RECONSTRUCTION: Why McCanns and Tapas 7 won't participate.

Thanks HiDeHo!

Today, Sunday May 5th 2013, the Sunday Express carries an interview by Robert Murat, the first suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in May 2007. Robert Murat is calling for a reconstruction of the events surrounding Madeleine's disappearance. I'll go into that interview later, but in the meantime, a quick look at what happened to a proposed reconstruction in March 2008.

When asked about participating in a reconstruction of the events surrounding his daughter Madeleine's disappearance, in HiDeHo's video, posted above, Gerry McCann expresses concern that the proposed date has been made public. "How can you do a reconstruction with what will undoubtedly be a media event?" As if Gerry and Kate had never staged a few media events! On June 3rd, 2007, Gerry was planning a few.

We want a big event to raise awareness that she is still missing.
“We would look at high-profile people who have already pledged support. It will be some sort of focus around an anniversary, to tell people that Madeleine ’s still missing. I think it would be later this year, once media attention has dropped, to bring it back up, hopefully, for a short period.
“It wouldn’t be a one-year anniversary, it will be sooner than that. (Paulo Reis)

So, one calender month after Madeleine disappeared, Gerry was obviously not expecting her to turn up any time soon with his planning of "some sort of focus around an anniversary.." Not a one year anniversary, though it appears that Gerry thought there would be one.  

Gerry McCann also refers in the video to the fact that the planned reconstruction was dependent on other people. Read here the correspondence between Stuart Prior (call me Stu!) of Leicester Police, the group of friends the McCanns went on holiday with, as well as other witnesses and significant officers of the Portuguese police. The reconstruction was eventually cancelled as the group known as "The Tapas Seven" placed so many obstacles in the way, it became impossible to stage.

On the subject of participating in a reconstruction, Kate McCann states that if there were anything that would help find Madeleine, "..of course we'd agree to it." OK, then, what about the 48 questions Kate McCann refused to answer when interviewed by the PJ? Surely the parent of a missing child who wanted to do anything that would help the police find their child would want to give as much information as possible? Surely such a parent would be trying to provide every little detail they could remember surrounding the circumstances of the child's disappearance? Maybe not! Why not?

OK, so now Robert Murat wants the Portuguese police to "Bring them all back to Portugal" for a reconstruction. The article doesn't appear to be online and I had intended to buy a copy of the newspaper this morning, but I forgot! However, thanks to the very helpful Duarte Levy I have the article as a pdf! Thanks Duarte!

Mr Murat, 39, spoke to the Sunday Express while sipping tea in Casa Liliana, his elderly mother Jenny's villa 150 yards from apartment 5a of the Ocean Club, where Madeleine vanished.
He said "They need to speak to everybody, including myself, and they need to get the Portuguese involved in a much more constructive way.
"To get somewhere now they need to have a joint team working here together in Praia da Luz. This is where it happened. It didn't happen in England." 

I agree with Robert. If the Scotland Yard team is serious about reviewing all the evidence in this case, then all the main characters involved in the drama need to be interviewed. Robert Murat is willing to be interviewed. So, how about the rest of them? Surely they'd all want to assist with anything that might help solve the disappearance of Madeleine McCann seemingly into thin air?

Robert Murat adds:

The reconstruction should cover the critical period just before and after the abduction

And:

A reconstruction is a real necessity. I am sure it would fill in some of the missing pieces of the jigsaw. Even now after all this time, the timeline is still confused. 

Gonçalo Amaral on the need for a reconstruction:

The reconstruction will have to involve all the parties: the McCanns and their friends. You see, there are so many inconsistencies in these people’s statements that a reconstruction will very quickly highlight where they have not told the truth”. http://www.algarve123.com/en/Articles/2-1403/

In my opinion, highlighting those inconsistencies, the confusion in the timeline, would be the real benefit of staging a reconstruction of the events surrounding Madeleine McCann's disappearance. Any witnesses will surely have come forward by now, given the world-wide media attention that has accompanied this case. Madeleine has been "sighted" on all five continents, sometimes on the same day, but nothing of any value has come of any of it. The world's most well-known child has not been seen since she disappeared on May 3rd 2007 and I'm pretty sure she's not in a "hellish lair," in one of those "lawless villages" referred to by the McCanns' PI Dave Edgar.

A few questions that come immediately to mind: how did Jane Tanner manage to slip-slap past Gerry McCann and Jeremy Wilkins, on the same side of the road, in flip-flops, and neither of them saw her? How did Matthew Oldfield manage to see the twins Sean and Amelie breathing in their cots in the dark, through solid cot sides? When Jane Tanner's abductor was heading across the top of the road, when she was slip-slapping along, why didn't Gerry McCann see him? How did Jane Tanner's original "man carrying a bundle that could have been a child" transform over time into swarthy man carrying a child in pyjamas identical to those worn by Madeleine?

It may be too late to jog the memory of any tourist who was in Praia da Luz at the same time as the McCanns, but that's not the main purpose of staging a reconstruction. The main purpose is to highlight the many inconsistencies in witness statements from the Tapas Nine, which eventually may lead to the answer as to what happened to Madeleine.

If Kate McCann is serious about wanting to do anything that would help find her daughter, then she should be expressing her willingness to go back and help the Portuguese police by participating in a reconstruction. But let's see what, if any, response comes from that quarter. I can't see the plane tickets being booked any time soon.

Related blog posts:

All posts labelled "Reconstruction" here.

"Where was Maddie when the lights went out"

MCMINUTE: McCanns need to maintain an ILLUSION in Britain

Duarte Levy - Maddie: new book, but still no solution to the mystery

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"Don't expect a miracle. This is still just promotion," warns a Portuguese PJ inspector.

