I am looking at the report on the French language blog of Duarte Levy; this is just about identical in its details to reports in the Portuguese press. I don't speak or read Portuguese. So, here is my version of the report by Duarte Levy. I will add translations from Portuguese later today as the SOS Madeleine report is the abbreviated version of what the Justice Minister said.
13.02.2008
"Maddie: Ministre assure que l’investigation n’a pas été affectée""J'ai des indications que les déclarations du directeur national de la PJ, n'ont pas affecté le déroulement de l'enquête," a dit le Ministre de la Justice portugais, Alberto Costa, au cours de son interpellation devant la Commission Parlementaire de Sujets Constitutionnels, Droits, Libertés et Garanties où il avait été invité a expliquer les récentes déclarations du directeur national de la Police judiciaire, Alipio Ribeiro à propos du cas Madeleine McCann.”
Maddie: Minister gives assurance that the investigation has not been affected.
“I have evidence that the statements of the national director of the PJ have not affected the progress of the enquiry,” Alberto Costa, the Portuguese Minister for Justice, said during his questioning before the Parliamentary Commission on Constitutional Matters, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, where he had been invited to explain the recent statements of the PJ’s director, Alipio Ribeiro, on the Madeleine McCann case.
"C’était mon devoir de maintenir la confiance dans le directeur national” de la Police Judiciaire, a dit Alberto Costa, rajoutant que “tout’ autre attitude aurait conduit a des plus grands inconvénients”
“It was my duty to maintain confidence in the national director of the PJ,” said Alberto Costa, adding that, “any other attitude would have led to the greatest inconvenience.”
En réponse aux parlementaires, le Ministre a garanti que les déclarations du directeur national de la Police judiciaire n’ont pas violé le secret de justice : si c’était le cas "il y aurait déjà eu une enquête."
In response to the parliamentarians, the Minister gave a guarantee that the statements of the national director of the PJ had not violated judicial secrecy: if that were the case, “there would already have been an enquiry.”
“Le directeur national de la Police judiciaire, Alipio Ribeiro, avait dit, au cours d’une entrevue, qu’il y aurait eu "précipitation" au moment de designer le couple McCann comme arguidos.”
The national director of the PJ, Alipio Ribeiro, had said, during an interview, that there had been, “precipitation,” at the time that the McCann couple had been designated as arguidos.
“A propos des investigateurs du cas Madeleine, le Ministre a défendu "qu’ils sont des personnes expérimentés, professionnels, matures, que ne sont pas – comme certains articles ont pu suggérer – agités, intimement démotivés e frustrés par aucun mot qui a pu être dit en termes plus ou moins discutables”.
The minister defended the investigators in the Madeleine case, “that they are experienced people, professional, mature, that they are not – as some articles could have suggested – restless, emotionally demotivated and frustrated by anything that could have been said in more or less arguable terms.
“Português: "Estamos numa fase em que caminhamos para a conclusão do processo"
Français: "Nous sommes dans une phase où nous avançons vers la conclusion de la procédure"
English "We are in a phase in which we are approaching a conclusion of the process"
Mis à jour 16H40”
Updated 16.40
