SOS Madeleine McCann: Gonçalo Amaral's trial October 24th

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

18/10/08

The Faro Court today appointed the jurors who will try the five PJ inspectors accused of various crimes, notably for having tortured Joana Cipriano's mother, Leonor, sentenced to 16 years in prison for her daughter's murder.

A firefighter, a driver, a receptionist and an administrator are the four citizens chosen as jurors for the trial which will begin on October 24th.

Amongst the PJ inspectors is Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of Portimao's Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC), accused of not having disclosed the alleged assaults on Leonor Cipriano. The other accused are Leonel Lopes, Pereira Cristóvão and Marques Bonne, accused of having tortured Leonor Cipriano, while inspector Nunes Cardoso faces the charge of falsification of a document.

As a replacement for João Grade, Marcos Aragão Correia is now Leonor Cipriano's lawyer. Recently, the lawyer made himself known as a protagonist in the Madeleine McCann case, taking legal action againsts the Portuguese postal services, accusing them of not having correctly delivered a recorded letter addressed to the McCanns in which, according to him, he described leads which could help the investigation. He then launched a search of the Arade Dam, several kilometres from where Madeleine McCann disappeared, finding only rubbish and a few animal bones.

Assistant to the Public Prosecutor in this trial, Marcos Aragão Correia, himself the object of several criminal charges, has requested protective measures for his client and himself, saying he has been threatened: the lawyer gave as proof of the threats of which he is allegedly the victim, an article in the popular press where one of the inspectors allegedly compared him to a dog that needed to be smacked.

See also: Marcos Aragão Correia has a "vision" of the Cipriano case.

A few of my favourite songs.

The Four Tops: Reach Out I'll Be There.



Renee Fleming: Un Bel Di from Puccini's Madame Butterfly




Mariza: Meu Fado




Willie Nelson and Ray Charles: Georgia



Dolores Keane: Caledonia



Tim Hardin: Bird On A Wire



Christy Moore: City of Chicago



John Martyn: May You Never

The Express Group to pay £375, 000 to the Tapas 7

SOS Madeleine McCann

15/10/08

Yesterday's announcement that Kate and Gerry McCann's group of seven friends, present at the time of Madeleine disappearance, are to receive compensation amounting to more than 400,000 €, has revived the question about the real objective behind legal maneuvers against the Express group.

In spite of coverage of the Madeleine McCann case similar to all other British media, the Express group remains the only one to have been targeted by legal action, accused of defamation, at the request of Kate and Gerry McCann.

Some are quick to stress the political closeness of the group's owner with the Labour Party of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, loyal supporters of the McCanns, seeing here backing for the Madeleine fund which will be, according to the latest information, the final destination of the amount obtained.

The Express group, pointed out as being the couple's whipping boy, thus tops a million euros paid to the McCanns and their friends, without counting a payment of 500,000 € paid to the British man Robert Murat by several media.

The publication of the information is pointed out elsewhere, because, for the first time since Madeleine McCann's disappearance, several British media have admitted the little British girl's death on the night of May 3rd 2007 as the PJ's inspectors and their colleagues from Leicestershire had already indicated. (See below **)

** Metro.co.uk

Wednesday October 15th

"Friends of Madeleine McCann's parents who were with the couple on the night she died are to receive £ 375,000 in libel damages, it has been reported."

Enfants Kidnappés - The McCann case - The GNR patrol first on the spot after Madeleine's disappearance.

Enfants Kidnappés

14 octobre 2008

The interview with the two police officers from the patrol, which was first to arrive on the spot, reveals nothing in particular. However, it seems useful to us to publish the interview in order to be comprehensive with this part. Note, though, that the patrol tendered a report of the operation, which is detailed and more comprehensive than that contained in the interview.

The person named Nelson was heard as a witness. He was part of the GNR patrol which went to the Ocean Club on May 3rd 2007 after receiving a radio call advising them of the disappearance of a little British girl on holiday at the said complex with her parents. As soon as they received the call, the patrol went immediately to the reception at the complex where the father of the missing minor was waiting for them. Then, the patrol went to the appartment being temporarily occupied by the family of the missing child to establish the circumstances of the disappearance. Thus, the two police officers visited all the rooms and outbuildings of the residence. They also searched through every piece of furniture to assure themselves that the little girl was not hiding in there. (Editor's note: Hidden willingly or forcibly. It is completely normal in the context of a disappearance to check if the parents have locked the child up somewhere while trying to convince of her disappearance).

To the PJ's question, the two police officers do not remember whether the wooden north-facing entry door of the apartment was open or closed on their arrival on the premises. The little girl's mother was there as well as the twins.

An important detail is that the police state that a person of British origin, named Jane Tanner, part of the group of tourists accompanying the family of the missing child, reports that she saw someone carrying a very young child in the area of the holiday complex.

A series inspired by the Maddie case.

Back to the news. Francisco Moita Flores is in the process of writing a series that tells the story of missing children, which should begin on May 3rd 2009, the second anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance. It's a series of six episodes centred on a Criminal Search Brigade for missing children. Amongst the episodes, there is one which evokes the disappearance of a little girl from a beach, which distinctly brings the Maddie case to mind, without being exactly the same story. And for good reason, because, as he confirms himself, he did not have access to the case file. The first recordings are planned for viewing in 2009.

Enfants Kidnappés: Madeleine's disappearance, May 8th 2007 - the PJ have doubts.

Enfants Kidnappés

13 octobre 2008

Several days of interviews.

It is May 8th 2007, being the fifth day after Madeleine McCann's disappearance. At this stage, the PJ have taken statements from dozens of people. Hundreds of pages in the reports. Everybody has been interviewed. Employees of the Ocean Club, nannies, or child-care workers from the Kids Club, cooks and assistant cooks at the "Tapas" and the "Millenium", cleaners, gardeners, maintenance workers, managers for the club's various services, directors and managers of the complex, tourists, owners of apartments, neighbours, people who were at the "tapas" on May 3rd 2007, tennis coaches...in short, no one was left out. Everybody was interviewed. We are sparing you all these interviews, which for the most part bring nothing to the investigation or at least no new leads. They are mainly interviews which, in general, bring out the following common points.