Approaching the fifth anniversary of their daughter's disappearance, Kate and Gerry McCann, little Maddie's parents, are preparing to launch a new version of their book, "Madeleine."

Thanks to promotion and a rapid decrease in the initial cover price, the original version of "Madeleine," sold 280,000 copies in the United Kingdom alone.

The "new," work, in paperback format, will be released in the United Kingdom on May 10th and includes a new epilogue which is supposed to reflect the work of the British team which is busy analyzing the the original investigation.

What's more, it's the confidence the McCanns claim to have in this team that has been put forward to justify the return of the case to the pages of the British tabloids.

After five years and a few million Euros up in smoke - 2.2 million in 2011 alone - , a team of 36 detectives and civilians would be under pressure to find the solution to the Maddie mystery.

According to a source - always the same - quoted by the Sunday Mirror tabloid, "the London Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) would have invested a great deal of resources in the examination (of the investigation) and they want results."

According to the Sunday Mirror, the work of the British police will result in a "full report with a series of recommendations," for the Portuguese PJ.

Astonishingly, the source quoted by the tabloid also provides statements from the McCanns and details of Kate's work in the writing of the new epilogue.

The information disclosed by several British tabloids, also makes clear that Chief Inspector Andy Redwood's team anticipate that their report could lead to the reopening of the investigation in Portugal.

As a reminder, a PJ team in Porto, in the north of Portugal, is also proceeding with a re-examination of the facts from the original investigation - a kind of "Cold Case," Portuguese version.

Pressure, but no miracles.

A long way away from the communication experts and the promotion of the new version of "Madeleine," the Portuguese team views the case with a lot less enthusiasm.

"Unfortunately, we can't expect a miracle because it's still only promotion," a PJ inspector close to the team directed by coordinator Helena Monteiro warns.

According to this inspector, "the method adopted by the English is flawed by a mistake: at the beginning, they threw out all possibilities with the exception of abduction by a stranger to the group."

"I am not accusing the parents, but there were other people and for certain there are still doubts. And the only way to take up the investigation again would be to start with the reconstruction," states the same inspector, stressing that "pressure is on collaboration," at the expense of quality.

Decoding

One month before the publication of this "new" book - a sort of rehash of the first version - it is important from a commercial point of view, to make a new appeal to the British media.

It is incidentally interesting to stress that it's the same English tabloids that the McCann clan condemn every time the subject of Maddie's disappearance is approached from an angle that is not orchestrated by their public relations machine - and I'm referring to Clarence Mitchell.

Astonishing coordination between the British media, usually miserly in their collaboration, who, for some unknown reason (sorry for this utter sarcasm), have all published similar information.

Information worthy of a communications expert....did I mention Clarence Mitchell?!

I am not even talking about the Portuguese media ...because there we talk about the "parrot," effect.

Duarte Levy 17th April 2012/

Madeleine McCann: new defamation action launched in Portugal by her parents

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Paulo Sergeanto

The action launched by Kate and Gerry McCann seeks an, as yet, undetermined amount in damages.

According to the summons - which I have managed to get hold of -, Madeleine McCann's parents have decided to pursue action for defamation against the psychologist Paulo Sergeanto, the well known presenter Manuel Luis Goucha and the journalist Hernâni Carvalho.

The three personalities of the small screen in Portugal began to be interviewed yesterday, Wednesday, and were constituted "arguidos" - the equivalent in French law of being cautioned.
The criminal complaint, which was instituted by the couple's lawyer in Portugal, also cites the private television channel TVI and its administration.

The complaint cites the contribution of the three "arguidos" during the broadcast of a talk-show where details of the Portuguese police investigation were discussed.

Sergeanto, who also appears as a legal expert in Portuguese courts, confirmed the information, stressing that he did not respond to the Prosecutor's questions yesterday, but "that he did not speak yesterday but that he intends to do so during the proceedings because he has knowledge of elements which may lead to the reopening of the inquiry related to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.”

An unusual detail, in contrast to other trials, is that the secrecy of justice has not been requested in this case.

According to a source close to the McCanns, who confirms the action in progress, "other actions aimed at other people and media are still under consideration."

Duarte Levy in The Tribune 16/06/2011

http://sosmaddie.blogs.dhnet.be/

Spam called Maddie McCann

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Spam: spam, spam or trash is an unsolicited communication via email. In general, it's sent in huge numbers for advertising reasons.

Four years after her strange disappearance, a photo of Madeleine McCann may very soon arrive in your email inbox. In any case, that's what an Australian daily newspaper tells us, quoting aunts of the little British girl.

According to Phil and Diane McCann, this will be the case for 80% of internet users world-wide. "I am asking everyone I know to forward this chain email, because the case is not covered outside the United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal," says Phil McCann, stressing that the family do not believe that Maddie is still in Portugal.

The objective of this initiative, according to Diane, "is to highlight the distinction in Madeleine's eye," - information, however, which has already been broadcast world-wide. "The pupil runs into the blue-green iris."

Maddie's disappearance was reported on the night of May 3rd 2007 in Praia da Luz, a very peaceful tourist village in the south of Portugal.

As the fourth anniversary of the disappearance approaches, Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry, are getting ready to publish a book which tells their version of the case.
Originally planned for release on April 29th, the book, "Madeleine," finally comes out on May 12th, "to avoid clashing with media coverage of the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton."

Further reading:

Kate McCann teme ser agredida (In Spanish)

Hunt for Madeleine McCann: the next chapter (In English)

Duarte Levy

SOS Madeleine McCann 10/04/11

Madeleine McCann: why do her parents say they are delighted?

