tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65073718049161425172024-03-05T10:57:46.359+01:00Anna AndressAnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.comBlogger938125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-63570858210815581332022-09-21T17:48:00.000+02:002022-09-21T17:48:46.723+02:00Gonçalo Amaral, The Truth of the Lie Chapter 1 <p> </p><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Chapter 1</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Precipitation?</span></p><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Certainly Not.<br />
<br />
<br />
FEBRUARY 2008,
NINE MONTHS AFTER MADDIE’S DISAPPEARANCE.<br />
<br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
IT’S CARNIVAL SUNDAY. In the distance the shots of the hare hunters
can be heard, resounding above the low-growing vegetation of the
Barrocal.<br />
On waking, I decide to stay at home. Recently, I’ve
had no wish to go out, to go walking or to meet people. I yearn
instead for peace and silence. That morning, the sun was shining,
promise of a lovely day: but in the afternoon, the rain began to
fall, ruining the fête and the parades.<br />
From the window I
admire the Algarve countryside: the pink and snowy-white of the
almond trees contrasting with the blue of the sea that is glimpsed in
the distance. Suddenly, the ringing of the telephone – more and
more unusual of late – brings me out of my lethargy: I have to face
reality.<br />
From the receiver, a friendly voice, swinging between
anger and sadness, asks me:<br />
- How are you? Have you heard our
national director’s interview?<br />
I reply no and wonder what
the clearly perceptible anxiety of my questioner is due to.<br />
He
says we were precipitous. That placing the couple under investigation
was premature….I wonder what’s come over him. He totally
validated that decision. What is he intending to do? End the
investigation?<br />
He is alluding to the investigations undertaken
after the disappearance of a little English girl of nearly four years
of age during the night of May 3rd to 4th 2007, at the Ocean Club,
one of the many tourist complexes in the village of Luz in Lagos,
Portugal. She was called Madeleine Beth McCann and she was sleeping
in a bedroom in the apartment block, beside her sister and her
brother – twins aged 2 years. During this time, their parents were
dining a hundred metres away with a group of friends and holiday
companions. This news story was the beginning of a criminal
investigation, unpublished in Portugal and, I think, in the rest of
the world. Even so, the case benefited from unprecedented
international media coverage. Numerous suggestions were put forward,
mixing truth and lies; at the same time as regular information
bulletins from the police, a campaign of disinformation was developed
with the objective of discrediting the work of the investigators. For
me, the investigations came to an end on October 2nd 2007, the date
on which there seems to have been a new English ultimatum,
incidentally on the same day that the Treaty of Lisbon was being
discussed.<br />
Considering the length of time I witnessed that
media spectacle, including, at its height, “forcing,” by the
McCann family with the disclosure of a photo-fit sketch of the
alleged abductor, nothing more could have surprised me.<br />
-Don’t
worry, it’s carnival…<br />
I follow the conversation as if it
was nothing, but deep down, I have the feeling that the world is
caving in.<br />
After hanging up, I go back to contemplating the
almond trees in flower, planted in the hard soil of the Algarve. I
wonder if a body is resting under that earth and if God, in the end,
is not a little precipitous in making these trees flower in the
winter….And then I tell myself no. A memory comes to mind of the
legend of this princess from a country in the north, married to a
Moorish king. She spent her winter days pining for the snow of her
country, which she missed. Then, the monarch had the idea of planting
almond trees throughout the surrounding region. Thus, when winter
arrived, from the castle window, the young woman could contemplate
the white mantle of the flowering trees that covered the countryside,
and her sadness was dispelled.</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
BRIEF DIGRESSION ON THE ALGARVE AND ITS INHABITANTS<br />
<br />
From
time immemorial, the Algarve has been a region open to the world. Its
geostrategic position, its sky, its climate and the hospitality of
its inhabitants have always attracted people from other regions.
Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Greeks passed through here; the Romans
established themselves here and set up communication routes. Numerous
relics; at Estói, Vilamoura, Abicada, Vila da Luz, witness to their
presence. The influence of the Moors, who spread Al-Andalus (it is
thus that they named the region) to the west of Cordoba, to Al-Gharb,
remains very present in the Algarvian culture.<br />
The history of
the relationship between the Algarve and England is as ancient as it
is turbulent. Between 1580 and 1640, when Portugal lost its
independence and was integrated into the Spanish Empire, Faro was
attacked by the troops of the Count of Essex. This latter seized,
amongst other assets, some precious property – not less than 3,000
volumes – from the library of the Bishop of the Algarve, Jerónimo
Osório. Amongst these books was a Pentateuch (the first five books
of the Bible) in Hebrew, printed in 1487 in Faro by Samuel Gacon, a
Jewish publisher. This historic work (the first book printed in
Portugal) is kept at the British Library in London. Later, the
Algarvians will help the English to defend Gibraltar, a strategic
place for the fleet of the British Royal Navy.<br />
The Algarvians
have always shown great independence, not hesitating to oppose any
foreign domination attempt. In the 19th century, during the French
invasion, the first reverses suffered by the Napoleonic troops were
inflicted by the Algarvians. The population of Olhao rose up and
drove the invaders back near Quelfes; young people of the town set
out aboard a fragile barque to inform King John VI, then exiled in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, of the liberation of his homeland. Portugal
is a country of brave and warm-hearted people, rejecting arrogance
and insults, proud of their identity and independence, even from the
European Union. It is also a modern state that welcomes a great many
investors and tourists and moreover plays an important and recognised
diplomatic role. Throughout its history, Portugal has concluded
pacts, signed treaties and built bilateral alliances with many
countries: the Luso-British Alliance is a good example, proof of the
vitality of relations between the two countries, and above all of a
deep understanding.<br />
Nowadays, the Algarve is focused on
tourism; since the 1960s, it is mostly the British who come to stay
here. It is on this welcoming soil that little Madeleine
disappeared.<br />
<br />
<br />
AN INVESTIGATION DESTINED FOR THE
ARCHIVES<br />
<br />
I feel it; with that television statement, the
national director has the intention of preparing public opinion for
the inevitable, that is to say, the end of the investigation and the
closing of the case.<br />
I get the impression that that decision
was hatched on October 2nd and that all actions taken after that date
were only a matter of form, with the sole purpose of sticking to the
pre-established schedule. I fear that challenging all the previous
work of the investigation is only a pretext for closing a case that
was beginning to undermine the judiciary police , the investigators
and Portugal. Perhaps that was why it had to come to a close.<br />
Placing Madeleine's parents under investigation - Kate Healy and
Gerald McCann as arguidos - must have marked a turning point in
relations between the police in charge of the investigation and the
couple. The Portuguese police officers began to consider the McCanns
as potential suspects, which their British counterparts did not. At
that time, the two police forces seemed to agree about exploring the
hypothesis of the child's death inside the apartment. But the English
police - without any really practical justification - suddenly
stepped back and gave up on following that track. We have always
found it strange the way the couple were treated, even after they
were placed under investigation, and we have often wondered how the
McCanns could have had access to information that had not been made
public.<br />
I recall various moments in the investigation, and the
memories come pouring out; I think of that little girl who was not
yet four years old and who was denied the right to live.<br />
It
would seem that there are preparations to smother the case, that the
importance of the evidence is being minimised, that it's losing its
strength. Thus, the rights of that child are flouted, the rights of
many other children. Who wants to get to that point? Who required my
departure from the operational coordination of the investigation? Who
is it who wishes to bring an end to the arguido status of the McCanns
and Murat? Those who support the theory of abduction? Those who
suggest - I'd go further and say they would - that in England the
suspects would already have been arrested? Or those who perpetuate
the lie, in straying from the search for the material truth? The
closing of the case certainly serves someone's interests.<br />
After my departure from Portimao on October 2nd 2007, I had decided
to forget about this case. Perhaps the best thing to do, considering
the forces at play. If the authorities of her own country were not
worried any more about what had happened to that child and they
satisfied themselves with the theory of abduction, why worry myself
about it? It's certainly not the unfortunate statement from a
director of police (as perhaps inferred by the journalist) that will
make the existing evidence be forgotten - I no longer think that was
his intention. The only means of erasing the record of everything
that was done would be the destruction of the official records. And
then, our memory remains, that of all those who set out on this
investigation to discover the truth.<br />
I receive another phone
call: it's my wife Sofia. She is worried about me, and has been since
May 3rd of last year, for nine months now. Previously, our marriage
already knew highs and lows; after that date, it was worse. I had
become an absent father and husband. At the beginning I distanced
myself from my family to protect them from the media pressure, but
also because of the pace of work imposed by the investigation; now I
live alone and I am seized by a certain bitterness; I can't help
feeling betrayed by the institution to which I dedicated myself for
more than a quarter of a century. Nothing that happened to me seems
justified to me, nothing makes sense. My family did not deserve
that.<br />
Sofia is shocked by the national director's statements.<br />
- Come and have dinner with me in Portimao. The children are with
their grandparents. We can talk a little about all of that.<br />
I
decide to go. I need to hear some reassuring words.<br />
From then
on I carefully follow all the details. I become aware of the
importance of statements from the national director, who had always
maintained that all leads in the investigation must be explored and
remain open. That they be left open is possible, but they were
explored.</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Could the fact have been forgotten that we decided to constitute as
arguido a couple suspected of the crime of concealing a body and
simulating an abduction?<br />
A short time later, in the course of
a television interview, I hear my former professor of political
science and constitutional rights, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa,
explaining the national director's statement. I remember very well
his course on the separation of power. He maintains that the
director's words have killed the investigation. The death of the
investigation, once again! But this is about the death of a child!
