few remain side by side with Kate and Gerry McCann.   David Payne   The 43-year-old doctor is married to Fiona and the father of two: Lily and Scarlet, both aged between two and five. Two years on, the Payne couple stays at the side of Maddie's parents and state that they share the idea of an abduction with them.   From the entire group, David and Fiona are the most faithful, and according to a source that is close to both couples, the recent allegations of paedophilia that have been advanced in Portugal, have only strengthened the friendship that exists since the time when Fiona worked with Kate.   The medic is actually one of the main actors in the Maddie case: it was David Payne who organised the holiday at the Mark Warner resort in Praia da Luz, and except for Kate and Gerry, he was the last person to see Maddie.   David Payne was accused by a couple of English doctors, members of the same circle of friends, of having made paedophile type gestures during a holiday in Mallorca, Spain.   Fiona Payne   David met Kate and Gerry through Fiona. The 36-year-old anaesthetist worked with Kate McCann, and out of the whole group, she is the one who maintains the most regular contact with Maddie's mother.   Fiona accompanied Kate during the in vitro fertilisation from which Madeleine resulted, and she is also the one who accompanied the child's mother most during the days that followed the disappearance in Praia da Luz.   In her statements to Leicestershire police, Fiona recognises that she didn't see whether or not her husband was at the tennis court between 6 and 7 p.m. In her reply to the question that was asked by the police, Fiona was quite nervous but stated that her husband only passed by the McCanns' apartment to help Kate with the children.   The Payne couple continues to live in the Leicester area, which is why they keep the same circle of friends as Maddie's parents.   Jane Tanner   Jane Michelle Tanner, aged 38, is the other member of the Tapas Bar group with whom the McCanns keep regular contact. In 2007, on the night that Maddie disappeared, Jane stated that she saw a man carrying a child, but her testimony, which was altered several times, only launched more confusion into an investigation that was already affected by the interference of English diplomacy and authorities. Jane's testimony, according to the PJ, delayed the evolution of the investigation and forced the inspectors to concentrate on an "endless" lead.   On the night of the disappearance, Jane didn't participate in the searches and stayed at her apartment's door, but on the following morning, it is her that contacts a GNR officer, Nelson da Costa, whom she told that she saw a "man" running and carrying a "child" that was "clearly" wearing pyjamas. She wasn't able to describe the "man" because it was very dark.   Jane failed to justify to the GNR how she saw the child's pyjamas despite the darkness and her statements, made to the PJ and the British police, would end up being altered several times, "strangely" coinciding with the "schedule" that would later be described by Kate and Gerry McCann.   Jane Tanner was in Praia da Luz during the first week of April, where she arrived in the company of Gerry McCann to participate in the making of a new documentary that Channel 4 will broadcast on the 7th of May, and in which she will once more reinforce the abduction theory.   Friends increasingly distant   All the other members of the group that dined with Kate and Gerry McCann on the night that Madeleine disappeared (Dianne Webster, Fiona's mother – Russell O'Brien, Jane Tanner's partner – Matthew Oldfield and Rachael Mampilly) have distanced themselves from the couple, bit by bit.   According to a source that is close to the McCanns, the separation of the friends is merely due to the fact that "everyone has their own life that doesn't always allow for meetings," which is nevertheless not confirmed by all of the English people. Matthew Oldfield himself, despite having accompanied Gerry and Jane into Portugal, always kept a distance from the journalists and participated little in the filming.   "It's been two years, we're sad about Madeleine's disappearance but there is little or nothing that we can do to help," one of the English told 24horas, stressing that he wants to keep away from journalists and "get on with life" despite "hoping that the child's disappearance can be clarified as quickly as possible".   Despite the campaign that was developed by the McCann couple, with its peak matching the dates of the little girl's disappearance, the union of the nine English people was never constant and for several times Clarence Mitchell, the couple's spokesman, was forced to intervene, to reunite the group and to "match" versions.   In October 2007, two of the English people announced, through a lawyer, that they were willing to change their statements to the PJ, but the news is advanced by Spanish daily "El Mundo", and Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman immediately contacts the members of the group and organises a meeting at a hotel, where fidelity to the "pact of silence" is ascertained once more, and the two witnesses end up abandoning their intentions.   Memories from a night   On the third of May 2007, according to Silvia Batista, the McCanns and their friends were all inside apartment 5A at the Ocean Club, and nobody was out searching for Maddie yet, when the GNR arrived.   The resort's head of service and maintenance, now aged 47, remembers that Maddie's father accompanied her to meet the GNR officers, whom he gave "postcard type photographs" of the child: "they were postcard sized photographs, and they all seemed similar to her".   "Since the first moment, both Gerry and the other members of the group insisted on stating that Madeleine had been taken, using the word "abducted" instead of missing, and they all showed great interest in informing the press about the situation," the witness told the PJ.   In the bedroom where Maddie allegedly slept that night, "the beds that were used by the babies were located in the middle of the bedroom and were aligned," which Silvia found "strange" because, she said, if "someone had taken Madeleine out of the bed where she was sleeping, towards the window, there would be no space to get through".   "None of the members of the group, including father and mother of the child, were busy searching for her," Silvia recalled, explaining that Kate McCann remained sitting on the bed in the couple's bedroom, the father stayed with the GNR officers, and the other members of the group walked in and out and spoke on the phone, "concerned with informing the press about what had happened".