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By Duarte Levy

November 7th 2010

http://www.duartelevy.eu/?p=3739

Fewer than 0.1% have shown their support for Madeleine McCann's parents, but Kate and Gerry say they are "delighted".....In spite of this, Maddie's body is yet to be found and the investigation is still waiting for "better evidence."

According to the latest known figures, the United Kingdom has 61,534, 872 inhabitants and Portugal 10, 644,987, making a total of potentially 72,169,859 people to respond to the request for a review of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance. Up to today, assuming that all the signatories to this petition actually exist, 27,426* people support the McCann family's request.

The request, however is born out of fantasy: with regard to Portuguese law, an independent review of an official police investigation does not exist.

To sum up, 0.038% of the two countries concerned support Kate and Gerry McCann.

Having read several articles published recently by my colleagues, one question gnaws at me: where are they finding reasons to say they are happy with this support?

The question becomes even more important when you consider that, according to the investigators who searched for the little girl, Maddie's parents - as well as certain of their British friends - did not collaborate with the investigation that they are now requesting to be reviewed.

That said, how do you carry out a review of an investigation which, from the start, was subject to pressure and manipulation by British diplomats? Even more important, who would be independent enough nowadays to review anything at all about this case?

So, there remains only one solution, and that is in the hands of Madeleine's parents: submit to questions and requests from the magistrates and investigators, after asking them to reopen the investigation. What's left in the fund is surely enough to cover the likely legal fees to get this action going. And I am ready to put my signature to that request.

* By way of comparison, in 2007, under the government of Tony Blair - not a stranger to the Maddie case - 590,682 British people put their names to another petition against a tax on motoring.

To also give you an idea of the usefulness of these petitions, in 2009, 72,222 English people demanded the resignation of the other Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. The McCanns' friend did not resign, but later on the electors got him out of number 10.

Duarte Levy

Duarte Levy: Court of Appeal annuls the McCanns' injunction.

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19/10/2010

Update

(More information here ) -This Tuesday, the Appeal Court annulled the injunction files by Madeleine McCann's parents against the book written by the former Portuguese Policia Judiaria (PJ), Gonçalo Amaral.

The decision to ban the sale of the book and the video was handed down on January 14th by Lisbon's Civil Court judge Cunha Rodrgues, following a previous preliminary decision in September 2009. The injunction followed a request by lawyer Isabel Duarte in the name of the five members of the McCann clan, which included the missing child Maddie.

The decision banned the marketing of the book, "Maddie: The Truth of the Lie," - in Portuguese, "Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira." - and the distribution of a documentary of the same title which had initially been broadcast by the television channel TVI and marketed with the newspaper Correio da Manha.

According to a source close to Gonçalo Amaral, the former coordinator, who defends the theory of Kate and Gerry McCann's involvement in the disappearance of their daughter in May 2007, received the news, "with satisfaction and relief to see that justice has been done."

In France, the news was also well received by officials of a television channel which had previously bought broadcasting rights for the documentary. This morning, the court accepted the petition introduced by lawyer Antonio Cabrita and ordered the immediate replacement of the work in the usual points of sale.

The court's decision also recognised the rights of speech of the former investigator, who was until now banned from giving interviews in Portugal and abroad.

The former coordinator - police chief - regains freedom of speech.

Gonçalo Amaral received the news with satisfaction, considering that the decision by the Court of Appeal had just "reinforced Portuguese democracy," stressing that his book, "was an exercise in citizenship and freedom of expression and that to ban it was unconstitutional."

The former coordinator - chief of the Portuguese PJ, admitted that he was now more calm to face the two other court cases against him on behalf of Kate and Gerry McCann.

Madeleine's parents, as they have done in several instances in the past, have initiated an action in the civil courts accusing the former police officer of defamation, demanding this time 1.2 million Euros in compensation. In a second action, Gonçalo Amaral is accused by the couple's lawyer of having violated the secrecy of justice.

"This decision means that Dr Gonçalo Amaral is now free to express himself on all aspects of the McCann case. It means that the Lisbon Court of Appeal considered that there isn't, and there never was, in the book and in the video, any offence to the McCann couple's good name and considered that Dr Gonçalo Amaral did nothing but exercise a legal right, moreover backed up by more than twenty-six years of experience in criminal investigation," stated Antonio Cabrita, the lawyer representing the former coordinator, chief of the Policia Judiciaria.

As a reminder, the book, "Maddie: The Truth of the Lie," maintains the theory that Madeleine McCann died in the holiday apartment occupied by her family in the south of Portugal in May 2007 and that her parents hid her.

The decision to ban the sale of the book and the video was handed down on January 14th by judge Cunha Rodrigues, of the Lisbon Civil Court, following a previous preliminary decision in September 2009.

The McCanns voluntarily limited their right to a private life.

Today the judges revoked the injunction, considering that, "the contents of the book do not infringe any of the fundamental rights," of the McCanns.

"The exercise of its writing and publication is contained in the constitutional rights guaranteed to all by the European Convention on Human Rights and by the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (relating to freedom of expression and information and freedom of the press and the media)," states the ruling from the judges, Francisco Bruto da Costa, Catarina Arelo Mando and Antonio Valente.

With regard to the accusations that Gonçalo Amaral had damaged the couple's reputation and infringed the McCanns' privacy, the judges concluded that it was the couple themselves who, "opened the door," and therefore others may express themselves concerning Maddie's disappearance.

"As regards that which concerns the private life of the claimants (the McCanns), it is they themselves who were everywhere at once in interviews and talks before the media, providing them with information which, otherwise, would never have been disclosed." It is they who, "voluntarily decided to limit their right to a private life," states the ruling.

http://sosmaddie.blogs.dhnet.be/

19/10/10

Also in The Tribune:

http://www.duartelevy.eu/?p=3011

19/10/10

Madeleine McCann: Her parents have never requested the re-opening of the investigation into her disappearance.