1) No one noticed anything unusual about Madeleine.
2) No one noticed any strange individual at the complex.
3) No one noticed anything suspicious which could be linked to Madeleine's disappearance.
4) No one noticed any suspicious vehicles or any suspicious unidentified people.

It is to be noted that even the GRN police officers, first on the spot, were interviewed by their PJ colleagues, in spite of reports of the operation being sent.

With regards to the PJ's interviews over the past few days, a change is noted in how the case is being perceived. Thus the questions which the PJ are putting to various witnesses are implying that the PJ have doubts about the statements from the parents or friends in the group. We note, however, that the slightest info, concerning the slightest suspicion was professionally checked, immediately. Numerous pages of the case file attest to this. Up to now, May 8th 2007, every lead, or opening of a lead, has been checked and it was, each time, a false lead. Like, for example, a suspicious car noticed near the Ocean Club recpetion by various witnesses. In the end, it was the service vehicle of a Club employee who had come to make an urgent repair to a door lock.

Why these doubts for the PJ?

On reading various witness statements, given the number of leads checked, it seems difficult for someone to have been able to get into the complex, gain access to the McCanns' apartment, take Madeleine, get out of the apartment, leave the Ocean club, take flight via whatever means of transport and that no one, absolutely no one, saw anything. No strangers, no suspicious or unusual vehicles, not even a shadow of a person carrying a child at the times and places where there were other people...Fom the police point of view, if these witness statements do not totally exclude the possibility of an abduction, they make the theory less credible. As a result, the answer must lie elsewhere. Notably with the group of friends (parents included). The only person to have seen a suspect with a child is Jane Tanner, a member of the group of friends.

Note, for the record, that all the child-care workers, having contact with Madeleine, state that Madeleine introduced herself to them by her shortened name "Maddie". This adds nothing important to the case file except that it contradicts Kate's statements. On the other hand, it is noted that the Kids Club operates three free services, one of which is in the evening until 11.30pm so that parents can eat at the restaurant in peace. Finally, we know that the the Club has a, "missing alert" procedure, that it is a structured and thoughtful procedure, and that this procedure was set in motion as soon as Maddie's disappearance was announced, employees having been called from their homes to participate in the search.

Interview of an employee from the swimming pool bar.

In her interview, this employee states that access is restricted to clients and that this is controlled via the client's card at the entrance. She adds that she has not come across any unauthorised person on the site. She explains that on the day of Madeleine's disappearance, at around 8.30pm, her friend was called following a problem with a lock in an apartment situated close to the "Millenium" restaurant. She went there with her friend. At around 9pm, they went back towards the Club's reception. They passed near the "Tapas" and by the McCann family's apartment. They state that they saw nothing suspicious. They saw no one and no vehicles. Her friend left the premises at around 9.10pm with his service vehicle and she left at 9.15pm in her own car.

The case file contains numerous witness statements like that, so that together, these witness statements contradict the statements from the "tapas9" group. A reconstruction would have made this clear immediately and would have highlighted the contradictions of the informants.

SOS Madeleine McCann: Marcos Aragão Correia has a "vision" of the Cipriano case.

Marcos Aragão Correia, who made himself known as a protagonist in the Madeleine McCann case, is to be the new lawyer for Léonor Cipriano in the proceedings against the PJ inspectors for having tortured Joana Cipriano's mother.

(Editor's note: there are times when Blogger just does its own thing. So, apologies if the font of the paragraphs following this note seem to change font size and font style and the paragraphs are not clearly defined. I have tried editing many times and what looks like Verdana, text size Normal, with clear paragraphs, looks entirely different when posted, though I save each time I edit. So, rather than delete this article I am inserting this note.)

The Portuguese Public Minister accuses three PJ inspectors of having tortured Joana Cipriano's mother during her interrogation. One is accused of falsifying documents and the fifth, Gonçalo Amaral is accused of non-cooperation and failure to disclose.

Marcos Aragão, who replaces João Grade, is the lawyer who had taken legal action against the Portuguese postal services, accusing them of not having delivered to the McCanns in person, a recorded letter, in which, according to him, he indicated leads which might have helped the investigation. Marcos Aragão, in contact with the Metodo 3 agency, then began searches in the Arade Dam, a few kilometres from the place where Madeleine McCann dispappeared, finding only rubbish and a few animal bones.

Initially, the lawyer claimed to hold information about the location of Madeleine's body, but finally admitted that the searches at the Arade Dam - the lead he was seeking to pass on to the McCanns - were carried out based on a vision, which he allegedly had about the disappearance of the little British girl.

The lawyer was already known in this case, as the author of a report from the Association Against Exclusion by Development, released in April this year, which supported the existence of a crime of torture perpetrated by the PJ. This same report, contradicting statements from Leonor Cipriano's - who has continually changed her version since the start of the trial - accuses Gonçalo Amaral of being present at the time of the alleged assaults. The former coordinator of the PJ's DIC at Portimao, has meanwhile decided to pursue legal action against the lawyer.

A trial that highlights the conflict between the Public Minister and the PJ.

Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of the PJ's Portimao Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC), is accused by thr Public Minister of non-cooperation and of not disclosing the alleged assaults on Leonor Cipriano by the PJ inspectors.

After Joana Cipriano's disappearance on September 12th 2004, her mother Leonor, and her uncle João, were sentenced to 16 years in prison for murder and concealment of a corpse. (Read the details here.)

According to the inspectors' witness statement, after her interrogation, Joana's mother had managed to evade the attention of the inspectors and, stating that she wanted to commit suicide, threw herself down the stairs. Injured, she was then driven by the inspectors to see a doctor and then taken to prison.

