Portugal’s Appeals Court has quashed a ban issued by
Lisbon’s Civil
Court in February this year to halt sales of the book ‘Maddie
–
The
Truth of the Lie’, by ex-PJ Inspector
Gonçalo
Amaral; the former inspector considers the overturning to be
a “reinforcement of Portuguese democracy”.
Mr. Amaral is said to have ‘rejoiced’ in the
court’s verdict and told Lusa News Agency it was proof “there is a
democracy after all”.
He said that he
had expected the court to overrule the injunction placed on the
selling of the book by missing
Madeleine McCann’s parents.
“The book is an exercise of citizenship and freedom of expression. With
this decision by the court it was Portuguese democracy that won, as the
banning of book sales was unconstitutional”, said Gonçalo Amaral.
The ex-inspector also said the court’s decision was “very important” for
the two pending lawsuits currently in place against him but for which no
start dates have been set for the trials.
In a civil lawsuit,
Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of
Madeleine, are seeking €1.2 million in compensation for defamation. In a
second case Amaral is accused of violating the secret of justice.
Isabel Duarte,
the McCann’s lawyer, declined to comment on the court’s quashing of the
ban and simply said “the decision is being analysed so we can react”.
In turn the book’s publishers Guerra & Paz, which edited ‘Maddie – The
Truth of the Lie’ in July 2008, said it would “immediately proceed with
all diligences to free up the seized copies [of the book] and put the
book at the disposal of the Portuguese public”.
In a statement the publishing house said Gonçalo Amaral’s book “is a
relevant contribution for the discovery of material truth” and
classified the overturn as respecting “the right to inform and the right
to an opinion”.
Earlier this year a Lisbon court ruled that an injunction placed on the
controversial book in September last year should remain in place. At the
time Kate and Gerry McCann said they were “very pleased and relieved by
the judge’s decision”.
In his book, Gonçalo Amaral defends the theory that Kate and Gerry
McCann were in some way involved in their daughter’s disappearance from
the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz in May 2007, shortly before her
fourth birthday.
Edition: 1084 |