Yes, I affirm it, a child is dead! This certainty is not fed by vague
assumptions, no, I base myself on facts, details, clues and evidence
recorded in the official records. Many questions have been raised.
But where are the answers?<br />
In trying to find them, I think to
myself that it would be judicious to go back to the beginning of the
investigation - while it's still clear in the memory - from the
moment the little girl disappeared. So much has been said....It is
time for the story to be told by the one who was responsible for its
operational coordination and who lived it intensely in the company of
men and women who constitute the élite of the judiciary police.<br />
<br />
THE
PRUDENCE OF A DECISION<br />
<br />
In Portinmão, I meet chief
inspector Tavares de Almeida, a member of the team I directed. We
have known each other since we started in the judiciary police. He is
worried because of the national director's statements; he heard that
our work was going to be the object of an investigation. A request in
that direction has allegedly already been placed before the national
directorate of the judiciary police. According to him, that would
allow the truth to be re-established and would lead to recognition of
the quality of our work.<br />
During the five months that the
investigations lasted, we had heard all sorts of comments, but we had
got on with our job. We remind ourselves of everything that was
accomplished, with a great deal of effort, rigour and honesty, and we
are certain that nobody could have done better. That might seem
presumptuous, but it's just fair recognition of the conscientious
attitude of all the police professionals who worked on the case.<br />
- They can't count! How can they accuse us of being precipitous when
the couple were only declared suspects four months after the events!
Don't they know the principle of non-self-incrimination?<br />
It is
legally impossible to continue to take statements from someone as a
witness if these statements risk later turning against him. While a
witness is making a statement about an ongoing case and at a given
moment it is realised that he could himself be involved in an illegal
act, he is constituted arguido. Thus, from then on, he has rights and
duties. Contrary to what one reads in the press - above all the
English -, the arguido is protected and acquires the right to silence
which no one can reproach him for - which would not be the case if he
were being heard as a witness.<br />
- I agree with you. If a
mistake was made, it was in taking so long to make the couple
arguidos. Too much politics, that's what there was, too much politics
and not enough policing.<br />
- I'd say rather that the mistake was
in treating the McCanns "with tweezers." From the start of
the investigation, we realised that certain things did not add up and
yet, they continued to benefit from favourable treatment; that's
what's not normal!<br />
- Does the national director perhaps think
that the couple only left Portugal because they had been placed under
investigation?<br />
- In fact, the McCanns stayed in Portugal as
long as we stuck to the theory of abduction; from the moment that was
placed in doubt, they talked about returning to England.<br />
-
From which can be concluded that their being placed under
investigation gave them an excuse to leave the country...<br />
- You
know, certain English journalists consider Portugal to be a third
world country. Of course, I don't agree with that definition. And
yet, if it's not a third world country, why is the head of an ongoing
investigation dismissed when the quality of his work is not in
doubt....<br />
- There is a lot of talk about the "politicising,"
of the law....they forget the extent to which a police investigation
can be influenced.<br />
- It's a matter of either or: either the
investigation is entrusted to trustworthy people, or, if things go
wrong those responsible are replaced with more "reliable,"
people.<br />
- I don't believe that was the main reason.<br />
-
There are always reasonable and perfectly legal arguments. In fact,
those who should stand in the way of this almost political management
of the investigation are the most senior police managers. They should
object to any situation or action that risks bringing prejudice to
the investigation and to its correct operation. They can't agree to
everything under the pretext of being afraid of losing their jobs.<br />
- No, you are aware that you don't direct the police according to
personal interests but properly according to public interests. It is
only thus that we can conceive of a police force in a democratic
state.<br />
- OK, but look where we are! You will see, soon the
arguidos will be choosing who leads the investigation. Maybe that's
the modern way..</span></p>
<ul>
<li><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
The modern way....Rather self-interests, you mean! Deplorable!</span></p>
</li><li><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
- Speaking of deplorable, have you seen any of the Benfica game
recently?<br />
- It's not football any more, it's I don't know
what. Incidentally, you've met Gaivota?<br />
Gaivota is the
surname of a former Benfica player who was living in Portimão at
the time of the investigation. A real companion who shared the good
and the bad times with us. I remember his kindness, and the patience
with which he showed his support for me.<br />
- If he was still at
Benfica, maybe their defence would be up to something.</span></p>
</li><li><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
</li></ul>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE INVESTIGATION: THE CRISIS UNIT<br />
<br />
Sofia is listening to our conversation. She knows the importance of
the work carried out by Tavares de Almeida. It was he who kept the
crisis unit operational throughout the investigation, until the
departure of the last English police officer, when the McCann family
returned to England. As if, from then on, it was no longer necessary
to continue the investigations where the disappearance took place.</span></p>
<p class="western" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: verdana;">
<span lang="en">It was he who, nearly every day, opened the local
office at 6 o'clock in the morning, not to leave it until after
midnight. All the information passed through there: there we
centralised all the data we received, emails, telephone calls,
communications from the police officers working on the case. That
room was the real nerve centre of the investigation. The bits of
information were analysed there in order to distinguish those that
were of real interest from the many others - reports or witness
statements - raising pure speculation. A great deal of sorting out
had to be done, notably concerning the eye-witnesses, who multiplied
as the media coverage took on enormous proportions.<br />
The
English investigators occupied the adjoining room: between the two
areas, information circulated in an uninterrupted flow. The British
investigators participated in our meetings, taking notes in their
record book, Major Incident Enquiry Officer's Rough Book.<br />
Another room was dedicated to dealing with information of a more
practical nature, like, for example, the register of all paedophiles
present in the region, in order to look for actual links to the case
or the creation of patterns of connections; difficult and meticulous
work of great value, which was later sent to the crisis unit.<br />
Amongst other duties, Tavares prepared the documents - many of which
had to be translated - so as to allocate the jobs between the various
teams who, on the ground, executed the operational orders for the
proper management of this lengthy work of verification. The revolt
they now feel is legitimate. They suffer a deep sense of injustice:
not only did the juduciary police not know how to protect them, but
it called into question their reliability.<br />
In the days
following the national director's statement, rumour had it that he
himself was going to be dismissed. Once again the judiciary police
were in crisis; once again this crisis was going to be resolved by a
series of resignations in the highest spheres of the hierarchy. Yet,
stability is one of the essential conditions for the success of its
mission, totally dedicated to the service of the community.<br />
<br />
How come a criminal investigation - in this case, the research
undertaken following the disappearance of a little English girl -
could have caused so much upset to Portuguese justice and the
judiciary police, and compromised the cooperation that existed for
such a long time between the police of the two countries?<br />
What
are the powers that made the investigation so difficult to the point
of stopping it abruptly? In recounting its operation, perhaps a
response can be outlined and new light thrown on the events.<br />
I
invite researchers in communication sciences to look into this case
in order to understand how a dramatic event could be transformed into
one of the most media-covered happenings of our time.</span></span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Algarve</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Completely turned towards the sea and the south – Muslim Africa - ,
and pointing its imperious Cape St-Vincent towards America, screened
by a wall of mountains, which does not lend grandeur but intimacy,
the Algarve is like a small antechamber, a window for the world’s
pilgrims. Small, let’s repeat, not only because of the area of
land, by the rarity of grandiose monuments, but also for its blanket
of vegetation, since cork oaks, carob trees, orange trees and almond
trees, being dwarf, hardly lift themselves far from the earth and the
fig trees, which bend their branches to the soil, creep along then
rise up again, like the handles of an unlit chandelier.