A letter from another prisoner, sent to the authorities about the accusations made against the inspectors, reinforces that version: according to that witness, Joana's mother had admitted to fellow prisoners that she had fallen down the stairs, but that, after a meeting with the prison's director, she had changed her version, stating that she had been tortured and that she expected to receive compensation.

Confronted by Gonçalo Amaral, Leonor Cipriano stated that the former coordinator of the PJ's DIC at Portimao had never assaulted her. In spite of several confrontations with the other inspectors, Joana's mother never managed to identify them as being her attackers, which has not stopped the prosecutor from going ahead with the trial, admitting that he too could not guarantee that it was the right inspectors or if the assault had actually taken place.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

9/10/08

Enfants Kidnappés: McCann case - Charlotte Pennington's statement May 2007

It is May 7th 2007. The interviewing of individual employees is continuing; employees of the Kids Club, the Tapas Bar and the Millennium. Today, Charlotte Pennington was interviewed. The interpreter who translated what she said was none other than Robert Murat.

On the matter at hand, it is said:

The informant was heard as a witness. The informant, being of English nationality, having no command of the Portuguese language either in written or in spoken form, the interview takes place in the presence of a translator: Robert Murat.

She arrived in Portugal on April 28th, the date from which she started working for the OCEAN CLUB as a nanny.

The informant states that in the period between April 29th and May 4th, her job entailed working with a group of children on holiday with the above mentioned company, in the age group of four months to one year. this group is called the "Baby Club". The "Baby Club" group is subdivided into three other groups of two babies and each sub-group is the responsibility of an individual nanny.

In the context of the current investigation, the informant advises that in the course of her job at the OCEAN CLUB, there were various times when she was with a child called MADELEINE MCCANN. Although not belonging to the group for which she is responsible, it is normal, given that the two groups are in adjacent rooms. Thus, Madeleine McCann belongs to the group called the "Mini Club" with children aged between 3 and 4 years and, she explains that the "Mini Club" group and the "Baby Club" are in the same building , close to the OCEAN CLUB's reception, the reason why the informant has been personally in contact with the missing minor.

The informant states that it was usual during "siesta time" which is approximately between 9am to 10.30am and between 2.30pm and 3pm, for the informant to get involved at the "reception" for children in her group but also for her colleagues, given that the children she was looking after were sleeping. She also went over to the "Mini Club" to participate more closely in some activities with the children there.

The informant states that on two definite days, those being Sunday April 29th and Thursday May 3rd, the informant was personally in contact with Madeleine McCann, reading stories to her and speaking with her.

And so, the informant describes Madeleine McCann as being an intelligent child, shy at first but once she gets to know the people she is with, she talks normally for her age and stays calm.

The informant adds that Madeleine was usually called "Maddie" given that it was under that name that Madeleine introduced herself to the informant, the shortened form of her first name.

On May 3rd, towards 10.15pm, while the informant was working for the “Mini Club” group in the “Dinner time,” service, together with her colleagues Jackie and Amy, a woman she did not know, but who must have been a tourist, went to their building asking if they were aware of the disappearance of a child called “Maggie” or Maddie.

Questioned about “dinner time” the informant states that the company’s childcare offers parents the free service of leaving their children in the care of crèche leaders during dinnertime between 7.15pm and 11pm.

With the confirmation that a female child had disappeared and, on the basis of the name the woman had given them, they guessed that it must be Madeleine, for which reason Amy telephoned her boss, Lyndsay, who informed them of Madeleine’s disappearance. The procedure for “searching for a lost child” was put into action. It was an organised search in different areas of the company concerned.

Thus, the informant participated in that search in a team with her Colleague Amy and, they covered various areas of the company, which were assigned to them. In covering the area backing onto the residences where Madeleine, the twins and the parents were staying, she could see that, in the meantime, there were various people in the apartment without being able to say if they were friends or employees. She was involved with the searches until 1.30am (May 4th 2007) and she then went to her own place.

In the searched that she carried out together with her colleagues, other people participated (tourists, company employees). Later, without being able to say what time, she stated that the police were on the spot and that they set up the measures for this type of situation. The informant states that the search by members of the OCEAN CLUB ended at around 4.30am on May 4th 2007, without result.

To our question, the informant states that she had very little contact with Madeleine and only as a nanny present in the neighbouring room. She did not know the routines of the child or her parents and she did not notice any situation that she found strange concerning the missing child during the time she worked in Portugal.

The informant adds that Madeleine was usually dropped off at the crèche at 9.15am and that the parents dropped the twins off afterwards.

To our question, the informant reports that she has no knowledge of any situation that she suspects could be linked in any way, directly or indirectly to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

She has nothing more to add. After reading in the company of the translator who explains to her, she goes on and signs.

http://www.kidnapping.be/maddie/maddie.html

Enfants Kidnappés 7/10/08: Lori Campbell's statement to Leicester police May 2007

Enfants Kidnappés

Lori Campbell

Leicestershire Constabulary

On May 6th 2007, the PJ receives a document from their British counterparts in which it us stated that:

Lori Campell, Sunday Mirror journalist has contacted the Leicestershire police to inform them of the following facts:

Lori has spoken to an interpreter who is helping the Portuguese authorities in the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance. He introduced himself as, "ROB," and gave no substantive information about himself. He looked rather worried when he noticed that the Mirror photographer had taken his photo. "ROB," told Lori that he was going through a difficult divorce in the United Kingdom at the moment, that he had a three year-old daughter, just like Madeleine, from whom he is separated for the moment. He made a "show" for the reporters while he was on the telephone with his daughter, and Lori found that making such a show while speaking to his daughter on the telephone was somewhat forced. The things "ROB" said aroused Lori's suspicions.

The Portuguese authorities can make contact with Lori who is still in Portugal to obtain more details and to identify the said, "ROB". She is contactable on no. ...... ....

What we can assume.

The first question to be asked, faced with this document, is to find out why this journalist, present in Portugal, in contact with the country's PJ, refers to the police of a foreign country (in this case the UK) facts concerning an investigation the UK is not in charge of? Is the Mirror journalist so unaware of procedures on the subject?

