SOS Madeleine McCann: Attorney General promises a response for Monday

Madeleine : Procureur promet réponse pour lundi

Le Procureur général de la République (PGR), Pinto Monteiro, a annoncé qu’il y aurait, lundi prochain, un communiqué à propos de l’affaire Madeleine McCann, donnant ainsi suite au rapport de la Police Judiciaire.

“L’affaire Maddie, lundi, il y aura une solution qui vous sera communiquée,” à dit Pinto Monteiro en déclarations aux journalistes à la sortie de la cérémonie d’entrée en fonctions du président du Tribunal de la Relation de Lisbonne, Vaz das Neves.

Interrogé par les journalistes sur le contenu du communiqué, le PGR s’est refusé à plus de commentaires, mais une source proche de l’enquête assure que “l’investigation n’est pas terminée, mais qu’il resterait à savoir s’il y a la volonté politique d’aller plus loin.”

Pinto Monteiro, Attorney General of the Republic, has announced that on Monday next there will be a press release about the Madeleine McCann case, giving the follow-up to the PJ's report.

"The Maddie case, on Monday, there will be a solution which will be communicated to you," said Pinto Monteiro in statements to journalists at the end of the inaugural ceremony for the president of the Lisbon Court of Appeal, Vaz das Neves.

Questioned by journalists about the contents of the press release, the PGR refused to comment further, but a source close to the enquiry assures that, "the investigation is not finished, but it remains to be seen if there is the political will to go any further.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

16/07/08

That Lori Campbell video: interviewed by Ian Woods of Sky News

This video was posted on YouTube by xklamation on December 13th 2007.

Ian Woods of Sky speaks to Lori Campbell about her suspicions concerning Robert Murat. Transcript follows.

LC: I was so suspicious by the Monday that I just felt I had a duty to pass those suspicions on. I spoke to my news desk back in London and then they said they thought that that was the right thing to do.

IW: Now, let's discuss why we were a little suspicious of him, because your suspicions were aroused first of all and you shared those suspicions with me. I then talked to him, investigated it, tried to find out whether his story was true and I have to say I came back and said his story checked out. What first of all made you suspicious of the fact that he was spending so much time around the scene?

LC: It was just very reminiscent of the Soham murders was my first instinct. There was a local guy. He was hanging around the scene an awful lot. He was asking us questions about what was going on in the investigation, maybe trying to find out what we knew and he just seemed to be giving an air that he was authoritative and he was working in an official capacity for the police. And I was just very suspicious about that, that they would take on board a man who was just a local guy. They have many people, I am sure, who speak Portuguese and English. Why would they ask him to, you know, go into the apartment, speak to the family and have that sort of contact with them?

IW: Now, how co-operative was Robert when you were talking to him, because first of all he wouldn't do any interviews with me. I have asked him to do interviews on camera. He declined and you approached him to do a proper interview and asked his identity and things like that?

LC: Well, he was very vague when I tried to ask about his background. He would chat to me quite openly, but he wouldn't give me his surname. He wouldn't tell me really where he was from, where he lives over here. He wouldn't give me a telephone number for him. And then I asked him what he did for a living. He was very vague. He said he worked for real estate. And I just had a really uneasy feeling about him from day one.

IW: You reported him to who and what was the response?

LC: My first call was to Leicestershire police back in the UK and they took all my details. A detective constable called me back and she suggested that I also speak to somebody out here. We didn't really have a police contact last week. So, I called the British Embassy and they said to speak to a policeman on the scene. So, I walked up to a GNR policeman and said, you know, "I've got suspicions about a gentleman who's been near the scene and I'd just like to pass those on." And one of my main suspicions was that he said he was translating witness statements and I asked them if that could be true and they said, "No, that's highly unlikely."

Transcript ends....................

I have tried to transcribe the video as accurately as possible, missing out the ..erms...and ....ums!
I guess this could have been the scoop of the century for Ms Campbell, but judging by the latest news from Mr Murat's side of things, probably not! And that reference to the Soham murders! Oh dear! That may just come back and bite your bum, Ms Campbell! I shall wait and see what happens when Robert Murat's legal team gets to work!

Well, we have seen what happened when Robert Murat's legal team got to work! This was originally posted on this blog on April 15th, but here it is again, just to remind everyone of what Ms Campbell said and how she arrived at her conclusions about Robert Murat.

Robert Murat: more than half a million in damages for defamation.

Robert Murat : plus d'un demi-million d’euros en dommages pour diffamation

Robert Murat, le suspect britannique dans la disparition de Madeleine McCann, est parvenu à un accord financier avec une partie des médias britanniques accusés de diffamation, pour des informations publiées à son sujet après la disparition de Madeleine McCann. L’accord, qui englobe 11 titres de la presse écrite ( Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, News of the World, The Sun et The Scotsman) prevoit le versement d’une somme avoisinant les 800.000 € et la publication d’excuses.

Robert Murat, the British suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance, has reached a financial agreement with a portion of the British media, accused of defamation, for information published about him after Madeleine McCann's disappearance. The agreement, which includes 11 newspaper titles (Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, News of the World, The Sun and The Scotsman) provides for the payment of a sum of around 800,000€ and the publication of apologies.

Simons Muirhead and Burton, le cabinet d’avocats qui représente l’intérêt du Britannique dans cette affaire, spécialiste des procès en justice contre les médias, ont décidé de continuer les poursuites à l’encontre de la chaine de télévision Sky News.

