Enfants Kidnappés: does the archiving of the file mean the end of the investigation?

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The end of the investigation. 22/07/08

The PJ have assured, this Tuesday, that they will continue to follow all leads concerning Maddie's disappearance. On Monday, the PGR announced the archiving of the file, the said, "Maddie case," and the lifting of the arguido status of the only three suspects in this case. The Public Minister decided to, "archive the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, in the absence of proof that the suspected people had committed the least crime," stated the press release from the PGR. In consequence, the MP decided to, "suspend," the status of the parents and of the Luso-British man, Robert Murat. The MP also made clear that the case could be re-opened, "if new evidence appeared," and he confirmed that anyone who had a legitimate interest (that means: legally or judicially valid) would have access to the documents of the investigation as soon as the legal deadline expired. Then what?

The Maddie case will sink into oblivion until, by chance, a detail appears miraculously in broad daylight? Until someone at work trips over the little girl's body? Until someone confesses? Of course not! It would seem that this is not the way followed by members of the PJ. The Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC) of Portimao is going to be briefly strengthened in order to cope with the possibility of new leads or new sensitive details to be analysed within the context of the Maddie case. For some time already, there has been a sense of excitement on the part of the PJ. New leads would seem to be checked in total secrecy. It is not to be ruled out that the PJ are holding something. Whatever it is, the case remains open. Indeed, little Madeleine's disappearance is not resolved. To my knowledge, neither the little girl nor her body has been found. And as long as we do not find Madeleine or her body, the case will remain open!

Police failure?

The fact that 14 months after the opening of the investigation, the PJ don't know what happened to Madeleine is, for many, considered as a failure. And it is true, it is a failure. The fact that the police have not cornered the person or people who committed a crime or an offence, is a failure. But the PJ can be criticised for nothing, absolutely nothing. They have not skimped on resources and since the investigation was placed in the hands of the PJ, it has been pursued in a very professional manner. The PJ have kept on course in the face of an excessively high profile media case. Dealing with extremely heavy and totally shameful political pressure within the context of the disappearance of a child. Faced with a perfectly oiled PR and marketing machine. Faced with unprecedented financial power. Against all odds, the PJ have kept their professionalism, their thoroughness and impartiality.

Proof, if anything, of the objectivity of the final report. It is easy to criticise after the facts! To say: "but they should have done this or that." Criticism often made by people who did not even know that such and such a procedure existed! Thus we strongly condemn the press of any kind and their cheap hacks for not having the slightest notion on the subject of police procedure when we read articles of the type: "The PJ have committed a very serious error! They should have immediately set up a security barrier. To prevent the crime scene being contaminated...." Of course, a security barrier would have been the best thing to do. It is also universal procedure!!!! In use by all the police forces of the world! The lowliest candidate, having taken his exam to become a police inspector knows it! But to begin with, it did not look like a crime! It looked like a child had wandered off, nothing more. It looked like a four year-old child left alone in a foreign country and who would be lost in the surrounding countryside trying to join her parents. At the outset, no one in law enforcement thought it was an abduction. And that is normal! It is the procedure. The criteria for a kidnapping were not met and according to the PJ have still not been!

Justified suspicion?

For several months people have been talking about a basic principle of our democracy, which is the idea of, "presumption of innocence." One of the last bastions of democracy is the police, whatever some may say. Without the police, we can only imagine the rate of thefts, rapes, murders, crimes and offences in all categories etc. One of the operating principles of a police force rests with the idea of , "justified suspicion." What is justified suspicion? It is a set of worrying details, placed end to end, which in any event, allows the consideration whether someone is guilty or implicated in something. The details in the possession of the PJ and contained in the file allow the investigators to have, "justified suspicion," with regard to the parents. It is through this kind of element of suspicion that the police can follow a lead then bring together all the factors and finally end up with one or several pieces of evidence. The line between justified suspicion and solid evidence is sometimes thin, especially for an individual. Thus, a picture worth more than a thousand words, I suggest the following parallel to you.