The act of going through the UK police to speak of her suspicions creates red tape and considerable loss of time.

Indeed:

1. You have to go and talk about it - or send a fax, which has to be typed first - to the UK police (instead of the Portuguese police present on the spot).
2. The UK's administrative system has to get itself moving.
3. You then have to send back to Portugal (where the journalist is) a document to attach to the police statement.
4. This document has to be translated by a professional to be accepted in the case file.

Fortunately Robert Murat was not holding Madeleine captive because Lori was giving him ample time to disappear!!!

With hindsight, it could be said that we can see here an attempt at manipulating the investigation. An attempt to distract attention. An attempt to slow down the investigation. Certainly these theories make sense as it's not the first or last manipulation in this case. * Especially if we add the fact that, as it happens, it was on the advice of the British consulate that Robert Murat was chosen as interpreter by the Portuguese police!! Has he been the victim of a trap?

Other people will say that Lori was afraid to raise her suspicions of Robert Murat, who was too often with the Portuguese PJ, and that she would have preferred to go directly to the UK. That theory is difficult to defend. If Lori had contacted the Portuguese PJ directly, she would have been heard without the presence of Robert Murat and the PJ could have directly interviewed Murat or placed him under discreet surveillance. Instead of that, Robert Murat carried on with his translations for many interviews.

Enfants Kidnappés

7/10/08 * This sentence makes sense thanks to the translation by frencheuropean on the 3 Arguidos forum.

Gonçalo Amaral: Justice for Madeleine is still possible.(Updated)

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

SOS Madeleine McCann 4/10/08

From Duarte Levy in Vigo, Spain.

A year after leaving the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of Portimão's Department of Criminal Investigation, stated yesterday in Vigo, Spain, that in spite of political pressure, "it is still possible that justice can be done for Madeleine."

Gonçalo Amaral, former head of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, was a guest at a conference organised yesterday by the Spanish daily newspaper, "Faro de Vigo," in the context of his book, "Maddie: The Truth of The Lie," coming out in Spain.

Update:

Several officers of the National Spanish Police, respectfully referred to as, the "Comisario," stated that they did not understand why the authorities of the country where Madeleine was born have never opened an investigation to find out what happened and continue to support the abduction theory.

According to Amaral, the result of work carried out by his team and several British police officers is recorded in the reports of the investigation and as long as they are not destroyed, there is always the possibility to bring the investigation to a successful conclusion: "it would only take one of the nine friends to decide to talk..."

The former coordinator of the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance states that it is still possible to find out the truth, stressing that the investigation from a legal point of view is neither finished nor closed: it is only waiting for better evidence and it is necessary for those who are able to to bring new details to the Portuguese authorities.

Duarte Levy (Vigo - Espagne)

Enfants Kidnappés 2/10/08: McCann case - Kids Club staff interviews

Enfants Kidnappés

Catriona Treasa Sisile B.'s interview

The interview begins at 6.36pm on May 6th 2007. It is the fifth time that Robert Murat is actively involved as an interpreter in the ongoing process. We will come back later to the first four times.

The informant is heard as a witness. Being of British nationality, she has no command of the Portuguese language in spoken or written form, because of which and because he is present, the person named: ROBERT MURAT residing at Casa Liliana, Ramalhete Road in Praia da Luz, 8600 Lagos, contactable via telephone no: 913...., offered to translate the interview.

In answer to our questions, she responds that she has been in Portugal since March 21st of this year and that this is her first visit to the country. Next, she says that she came to Portugal to work as a play leader, having obtained a contract of employment with the "Mark Warner" company. She states that her contract started on March 21st and ends on November 7th 2007, the date on which she will return to her own country. She points out that the company in question, in its turn, has a contract with the "OCEAN CLUB" tourist village to provide a child care service for parents who are clients of the village. She adds that in the tourist village, this type of child care takes place in four different places according to the ages of the children.

Thus, for children aged four months to one year it is the "Baby Club" which is close to the OCEAN CLUB's main reception. For children aged one to two years, it is the "Toddler" which is next to the "Tapas" restaurant. For children aged three to five years, it is the "Mini Club" which is also close to the Ocean Club's main reception. And finally, for children aged six to nine years and from ten to thirteen years, it is the "Junior Club" which is close to the "Millenium" restaurant.

Concerning the operating hours, there are four separate services.

• Basic service: 9am-12.30pm
• Service two: 2.30-5.30pm
• Service three: 7.30pm-11.30pm

This is a service for dinner time called the "Dining out service." It is next to the Ocean Club's reception.

Service four: 7.30pm-1am

For an extra charge, there is a "Babysitting" service between 7.30pm and 1am provided in the apartments for parents who request it.

The informant mentions that the work of the play leaders is the same in all areas specified above and that all colleagues have similar training. Rotations are scheduled, which means that they change places from week to week, changing the age group they have to work with.

She states that as part of her job she has to work out a weekly plan of activities to develop with the children who are entrusted to them, notably outside, like swimming tennis, the beach...

To our question, she specifies that she is responsible for a group of children, similar in age to the missing minor and that each supervisor has around seven children who stay with the same supervisor for the week.

In continued answer to our questions, she responds that she has known the McCann family since last Sunday, April 29th, when the McCann parents placed their daughter in the "Mini Club". She adds that until Thursday May 3rd, the little girl came every day.

Questioned, she responds that since she has been working with the little girl, it has seemed to her that the parents were attentive to their daughter given that they asked what Madeleine had done in the crèche and that they even accompanied Madeleine a few times in certain outside activities. Concerning the little girl, she states that she was an active and sociable child. Only on the first day was she more reticent with the group.

The informant reports that during the time that Madeleine was entrusted to her care, at certain moments, it seemed to her that the little girl was sad or unhappy without saying anything in particular about being cross, sad or unhappy about whatever it was. She also reports that she was an obedient child who never wandered from the group and who never spoke to strangers.

When asked, the informant responds that it was always the parents who brought Madeleine and fetched her from the "Mini Club."