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http://www.duartelevy.eu/?p=2356

Madeleine McCann's parents, Kate and Gerry, have never requested the re-opening of the investigation into their daughter's disappearance.

Neither the McCanns nor their lawyers have asked for the re-opening of the case, was confirmed by the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic, putting an end to speculation.

Despite its being three years since the little British girl was reported missing, her parents have at no time taken the necessary steps for the Portuguese authorities - those who hold jurisdiction - to carry on with the case.

As a reminder, the investigation by the Portimao PJ's Department of Criminal Investigation was harmed when the McCanns and their friends left Portugal: the British people never wanted to participate in a reconstruction of the events surrounding Maddie's disappearance, blocking several diligences of the investigation.

"Her parents insist on a so-called private investigation which has produced no results," a police source confirmed, stressing that, "the latest revelation from the British media about a new witness in Portugal has no credibility, but is part of an orchestrated campaign that is a long way from an investigation," an opinion shared by the Prosecutor's office who stress that, "it's common practice for the media to disclose an abundance of imaginary news stories from time to time."

"If we have evidence with any reasonable degree of credibility, the case can be re-opened," the Prosecutor's office concluded.

Duarte Levy

29/05/10

Hat tip Mercedes for drawing my attention to the above.

Roll out the McCanns! Somebody mentioned the word "abduction."!!!

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Above: Kate and Gerry McCann in Strasbourg, June 2008


Well, the UK finally gets around to introducing an alert system for missing children.

Sky News April 4th

"Police will unveil a new nationwide alert system for enlisting the public to help them rescue abducted children next month."

An alert system has been active in some member states of the EU for some time now. In fact, Portugal was the second country after Hungary, to introduce an alert system in 2002, in accordance with an EU directive. (SOS Madeleine McCann blog )

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.

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.

"McCann wanted to seize “a policy that is already being enforced”

"The McCann couple launched a public relations campaign, trying to 'seize' a policy that is already being enforced..." accused the member of the European Parliament, Carlos Coelho, member of the Christian-Democrat group in the European Parliament and Party colleague of President Barroso. And this MEP knows what he is talking about, as he was among the 54 deputies who had adopted, in a committee session, the European strategy concerning children’s rights, a document which was approved on January 2008.

The “written declaration” to which McMilan-Scott agreed to associate Kate and Gerry McCann thus does not contain anything new, when compared with the legislative project of the European institutions." (Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis)

The McCanns in Strasbourg in 2008 were rather like the man who knocked my door the other day, trying to interest me in double glazing, to whom I pointed out my rather new windows! But oh dear! How were those crusading, never mind that we left our children alone "responsible parents," received? Those ungrateful deputies and journalists just kept asking questions about the night Madeleine disappeared and some even asked about the children having been left alone, which irritated our saintly duo immensely!

Gerry retorted that they had neither neglected nor abandoned Madeleine and that going over that old ground was boring! (Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis)

Oh yes, Gerry! Been there, done that, lost a child, but hey, let's not go over that old boring stuff!

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. (August 2007: abducted 5 year-old French child recovered within hours.)

Back to SkyNews:

"The network, comparable to the amber alert system in the United States, will be compatible with other European countries for the first time."

Well, hallelujah! By January 2009, 10 out of the 17 member states of the EU had adopted the European Alert system, the UK as we know, not having been amongst them, in spite of the fact of having the greatest number of missing children. (SOS Maddie blog)

But sky News tells us that the McCanns have been campaigning for such a system since their daughter disappeared! Well, no they haven't! They took up being poster children for McMillan-Scott's campaign in June 2008, when other member states had been operating an alternative system since 2006!

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.

"Quatre critères doivent toutefois être réunis pour que le plan soit déclenché : il doit s'agir d'un enlèvement avéré, et non d'une simple disparition, même inquiétante ; la vie ou l'intégrité physique de la victime doit être en danger ; le procureur de la République est en possession éléments d'informations dont la diffusion permettrait de localiser l'enfant ou le suspect ; et la victime doit être mineure." (Duarte Levy)

1) It must be a confirmed abduction and not just a disappearance, however worrying.

2) The victim's life or physical safety must be at risk.

3) The Public Prosecutor must be in possession of sufficient information which, if broadcast, would help to locate the child or the suspect.

4) The victim must be a minor.

So, why is the press wheeling out the McCanns today in relation to this alert system, when they had nothing to do with its inception or its introduction? This is the system that they unsuccessfully tried to replace with McMillan-Scott's version of the American Amber Alert.

And would an alert have helped to find Madeleine in May 2007, given the above criteria?

1) Not met. There was no evidence of an abduction.

2) Maybe. If Maddie was still alive after 10pm on May 3rd, it is highly likely that she would be in physical danger.

3) Not met. The information available would not have helped locate Maddie or the alleged abductor. Small child, last seen in her bed, not there now, man seen carrying a bundle that could have been a child. Description: an egg with hair!

4) Met. One out of four ain't bad? No, it ain't good!

So, there they are today, the "responsible parents," who left three very young children alone in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country, being presented as the instigators of a system they tried to replace with one that wasn't even their own, one they just tried to hitch their wagon to! I guess they will draw more public sympathy than a photo of Rachida Dati, the French Justice Minister who developed the above four criteria which their own child's case didn't meet! Hey ho!

The McCanns' presence in Lisbon was a mistake.

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SOS Madeleine McCann 19/01/2010

Clarence Mitchell, the communications expert who has acted as spokesperson for Kate and Gerry McCann since Maddie's disappearance, informed the couple of the risk, in terms of image, which could be presented by their presence in the courtroom at Lisbon's Civil Court, where the process relating to the injunction banning the sale of Gonçalo Amaral's book took place.

