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Madeleine McCann: New setback for parents

HOMEPAGE NEWS REPORTS INDEX NEWS NOVEMBER 2007
Original Source: TELEGRAPH: 15 NOVEMBER 2007
By Fiona Govan in Praia da Luz
Last Updated: 2:49am GMT 15/11/2007
 
Kate and Gerry McCann face a fresh setback after learning that their legal team would not be given access to police files of the investigation into their missing daughter.

Madeleine’s parents had hoped that a recent change in Portuguese secrecy laws would result in evidence relating to the case being made available.

Under the new Portuguese Penal Code, which was introduced in a bid to make police investigations more transparent, arguidos – or formal suspects - should be told the evidence against them.

But Kate and Gerry McCann have been informed that the overhaul in the system does not apply to "complex" cases like Madeleine’s.

"Their lawyers applied for full access to the police file but that has been denied," said Clarence Mitchell, the official spokesman of the McCanns.

"They have been told that the case has too many complexities and therefore the restrictions will not be lifted," he said, alluding to a caveat in the new regulations, which were brought in at the beginning of the new judicial session in September.

He said the pair, who were made formal suspects on September 7, have still not been told what evidence the police have against them.

Detectives allegedly became suspicious after microscopic traces of blood were found in the McCanns’ holiday apartment and bodily fluids believed to be Madeleine’s were discovered in their hire car.

However, initial DNA results have so far proved inconclusive.

It was thought that this week could see the release of police files relating to the case against Robert Murat, 33, who was made the first formal suspect on May 14.

But Francisco Pagarete, the lawyer acting for the British ex-pat, said that although it had been exactly six months since Mr Murat was made an arguido he expected to receive no information from the police about his client.

"This is the first deadline when we should be told whether Robert Murat is to be formally accused of the crime or not," Mr Pagarete told the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha.

But he said that he thought his client’s status would be automatically extended for at least another two months because the public prosecutor had evoked the "special complexity" clause.

Last week it emerged that the McCanns and Mr Murat could remain arguidos for 15 years if no new evidence was found.

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