When questioned, she responds that in the course of her work, on the company's premises and outside (as described above) she has never noticed anyone in particular or suspicious watching the children with whom she was working. She did not notice anyone taking photos of the children and notably of Madeleine. She states that she never heard her colleagues refer to such things either.

The informant states that in the context of the disappearance of the minor, Madeleine, she saw nothing and was not aware of any reason which might explain the disappearance. Finally, the informant advises that in the few years that she has been working in this profession, for the same company, in various countries, she has never heard anyone talk of an event of this kind.

The informant states that since she has been in Portugal, in addition to the British people and her colleagues, she has got to know people outside the tourist company, some of Portuguese nationality but mostly British people whom she associates with when going out at night to enjoy herself. During her evenings out no one has asked her about her work, or about the children, or the McCann family in particular.

After reading in the company of the interpreter, she goes on and signs.

Enfants Kidnappés 1/10/08: Unprecedented haul of internet paedophiles in Spain.

Enfants Kidnappés

The Spanish police carried off an unprecedented haul in the field of child pornography on the internet with 121 arrests and now place this type of action as one of its "priorities."

The Interior Minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba congratulated the "fine work" by the police against offences, "which arouse the most disgust in society."

Around 800 police officers across Spain participated in this operation, Christened, "Carousel," the Spanish police indicated in a press release on Wednesday.

It is, "the most important operation against child pornography on the internet ever carried out in the country," they stressed.

Amongst those arrested were a police officer, an agent for the Spanish intelligence services, CNI (National Information centre) as well as a student from a school for the Civil Guard, several Spanish media indicated, quoting sources close to the investigation.

In addition to the 121 arrests, 96 other people were prosecuted in this case for, "possession and distribution of material of a paedophile nature on the internet," the police stated.

A total of 210 searches were carried out which led to the police seizing 347 computer hard discs, 1,186 CDs and DVDs, 36 laptop computers, 15 USB memory sticks.

"Millions of archival videos and photos were seized, some showing assaults on minors, extreme in their severity," the police explained.

Amongst the people arrested, two individuals, "were producing their own pornographic material," in addition to receiving and exchanging files with paedophile content and their, "victims could be identified in their family surroundings."

The investigation was launched in 2007 in, "collaboration," with the Brazilian police. It was focused on a, "known file-sharing network," through which "many archives of a paedophile nature," transited.

With the help of the police from different countries, the Spanish division specialised in this type of crime, the Brigade for Technological Investigation, was able to list 18,000 connections with illegal content in 75 different countries.

But it was in Spain that their action was focused, locating 250 homes where pornographic content featuring minors had been downloaded and distributed.

The people arrested come from the most diverse social and professional backgrounds. There are airline pilots, janitors, taxi drivers and even bank employees amongst the 121 arrested. Age is also highly variable, ranging from minors to retired.

For several years Spain has increased operations against paedophiles on the internet and the national Spanish police now place tracking down paedophiles on the internet amongst their, "priorities."

In the past five years, more than 1,200 people have been arrested in Spain in connection with paedophilia on the internet. The specialist Spanish investigators have been helped for several years by special software, "Hispalis," which allows them to detect and find the names and addresses of internet users who log on to illegal sites.

The work of the Spanish Brigade for Technological Investigation is one of the best known at international level. This year, the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, honoured the work of the Spanish police in awarding them its international prize, "Children first."

Enfants Kidnappés 30/09/08 - disappearance of Antoine de Brugerolle in Issoire (France) Summary Part 3

Enfants Kidnappés

The search resumes.

The search for little Antoine, aged six and a half, reported missing on September 11th in Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme), resumed on Monday in Perrier with the exploration of caves by cavers from the gendarmerie.

The area in Perrier, around 4km west of Issoire with around 300 troglodyte caves and caverns, had already been explored by gendarmes and dogs shortly after the child's disappearance was reported.

The whole area was examined more thoroughly throughout the day by cavers from the Peleton Haut Montagne Gendarmerie of Grenoble. (PGHM)

On September 27th, Jean-Yves Coquillat, the Clermont-Ferrand prosecutor, had declared the search "suspended" but would be taken up again at the "slightest development," in the investigation.

We are not aware of what had motivated this new search.

Enfants Kidnappés 30/09/08 - disappearance of Antoine de Brugerolle in Issoire (France) Summary Part 2

Enfants Kidnappés

28 septembre 2008

Searches suspended.

The search for little Antoine, aged six and a half, reported missing on September 11th in Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme) has been "suspended" for now and will be taken up again on the "slightest development," in the investigation, we learned on Saturday from the Clermont-Ferrand prosecutor, Jean-Yves Coquillat.

"We are at a stage of the investigation where the search has been suspended and will be taken up again on the slightest development," M. Coquillat told AFP.

The latter stated on Friday that the investigation into Antoine's disappearance, "had only begun," and that he, "was not excluding any theory," including the child's "family circle."

During the day, on the basis of witness statements, the gendarmes had combed, in vain, the Suc wood and surveyed a neighbouring body of water, in Vernet-la-Varenne (Puy-de-Dôme) the village Sébastien, Antoine's mother's partner, comes from. Witnesses had stated having seen individuals throwing a bag into that pond.

Meanwhile, Antoine's mother, Alexandrine, aged 23, remanded in custody in Clermont-Ferrand on Wednesday and then released on Thursday without charge, spent the day with her lawyer in order to constitute herself as a civil party in this case.

She said she was, "exasperated," and "sickened," that she should be suspected of "having harmed her kid," in an interview on Saturday in the daily newspaper La Montagne. "That's the truth. I love my son. I miss him," she told the newspaper.

Her partner Sébastien, a dropout aged 29 and also remanded in custody on Wednesday, was held but in the context of a separate case of trafficking in narcotics.

Six others who were remanded, friends of the couple, aged 20 -30, were also released on Thursday without charge.