According to a source close to Clarence Mitchell, the communications specialist warned Kate and Gerry McCann that their presence in court would encourage the British media to descend en masse on Lisbon, which could lead to the disclosure in England of arguments presented by the defence for the former PJ coordinator, which was the case.

Live updates from television companies (British, Spanish and Portuguses) during the first day of the hearing, and front pages of British newspapers the following day, ended up confirming Clarence Mitchell's fears that the couple's presence would only cause more problems. (Shown above: the front page of the Daily Express on Wednesday morning with the headline, "MADDIE 'DIED' IN APARTMENT.")

Clarence Mitchell: spokesman looks to become an MP.

According to the same source, Clarence Mitchell maintains an amicable relationship with Madeleine McCann's parents, but he is no longer as available to participate in the McCanns' actions. He was conspicuously absent from the media machine covering Kate and Gerry McCann's presence in Lisbon, forcing Claudia Nogueira, Public Relations officer for Lift Consulting - the Portuguese company supporting the couple's campaign - to increase contact and information-sharing with the journalists attending the court (patiently available, she took care to speak to all the journalists one by one). She incidentally denied that her British counterpart was opposed to Madeleine's parents' journey.

Lift Consulting is a strategic consulting company, working in the areas of communication, reputation management, public relations and management of relations with the press.

Clarence Mitchell's lack of availability, according to the same source, is explained by his professional and political obligations - the spokesman for Madeleine's parents is planning for his entry into the British parliament at the next elections as a Conservative MP.

A former journalist, he left the ranks of the BBC to direct the Media Monitoring Unit in Tony Blair's government (first Prime Minister to help the McCanns) Clarence Mitchell was the driving force of the McCanns' campaign and link between the couple and the two Labour Prime Ministers. (Labour Party)

Sent to Portugal at the request of Tony Blair, Mitchell directed the international campaign for Maddie's parents, using his official contacts in the British government to gain access for Kate and Gerry to, amongst other places, the Vatican and the European Parliament.

By Duarte Levy

Originally published in the Portuguese blog on 17/01/2010.

Madeleine McCann: who searched for this little girl? (Part 4) Metodo 3?

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Above: the McCanns arriving back in the UK soon after being made arguidos.

I'm still on a mission to find the McCanns searching for their daughter. While in Portugal, they traveled a great deal, they probably did a little shopping, but did they search? Even when they eventually reached Morocco, in spite of reported sightings there, which were thought to have been interesting, the McCanns never went to investigate the relevant areas for themselves.

Back to The McCann Files for a detailed diary of events leading up to and following Madeleine's disappearance. Nigel Moore, what would we do without you and your meticulously maintained site?

http://mccannfiles.com/id12.html

We are finally approaching some searching folks....well, I think we are, ye know, well, really...

October 2007 saw a great tsunami of activity in the UK press, based on articles in Portuguese journals for the most part.

At the beginning of the month Carlos Anjos, head of Portugal's Police Federation ridiculed Gerry's theory that an abductor had been hiding in the apartment when he went to check on the children. Gonçalo Amaral was removed from the investigation following an outburst about his English colleagues.

Eileen McCann, Madeleine's grandmother who lives in Scotland, stated that any of Madeleine's DNA that was found in the hired car could be explained by the fact that Amelie was wearing Madeleine's sandals and her tops. (Daily Mail 2/10/09)

I find it quite strange that Amelie was wearing her sister's clothes. If one of my children had disappeared, there is no way that their clothes would have been worn by another child in the family. At some point I may have given some to a charity shop, just some, but I would not have immediately been dressing another child in those clothes. This seems like another clue that Kate and Gerry were not expecting Madeleine to turn up any time soon.

It emerged that the McCanns were carrying out their own 'secret investigation,' and their legal team was interviewing all witnesses to the events of May 3rd, the McCanns being confident that they would be cleared by Christmas. (Daily Mail)

A friend of the McCann couple said that evidence gathered would be presented to the Portuguese prosecutor. They would say, 'This is what we have got. We advise you not to go any further.' (Daily Mail)

A very worrying way to address a public prosecutor, I would say. If that really was how they would have worded it, there is a hint of threat there, in my opinion.

On October 18th, Channel 4 broadcast their Dispatches programme about Madeleine, in which it was claimed that entry via the shuttered window would have been almost impossible.

On October 25th, the McCanns released an artist's impression (another one!) of the man Jane Tanner had seen, carrying a child in the vicinity of the McCanns' holiday apartment. The McCanns went into reverse about their claim that an abductor had broken in through the window of apartment 5A and reveal that they believe the window was opened from the inside as a means of escape. Clarence Mitchell said he couldn't go into detail about the matter.

And here we come to the first mention of Metodo 3, Spanish detective agency hired by the McCanns. They are quoted as saying that they are convinced that Madeleine is being held in Morocco.

http://mccannfiles.com/id26.html

Into November and there is another alleged sighting of Madeleine in Morocco, which turns out to be old news as the event took place on August 21st.

On November 22nd, Portugal's top law officer, Pinto Monteiro, is quoted as saying that the huge publicity surrounding Madeleine's disappearance would have turned her into a liability if she had been abducted and 'There's a greater possibility of the girl being dead than alive.' (In an interview with current affairs publication Visao)

Searching folks! It is confirmed that Spanish detective agency, Metodo 3, is being paid £50,000 a month by the Find Madeleine Fund, for a 6 month contract. Metodo 3 is said to have up to 40 operatives working on the ground in the hunt for Madeleine, in at least 3 countries.

So, let's have a wee shufftie here at the search for Madeleine by this detective agency.

