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Gonçalo Amaral’s book about the
Madeleine McCann case can return into
bookshops. The Appeals Court of Lisbon has just agreed with the former
Polícia Judiciária coordinator, who has always defended the thesis of
the little English girl’s death.
“The contents of the book does not offend any of the fundamental rights
of the applicants [the McCann couple and their three children]” and “the
exercise of its writing and publication is included in the
constitutional rights that are assured to everyone by the European
Convention for Human Rights and by the Portuguese Republic’s
Constitution”, reads the decision, to which JN [Jornal de Notícias] had
access.
In September 2009, after an
injunction that was filed by the McCann
couple, the Civil Court of Lisbon forbade the sale of the book “The
Truth of the Lie” and also the reproduction of a
documentary that is based upon the book and was broadcast by
TVI.
A decision that earns harsh criticism from the Appeals Court judges. To
forbid the former PJ coordinator “of expressing his opinion, by any
means (in writing, interview, analysis, commentary), about what he wrote
in that book, cuts off one of his rights that is constitutional and
universal: that of opinion and of freedom of expression”, the decision
mentions.
The three Appeals Court judges that sign the decision furthermore
consider that the sentence from the Civil Court of Lisbon violated the
Portuguese Republic’s Constitution and the European Convention for Human
Rights.
Apart from watching “The Truth of the Lie” returning to bookshops,
Gonçalo
Amaral sees his right to freedom of expression returned to
himself.
in:
Jornal de Notícias, 19.10.2010 |