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Jaime Cortesão
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Portugal A Terra e o Homem</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-28690529235067135302022-09-20T20:56:00.001+02:002022-09-20T21:07:09.477+02:00Gonçalo Amaral. The Truth of the Lie. Foreword<p> </p><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
The Truth of the Lie
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
by Gonçalo Amaral</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black;">“<span lang="en">Soon,
very soon, the world will know, the truth of the lie and we will
gain truth and justice for a little girl who has no voice, dead on
the evening of May 3</span></span><span style="color: black;"><sup><span lang="en">rd</span></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en">
at apartment 5A, Ocean Club, Praia da Luz, Algarve, Portugal.” –
Gonçalo Amaral, 22</span></span><span style="color: black;"><sup><span lang="en">nd</span></sup></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en">
April 2008.</span></span></span></p><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Foreword</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Certainly, this book responds to the need I felt to defend myself,
having been discredited by the institution for which I worked for
more than twenty-six years, without being given any chance to explain
myself, publicly or within the institution itself. I made the request
several times, but it was never heard. I, therefore, scrupulously
respected the rules of the judiciary police and I refrained from
making any comment. But this goes without saying: I experienced that
silence to which I was constrained as an attack on my dignity.</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Later, I was removed from the investigation. It was then that I
understood that it was time to speak. To do that, I requested early
retirement in order to be able to express myself freely.</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
However, the purpose of this work is more important: to contribute to
finding the truth so that justice can finally be done in the
investigation known as the “Maddie case.” Truth and justice are
two values strongly anchored within me, which reflect my profound
beliefs: they always guided the work I did for the institution to
which I am proud to have belonged. Even in retirement, they continue
to inspire me and to be present in my life.
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
In no way does this text seek to challenge the work of my
colleagues in the judiciary police or to compromise the ongoing
investigation. I am convinced that the disclosure of all the facts
may, in the present case, result in harming the investigation.
However, the reader will have access to unpublished information, to
new interpretations of events – always with respect for the law –
and, of course, to relevant enquiries.
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
The only objective of a criminal investigation is the search for
truth. There is no place for the “politically correct.”
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“All of this exists</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
All of this is sad</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
All of this is fado”
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Aníbal Nazaré song O Fado.
</span></p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</p>
<p class="western" lang="en" style="line-height: 0.63cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<span abp="176" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since Madeleine McCann disappeared into thin air nearly 10 years ago, her parents Kate and Gerry McCann have clearly felt confident enough to sue anyone who criticised them in print. They confidently repeated the mantra that there was no proof that Madeleine had come to harm, although more recently they have added the word physical: there is no proof that Madeleine has come to any physical harm. Perhaps they reconsidered that mantra because if Madeleine had been abducted, were we to accept that they truly believed that abduction did not harm a child? </span></div>
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<span abp="182" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kate and Gerry have courted the media for 10 years, being able to grab the media's attention with a comment whenever a child who had gone missing many years before turned up safe and well. This gives us renewed hope bla bla bla....</span></div>
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<span abp="188" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We know that the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance was archived in 2008, at which point some, but not all, of the Portuguese police files of the investigation were made public. Soon after this, Gonçalo Amaral's book about the investigation was published. It then took Kate and Gerry nearly a year after the publication of that book to decide that they had been seriously harmed by it and to take legal action in the Portuguese courts. </span></div>
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<span abp="194" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eight years on and the Portuguese Supreme Court has decided in Gonçalo Amaral's favour. The text of the Supreme Court's decision has been translated and the British media is on a wave. Kate and Gerry were not cleared of involvement in their daughter's disappearance. The lifting of their arguido status with the archiving of the case did not mean they had been declared innocent. </span></div>
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<span abp="200" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks to </span><a abp="90" href="https://joana-morais.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/judges-demolish-mccanns-innocence.html"><span abp="202" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Joana Morais</span></a><span abp="203" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, we have the translation of what are probably the most important parts of the Supreme Court's statement. </span></div>
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<span abp="208" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is Joana's introduction to her translation: <em abp="2689">"Court acquits Gonçalo Amaral and points out that the couple was constituted as arguidos (suspects) with a "well-founded suspicion" of having committed a crime<strong abp="209">."</strong></em></span></div>
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<span abp="214" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Several British newspapers, including the Sun, the Mirror, the Mail and the Metro, have picked up on certain important aspects of the decision by the Supreme Court. </span></div>
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<span abp="218" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><em abp="219">The Judge-Counsellors continue: "It is true that the criminal investigation was eventually archived, in virtue of none of the evidence that led to the constitution of the claimants as arguidos was confirmed. Nonetheless, even in the archiving dispatch serious reservations are made about the verisimilitude (reality of) of the allegation that Madeleine had been abducted."</em> </span></div>
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<span abp="224" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The theory of abduction is called into question. </span></div>
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<em abp="229"><span abp="230" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As to the presumption of innocence invoked by the parents, they (Judges) consider that one should not say "that the claimants were acquitted through the order of archiving the criminal proceedings (investigation). The archiving was determined because it was not possible to obtain sufficient evidence of the practice of crimes. It does not seem reasonable to consider that said archiving dispatch, based on insufficient evidence, should be equated as substantiation (proof) of exoneration".</span></em></div>
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<span abp="239" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, what now? None of those newspapers can be sued for what they have printed this week because they are quoting the published text of the Portuguese Supreme Court's decision. Up to this point, Kate and Gerry have been able to repeat their mantra about having been cleared. They haven't been. They have used money from the fund that was supposedly set up to search for their daughter to drag Gonçalo Amaral through the courts and they have been given an easy ride by the British press, even though they admitted to having left three small children alone in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country. Maybe the Teflon has worn off! </span></div>
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<span abp="243" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I imagine that in their arrogance they thought they were free and clear and they were going to leave the Portuguese court with loadsa money. Nope! If they are now contemplating taking their case to the European Court, perhaps they should bear in mind the recent decision by that court that a Portuguese journalist had the right to express his opinion. Taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights could see this case taking several more years and end up costing the McCanns even more in legal fees than they are already liable for. I guess their other mantra, "It's up to our lawyers," will come into play here once again, but if they have been guided by those lawyers for eight years, maybe it's time to engage new legal advisors. </span></div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-30914319657408644082017-01-31T21:21:00.002+01:002017-01-31T21:21:49.925+01:00And Kate and Gerry McCann are....disappointed! <div abp="142" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kate and Gerry are "extremely disappointed." Well, I can appreciate that having spent 8 years and thrown a great deal of the search fund for their daughter at suing the police officer who was trying to find her, they must be disappointed. Coulda made a million €s there folks! Drat! This is so disappointing! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eight years since they brought the action. Rather a long time to be waiting for that payout from Gonçalo and now it's not coming. Drat!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And in that time "the landscape has dramatically changed." It sure has. While the mainstream media have jumped on every trivial utterance from their mouths, linked them to every high profile missing child case anywhere in the world, the McCanns have seriously lost credibility in the eyes of the general public as can be seen by reading comments, where they are allowed, on the web sites of major newspapers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While Kate and Gerry state that they have always wanted a joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police and the Policia Judiciaria, the original investigation was carried out jointly by a team of British police officers working with the PJ in Portugal. In the years since the Metropolitan Police have been involved, hundreds of people have been interviewed, millions have been spent, but the original people involved in the case, the McCanns and their friends, have not been interviewed. Now, why didn't the Met Police go back to the beginning? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both police authorities involved in the present investigation believe there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to physical harm? Well, I guess adding the word "physical" there makes the McCanns looks slightly less like they're living in La La Land. For years, they have been repeating the mantra that there is no evidence that Madeleine has been harmed. Right! They wanted the police and the public to believe that Madeleine had been abducted but that abduction does not harm a child? Taking a child from everyone and everything she knows is not harmful! If they believed that themselves, they really were/are deluded, but then there is no evidence that Madeleine was in fact abducted. The McCanns have to keep it up, though, especially now that the Supreme Court has decided in Gonçalo's favour. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I think the Met Police have been looking in all the wrong places to find what happened to Madeleine, I do not believe the Portuguese police believe that Madeleine has not been physically harmed. I believe the PJ are still hoping for justice for Madeleine and justice for themselves too, after years of offensive reporting about a "botched investigation," and articles describing them as "sardine munchers," </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As for the "disgraced police officer," as the British press described Amaral on many occasions, he has finally been exonerated in court. If the McCanns are looking to take this to the European Court, maybe they should bear in mind the recent decision of that court that a Portuguese journalist had the right to express his opinion. They could end up even more disappointed. </span></div>
