A tourist, who was in the Tapas Bar on the night of May 3rd, took several photos where the table with the McCanns and their friends is visible. The tourist was with his wife and a couple of friends and they took photos of each other. In 24 of them, the table with the McCanns and their friends can be seen in the background.
The owner of these images is in talks with several British newspapers for the sale of exclusive publication rights, but with one condition: before being published, the images must be sent to the Portuguese police. The tourist is well aware of the fact that the images could constitute an important piece of evidence relating to a crime and not to send them to the police would also be considered a crime in his country.
Yesterday, a well-known firm of UK solicitors, learned of the existence of these images and contacted the owner, to whom they offered the sum of 600,000€ for the purchase of all the images. However, the British lawyers did not accept the condition imposed by the owner that the images must be sent to the Portuguese police before the transaction. They wanted the freedom to choose when the images would be sent to the Portuguese authorities, the reason for which the offer was refused.
Duarte Levy & Paulo Reis
13/08/08