Enfants Kidnappés 30/09/08 - disappearance of Antoine de Brugerolle in Issoire (France)

Enfants Kidnappés

Summary of the case. Part 1

24 septembre 2008

Antoine's mother and her partner remanded in custody.

The investigation into the disappearance of Antoine, aged six and a half, reported missing on September 11th in Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme) accelerated on Wednesday when eight people were placed on remand, including the child's mother and her partner. Alexandrine, aged 23, and her partner Sébastien, aged 29, were placed on remand on Wednesday afternoon together with six others, "close to the couple," Jean-Yves Coquillat, Clermont-Ferrand prosecutor, told AFP.
According to a source close to the investigation, they are in custody with the Issoire and Clermant-Ferrand gendarmerie.
"The investigating magistrates and the investigators consider that they have sufficient evidence to proceed at this stage, to put questions to them," explained the prosecutor, refusing to say what the new evidence was.

In the afternoon. the investigators, assisted by forensic specialists and technicians, carried out a , "much more thorough," search for almost two hours in the mother's apartment in old Issoire.
"The gendarmes ripped up the floor to take new samples, the results of which will be known during the term of remand," explained M. Coquillat.
A few days ago, two small drops of the little boy's blood were revealed in Antoine's bedroom. But the prosecutor had then considered that this did not constitute, "a decisive element, since these spots (may) have been left following a nose bleed or accidental cut."

During their remand, the investigators will question the couple and those close to them about a number of grey areas remaining in this case, notably on the exact date of the child's disappearance.
"We need some answers," stressed the magistrate, who will give a press briefing on Thursday at 5pm.
The once favoured idea that the little boy ran away had rapidly lost all consistency, and on September 14th the prosecutor opened an investigation for, "abduction and sequestration of a minor."

Antoine's mother had told the investigators several times that she had gone out to a restaurant for dinner with her partner on September 11th at around 8pm, and that they discovered the child's disappearance on their return, at around 9.15pm. But the child, who went back to school on September 2nd, has not been in class since, because of gastro-enteritis, according to his mother, who never responded to calls from the school's director who was worried by this absence.

According to witnesses, the child was seen for the last time on September 6th.
The gendarmes continued meanwhile to gather witness statements on the personality of the mother and her partner, both of whom have already served prison sentences for trafficking of narcotics.
"These people are somewhat strange," stressed the prosecutor. "This became apparent over the course of the interviews and that is why we are continuing to gather witness statements, because we need as much evidence as possible from the witnesses and people who know them," he said.

SOS Madeleine McCann 2/10/08 - Clarence Mitchell a guest speaker for the Society of British Editors.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

Clarence Mitchell, spokesperson for Kate and Gerry McCann, is one of the guests of honour for the next annual conference of the Society of British Editors, where the former director of the Media Monitoring Unit is scheduled as a speaker.

Amongst the other speakers, is Sly Bailey, boss of the Mirror Group, Carolyn McCall, Director General of Guardian Media, Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail, and Christopher Meyer, President of the Press Complaints Commission.

The Society of Editors is an organisation that brings together more than 400 members and that, according to its internet site, defends values like the universal right to freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed.

(Editor's note: Ok then, Clarence, why not stand up there and maintain those lofty principles by telling the public why the McCanns did not return to Portugal to help the police with a reconstruction of the events surrounding their daughter's disappearance?

Tell us, Clarence, why the McCanns allowed stories of sightings to be published when they knew they had been investigated and ruled out? It's all in the case files. And while you're at it, Clarrie, how did Kate know for sure that Madeleine had been abducted? Why was she absolutely sure that Madeleine could not have got out of her bed and walked out of the unlocked door? Just a few Clarence for you to be getting on with. I am sure there are lots more questions that people want answers to, answers the public, with their right to be informed, have not been given.)

In the case of Madleine's disappearance, the McCanns' spokesmen and lawyers have maintained regular contact with editors and directors of the major British newspapers. On September 12th 2007, after Kate and Gerry McCann were officially constituted as arguidos, Justine McGuiness, their then spokesperson, and their lawyer Angus McBride, met with several editors and directors to whom they explained that the fact that the Portuguese authorities had not found Madeleine's body was the best proof of the couple's innocence.

(Editor's note: And the British editors and directors did not come up with a few cases to prove this was not how the law works? No body proves innocence? And Angus McBride, a lawyer, actually put his name to this bollox? Some things, as the cliché goes, you just couldn't make up!)

The next conference of British editors will take place at the Marriot Royal Hotel in Bristol, from 9th to 11th November.

Enfants Kidnappés 1/10/08: McCann case - Kids Club staff interviews

01 octobre 2008

Lindsay Jayne J.'s interview.

We return to our case file. Lindsay J.'s interview took place on May 6th 2007.
This interview is interesting for several reasons. Lindsay J is manager of the KIDS CLUB.

In the matter at hand, it is stated that:

The informant is heard as a witness. In virtue of the fact that the informant is of British nationality and that she has no command of the Portuguese language, the present statement is taken in the presence of Filipa Maria C.S., translator.

The informant has been in Portugal since March 15th, the date on which she started to work for the "Ocean Club" tourist company in Praia da Luz where she supervises the leaders (male and female) of the KIDS CLUB, her contract of employment having been previously signed in London (England)

In the context of her duties which she carries out for the company mentioned, she has had contact on several occasions with a child called Madeleine McCann, observing from a distance. The informant states that the child belonged to the "MiniClub," group in which the children are aged 3 to 5 years.

Questioned in more depth, the informant advises us that the group of children belonging to the "MiniClub" category is supervised by her colleague Amy T. who, in her turn, coordinates a group of leaders composed of Catriona B. and Emma W. Both were on duty in the week of April 29th to May 4th 2007.

The informant informs that the "MiniClub" is subdivided into two classes of children and that Madeleine was entrusted to Catriona B.

The "MiniClub" is open from 9am. A break is scheduled for lunch between 12.30 and 2.30pm when the afternoon session starts until 5.30pm.