Maddie's father prepares another visit to Portugal, 13 May 2009

Maddie's father prepares another visit to Portugal Duarte Levy Wordpress   Duarte Levy May 13, 2009 • 10:04 am   Gerry McCann, the father of the English child that disappeared in Praia da Luz, Algarve, in May 2007, is preparing another trip to Portugal, where, according to someone close to the couple, the two new investigators say they made "new discoveries" about what happened to Maddie.   Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley, the two retired policemen that the McCann couple hired to analyse the documents that were released by the Public Ministry, now say that the child is being held in the area by one of five possible abductors that they have already identified. Those two investigators, that replaced an already long list of alleged detectives and military officers that have worked for the McCanns, further accuse the PJ of having ignored a list of 18 alleged perverts and a series of 6 attacks against English children in the Algarve.   Contrary to what was always stated by the detectives from Metodo 3 and the former military officers from Control Risks Group (CRG), two agencies that the McCann couple hired to allegedly search for Maddie, the new investigators don't believe that the little girl was abducted by a child trafficking network or taken on board of a ship, some of the many theories that have been put forward to explain Madeleine's disappearance.   Although the exact date of Gerry McCann's trip to Portugal is not known yet, a source close to the couple confirmed that Madeleine's father "will be in the Algarve when the two investigators deem it necessary".   "Gerry McCann once challenged the PJ to find Madeleine's body", one of the PJ inspectors in Portimão said, adding that "now it's our turn to challenge him: that he comes to Portugal to find his daughter. That is all that we ask from him. Otherwise, he should ask for the process to be reopened and he should return with his friends, to finally cooperate with justice."   "Kate McCann" is missing   In the new documentary about the case, which SIC presented last night, titled "Maddie: Two years of anguish", the images where American actress Lisa Donovan played Kate McCann's role in the reconstitution of what supposedly happened on the night of the 3rd of May 2007, have disappeared.   A source at Mentorn Media – which produced the documentary for Channel 4 – told that the initiative to remove those images came from Gerry McCann, explaining that "the decision was made after the documentary by Gonçalo Amaral was broadcast", as we had already reported. According to the same source, "the representation of what Kate had done on the night that Maddie disappeared was not convincing and raised some doubts".   But it was not only the images of the false Kate that were cut, and many of the facts that lie at the core of Maddie's disappearance, like David Payne's visit to the apartment between 6 and 7 p.m., ended up not even being mentioned: David's wife herself told the police that she didn't know where her husband was during that time lapse; while Kate and David speak about a 30 second visit, the child's father mentions half an hour. The matter was of crucial importance to the PJ because that is the time lapse during which Madeleine is seen alive by someone outside of the couple.   The actress, who had been chosen during a casting in England, wasn't able to explain the mystery behind the cutting of the images that were filmed in Praia da Luz, nevertheless confirming that she was paid for her work. The actress is forbidden from revealing to the media the contents of the images that Mentorn Media filmed, and the same happens with the other 14 actors.

Psychologist wants to reopen the Maddie case, 18 September 2009

Psychologist wants to reopen the Maddie case 24horas Prosecutor receives the request of Paulo Sargento By Duarte Levy 18 September 2009 Thanks to Mercedes for Portuguese-Spanish translation, and Dr Martin Roberts for Spanish-English translation The man who reconstructed the disappearance of Maddie in 3D does not want the case to die Public Prosecutor General (PGR), Pinto Monteiro, yesterday received yet another petition for the re-opening of the process in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, this one authored by Forensic Psychologist Paulo Sargento. Besides the petition sent today to the PGR, Ana Lima, advisor to Pinto Monteiro, confirmed to 24horas that an identical initiative had already been taken by a Spanish citizen, "but without prompting anything of investigative interest, for which reason it was archived." In the recent document - to which 24horas has had access - Sargento bases his petition on the premise that "the couple were not correctly investigated" by either the Portuguese judiciary or the English authorities following the departure of Goncalo Amaral from the PJ's Department of Criminal Investigation in Portimao. According to the psychologist, author of a 3-D video simulation based on the testimonies concerning the night of May 3rd 2007 - when Maddie is considered to have been abducted - the McCann couple were never interrogated with regard to the circumstances which prompted the washing of cuddle cat - a pink soft toy belonging to the little girl: "It would be of interest to know if Kate and Gerry were informed of the arrival of the English dogs, when and by whom." said Sargento to 24horas. Before the dogs arrived For the psychologist, it is revealing that Kate should wash cuddle cat before the two dogs, 'Eddie and Keela' - trained to detect cadaver odour and the scent of human blood - had arrived in Praia da Luz. "Today I washed cuddle cat. I hoped not to have to do that until Madeleine's return", Kate wrote in her personal diary which she began after the disappearance of the little girl from the apartment the family occupied in Praia da Luz in the Algarve. In the diary, Maddie's mother justifies her action on the grounds that the soft toy was "a little dirty and smelly", an attitude the psychologist finds strange: "It doesn’t conform to the behaviour expected of a mother in such a situation." "I determined that the washing of cuddle cat, several days before the arrival of the investigative dogs, as well as the motive for such an act, were NOT made the subject of inquiry within the overall framework of the investigation!" wrote Sargento in the petition sent to Pinto Monteiro, emphasising the fact that 'Eddie and Keela', the dogs brought in from England, had effected a "positive identification of cadaver odour on the soft toy, but not on the bed, nor the sheets where it was found by the investigators." Besides this formal petition for the re-opening of the process, Ana Lima explained to 24horas that the PGR had received "dozens of e-mails and letters, usually anonymous" concerning the Maddie case, although until now they have had "no judicial relevance, failing to point specifically to concrete and credible facts."