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It's been a long time coming, but today justice has prevailed. The Supreme Court in Portugal has turned down the McCanns' appeal for a review of the decision on Gonçal Amaral's book and Snr Amaral will not have to pay any money into the McCanns' hands. </div>
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The court's decision very quickly hit the mainstream media. Why? Because Madeleine McCann became the world's most famous missing child, thanks mainly to her parents need to keep her name in the world's media. On return from Portugal, after being made suspects, arguidos, they hired a PR spokesman, Clarence Mitchell. Why would parents of a missing child need PR? Why would they have such a great need to keep their names in the media? </div>
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The mainstream media loved the McCanns because any story about them or about Madeleine sold newspapers and I'm sure the fund set up by Kate and Gerry, allegedly to help find their daughter, but used for, in my opinion, dodgy detectives and suing anyone who criticised them, benefitted from media attention. And remember folks, the fund is not a charity: it's a company limited by guarantee. </div>
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Kate and Gerry McCann have made the most of the opportunities presented by publicity given to other stories about missing children, especially those who have been found safe and well after many years. Get in there, newspapers and get a quote from the McCanns.....it gives us renewed hope...bla bla bla. However or whenever a child disappeared and was found years later, it gave the McCanns hope! </div>
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The dogs said it loud and clear. Justice has prevailed for Gonçalo and now we want justice for Maddie. It has been a long time coming. </div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-53513028994489697112016-03-18T17:49:00.001+01:002016-03-18T17:49:44.020+01:00Madeleine McCann: Madeleine's disappearance would not have triggered a missing child alert because it did not meet all of the criteria. <div abp="5465" style="text-align: center;">
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I am re-publishing an old blog post from 2014 because Kate McCann has once again been going on about how Madeleine might have been found if the alert system had been in place at that time and an alert had been triggered. There are four criteria which must be met before an alert is triggered and Maddie's disappearance met only one of them.<br />
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Coral Jones, mother of murdered April Jones, and Mrs McCann, mother of missing Madeleine, unveiled a digital billboard at King’s Cross station in London promoting an enhanced Child Rescue Alerts system to inform the public about missing children whose lives are considered at risk. </div>
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The scheme will use social media including text messages, email and digital billboards across the UK in addition to traditional broadcast media to issue the alerts when it is launched on Sunday, International Missing Children’s Day.</div>
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(<a abp="5483" href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/coral-jones-kate-mccann-launch-7148223"><span abp="5484" style="color: #7f6000;">WalesOnline May 20th 2014</span></a>)</div>
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The Child Rescue Alerts System, which has been introduced in the UK recently, is based of the French Alerte Enlèvement system, which has been in operation across the EU for a number of years. The UK is one of the last of the member states to introduce this system for missing children.</div>
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I think Kate McCann is showing her usual arrogance in appearing in public to promote this alert system after attempting to replace it in 2008 when she and Gerry went to Strasbourg to sponsor the American Amber Alert system at a time when the French system was already being tried out in several EU states.</div>
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An alert system had been active in some member states of the EU for some time when the McCanns went to Strasbourg. In fact, Portugal was the second country after Hungary, to introduce an alert system in 2002, in accordance with an EU directive.</div>
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In June 2008, the McCanns went to Strasbourg to gather support for a Europe-wide system, based on the American Amber Alert. They presented a written declaration to the Commission, but this was not their own work, rather it had been drawn up by Edward McMillan-Scott, then Vice-President of the European Parliament, but presented by the media-savvy, media magnets, the McCanns.</div>
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The McCanns had simply tried to hijack an initiative that had already been working its way through the European Parliament for some time, turn it into something else and claim it as their own.</div>
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In December 2006, an extraordinary meeting of the member states approved an initiative of the European Commission to reserve certain numbers (Starting with 116 ) for a Europe-wide alert system for missing children. This was the system which had been in operation in France since 2006 and had proved to be effective in several cases. </div>
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Since 2006, the French system, known as "Alerte Enlèvement," which is the system now introduced across most of the EU territory and finally in the UK, has recovered many missing children through rapid response to reported cases of abduction. The success of the system, according to Rachida Dati, former French Justice Minister, is due to there being very strict criteria for launching an alert. Four criteria must be met.</div>
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1) It must be a confirmed abduction and not just a disappearance, however worrying.</div>
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2) The victim's life or physical safety must be at risk. </div>
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3) The Public Prosecutor must be in possession of sufficient information which, if broadcast, would help to locate the child or the suspect. </div>
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4) The victim must be a minor. </div>
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Would an alert have been triggered when Madeleine McCann disappeared? </div>
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1) A confirmed abduction? No. All that was known was that Madeleine had been reported by her parents as having been in bed when they left the apartment to go to the Tapas Bar and that when Kate McCann went to check on the children at 10pm, Madeleine wasn't in her bed. In spite of what was stated to friends and relations of the McCanns by telephone in the early hours of May 4th, 2007, there was no evidence of a break-in at the apartment: the shutters had not been "jemmied," and no trace of an abductor was found in the apartment. Apart from the above, we have Jane Tanner's statement about having seen a man she originally described as "carrying a bundle that could have been a child," which gradually developed into a man carrying a child who was definitely Madeleine McCann. </div>
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So, no, criterion number one was not met.</div>
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2) Was Madeleine's life or physical safety at risk? Well, she wasn't tucked up safely in her bed and she was not hiding in the apartment or anywhere in the vicinity. She was a missing three-year-old, so a child at risk since it was not and still is not known what had happened to her. </div>
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3) Was there sufficient information that would have helped locate Madeleine or the suspect? The question is, what kind of information would have helped? The first and most important piece of information would perhaps have been a description of a suspect, but Jane Tanner's description of "an egg with hair," would not have been very helpful! Secondly, the description of a vehicle that could possibly have been used by a suspect. None. So, based on a vague description of "an egg with hair," there would have been insufficient evidence, which if broadcast would have helped recover Madeleine or find a suspect.</div>
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Number 3 not met.</div>
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4) The victim must be a minor. Yes. </div>
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As for little April Jones, an alert would probably have been triggered in her case. Several of April's friends reported having seen her getting into a white van. So, there would have been sufficient information, which if broadcast may have helped the police recover April, or at least discover her whereabouts. Madeleine McCann's disappearance is very different in many ways to that of April Jones. There are no independent witnesses outside the McCanns circle of friends who can state that Madeleine had been in bed when she vanished into thin air, but April was seen outside her home by many of her friends. April's case was an obvious abduction: Madeleine's disappearance was not. Even Andy Redwood, who is leading the team of British police officers investigating Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal, has stated recently that there is a chance that Madeleine may not have left the apartment alive. Is he suggesting that an intruder took away a dead child or is he suggesting something else? </div>
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So, here we have Kate McCann appearing in public to promote a missing child alert system that she tried to replace with the American Amber Alert system, under the strict criteria of which, an alert would not have been triggered for Madeleine. That woman has some Chutzpah! But that's nothing new as far as Kate and Gerry McCann are concerned! They admit to having left three children under the age of 4 in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country while they wined and dined with their mates and have been behaving like celebrity victims ever since, courting publicity at every opportunity. That's amazing Chutzpah in my book! </div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-20097821979210107522015-10-26T21:47:00.001+01:002015-10-27T13:07:27.611+01:00The McCanns, a load of dodgy detectives and £100,000<br />
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Following on from the reports yesterday that a polish man, who had been cleared by Portuguese police of any involvement in Madeleine McCann's disappearance, had now handed a great wad of photographs to the Sunday Mirror, today we have 2 whistleblowers and the case of the swindled £100,000.<br />
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According to <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6709337/100000-fraud-on-Maddie-McCann-search-fund.html&gt">The Sun</a>, the Find Madeleine Fund was ripped off to the tune of £100,000 by someone who was paid to help the search for Madeleine, but who used the money to fund his own lifestyle. This information was handed to The Sun by two whistleblowers and it has now been passed to the McCanns. <br />
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So, who might this terrible person be? The McCanns have employed various organisations over the eight years since Madeleine disappeared. When they were in Portugal, they hired Control Risks Group, an organisation which is usually involved with helping companies to set up in areas of the world that are a bit risky and then helping them get out if trouble arises. Why the McCanns should use that company is open to speculation. However, according to <a href="http://www.mccannfiles.com/id376.html">The McCann Files</a> (24/09/2007)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">A private security firm has been secretly investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann for four months because her parents feared that Portuguese police were failing properly to search for their daughter.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Control Risks Group (CRG) is believed to have been checking reported sightings of Madeleine from around the world and building up profiles of likely abductors.</span></em></span><br />