Then, from 7.30pm, the Kids Club provides a complementary "dinner" service until 11.30pm. For an additional fee, parents can obtain a "babysitting" service without a fixed time, to be arranged between the parents and the baby-sitter.

The children stay at the centre and get involved with various activities which can be done on the company's premises, appropriate for this purpose, or they can also go outside, notably to the beach but always accompanied by a Kids Club employee.

The informant tells us that on a date which she cannot be precise about but which was some time last week, Madeleine McCann participated in a boat trip, organised by the company's crèche. Several children particpated in this outing to the sea, accompanied by the employees mentioned above and an expert in water activities, whose name she is not aware of.

To our question, the informant states that Madeleine McCann was accompanied by her parents, Kate and Gerald McCann who are renting apartment G5A at the Ocean Club.

She indicates that on May 3rd 2007, at around 10.20pm, she was informed by her colleague Amy T. that Madeleine McCann had disappeared. At that, she immediately launched the "missing child" procedure. This procedure consists of dividing the site into several areas, which are allocated to various of the company's employees to start searching for the missing child. To that effect, the informant explains that, around 10.45pm, the date indicated, the said procedure was begun, dividing the whole site into three distinct areas, namely the north zone, the central zone (including the area of the company) and all the roads surrounding the company and which go as far as the beach. Five of the company's employees were mobilised to coordinate the searches, helped by various people ( other employees, tourists and residents)

Later, not knowing precisely what time, the local police came to the company and, taking into account the procedure which we had set in place, they proceeded with the appropriate actions for this type of situation.

Questioned by us, the informant indicated that the searches by members of the OCEAN CLUB ended at around 4am on the morning of May 4th, without result.

To our question, the informant stated that at the time she was informed of Madeleine McCann's disappearance, she was alone in her residence and that she immediately went out and initiated the procedure described above. To our questions, the informant replies that given that she had no direct contact with the minor in question, Madeleine McCann, being only the supervisor of the company's crèche leaders, as a consequence she does not know the routines of the minor or her parents and that no suspicious situation or any special concern about the child had been reported to her during the time she worked in Portugal.

The informant did not notice any other suspicious or unusual situations which might be related directly or indirectly to Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

After reading in the company of the interpreter, who explains to her, having nothing else to add, she goes on and signs.

http://www.kidnapping.be/maddie/maddie.html

SOS Madeleine McCann 30/09/08: PJ brings to an end the parental kidnapping of three Belgian children.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

Tonight, the Portuguese authorities brought an end to the parental kidnapping of three children of Belgian nationality, who went missing on January 4th in the town of Deurne, Anvers. The three girls, Godelieve, Gerda and Truke Otto, aged respectively 14, 10 and 7, had been taken away by their father, Cornelis Otto, against the wishes of their mother, Marie Castermans.

The man was arrested by the PSP in the Viseu region in collaboration with the PJ who also placed the children in a social institution waiting to be handed over to their mother. The Belgian organisation, Child Focus, which maintains direct contact with the mother, was informed tonight at around 3am, by SOS Madeleine McCann.

Yesterday afternoon, the Child Support Institute (IAC – Instituto de Apoio à Criança), Portuguese organisation responsible for cases of missing or at risk children, gave out a national alert asking for help in urgently locating the three Belgian children.

The organisation made the telephone number 116000 available to possible witnesses, the SOS line for missing children.

In January, a few days after their abduction, Cornelis Otto, aged 39, and the three children had been seen in Montijo, begging in the streets of the town. The local police - PSP - had even got as far as identifying the father without however arresting him, because the Belgian authorities had not issued an international arrest warrant. After this warrant was issued, on August 20th, the PJ intensified their search.

The Portuguese authorities worked in collaboration with the federal police and the organisation, "Child Focus."

According to the Belgian authorities, the children, accompanied by their father, crossed Europe in a white Peugeot Partner, registration XXH-802 and a caravan registeration YBE-6882. During their journey, the children and their father stayed in camp sites for short periods of time, having as their only means of subsistence begging, notably playing a barrel organ.

Duarte Levy

30/09/08

Editor's note: I guess this shows that the 116000 emergency call system for alerts in missing children cases, which was set up some time ago, does actually work and that police forces across Europe are already organised for collaboration. If all EU countries would now adopt the 116 numbers and set up their own emergency call systems, there would be no need to be talking about an American Amber Alert type system.

SOS Madeleine McCann 27/09/08: British couple saw Madeleine in Mallorca.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

According to a spokesman for the national police in Palma (Mallorca), no major search operation has been launched on the island following the witness statement from a British couple stating that they saw Madeleine McCann in the company of two women: "we are carrying out the usual checks, nothing else," the officer stated this morning, stressing, "that the most astonishing thing about the story is that amongst the other people present in the same place, no one saw that little girl, or even the two women."

Robert and Marian Cleminson, a couple of British tourists, claim to have seen a child resembling Madeleine McCann in Cala d'Or in the company of two women, described as originating from Northern Europe and aged around 40 to 50.

Before informing the police on the island, last Wednesday, the couple allegedly went back to the hotel to consult the internet and check the resemblance of the child they saw with photos of Madeleine.

After having questioned other tourists present in the same place where the couple had described having seen Madeleine, the police did not find the least evidence which might confirm the witness statement.

"We are grateful to the British couple in question for having brought this to the attention of the police as quickly as they did, but obviously, there were a certain number of witness statements in the past which offered nothing," stated Clarence Mitchell, spokesperson for the McCanns.

The British media took up the case.

While the police in Mallorca confirmed the witness statement of Robert and Marian Cleminson, a British couple in their sixties, the media in the United Kingdom took up the case.

The Leicester Mercury, quite close to the McCanns, headlined that the "hunt," had started after Madeleine was allegedly seen in Mallorca, announcing that, "the McCann family's private investigators have joined a huge police operation."

The Mirror headlines that the Mallorca witness statement is investigated, while The Sun states that a couple of British people in Mallorca saw Maddie. Meanwhile, it's The Sun that publishes the first statements from the witnesses: "She greatly resembled Maddie, which aroused our suspicions," Marian stated.

