Alípio Ribeiro quoted out of context?

It seems that the world's media has latched on very quickly to Clarence Mitchell's understanding of what Alípio Ribeiro said in that preview of his radio interview. Sky News has reported the PJ as being, "hasty," in declaring the McCanns arguidos, official suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, and quotes Clarence Mitchell's request for arguido status to be lifted.

Sky News Sunday 3rd February

"The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell welcomed the senior officer's comments and called for the couple to be formally cleared.

He said: "Now that the national director of the Policia Judiciaria apparently accepts that they should not have been made arguido, it follows that there is no case for Kate and Gerry to answer."

I don't think that's what Ribeiro said, though. He said that given he obstacles created in the UK, it might have been a better tactic to have proceeded with the investigation without the McCanns having been made arguidos at that point. That is not the same as saying that the McCanns should not have been made arguidos.

Having been browsing the 3 Arguidos forum this morning, I came across a slight, but significant difference in the translation of what Ribeiro is reported to have said about being hasty.

http://the3arguidos.net

In this extract from SOS Madeleine McCann, I translated, "sans faire savoir que les parents sont suspects," as, "without naming the parents as suspects."

"Dans l’enquête McCann, vu les obstacles qui nous ont été crées au Royaume-Uni, la meilleur tactique aurait été de continuer l’investigation sans faire savoir que les parents sont suspects", affirme une source de la Police Judiciaire à propos des déclarations de leur Directeur National, rajoutant "qu’en ce moment l’investigation est devenue un combat entre David et Goliath"

A poster, using the ID, "braindead," suggests, "...without revealing that the parents were suspects." Now, this may not seem like a huge variation, but there is a subtle difference in my opinion. Revealing might indicate that the investigation would have continued under Portuguese secrecy laws, from the point of view of the McCanns being the main suspects. Naming might indicate that otherwise the McCanns would not have been suspects at all in the disappearance. Literally translated, "sans faire savoir," would be without making known. So, perhaps, "revealing," is a better translation and gives more of an indication that the PJ, in retrospect might have wanted to keep their cards up their sleeves for a while longer.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

I guess we're waiting now for the radio broadcast today at midday. I do hope the transcript gets online quickly!

Madeleine McCann: Lawyer pays divers to search the Arade Dam

Correio da Manha 2nd February carries a story about the lawyer Marcos Aragon Correia, who claims to have been contacted by an, "underworld source," on May 6th, three days after Madeleine disappeared, with information that Madeleine had been killed and her body had been dumped in a lake, the description matching that of the Arade Dam. Neither the Portuguese nor the British police have shown interest in searching the lake, according to the lawyer. So, he is funding a search himself by the looks of it. Or maybe someone else is funding the search, but who would do that?

Since last Thursday, according to Correio da Manha, Aragon Correia has had a team of divers searching the lake. The report states that there are five divers from a company based in Lagos. The lawyer insists that the dam is the most likely place where Madeleine's body will be found. The team found a strange rope apparently, about 5 metres long and made up of belts and other items tied together. This was found under a bridge at a depth of about 7 metres. (The lake is 61m at its deepest point.)

Correio da Manha 2/02/08