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THE senior detective jointly in charge of the investigation into the
Madeleine McCann disappearance is to face a criminal hearing into an alleged
cover-up involving another missing girl.
Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral has been accused of concealing evidence that the
mother of eight-year-old Joana Cipriano, who disappeared in the Algarve three
years ago, was tortured by police into confessing she had killed her daughter.
The senior officer, who heads the Policia Judiciaria in Portimao, the nearest
Portuguese town to Praia da Luz from where Madeleine vanished, could appear
before the secret hearing as early as next month.
The revelation casts further doubt on the Portuguese police, who have faced
increasing criticism about their handling of the McCann case.
In a separate development, Britain's Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday that
fragments of hair found in the McCann's hire car, said to belong to Madeleine,
cannot be matched to the missing four-year-old.
Sources close to the scientists investigating the case say they have concluded
the hair could belong to any number of people.
This undermines earlier claims that DNA evidence proved the McCanns used the car
to move their daughter's body.
The leaking of these original claims fuelled fears Portuguese police were
conducting a smear campaign against Kate and Gerry McCann as they faced
increasing pressure for results.
Insp Amaral has been accused of concealing evidence into allegations that three
of his colleagues tortured the mother of missing Joana Cipriano in order to
secure a confession.
Leonor Cipriano did confess, after almost 48 hours of continuous interrogation
but later retracted her statement. She was convicted of murdering her daughter
and is now serving a 16-year jail term.
The four detectives, plus a fifth accused of fabricating evidence, deny the
allegations and say injuries Cipriano sustained them when she threw herself down
police station stairs.
Insp Amaral is not the only accused officer linked to the McCann investigation.
Another is recently retired chief inspector Paulo Pereira Cristovao, who has
been writing a daily column on the Madeleine inquiry for a Portuguese newspaper
that has been reporting sensational stories, leaked by sources close to the
police. |
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