SOS Madeleine McCann 24/10/2007

By Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis

Levy and Reis present a run-down on the previous work undertaken by this agency. They have no previous experience of dealing with cases of missing children, their work having been focused on clients from the commercial and industrial sectors, dealing with such issues as money-laundering and security. Based in Barcelona, Metodo 3 was responsible for the new phone line set up after the latest appeal for information from the McCanns. The Portuguese police had not been consulted about this phone line.

SOS Madeleine McCann 31/10/2007

By Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis

A top-ranking Moroccan police officer stated that most of the children taken to Morocco were children who were involved in custody disputes, between a Moroccan and a non-Moroccan parent. There was paedophile activity in Morocco, but it was usually Moroccan children being abducted by foreigners for the prostitution trade in other countries, like Italy.

Metodo 3 claimed to know that Madeleine was being held in the Rif area of Morocco, but a Moroccan organisation against paedophilia, 'Touche pas a mon enfant," was quoted as saying there were hundreds of blonde children in the Rif area and also they did not believe that Madeleine would have been taken there by a paedophile ring, as claimed by Metodo 3, who state that they have a number of leads to follow up and know precisely where Madeleine is being held.

SOS Madeleine McCann 5/11/2007

Another blonde Moroccan child who isn't Madeleine McCann. A Spanish woman contacted the Metodo 3 help line to say that she had reported to the Spanish police in August having seen a blonde child whom she was 100% sure was Madeleine McCann. The Moroccan police were obliged to follow up every sighting and this child was not Madeleine. Metodo 3 insist that they have witness statements from lots of people who have seen Madeleine in Morocco.

SOS Madeleine McCann 10/11/2007

An Irish citizen on holiday in Bosnia contacted Metodo 3 to report that he had seen Madeleine in a Bosnian city. Clarence Mitchell said this sighting was being taken very seriously.

And so it goes on:

November 18th 2007: Francisco Marco states that he knows who kidnapped Madeleine.

November 20th 2007: A woman gives a witness statement to Metodo 3, stating that she had seen Michaela Walczuch, Robert Murat's friend, in Morocco, close to where Madeleine had been sighted.

Miss a few! See SOS Maddie blog for all posts on this subject.

December 22nd 2007: Metodo 3 admits never having known where Madeleine was, although they had assured that they would have Madeleine home by Christmas.

December 28th 2007: Metodo 3 comes up with two witnesses who say they had seen Robert Murat in the vicinity of the McCanns' apartment on the night she disappeared.

If they can't find Madeleine, it's that fall-back technique, once again, finger a patsy!

February 23rd 2008: Metodo 3 detective who had been involved in their hunt for Madeleine, is arrested for theft of cocaine from a police warehouse in Barcelona.

March 13th 2008: A detective working for Metodo 3 in Morocco is alleged to have paid witnesses to say they had seen Madeleine, according to a senior Moroccan police officer.

February 2nd 2009: Metodo 3 under investigation for money-laundering.

The Metodo 3 contract was not renewed on the same basis, but the agency was kept on a retainer and would raise its head again!

First of all, a very unlikely detective agency to be hired to hunt for a missing child, one that had no experience in this area of detective work and one that had previously been under suspicion for illegal phone tapping (The McCann Files day 206)

And what a shower they turned out to be: theft of cocaine, suspected of paying witnesses, suspected of money-laundering and admitting that they had never actually known where Madeleine was.

Metodo 3 didn't seem to do a great deal of actual searching for Madeleine. Their mission appeared to be to find as many witnesses as possible to alleged sightings, none of which turned out to have any basis in truth.

Hey ho! Next!

Madeleine McCann: and what about those early reports about the shutters at apartment 5A?

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During the night of May 3rd/May 4th 2007, Gerry McCann contacted various family and friends, who, in later interviews stated that Gerry had told them that the shutters to Madeleine's bedroom window had been 'jemmied,' and the window opened from the outside. This is a report from Duarte Levy and Paulo Reis on the SOS Madeleine McCann blog in August 2008.

"Witnesses have taken apart the McCanns' version about the apartment's shutters."

4/08/08

ttp://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

Witnesses have, "taken apart," the McCanns' version about the apartment's shutters.

Apartment 5A, where the McCanns were staying until Madeleine's disappearance, had been occupied by other British people, all of whom the PJ found, confirmed the good state of the shutters, initially described by relatives of Kate and Gerry as old, worn and broken.

Amongst these witnesses, Saleigh and Paul Gordon, accompanied by their two children, occupied apartment 5A before the McCanns, between April 21st and 28th 2007. Questioned several times by the investigators, the couple maintain that, "the doors, windows and shutters of the apartment were all in good condition," even stressing that given the noise made by the bedroom shutters, it would be impossible to open or shut them without it being noticed by neighbours or passers-by.

From the beginning, the McCanns have claimed that the shutters were broken and that the door had been forced. That is the version that Kate gave to a close friend, Jon Corner, to whom she reportedly said, "that they have smashed the shutter on the window and taken my little girl."

The same version was, meanwhile, given by Gerry to Madeleine's grandfather, Brian Healy: "Gerry told me that when they got back, the shutters on the bedroom window were smashed (....) The door was open." (See McCannfiles)

"The bedroom, facing the car park, was also overlooked by other apartments. Given that, I find that if someone had tried to open the shutters from the outside, somebody would have noticed," Saleigh Gordon insists. Her husband Paul also confirms that the couple always felt safe and that the front door was equipped with a double lock, while the one at the back only locked from inside the apartment.

The, "strange," man was actually not.