In summer, a night patrol hear the sound of glass during their rounds, a few metres away, just round the corner. In under five seconds, the police officers are at the scene of the offence, a dead-end road from which no one can flee without passing the police patrol officers. On the scene, the team find two individuals wearing gloves, backs turned towards a stationary vehicle with a window which has just been smashed. On the ground, next to the two individuals, there is a car radio with wires hanging out and on the other side of the two individuals, the kit for the perfect petty thief. There is no other exit and no one could flee without being seen by the patrol officers who were nearby. The police officers get out of their vehicle, arrest the two individuals who are given the status of, "suspect." The ticket will be drawn up as, "theft from a vehicle."

To you, to me, to the intervening police officers, it is clear that the individuals are the guilty parties. The magistrate, however releases them in the absence of evidence. In fact, they plead their innocence and claim that they went to the scene after having heard the noise of glass and that the objects near them do not belong to them and as no one saw them commit the offence, not even the police officers, there is no proof. There is justified suspicion in the eyes of the police, but there is no proof in the eyes of the magistrate. There is doubt. The suspects are no longer that and are released.

There is a small explanatory illustration of what is justified suspicion. In the Maddie case, the first justified suspicion appeared, in the eyes of the investigators, from the first evening, during Madeleine's disappearance itself. That suspicion seemed obvious to the professionals when Kate, after having waited 10 minutes in the apartment, went back ALONE, leaving the twins asleep in the apartment where, according to her, a crime had just been committed, saying: "they've taken her, they've taken her," but without protecting her two other children from a predator who could have been still hiding on the scene or coming back to take the twins. A mother would have wakened her little ones and would have taken them with her to protect them from danger. And there was the first suspicion of the police. Others followed to swell the ranks.

The fact that the PGR decided to archive the case and to suspend the status of the three suspects does not make anyone innocent and based on the presumption of innocence, does not make anyone guilty either!

Kate McCann

"We welcome the news, even if there is no reason to rejoice," stated a very emotional Kate McCann in a brief statement read in the village of Rothley, in Central England, where the couple live. "We will never give up." : Madeleine's parents hope that from now on the archiving of the case, "in the absence of evidence," will allow them to relaunch the international campaign which has lost momentum.

Alipio Ribeiro

The former PJ director, Alipio Ribeiro, thinks that the Maddie case was archived, "too hastily." He stresses that the hunt for a child can last several years. "The hasty archiving can harm, perhaps permanently, an ultimate solution." "A case of the disappearance of a child cannot be closed, for lack of evidence, so soon after the tragedy," Alipio Ribeiro said in a note published by the Diario Economico. "The length of the investigation is not the length of the news item or its media reports, still less when it is about the disappearance of a child," says M. Ribeiro, who resigned in May last years, saying he was, "exhausted by the media coverage of his role." He ended his interview stating: "perhaps it would have been more appropriate to suspend the status of the suspects and, within a certain context, to continue the investigation."

Gonçalo Amaral.

Ex-inspector Gonçalo Amaral, who led the investigation, before being replaced in October for having criticised his British colleagues, considers that the archiving of the judicial procedure does not mean that the little girl's parents have been cleared. "This is not a declaration of innocence. The Public Minister has not said they are innocent." was his reaction on Tuesday. Gonçalo Amaral, now retired, who placed the McCann couple under investigation, will present the book he has written on the Maddie case on Thursday - "The Truth if the Lie." In this book, he promises, "facts," to support his conviction that, "Maddie died in the apartment," in Praia da Luz where she was sleeping on the night of her disappearance.

Replacing the director of the PJ gives new impetus to the McCann case

The appointment of José Maria d'Almeida Rodrigues to replace the outgoing director of the PJ seems to be widely popular with serving police officers in Portugal. The fact that Rodrigues is an officer from within their ranks would appear to be the reason.

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Au Portugal, plusieurs inspecteurs contactés ce soir, ont affirmé leur surprise et satisfaction avec la nomination de leur collègue Almeida Rodrigues à la tête de la Police Judiciaire (PJ), en remplacement d’Alipio Ribeiro, le directeur national démissionnaire.

In Portugal, several inspectors contacted this evening, expressed their surprise and satisfaction with the nomination of their colleague Almeida Rodrigues to head the PJ, as replacement for Alipio Ribeiro, the director who has resigned.