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Firstly, it is illegal in Portugal for a private investigation to take place while there is an on-going police investigation. Maybe that's why the investigation was secret. Who knows, but it was, ostensibly an illegal activity. Secondly, why employ a company that was usually involved with corporate security. If CRG ever did very much, it certainly didn't help the investigation, unless it was CRG who found all the sightings of Madeleine all over the world. <br />
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Then there was the Spanish outfit, Metodo3. No previous experience in looking for missing children, but the McCanns paid them a handsome monthly fee out of the fund. Metodo3 were accused of paying witnesses in Morocco (<a href="http://frommybigdesk.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/sos-madeleine-mccann-metodo3-detective.html">this blog</a>), embezzlement and money laundering (<a href="http://frommybigdesk.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/sos-madeleine-mccann-metodo-3-under.html">this blog</a>) attempted murder (<a href="http://frommybigdesk.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/sos-madeleine-mccann-mccann-private.html">this blog</a>) and theft of cocaine from a Barcelona dockyard. (<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1579678/Madeleine-McCann-detective-agency-link-held.html">The Telegraph</a>) Now, I reckon that lot were a bit dodgy, but they were probably paid well in excess of £100,000 and amazingly, Kate and Gerry said that Metodo3 had done some good work. Go figure!<br />
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Next! Well, next came Kevin Halligen.<br />
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A conman who set up a firm to search for Madeleine McCann has denied he funded a lavish lifestyle using cash donated by the public.<br />
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Supporters of Kate and Gerry McCann handed over around £300,000 to Kevin Halligen's Washington-based company, but his contract was terminated early and he was later convicted of fraud in America on a separate matter. (<a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/">The Mirror 3/06/2014</a>)<br />
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Now there's an accusation about funding a "lavish lifestyle," but the McCanns claim that he was paid £300,000, not £100,000. If the whistleblowers are referring to Halligen and he did indeed rip off the fund to the tune of £100,000, where did the other £200,000 go that Kate and Gerry say was paid to him? So, were the McCanns unlucky enough to have two men, separately, rip them off for mega bucks to fund a lavish lifestyle? And who was the other man? Maybe they should have done some investigating themselves before throwing money at dodgy geezas! <br />
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And finally (I think!) Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, otherwise known as Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley. Retired Cheshire detective Edgar and his sidekick Cowley, worked from an office in a house in Knutsford and don't appear to have done very much at all. In August 2009 <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206842/Why-did-Madeleine-McCann-detectives-ask-questions.html">Mirror</a> writer Tom Wordon asked why the McCann detectives didn't ask more questions when they went to Barcelona to investigate that strange case of the "Victoria Beckham lookalike" who was allegedly hanging about in the vicinity of a marina waiting for someone to hand over a child to her. Apparently, Edgar sent a few detectives out there, but they failed to ask any questions of anyone who might have had contact with the suspicious woman. In fact they didn't ask anything of anybody at all by the sound of it. <br />
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Edgar and Clowley's weirdest bit of detecting, in my opinion, was when they declared that Madeleine was being held in a "hellish lair in a lawless village," near Praia da Luz, but somehow they weren't worried enough about her apparent suffering there to go and have a look. <br />
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However dodgy Edgar and Cowley were, sitting there in their little office in Knutsford, there is no report of their having gone on to be living a lavish lifestyle, so my money is not on them for the rip-off. <br />
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I don't know of any other people hired by the McCanns to search for their daughter. It may be that Halligen was only paid £100,000 by the McCanns, which could turn out to be rather embarrassing to say the least, since the fund was said to have paid him £300,000. Halligen is the only former contractor for the search who appears to have spent search money on his own lifestyle. <br />
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The McCanns haven't said that they know who this person is, who has defrauded the search fund, only that they would be willing to help with any investigation. If the two whistleblowers are friends of the McCanns, cynical me wonders if this is a ploy to garner sympathy and get some more cash pouring into the fund. If they are not friends of the McCanns, then perhaps this missing or ripped off £100,000 will turn out to have been paid to some anonymous searcher...or just someone anonymous! Who knows! I hope we'll find out. <br />
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<br />AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-27393433261813063062015-10-05T22:00:00.002+02:002015-10-06T21:56:18.576+02:00"McCann fury as new libel cop case begins " <div style="text-align: center;">
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<a data-ved="0CAcQjRxqFQoTCLjnwIKErMgCFUMYHgodrpgOOg" href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCLjnwIKErMgCFUMYHgodrpgOOg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworld-news%2Fmadeleine-mccann-ex-cop-ordered-pay-5597620&psig=AFQjCNGIgJN6bGoDD1t03VTmGFQBpBPlQQ&ust=1444158503158795" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img src="http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article5597643.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Goncalo-Amaral.jpg" height="213" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The </span><a href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/468332/McCann-fury-new-libel-cop-case-Madeleine-internet-trolls"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Daily Star<http: a="" ccann-fury-new-libel-cop-case-madeleine-internet-trolls="" gt="" latest-news="" news="" www.dailystar.co.uk=""></http:></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> today laments how the poor McCanns are furious that so much money has been raised by "Internet trolls," to help Gonçalo Amaral launch his appeal against the decision of a civil court to award the McCanns a huge amount of money in damages against him. For a start, nothing new there: the McCanns seem to have been furious on quite a few occasions since their daughter disappeared into thin air. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">So, what has the daily fish and chip wrapper said? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">"<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">They could help to strip the couple of £357,000 they hope to use to find her."</span></span><br />
Now, is that the money they were hoping to get out of Gonçalo or the amount that they could have to pay in legal fees out of their handy pot of cash, the Find Madeleine Fund should Gonçalo succeed with his appeal? <br />
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"Ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral, 56, has been flooded with nearly £50,000 in public donations since he lost a libel hearing against Kate and Gerry McCann six months ago." Now that conjures up a strange picture. Gonçalo has been been "flooded." What with? A funnel? No, silly Mr Lawton, the account has been flooded! And since you have given the fund such good publicity, it now stands at over £50,000 and is rising steadily.<br />
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"The GoFundMe webpage donors include trolls who have abused the McCanns online." So, Jerry Lawton has been going through the list of donors and can identify people who have supposedly "abused the McCanns online"? Are those the people who have been asking awkward questions like, "Where is the proof of abduction?" Maybe he could ask the McCanns for a copy of the dossier that "the family" gave to the police, the one that got into the hands of Martin Brunt, who used it to doorstep Brenda Leyland. I doubt he'll actually want to read the sickeningly abusive messages to Brenda Leyland that were posted on Twitter by supporters of Kate and Gerry. Mr Lawton has firmly set himself on the side of those who are never going to accept any responsibility for the loss of their daughter and who instead are ready to sue anyone who contradicts their version of events. <br />
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"A friend of the couple admitted they were “exasperated” by the appeal and the source of its funding." Well, how awful for them that Gonçalo is able to exercise his legal right of appeal. And the source of its funding? The money donated to Gonçalo's defence fund will be used for the stated purpose. The money the McCanns are using to sue Gonçalo has come from the money donated by the public to help the search for Madeleine. So, the McCanns making a statement about the source of funding seems rather hypocritical to say the least. <br />
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"It seems strange indeed these people may be indirectly able to influence civil court proceedings. Kate and Gerry are exasperated.” Yes, I imagine that they are rather exasperated. They must have thought they had Gonçalo by the proverbial short and curlies since they have had his assets frozen. Thousands of people donating to the appeal fund have proved them wrong and left them "exasperated." Those who have given to the fund will not, of course, influence civil court proceedings, either directly or indirectly. What they are influencing is whether or not a Portuguese citizen is able to exercise his rights in law, a right the McCanns would take from him if they could. <br />
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May justice prevail for Dr Amaral and for Madeleine McCann and all those people like Brenda Leyland. They, and not Kate and Gerry, are the victims of this saga. <br />
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-21491861239628836412014-12-26T18:27:00.002+01:002014-12-26T18:28:21.455+01:00Portugal Resident: Damning new Madeleine documentary promised for 2015<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A damning new “evidence-based” documentary is being prepared for screening in 2015 and promises to tell the “Untold Story of Madeleine McCann” - alleging that “no abduction took place at all”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Orchestrated by independent journalist and social activist Sonia Poulton, the project got underway following the death of 63-year-old grandmother Brenda Leyland - the so-called internet “troll” “outed” over tweets that questioned the official version of events “as put forward by mainstream media”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to Poulton, Leyland wrote in a tweet last year that “should she die in odd circumstances” she hoped “people would question, and not just accept the first version of events”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is what Poulton claims has spurred her on. In a Christmas message posted on Youtube, the former broadcaster with Internet TV station The People’s Voice reveals her documentary should be ready by the end of March.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Poulton claims her investigation has already flagged up “plenty of evidence to suggest there was not an abduction”. Her focus, she explains, has been on “interviews with “central characters” in the disappearance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“As you can imagine, these have not exactly been forthcoming”, she adds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thus, the decision to “door-step” those she believes have “questions to answer”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This far Poulton claims to have door-stepped four key characters in the mystery, and she says her investigation has also “traced someone involved in the campaign” to maintain the official version of events, whose identity will “shock people”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Read the whole article at: </span><br />