It was also Paul Gordon who saw and spoke to a man described by several British media, quoting sources close to the McCanns, as strange and suspicious. However, in his statements to the police, Paul maintains that the individual never, "watched," the children or the apartment: "I would describe the man as well-educated, of good appearance (...) I remember him as looking tidy and shaved with light downy facial hair. "

"I went over to the man who asked me if I would be interested in making a donation to an orphanage (...) I spoke with him and noticed that he had an indentification badge and that he had what looked to me like a receipt book," Paul Gordon stated to the police, adding that he had even received a receipt which he had left behind in Portugal.

Since January Paul Gordon has been contacted several times by Brian Kennedy, Kate and Gerry McCann: "There are times when I feel like a chess pawn."

"The McCanns manipulated the evidence."

The PJ are convinced that the McCanns manipulated evidence and simulated the abduction of the daughter and put forward that Maddie's parents changed the arrangement of the furniture and some objects in the apartment. The information is published this morning by the Portuguese daily newspaper Correio da Manha, quoting the PJ's investigation.

According to the daily newspaper, the correlation between the alerting to cadaver odour and to blood behind the sofa, by Eddie and Keela, the two British sniffer dogs, proves beyond doubt that this was backed up against the wall after the child's death. The investigators, given the poor evidence found on this piece of furniture, concluded that it may be that it had been washed.

A detail also quoted by Correio da Manha, Cuddle Cat, the pink soft toy belonging to Madeleine and which Kate took everywhere, was placed in the child's bed after her death, given that, in contrast to the soft toy, no cadaver odour was indicated on the bed."

Duarte Levy & Paulo Reis

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

4/08/08

Maddie: Video Reveals An Image Of Her Looking North African

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http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

The new campaign includes an appeal video and interviews with Kate McCann

Portugais - Español

A video with unpublished images of Maddie, at age six, tanned, with dark hair, as if the child had spent two years in North Africa or in the south of the Iberian peninsula, is the focal point of a new appeal for witnesses which the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) launched yesterday in England in connection with Kate and Gerry McCann's campaign.

This new instrument of the campaign presents a series of already known photos and video images of Madeleine, but also three images of what the child might look like now, if she were still alive.

(Video can be viewed here)

The video, translated into seven languages - English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish - and specially produced for the internet, claims to appeal to the conscience of a potential witness, "who knows what happened to Maddie".

With the assistance of Jim Gamble, a CEOP's officer, the video was produced with the help of psychologists and aims to convince, "a friend or a relative of the person responsible for the little girl's disappearance," that they would be, "doing the right thing". "The person we are trying to reach out to is probably a partner, a family member, a friend or a work colleague of the person or persons who were involved in Madeleine's disappearance," the CEOP's officer said, stressing that it, "was more than likely that they, or someone close to them used the internet to find all news items that might suggest that the police were very close to discovering the truth."

This latest video includes new virtual images of Maddie which have just been added to the photo previously presented in the United States by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and which showed Maddie with a, "more American," appearance.

CEOP is banking on the internet to disseminate the new appeal - the first of its kind - and hopes the message will reach the whole world through blogs, but also via social network sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The Judiciary Police (PJ) is excluded from the campaign.

CEOP is not working with the Judiciary Police, although they are the authority responsible for the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, but promises that all relevant information received will be handed over to the Leicestershire Police, "who will coordinate with the Portuguese detectives."

"I have no knowledge of this new campaign or of the appeal," a PJ source said, showing some hesitation about collaboration with CEOP: "that's the organisation that in 2007 asked tourists for photos taken in Praia da Luz and which subsequently we received none of," the same inspector said.

After Maddie's disappearance, that organisation asked tourists who visited Praia da Luz to send photos from their holidays so that they could be compared with a data bank of images of UK paedophiles and other criminals.

The new campaign, according to the CEOP officer, has the support of police around the world, in particular Interpol, Europol, Australian, North American, Canadian and United Arab Emirates police. The new appeal launched by CEOP, with Jim Gamble - known in England for his involvement in Operation ORE - claims to respond to Kate and Gerry's frustration with the lack of new evidence and leads.

"We are extremely grateful to CEOP for launching this new message world-wide in such an effective way. It's vital that it's seen as widely as possible," the couple said in a press release.

By Duarte Levy

Maddie: The New Campaign Kicks Off Today.

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SOS Madeleine McCann

2/11/09

By Duarte Levy

.......>>>>>>>>>

Kate's time has come.

Kate McCann, mother of the little English girl who disappeared in the Algarve two years ago, is the face of the new campaign which the couple launch today jointly with the English police in London and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)
Now that the twins Sean and Amélie are in full-time education, Maddie's mum is taking on a more active role in the campaign which the couple launched nine days after the disappearance and which is now entering, "a new phase."

The new campaign, with the assistance of Lift Consulting, Portuguese PR specialists, is targeted at our country, where the McCann couple say they believe that someone could still hold information on the subject of what, in fact, happened to the child on the night she disappeared.

The launch of the new campaign kicks off today in the British capital where the press is invited to two briefings - "because of a time difference," as confirmed by Claudia Nogueira of Lift Consulting, the first meeting will only involve English journalists, the second being scheduled for the Portuguese press.

The two ex-police officers hired by the couple, David Edgar and Arthur Cowley, believe that the answer to Maddie's mysterious disappearance lies in a radius of 10 miles around the Ocean Club, from where the child disappeared on May 3rd 2007. With the new campaign they say they expect that someone will come forward who will lead them to the answer.

For the moment, Kate and Gerry McCann will not be returning to the Algarve and will see journalists in England, but they say they are in the process of organising a private trip back to Praia da Luz, probably before the end of the year.

"Imagine if it had been your daughter. Imagine the sadness and suffering. Imagine someone like yourself never coming forward. If you remain silent, you are as guilty as those who have taken her," the couple write on the internet site for the private fund which they created after the alleged abduction.