Madeleine is not being looked for on Halo 3.

According to Bungie, the company behind the video game Halo 3, the message asking where is Maddie, included in its latest trailer, is not a reference to Madeleine McCann, being only an "unfortunate coincidence."

The trailer for the next round of the famous game, distributed by Microsoft, came out last week on Bungie's internet site with a short question: "Maddie, where are you?"

"It is an unfortunate coincidence, but there is no connection between Bungie's game and the tragic disappearance of that little girl," wrote Brian Jarrard, Bungie's public relations director.

The use of the name Maddie in a game known for its high level of violence immediately gave rise to much speculation, where even Halo 3's admirers recognised that, "even if a character in the game happened to disappear, it probably wasn't the best idea in the world to call her Maddie."

The image flashes very quickly, just a few moments, but fans of the game, looking for all information about it, quickly found the messages.

(Editor's note: I have never played a video game and if I were to be asked to name a few, I would have a hard time coming up with any at all. However, I have now heard of Halo 3. A good marketing ploy, or, as they say, an unfortunate coincidence?)

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

27/09/08

Enfants Kidnappés 14/09/08: In Morocco, a fatwa authorises paedophile marriage.

Morocco: Scandal

14 septembre 2008

A Muslim leader has issued a fatwa which has aroused no end of emotions. And for good reasons. Cheikh Mohamed ben Abderrahmane Al-Maghraoui has published a religious opinion on an internet site authorising the marriage of little girls from the age of nine. A lawyer and human rights organisations are condemning a call to the, "rape," of children and to "paedophilia."

Cheikh Mohamed ben Abderrahmane Al-Maghraoui is in the line of sight of Moroccan human rights defenders. According to the daily newspaper Al Jarida Al Oula of September 1st, the religious leader has issued a fatwa authorising the marriage of little girls from the age of nine, on the internet site Maghrawi. "It has been said and we have seen that nine year old girls are just as ready for marriage as girls aged 20 and older," Cheikh Mohamed ben Abderrahmane Al-Maghraoui allegedly explained on Maghrawi.net. To back up what he is saying, he also cited the example of the Prophet, who married one of his wives when she was nine years old.

If he wanted to create a scandal, he has succeeded. Many human rights defenders have stepped into the breach. They are condemning a reactionary religious opinion which violates the International Convention of the Rights of the Child, which Morocco has ratified, and the new Family Code, which fixes at 18 years the minimum age for marriage - regardless of sex. This is without taking into account that the Code itself is not inflexible on the subject of early marriage. "The legislature has exceptionally authorised early marriage and left it to the authority of a judge without the minimum age or contractual conditions of this type of marriage being made clear. The result is that the marriage of minors is still taking place," Fatiha Mesbahi, member of the central office of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights*, stresses. (*AMDH)

As a result, some fear that the fatwa encourages even more the marrying of minors, especially as, "in Morocco, a large percentage of the population is illiterate," comments Mourad Bekkouri, lawyer at the Rabat bar. "In the small villages, there is no way of knowing what is going to happen, how people are going to react. They could marry their daughters from age nine, thinking that the fatwa is official, while it has not been validated by the Higher Council of Ulema*." Given the risks, Me Mourad Bekkouri placed a complaint before the Rabat "Tribunal d'Instance" (Editor's note: lowest level court in the French judicial system) on September 4th and is waiting to see if the prosecutor will open an investigation.

*Ulema - Islamic lawyers. (Editor's note)

This fatwa is a crime against humanity.

For the lawyer, this struggle is for the preservation of innocence. And he doesn't mince his words: "I consider that this fatwa is an infringement of the rights of the child and a call to rape and to paedophilia." An opinion shared by several newspapers and associations. "At this stage, this is not promotion of paedophilia, it is paedophilia, full stop! At age nine, a girl is not mature enough for sexual relations, to receive sperm, to be impregnated...She might as well be killed in advance! This fatwa is a crime against humanity. The person who issued it should be charged," Mohammed Graigaa, executive director of the Moroccan Family Planning Association, strongly protests.

Saïda Drissi Amrani is president of the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women in Rabat. When she read the Al Jarida Al Oula article, it made her feel, "sickened," and she couldn't "finish reading the article." "It was the start of the school year. So, the message is what? Don't take your daughters to school, get them married? But can such a young girl understand what marriage is? Sexual relations? Is she really mature enough to decide? We mustn't justify the unjustifiable! Children are the parents' responsibility until aged 18, not a husband's!" rages Saïda Drissi Amrani, who classifies as "frustrated," and, "sick," those who look to religion for excuses to spread their ideas.

Excuses because Cheikh Mohamed ben Abderrahmane Al-Maghraoui omitted to report an important part of the Prophet's union with Aisha, and has thus, "sullied," the image of Islam in the name of his "fundamentalist," beliefs. "The Prophet did not consummate the marriage at the age that Aisha's father gave his daughter. It was indeed much later," is particularly noted by Mohammed Graigaa, who stresses that the person who issued the fatwa, "seeks merely to make himself important." Not impossible. According to several local newspapers, it is a salafiste* desperate for fame, who is issuing fatwas on controversial subjects in order to come out of the shadows.

* Someone who claims to be returning to the roots of Islam. (Editor's note)

To prevent further texts from creating scandal. Me Mourad Bekkouri considers that the Minister for Habous* and Religious Affairs should interest himself in controlling this sort of output. As for the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, "The AMDH," states indique Fatiha Mesbahi, "has always struggled for and called for religion to be separated from the State, which international conventions have ratified without reservation, and for domestic laws to be brought into line with international legislation. If that were the case, we would not be at the mercy of fatwas formulated to distort from the "Cheikh and the Ulema."

* Habous (also Houbous) (Arabic: الحبوس‎) is an Islamic term related to land property legislation in the Muslim world.

Habous can be classified into three main categories: private, public, or mixed. (Editor's note)

http://www.kidnapping.be/monde/index.html