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-64402857936239643602014-12-26T16:40:00.001+01:002014-12-26T16:40:43.720+01:00Sonia Poulton: The Untold Story of Madeleine McCann - Documentary<div style="text-align: center;">
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Sonia Poulton talking about her upcoming documentary on the Madeleine McCann case.</div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-30568166640231216252014-10-09T22:46:00.000+02:002014-10-09T22:46:44.154+02:00Brenda Leyland: hounded by the media and the real "trolls." <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Saturday 4th October 2014, the body of Brenda Leyland, who posted on social media site Twitter as @sweepyface, was found in a hotel room in Leicester, two days after she was doorstepped by Martin Brunt of Sky News in relation to comments she had made on Twitter about the Madeleine McCann case. Following this "outing" Brenda Leyland was all over the media as a "<i>McCann Troll</i>," and Brenda left her home and went into hiding. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the video that appeared on Sky News on Thursday October 2nd, 2014. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Police Investigate Madeleine McCann Family Online Abuse" presented by Martin Brunt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At 0.10 on this video, Jim Gamble, ex-Chief Executive of CEOP, says that there is ".<i>..a hardcore small group of individuals, who will lie, who will menace, who will bully"</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like this, Mr Gamble? I think this fits with the second and third of your descriptions related to that "<i>hardcore small group.</i>." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Posted by Rainne@dirndllass on Twitter on October 3rd, the day after Brenda was accosted by Martin Brunt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At 0.42 Jim Gamble states that in his opinion, those people who will lie, menace and bully should be held to account in a court of law for what they have done. Well, the above is still, at 7.20pm on October 9th, available to read on Twitter. Does Mr Gamble think that woman should be held to account for what she did on October 3rd, the day after Brenda Leyland was doorstepped by Martin Brunt and one day before Brenda's body was found in a hotel in Leicester? Seems rather like menacing and bullying to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At 0.50 on the video, Martin Brunt is seen approaching Brenda Leyland. He states that "t<i>his woman uses Twitter to attack the parents of Madeleine McCann" </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At 1.20 Martin Brunt tells Brenda, "<i>You know you've been reported to the police, to Scotland Yard? They're considering a whole file of Twitter accounts and what supporters (who are these supporters?) say is a campaign of abuse against the McCanns." </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brenda says very little in response. But Martin Brunt later goes on to say...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"<i>The Crown Prosecution Service is considering it. Are you worried about that</i>?" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, it's true that a file was handed to the police, but keep that second quote about the Crown Prosecution Service in mind because I will refer to it later in the light of what Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Head of the Metropolitan Police Service says in a radio interview. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The question that immediately occurred to me on watching the Sky News video was: if this was a file handed to the police, how did Martin Brunt of Sky News come to be in possession of it? If indeed the CPS was considering, whatever Martin Brunt thought they were considering, should he have been presenting her with that information and publishing it on a news web site for millions of viewers? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On October 4th, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Head of the Metropolitan Police Service, was interviewed on Radio London's "<i>Drivetime,</i>" show by Eddie Nestor. In this extract from the interview, the discussion is focused on cyber crime and on the dossier regarding "McCann trolls" on Twitter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">EN: Let's talk about cyber crime then, more specifically bullying. Tell me about that file that was handed to you re the McCanns and concerned individuals. And certainly that story's been in the headlines with tragic consequences yesterday. A file handed to you. Are you looking at it at the minute?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">HH: What happened then. First of all, you may have seen over the last ten days, we've launched a cyber crime unit of 500 officers. That's really intended to target people who steal things, not necessarily bullying. I think that's going to be a real challenge to us in the future, just in terms of bullying. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Errrmmm, in terms of that file, what happened, if you recall, is that the family handed it to our team, who were <span style="color: #990000;">investigating or reviewing the murder of..sorry..reviewing the missing girl, errrrr.. the McCanns' daughter</span>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(<i>Note: murder? Investigating the murder of......the McCanns' daughter? Now why did Hogan-Howe refer to "murder" and then do a woops!</i>) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The uh..file was handed to that team ..err...and we were liaising with Leicestershire Police, which is where the McCann family live...err.. and sadly it turned out that possibly the person who was trolling or abusing people..err..may well have been. So, the file was in the process of being considered, partly by the Met, partly by Leicestershire, but it was likely to have been dealt with by Leicestershire Police, not by the Met. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(<i>Note:</i> <i>does Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe mention the Crown Prosecution Service here? The CPS is usually brought in when evidence gathered by the police is presented with a view to consideration for prosecution, but all Hogan-Howe says above is that the file was being considered by the Met and Leicestershire Police. It does not appear that the file had been referred to the CPS, so why did Martin Brunt tell Brenda Leyland that the "Crown Prosecution Service is considering it"?)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">EN: Just give us an idea of what trolling is actually, because on Drivetime we've been arguing...errr... I can say, "I don't like the Commissioner." I can say "I don't like the way he talks to me." That's an opinion. That's not trolling, is it? At what point, where is your line, because as far as I'm aware, it looks to me like a subjective line. Where's your line, Commissioner? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">HH: It's not really where my line is, it's where..err..what does the law say? So, where does...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">EN: What does it say?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">HH: Where does abuse become a criminal offence? And of when, I don't like you, you don't like me, we are neither conversational nor abusive. As human beings that's what happens in life, isn't it? But, of course, if you become racist errrr...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(<i>Note: like this, Commissioner? </i></span></div>
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<i><a href="https://twitter.com/dirndllass">Rainne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/dirndllass">@dirndllass</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/dirndllass/status/518443063861989377">Oct 4</a>Damned nigers,gonna bring the fucking plague on the rest of us</i> )<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...if you become threatening, if you threaten to kill someone, these are very different forms of things as human behaviour. That becomes a crime. (Is Rainne going to be investigate then for racism?) If you threaten to kill someone, you can go to prison for ten years, if they believe it and you want them to believe it. If you are racist (Rainne!!) there is a consequence. If you are threatening in your behaviour. If you transfer that into the cyber crime, it's broadly the same. Then, you know, abusive behaviour between individuals, sadly, rightly or wrongly, well the police can't get involved in all human behaviour. They can only get involved where there is a crime. And generally, it's where there are very aggravating circumstances. You cannot blackmail people, you cannot threaten them, you cannot be racist. And generally, that's the sort of line that we draw in cyber, in cyber area. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />(<i>Note: having read tweets posted by @sweepyface (Brenda Leyland) it doesn't appear to me that Brenda was threatening or blackmailing the McCanns and the case does not appear to have been handed to the CPS for prosecution</i>) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />EN: ???? (unclear) ...challenges, isn't it?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">HH: Yes, frankly, we the police cannot get involved in all bad behaviour between human beings. I mean, sometimes if we were to be defamatory with each other, you know, we might have to go to the civil courts, not to criminal courts. Well defamation is a different area altogether. The police don't get involved in that, thank goodness. You have to go to the civil court for that. In some of these areas, it's the civil courts that have to consider remedies. It's not always going to be the criminal law or the police. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brenda Leyland, posting on Twitter as @sweepyface, posted tweets like: "<i>must the Mccanns suffer' answer 'for the rest of their miserable lives'."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not very nice, but then she wasn't threatening to make them suffer, was she?</span></div>
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Now, Kate McCann, referring to Gonçalo Amaral wrote that, "<i>He deserves to be miserable and feel fear."</i></div>
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Is that very different to what Brenda Leyland wrote? Not in my book.</div>
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So, of the many thousands (and I do mean many thousands) of people on social media questioning the McCanns' account of what happened to their daughter, why was Brenda Leyland singled out? Why did Martin Brunt think it was OK to accost her on her doorstep, telling her that the Crown Prosecution Service was considering...? And if there was a police investigation, how did Martin Brunt come into possession of details from it, including Brenda's real name and address?</div>
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I think these questions needs answers and I am glad that there will be a police investigation into Sky News reporting of this affair. I hope that those who were abusive towards Brenda, those like Rainne on Twitter, will also be investigated. Brenda was hounded by the media and by a few people on social media, who would rightly, in my opinion, be called trolls and there are many of us who want to know why.</div>
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Katie Hopkins did not cause a "<i>Twitter Storm</i>." The hounding of Brenda Leyland caused it and I hope there will be a full and rigorous investigation.<br />
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-66971732413040250782014-10-02T12:11:00.001+02:002014-10-02T12:11:55.642+02:00Madeleine McCann: you can read the police files of the investigation in English. <div style="text-align: center;">
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-48056281369734318612014-09-07T21:41:00.000+02:002014-09-07T21:41:01.866+02:00BURIED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Part 4 Government Agents The True Story of Madeleine McCann<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-82244476907730155462014-09-07T21:38:00.000+02:002014-09-07T21:38:11.475+02:00BURIED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA: The true story of Madeleine McCann (part 3 Private Investigations?)<div style="text-align: center;">