Selon les inspecteurs, "cette nomination apporte un nouveau souffle à la Police Judiciaire et en particulier aux investigations en cours, notamment à l’enquête qui concerne la disparition de Madeleine."

Alipio Ribeiro, le directeur national démissionnaire, avait perdu le support de la quasi-totalité des inspecteurs de la PJ après avoir écarté Gonçalo Amaral de la coordination du Département d’Investigation Criminelle (DIC) de Portimão, lui retirant par la même occasion la responsabilité de l’enquête Madeleine.

According to the inspectors, "this nomination brings a new impetus to the PJ and in particular to ongoing investigations, notably the enquiry concerning Madeleine's disappearance. "

Alipio Ribeiro, the national director who has resigned, had lost the support of virtually all the PJ inspectors after having dismissed Gonçalo Amaral as coordinator of the Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC) in Portimao, at the same time removing from him the responsibility for the Madeleine enquiry.

Le mandat d'Alípio Ribeiro comme directeur national de la PJ, qui finissait en avril d’année prochain, a encore été marqué par plusieurs polémiques, la dernière en date le conduisant vers la démission : Alipio Ribeiro avait affirmé aux médias que le passage de la PJ sous la tutelle du Ministère de l'Administration Interne irait apporter une plus grande "efficacité."

Alipio Ribeiro's term of office as PJ national director, which finished in April next year, has been marked by several controversies, the latest leading to his resignation: Alipio Ribeiro had stated in the media that the transition of the PJ to the administration of the Ministry of Internal Administration was going to bring greater efficiency.

Sa position au sein de la Police Judiciaire était déjà très affaiblie en conséquence d’une précédente déclaration controversée, à propos de l’enquête Maddie, ou Alípio Ribeiro avait affirmé, dans une entrevue, qu’il y aurait eu "précipitation" dans la constitution du couple McCann comme arguidos.

His position with the PJ was already very weakened as a result of a previous statement about the Maddie enquiry, where Alipio Ribeiro had stated in an interview, that there had been, "haste," in constituting the McCann couple as arguidos.

Carlos Anjos, président de l’Association Syndicale des Fonctionnaires d’Investigation Criminelle (ASFIC) PJ, s'est félicité du choix du gouvernement soulignant "qu’il s’agit de la première fois qu’un policier de carrière est indiqué pour diriger l’institution," un poste confié habituellement à un magistrat.

Carlos Anjos, president of the Association of Civil Servants Trade Union of Criminal Investigation (ASFIC) PJ, is happy with the government's choice, stressing, "it is the first time that a career police officer has been appointed to lead the institution," a post usually given to a magistrate.

L’annonce de la nomination du nouveau directeur national de la PJ à été fait cette après-midi par le Ministère de la Justice par la voie d’un communiqué, précisant que le ministre avait "accepté la demande de démission d’Alipio Ribeiro. "

The announcement of the nomination of the new national director of the PJ was made this afternoon by the Ministry of Justice through a press release, stating that the minister had, "accepted Alipio Ribeiro's resignation."

L’inspecteur José Maria d'Almeida Rodrigues, âgé de 49 ans, est licencié en droit et occupait jusqu’à présent le poste de coordinateur du DIC de Coimbra. Tout au long de sa carrière dans la PJ il à été confronté à quelques cas difficiles et médiatiques, notamment l’investigation des crimes d’inspiration sataniques à Aveiro et du Serial Killer de Santa Comba Dão. Plus récemment ont le retrouve derrière l’arrestation de l’ennemi public numéro un d’Espagne, connu comme "El Solitario", accusé de l’assassinat de trois personnes et de plus de trente attaques à main armé à des banques.

Inspector José Maria d'Almeida Rodrigues, aged 49, is a law graduate and until now held the post of coordinator of the DIC in Coimbra. Throughout his carrer in the PJ he has been faced with a few difficult, and high profile media cases, notably the investigation of crimes of satanic inspiration in Aveiro and of the serial killer of Santa Comba Dao. More recently he was behind the arrest of public enemy number one in Spain, known as, "El Solitario," charged with the murder of three people and of thirty armed bank robberies.
Selon une source proche du nouveau directeur, parmi ses adjoints, ont retrouvera un des inspecteurs en charge du dossier d’enquête à la disparition de Madeleine McCann.