The campaign, launched almost simultaneously with legal action against the former coordinator of the PJ who investigated the disappearance, Gonçalo Amaral, includes interviews which Kate MCann will give this week to the English and Portuguese press.

Maddie: English Tabloid Talks About Police Operation In Morocco.

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SOS Madeleine McCann 26/10/09

By Duarte Levy

The theory isn't new, but according to yesterday's edition of the British daily, the Daily Star Maddie's kidnap is allegedly a crime under police investigation, perpetrated by a dangerous Algerian criminal who, in exchange for one hundred thousand Euros, is claimed to have taken the child to Morocco.

According to this same information, Maddie was transported to North Africa aboard a ferry that links the south of Spain with Morocco.

The British daily, which states having received the information from, "the criminal underworld," puts forward that the information became known when the Algerian criminal boasted about the kidnap to two English drug traffickers, Paul Bennett and James Neil.

The Algerian, who goes by the name Younis or Tariq, is described as having dark skin, curly hair and a pock-marked face, resembling one of the robot-portraits already produced in the case. According to the source quoted by the English daily, the man is allegedly, "known to the Portuguese police."

24 Horas (Portuguese daily newspaper) is meanwhile able to report that the information cited by the Daily Star, and so-called coming from, "the criminal underworld," had already been sent to Portugal by a lawyer linked to the case, based on a report from the Spanish detectives Metodo 3, who were hired by Kate and Gerry McCann.

The Spanish agency produced various reports on the subject of Maddie's disappearance, but also on the subject of the private lives of the PJ inspectors in charge of the investigation, notably on Gonçalo Amaral - reports which the detectives placed at the disposal of this lawyer, who used them publicly.
"No ongoing investigation exists into this or any other lead, and the case continues to be the responsibility of the Portuguese authorities," stated a source from Leicestershire police contacted by 24 Horas.

Police officers with a British sense of humour.

It's not the first time that, "supposed information," and "speculations," about the Maddie case have hit the headlines in the English newspapers. Just last week the British government officially denied that the Prime Minister would be contacting the American authorities, from whom, according to the Sunday Express - a newspaper in the same group as the Daily Star - Gordon Brown allegedly wanted to request images from a satellite which supposedly monitored the Portuguese coast.
Information put forward yesterday by the Daily Star: "for the price of its Sunday promotion for 40 pence the reader gets two newspapers," a Home Office source said sarcastically in response to 24 Horas.

SOS Madeleine McCann: Gonçalo Amaral's planned TV appearance annoys the McCann couple.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

By Duarte Levy 21/10/09 (Comments in gray are mine and not those of Duarte Levy.)

"Gonçalo Amaral is the only citizen who persists in not respecting the court's injunction."

Note: at the last moment, the showing of the W9 programme on the Maddie case was canceled and replaced for legal reasons, following the intervention of lawyers acting for the McCann couple.

The participation of Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of the Judiciary Police, who led the investigation into Maddie's disappearance, in a television programme, in this case in France, got the little English girl's parents so worked up that, according to a representative of the couple's campaign, they are now accusing the ex-inspector of "not respecting the court's decision," threatening that this fact, "will not go unanswered."

In spite of an injunction by Lisbon's Civil Court, which bans him from speaking about several aspects of the Maddie case, Gonçalo Amaral is (should have been!) the special guest on the, "Criminal Investigations," programme, which the W9 channel will show today at 8.35pm and which will also be available on the internet. (I guess that's what got the McCanns rather worked up! Fancy all those internet users in the UK being able to hear what Gonçalo Amaral has to say!)

"No matter where in the world, Gonçalo Amaral is banned from speaking about the theory he presents in his book...Whether it's in Portugal or Burundi," Isabel Duarte, the lawyer representing the McCann couple, who obtained the injunction that also bans the sale of the book, "Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira," told 24 horas. (in France: Maddie: L'Enquête Interdite) as well as the distribution of the documentary based on it.

The decision by the judge of Lisbon's Civil court rules Gonçalo Amaral, as well as the publishers Guerra e Paz and Valentim de Carvalho, are banned from speaking publicly about the theory presented by the former PJ inspector on the Maddie case - reading the decision, the former PJ inspector and his publishers are prohibited from reproducing, talking about, or giving an opinion or interview that might support that theory.

The French television programme, to which 24 Horas has had access, is presented by journalists Sidonie Bonnec and Paul Lefèbre, "and claims to present the French viewers with a real idea of what happened to Maddie," a representative said, adding that, "the channel also presents Amaral's unpublished (in France) documentary, which supports the parents' guilt." The ex-inspector is then called upon to comment on a different version of the events which is supported in a report produced in England.

Called on to comment, the lawyer Isabel Duarte told 24 Horas that, "the citizen Gonçalo Amaral persists in not respecting the court's injunction," admitting that this subject is going to be presented before the court, but that, "the date for the hearing is not yet known."
"No definitive decision is going to be known this year," the lawyer said.

The McCanns want to ban Amaral's book abroad.

Amaral, who had already told 24 Horas that nobody was going to silence him, "if the McCanns want to prevent the book from being translated into English, they are seriously fooling themselves," now runs the risk of seeing, "A Verdade da Mentira," banned abroad. At least that is the intention of the McCanns' lawyers.

Isabel Duarte, who is only dealing with this case in Portugal, confirmed for 24 Horas that, "the couple's lawyers in England are dealing with this question."
The first countries targeted will be Spain, France and The Netherlands.

Ed Smethurst, the McCanns' English lawyer, has already acknowledged that the Lisbon Civil Court's ban on the sale of the book, "A Verdade da Mentira," deals with the first phase of the legal action and that other legal actions were planned in further phases.