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-52436471999068019812014-09-07T21:35:00.001+02:002014-09-07T21:35:18.897+02:00BURIED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Dogs Dont Lie (Pt 2) The True Story of Madeleine McCann<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-76270797102071410032014-09-07T21:31:00.001+02:002014-09-07T21:31:34.544+02:00BURIED BY MAINSTREAM MEDIA: The true story of Madeleine McCann (part 1 - The Initial Storm)<div style="text-align: center;">
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-21968225298434917302014-07-25T14:51:00.000+02:002014-07-25T14:51:48.934+02:00Kate and Gerry McCann: new video from HiDeHo4 "The Road to Hell." <br />
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<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x223ddi_mccanns-the-road-to-hell-the-shocking-interviews-pt-1_news" target="_blank">McCanns - The Road to Hell - The Shocking...</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/HiDeHo4" target="_blank">HiDeHo4</a></i><br />
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<br />AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-83636314616595498072014-07-10T09:40:00.000+02:002014-07-10T09:40:54.242+02:00Kate McCann: where did she read "The Truth of the Lie," in 2008? <br /><br />Where did Kate McCann read Gonçalo Amaral's book, "The Truth of the Lie" in 2008? As far as I know mine is the only complete English translation on the internet.<br /><br />When the French edition became available, my daughter ordered it for me via Amazon France. Bourin Editeur 2009. I posted each chapter as I completed it, simultaneously on my blog and on MM forum. So, since chapter 1 is on MM forum Feb 21st, even though I re-organised consecutively on my blog early 2010 and lost original dates, I know it was started Feb 2009.<br /><br />Now, since I was working full-time, there is a good chance that I finished the translation and posted the last chapter somewhere around the end of April/beginning of May. Coincidence that the McCanns stated they would sue Amaral on May 16th, 2009?<br /><br /><span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="http://www.mccannfiles.com/id244.html">http://www.mccannfiles.com/id244.html</a></span><div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-20895201046700373662014-06-22T20:19:00.002+02:002014-06-22T20:19:43.651+02:00Kate and Gerry McCann: Body Language<div style="text-align: center;">
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This is a TED Talk video with short snatches of videos of Kate and Gerry McCann spliced in to demonstrate the ideas the speaker is describing. Very telling. </div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-53114560308038727702014-06-16T22:46:00.001+02:002014-06-16T22:46:29.461+02:00Kate and Gerry McCann playing the waiting game<br />
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Video by HiDeHo4 June 16th 2014<br />
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When there was a dig on a Greek island in the search for Ben Needham, who went missing as a toddler, his mother, Kerry, was there while the work was being carried out. Kate and Gerry McCann, on the other hand, decided not to go to Portugal while digging was going on in the search for their daughter. Their official Facebook page carried a message that they had been asked not to go, but I'm sure they could have gone anyway. No one forced them to stay away. However, last weekend, Kate and Gerry found time to fly to Portugal for their libel case against Dr Gonçalo Amaral, which was scheduled to start today at 9am. Kate and Gerry had been hoping to give statements to the court on how Dr Amaral's book had affected their lives, but this was not to be because the case has been postponed, following a letter delivered to the court this morning by Gonçalo Amaral.<br />
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Oh dear!<br />
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Thanks to HiDeHo4, we have the video of Kate and Gerry outside the court this morning. I'm not going to transcribe the whole of that video or comment on all of it: it's the Kate and Gerry pity party and I haven't had my supper!<br />
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Just a few extracts then.<br />
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Gerry McCann: "<i>..it's a blatant and cynical attempt to wear us down and it's Madeleine who's suffering."</i><br />
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Well, Gerry, you didn't wear yourselves down searching for your daughter the night she disappeared. Neither of you went out looking for her, preferring to spend your time phoning all the friends and relations and telling them about the "<i>jemmied shutters</i>," which weren't actually damaged at all. You have also put a great deal of energy into having Dr Amaral's book banned (subsequently overturned) and pursuing this libel action.<br />
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So, it's "<i>Madeleine who's suffering</i>."? In what way might Madeleine be suffering, if she were alive, because this libel case has been postponed? I'm not with you there, but hey, let's just throw that line in to get some sympathy! None from this quarter! I believe that Madeleine's suffering was over a long time ago.<br />
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Kate McCann talks about "<i>the pain and stress that Mr Amaral has brought to us and our children.</i>" Dr Amaral's book was published soon after the case was archived in July 2008. Let's talk about the waiting game here. It wasn't until May 16th 2009 that the media carried the story that you and Gerry had found that the book had caused you great distress and suffering and that you had decided that you would take legal action. Why wait so long? It didn't cause great distress and suffering immediately? Or maybe you hadn't expected it to be so successful. Or maybe, once you had counted up what you thought Dr Amaral had earned from the book, you began to feel upset and distressed. All that money! Waaaaaaah! Let's sue him for the lot!<br />
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Moving on, Kate McCann tells the eager reporters that every time she and her hubby have to go to Portugal, "<i>we have to make arrangements for our children to be looked after</i>." Good God! They're now using babysitters! If they had paid out a few quid for a babysitter in May 2007, they wouldn't be in this position. Enough with the "<i>poor me</i>."!!<br />
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They have to book flights and hotels? What a hard job that must be! And I don't believe for one minute that even a penny of their own money was used in the process, not with a fund produced from public donations to dip into, that fund that was supposedly set up to look for Madeleine. Madeleine was not at the Vatican and she's not in the court in Lisbon.<br />
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The next part of Kate McCann's spiel is rather worrying. She states that Gonçalo Amaral, with reference to the search for Madeleine, is trying to, "<i>stop her that human right of being looked for and found</i>." Really? With all the suspects that have been lined up since the book was published? Kate and Gerry, instead of hiring dodgy detectives, you could always have looked for her yourselves, especially on the night she disappeared. But it's the next part that's really worrying. Kate McCann goes on to say, "<i>It has happened to other children. It can happen to Madeleine</i>." Is there a direct link there? Is she implying that Snr Amaral has stopped other children being looked for and found? It certainly seems like that to me. Sounds rather libelous if that is what she's implying.<br />
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So, here we have Kate and Gerry playing the waiting game. They've played that game rather a lot since their daughter disappeared into thin air. I believe they waited from 10pm, when Madeleine was said to have been found to be missing, until around 10.40pm before one of their holiday companions called the police. They waited nearly a year to decide to sue Gonçalo Amaral because of hurt and distress caused by his book. Their lawyer, Isabel Duarte, waited some considerable time after the ban on Amaral's book was overturned to actually comply with a court order to return those books. Well, now it's their turn to wait a little longer. They could always spend some time investigating those "<i>hellish lairs</i>," in the "<i>lawless villages</i>," around Praia da Luz that two of their detectives spoke of.<br />
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Gonçalo Amaral has also been waiting. As a result of this court action, his assets were frozen and he has had to rely on his father for a roof over his head. He hasn't had access to a few million quid in publicly donated money to pay his bills and fund a few jaunts around Europe. He has waited five years and I guess he can wait a little while longer. <br />
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Good luck Dr Amaral. You have many friends around the world who are on your side, the side of justice for Madeleine.<br />
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<br />AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-22357784787924231352014-06-13T12:47:00.000+02:002014-06-13T12:47:05.994+02:00Madeleine McCann: Is this proof that the "last photo" is a fake? <div style="text-align: center;">
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-7280314900867730512014-06-01T21:02:00.001+02:002014-06-01T21:02:40.725+02:00Madeleine McCann: Judge rules that Kate and Gerry McCann do not possess the authority to sue Gonçalo Amaral in their daughter’s name.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ward of Court: Decision issued by Judge in Libel Trial<br />
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Judge rules that Kate and Gerry McCann do not possess the authority to sue Gonçalo Amaral in their daughter’s name. <br />
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The judge at the Civil Court of Lisbon who is trying the ‘libel’ case which Kate and Gerry McCann have filed against Gonçalo Amaral and 3 other parties has issued a decision concerning the matter of Madeleine McCann being a Ward of Court.<br />
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On the 3rd of January 2014, Gonçalo Amaral had argued before the Lisbon Court that Madeleine’s parents do not possess the necessary power to represent their daughter in this action, since the child had been made a Ward of Court in the United Kingdom.<br />
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The judge decided that Mr Amaral should present a certificate of the relevant British judicial ruling. That certificate was delivered to the Court on the 2nd of May, after a lengthy, expensive process.<br />
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The judge then had to decide whether or not Madeleine’s parents were entitled to represent their daughter in this lawsuit. In the judge’s recent ruling, it is mentioned that “within the 'Wardship', the High Court holds ultimate responsibility over the child, but it does not suppress or annul the exercise of the parental responsibilities”. The High Court takes control over “the most important decisions for the life” of the child. The judge further considers that “the decision to file a judicial action in the name of the child” is a decision “of the magnitude that is demanded for the agreement or consent of the court”.<br />
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The judge’s ruling further notes that the matters that have been brought before the High Court that holds the Wardship have been matters of an “eminently judiciary nature, like the revelation of confidential information and documents, that are related to the child’s disappearance and were in the possession of the local police”. <br />
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The text continues with the consideration that because Madeleine was made a Ward of the Court on the 2nd of April of 2008, her parents did not possess, in 2009, “the necessary capacity of representation of their daughter to file the present action without the authorization from the British court”.<br />
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Nevertheless, the judge has decided that the final court session, which will include a statement from Gerald McCann and the presentation of closing arguments from all sides, should take place regardless of the matter of the Wardship.<br />
