Monday, September 10, 2007

Arguidos and return

This article from Diario de Noticias and translated from Portuguese by Astro below is worth reading.

Arguidos and return

opinion article by Paulo Pereira Cristovao, ex-inspector at Policia Judiciaria

The last fourty eight hours have significantly marked the Madeleine case. The parents have abandoned national territory with the justification that their younger children needed to return to their normal life in the United Kingdom. We think that, after 129 days in Portugal, they could have waited another four or five, in order to clarify unequivocally, when the Policia Judiciaria holds all the forensic results, that which they believe to be their total lack of responsibility in the disappearance of little Madeleine. The truth is that the status of arguidos that was imposed on them, is the normal consequence after the appearance of strong clues that could question their former statements as witnesses. It is also true, and they know it well, that whether in the United Kingdom or in Portugal, leaving three children on their own in an apartment that provided access like that one did, is a penally relevant illicit act.

It is not less true that, contrary to what relatives that are close to the couple have been referring over the last two days, the Policia Judiciaria has always treated them as victims, which means they were always seen as parents whom a daughter was taken away from. That was the way it was, and the way it was supposed to be. The presumption of innocence is applied to all those about whom no condemning sentence was spoken. Initially, there was no reason to make any more or less evaluative judgment about this couple. They were parents whom a daughter had been taken away from, and that is enough for the police. It just happens that investigations are always a string that one pulls without knowing how long it is, or what could be inside the ball. Police have reconstructed that night the best way it was possible to do. It was the unmaking of the string ball that naturally lead to the last fourty-eight hours, when, according to what the Penal Process Code instructs to do in such situations, the couple had to be granted the right not to say anything that might incriminate them; not to answer any questions and even to lie without any punishment for it. Given these facts, can anyone still seriously say that there is a will from the Police to falsely and intentionally incriminate Maddie’s parents? Wouldn’t it be more comfortable for the police to keep them as witnesses, a status that forces them to speak about everything and to respond without any possibility to omit or lie about any fact? The answers are obvious.

One doubt disturbs us. Being a fact that close relatives have widely defamed the Portuguese police, saying they planted evidence and comitted other actions that are difficult to describe, will the McCanns return to Portugal, if and when the Portuguese justice calls them for further clarification? And, if they eventually refuse to do so, will the British government place them in Portuguese territory? We will have to wait. From our side, we will certainly continue to pursue an unbiased, committed investigation, which will stay immune to northern winds that will certainly blow harder over the coming times.

4 comments:

  1. They have come back to the UK, is that a case of McCann today McGone tomorrow?

    Sorry could not resist!

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  2. I hope their next holiday they don't take the twins, and they go to separate destinations. In his case, Wormwood Scrubs, and in her case, Holloway.

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  3. Anonymous5:18 PM

    God bless you jailhouselawyer for informing us on this case. Relying on the British media for info on anything is like walking into a dark room with a blindfold on. I've stopped buying any papers - waste of money, all of them, even the so called 'quality' ones. The broadcasters, even the BBC, are now basically spin doctors for this couple.

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  4. africanmum: Thanks for the compliment. I do my best to provide my readers with a view not necessarily shared by the Mainstream Media. Slowly, but surely, more and more people will get the message that something is not right with this case. I gave my view further up on what I thought about the garbage printed in the Daily Mirror.

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