According to a source close to the new director, amongst his deputies is one of the inspectors in charge of the investigation file into Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

Surveillance vidéo mise en cause au Royaume-Uni

Une des critiques trop souvent avancés par les médias britanniques à propos du cas de disparition de Madeleine McCann à été aujourd’hui sérieusement ébranlé après que le directeur du département d’images de Scotland Yard, Mike Neville, à révélé que seulement 3% des crimes commis dans les rues de Londres ont été résolues grâce aux images vidéo.

Surveillance cameras in the UK called into question.

One of the ctiricisms often put forward by the British media about the case of Madeleine McCann's disappearance was today seriously shaken, after Mike Neville, director of Scotland Yard's department of image identification, revealed that only 3% of street crime in London was solved thanks to video images.

Après la disparition de Madeleine McCann de l’appartement de vacances de ses parents, plusieurs médias britanniques avaient pointé du doigt la quasi inexistence de cameras vidéos dans les rues portugaises.

After Madeleine McCann's disappearance from her parents' holiday apartment, several British media had pointed the finger at the virtual non-existence of video cameras in Portuguese streets.

La surveillance vidéo sur la voie publique, au Portugal, obéit à des règles très strictes, ce que n’a pas empêché les inspecteurs de la Police Judiciaire de mettre la main sur des images de Madeleine capturés à Praia da Luz.

Video surveillance on public roads in Portugal is subject to very strict regulation, which has not prevented the PJ inspectors from getting their hands on images of Madeleine captured in Praia da Luz.

Selon l’officier britannique, qui ne parlait pas dans le cadre de l’affaire McCann, l’utilisation des cameras de surveillance vidéo, en dépit de l’énorme investissement, ne réduisent pas la criminalité.

According to a British police officer, who was not speaking within the framework of the McCann case, the use of video surveillance cameras, despite the huge investment, does not reduce crime.

La présence des cameras n’est pas un facteur de dissuasion car, affirme le détective, si les criminels partent souvent du principe qu’elles sont hors service, les agents de police, à son tour, n’aiment pas regarder les enregistrements considérant "qu’il s’agit d’un travail trop dur. "

The presence of cameras is not a deterrant because, states the detective, if criminals start from the premise that they are out of service, the police, in their turn, don't like looking at the recordings, considering, "that it is too hard work."

Couple irlandais prend la fuite pour ne pas comparaitre devant le tribunal

Le couple irlandais qui avait été trouvé dans un état de coma éthylique et incapable de s’occuper de ses trois enfants, âgés de un à six ans, a quitté le Portugal sans comparaître devant la juge Beatriz Borges du Tribunal de Famille et Mineurs de Faro, ou il était attendu aujourd’hui.

Irish couple flee to avoid appearing in court.

The Irish couple who had been found in a state of alcoholic coma and incapable of looking after their three children, aged one to six, left Portugal without appearing in court before the judge Beatriz Borges at the Family and Minors Court in Faro, where they were expected today.

Contactée, l’ambassade à Lisbonne s’est limitée à confirmer que le couple avait pris un avion de retour vers son pays avant même la fin de ses vacances.

Contacted, the ambassador in Lisbonne only confirmed that the couple had taken a return flight to their country even before the end of their holiday.

Selon une source du Ministère Public, le dossier sera envoyé au Royaume-Uni afin que les autorités locales puissent vérifier le bien-être des enfants et décider des éventuelles sanctions à prendre à l’encontre du couple. Au Portugal, c’est maintenant à la juge Beatriz Borges d’apprécier s’il y a lieu de continuer la procédure.

According to a cource at the Public Ministry, the case will be sent to the UK so that the local authorities can check on the well-being of the children and decide what actual measures to take against the couple. In Portugal, it is now up to the judge Beatriz Borges to assess whether there is a need to continue with the proceedings.

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6/05/08