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After that hearing is completed, the proceedings will be suspended for 30 days. <i><span style="color: #cc0000;">During that period, Madeleine’s parents “shall arrange for the collection and documentation in the records of the British Court’s authorization for the bringing of this action on behalf of the minor Madeleine McCann”</span><span style="color: #674ea7;">.</span></i> If they fail to do so, the defendants will be “acquitted of the proceedings concerning the requests that have been formulated on behalf of the latter”.<br />
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The judge has proposed the date of 16th June for the final session, but each of the lawyers involved have the possibility of declining said date and suggesting alternative dates.<br />
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<a href="http://pjga.blogspot.com/2014/06/ward-of-court-decision-issued-by-judge.html"><span style="color: #bf9000;">http://pjga.blogspot.com/2014/06/ward-of-court-decision-issued-by-judge.html</span></a><br />
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Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral June 1st 2014</div>
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For me, the above highlighted text suggests that Kate and Gerry McCann must show that before they took their libel action against Gonçalo Amaral they had authorisation to bring the action in Madeleine's name. The text above states that the McCanns must produce the documentation "<i>in the records</i>," of the British court, i.e., something which already exists, rather than something they will now apply for. </div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-79008022452638487872014-05-30T12:49:00.000+02:002014-05-30T12:49:43.714+02:00Madeleine McCann: McCanns - Their Best Moments<div style="text-align: center;">
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Video by Claudia7929</div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-35495500856520639902014-05-21T14:55:00.000+02:002016-03-18T17:42:00.638+01:00Kate McCann and the Child Rescue Alert system: an alert would not have been triggered for Madeleine under this system<div abp="5465" style="text-align: center;">
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Coral Jones, mother of murdered April Jones, and Mrs McCann, mother of missing Madeleine, unveiled a digital billboard at King’s Cross station in London promoting an enhanced Child Rescue Alerts system to inform the public about missing children whose lives are considered at risk. </div>
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The scheme will use social media including text messages, email and digital billboards across the UK in addition to traditional broadcast media to issue the alerts when it is launched on Sunday, International Missing Children’s Day.</div>
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(<a abp="5483" href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/coral-jones-kate-mccann-launch-7148223"><span abp="5484" style="color: #7f6000;">WalesOnline May 20th 2014</span></a>)</div>
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The Child Rescue Alerts System, which has been introduced in the UK recently, is based of the French Alerte Enlèvement system, which has been in operation across the EU for a number of years. The UK is one of the last of the member states to introduce this system for missing children.</div>
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I think Kate McCann is showing her usual arrogance in appearing in public to promote this alert system after attempting to replace it in 2008 when she and Gerry went to Strasbourg to sponsor the American Amber Alert system at a time when the French system was already being tried out in several EU states.</div>
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An alert system had been active in some member states of the EU for some time when the McCanns went to Strasbourg. In fact, Portugal was the second country after Hungary, to introduce an alert system in 2002, in accordance with an EU directive.</div>
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In June 2008, the McCanns went to Strasbourg to gather support for a Europe-wide system, based on the American Amber Alert. They presented a written declaration to the Commission, but this was not their own work, rather it had been drawn up by Edward McMillan-Scott, then Vice-President of the European Parliament, but presented by the media-savvy, media magnets, the McCanns.</div>
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The McCanns had simply tried to hijack an initiative that had already been working its way through the European Parliament for some time, turn it into something else and claim it as their own.</div>
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In December 2006, an extraordinary meeting of the member states approved an initiative of the European Commission to reserve certain numbers (Starting with 116 ) for a Europe-wide alert system for missing children. This was the system which had been in operation in France since 2006 and had proved to be effective in several cases. </div>
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Since 2006, the French system, known as "Alerte Enlèvement," which is the system now introduced across most of the EU territory and finally in the UK, has recovered many missing children through rapid response to reported cases of abduction. The success of the system, according to Rachida Dati, former French Justice Minister, is due to there being very strict criteria for launching an alert. Four criteria must be met.</div>
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1) It must be a confirmed abduction and not just a disappearance, however worrying.</div>
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2) The victim's life or physical safety must be at risk. </div>
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3) The Public Prosecutor must be in possession of sufficient information which, if broadcast, would help to locate the child or the suspect. </div>
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4) The victim must be a minor. </div>
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Would an alert have been triggered when Madeleine McCann disappeared? </div>
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1) A confirmed abduction? No. All that was known was that Madeleine had been reported by her parents as having been in bed when they left the apartment to go to the Tapas Bar and that when Kate McCann went to check on the children at 10pm, Madeleine wasn't in her bed. In spite of what was stated to friends and relations of the McCanns by telephone in the early hours of May 4th, 2007, there was no evidence of a break-in at the apartment: the shutters had not been "jemmied," and no trace of an abductor was found in the apartment. Apart from the above, we have Jane Tanner's statement about having seen a man she originally described as "carrying a bundle that could have been a child," which gradually developed into a man carrying a child who was definitely Madeleine McCann. </div>
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So, no, criterion number one was not met.</div>
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2) Was Madeleine's life or physical safety at risk? Well, she wasn't tucked up safely in her bed and she was not hiding in the apartment or anywhere in the vicinity. She was a missing three-year-old, so a child at risk since it was not and still is not known what had happened to her. </div>
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3) Was there sufficient information that would have helped locate Madeleine or the suspect? The question is, what kind of information would have helped? The first and most important piece of information would perhaps have been a description of a suspect, but Jane Tanner's description of "an egg with hair," would not have been very helpful! Secondly, the description of a vehicle that could possibly have been used by a suspect. None. So, based on a vague description of "an egg with hair," there would have been insufficient evidence, which if broadcast would have helped recover Madeleine or find a suspect.</div>
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Number 3 not met.</div>
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4) The victim must be a minor. Yes. </div>
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As for little April Jones, an alert would probably have been triggered in her case. Several of April's friends reported having seen her getting into a white van. So, there would have been sufficient information, which if broadcast may have helped the police recover April, or at least discover her whereabouts. Madeleine McCann's disappearance is very different in many ways to that of April Jones. There are no independent witnesses outside the McCanns circle of friends who can state that Madeleine had been in bed when she vanished into thin air, but April was seen outside her home by many of her friends. April's case was an obvious abduction: Madeleine's disappearance was not. Even Andy Redwood, who is leading the team of British police officers investigating Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal, has stated recently that there is a chance that Madeleine may not have left the apartment alive. Is he suggesting that an intruder took away a dead child or is he suggesting something else? </div>
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So, here we have Kate McCann appearing in public to promote a missing child alert system that she tried to replace with the American Amber Alert system, under the strict criteria of which, an alert would not have been triggered for Madeleine. That woman has some Chutzpah! But that's nothing new as far as Kate and Gerry McCann are concerned! They admit to having left three children under the age of 4 in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country while they wined and dined with their mates and have been behaving like celebrity victims ever since, courting publicity at every opportunity. That's amazing Chutzpah in my book! </div>
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6507371804916142517.post-13781496579078310542014-04-17T19:49:00.001+02:002014-04-17T19:49:57.039+02:00The Child Reported Missing in the Allier Region of France Did Not Exist<div>
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The woman who reported the disappearance, presenting herself as the child's aunt, has been remanded in custody. </div>
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The suspicions of the investigators, in not excluding an "<i>imaginary abduction</i>," were well founded. Chayson, the two-year-old whom the police spent five days searching for, does not exist. The little boy was born from the imagination of the woman who reported his disappearance on Friday. She presented herself at the police station as the aunt of the child whom she claimed had disappeared into thin air near a supermarket car park. She was remanded in custody on Wednesday. Her daughter and a cousin, both minors suspected of having assisted her in setting up the hoax, have also been interviewed. <br />
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The story began on a fake Facebook page, which was almost certainly set up by the two teenagers, with photos stolen from other accounts on the social media web site. Three characters were created, one of whom, Rayane Basinio, was supposed to be Chayson's father and the nephew of the woman who invented the story. </div>
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A bad joke or revenge? </div>
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The investigators began to have their doubts when they noticed an increasing number of inconsistencies in the witness statements of the pretend aunt and her relatives. Chayson's parents happened to be separated, unable to be contacted and of unknown address. The police don't know how long the drama went on for on social media, but the reporting of the disappearance coincides with the time when the photo originally used on Rayane's account was withdrawn.</div>
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It is still not known if this story arose out of a bad taste joke or if it hides more malicious intent. "<i>We're working on the motives, whether it's a psychological problem, or some hidden agenda, vengeance or something else</i>." Anyone reporting an imaginary crime risks a six month prison sentence and a fine of €7,500. </div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000;"><a href="http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2014/04/17/01016-20140417ARTFIG00042-le-petit-garcon-disparu-de-l-allier-n-existait-pas.php">Le Figaro 17/04/2014</a></span><br />
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AnnaEssehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07897634469630870944noreply@blogger.com0