Après 14 mois sans que Madeleine McCann, la victime, soit retrouvée, c’est le deuxième accord financier célèbre entre les médias et les arguidos de l’affaire McCann : Kate et Gerry McCann ont reçu, officiellement, 500.000 £ du groupe Express, une somme identique à celle que Robert Murat doit maintenant recevoir des 11 titres concernés.

Simons Muirhead and Burton, the law firm that represents the British man's interests in this case, specialists in legal proceedings against the media, have decided to pursue a case against the television chain Sky News.

After 14 months without the victim, Madeleine McCann, being found, this is the second famous financial agreement between the media and arguidos in the McCann case: Kate and Gerry McCann received, officially, £500,000 from the Express group, a sum identical to that which Robert Murat will now receive from the 11 titles involved.

Redevenu britannique dans les médias de son pays depuis que les autorités portugaises ont laissé filtrer qu’il n’était pas le suspect principal de l’enquête à la disparition de Madeleine, Murat est resté à Praia da Luz pendant toute la durée des investigations.

Depuis le jour où il à été amené par les inspecteurs de la Police Judiciaire, il y a exactement 14 mois, Murat à du faire appel à la famille et aux rares amis qui ne l’ont pas abandonnée, les autorités consulaires du Royaume-Uni au Portugal ayant choisie de l’ignorer.

British again in the media of his country once the Portuguese authorities let slip that he was not the principal suspect in the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, Murat stayed in Praia da Luz throughout the investigations.

Since the day when he was led away by the PJ inspectors, exactly 14 months ago, Murat has had to depend on his family and the few friends who have not abandoned him, the consular authorities of the United Kingdom having chosen to ignore him.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

15/07/08

See Lori Campbell posts on this blog, particularly video of interview with Sky TV's Ian Woods. Suspicion seems to have fallen in Robert Murat when Ms Campbell decided that there was some similarity between Robert Murat and Ian Huntley.

SOS Madeleine McCann: helping parents of missing children becomes a matter of money.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

14/07/08

Clarence Mitchell, l’ancien directeur de l’unité de surveillance des médias du cabinet du premier ministre britannique (Tony Blair et plus tard Gordon Brown), devenu responsable de l’image et de la communication des McCann, serait en pourparlers avec une agence de Relations publiques où, selon The Telegraph, il projette d’aider d’autres parents qui ont perdu leurs enfants.

L’information serait toutefois à prendre au conditionnel, car une source au sein du Foreign Office continue à affirmer que l’ancien poste de Clarence Mitchell lui reviendrait naturellement à la fin de l’affaire McCann.

Clarence Mitchell, former director of the Media Monitoring Unit for the Prime Minister's cabinet, (Tony Blair and later Gordon Brown) now PR spokesman for the McCanns, is in talks with a public relations agency where, according to The Telegraph, he plans to help other parents who have lost their children.

The information, however, is to be taken as conditional, because a source at the Foreign Office continues to affirm that Clarence's former post will naturally go back to him when the McCann case ends.

“Je dois cependant souligner que pour moi il n'est aucunement question d’abandonner Kate et Gerry McCann,” affirme Clarence

Récemment, Clarence Mitchell avait promis aux parents d’Amy Fitzpatrick de promouvoir la disparition de la jeune Irlandaise auprès des médias britanniques, notamment sur les écrans des grandes chaines de télévision. Un mois après, l’affaire continue absent des médias à l’exception de quelques informations reprises en Irlande - d’où est originaire Amy – et en Espagne, pays d’où la jeune fille est disparu.

L’ancien journaliste est supposé avoir aidé d’autres parents en dehors du couple McCann sur base du bénévolat, mais aujourd’hui, malgré un important salaire, il recherche d’autres options : “Je suis heureux d'aider n'importe qui à faire face aux médias, mais je dois me placer dans une situation financière ferme,” affirme Clarence Mitchell.

"I must stress, however, that there is no question of abandoning Kate and Gerry McCann," Clarence stated.

Recently, Clarence Mitchell had promised Amy Fitzpatrick's parents that he would promote the disappearance of the young Irish girl using the British media, notably on the screens of the major television channels. One month later, the case continues to be absent from the media, with the exception of a few details given out in Ireland - from where Amy originates - and in Spain, the country from which the young girl disappeared.

The former journalist is supposed to have helped other couples besides the McCann couple on a pro bono basis, but today, in spite of a significant salary, he is looking at other options: "I am happy to help whoever has to face the media, but I have to place myself on a secure financial footing," Clarence Mitchell stated.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

14/07/08

SOS Madeleine McCann: Robert Murat, "categorically," manipulated in the McCann case.

SOS Madeleine McCann 13/07/08

Les enquêteurs portugais de la Police Judiciaire (PJ) ne sont pas arrivés à Robert Murat par hasard, ils y ont été conduits par une “machine” britannique bien huilée, où l’homme a été pointé du doigt par ses compatriotes avec un objectif que les inspecteurs ont tout de même fini par déjouer : il était l’appât vers qui la police et les médias étaient censés de regarder pendant que l’action, la vraie, était ailleurs.

The Portuguese investigators of the PJ did not happen upon Robert Murat by accident. They were led there by a well-oiled British, "machine," where the finger was pointed at the man by his compatriots with an objective which, the inspectors still ended up thwarting: he was the bait, in whose direction the police and the media were supposed to be looking while the real action was elsewhere.

Il est aujourd’hui certain que Robert Murat a plus de victime que de coupable, c’est du moins la conclusion à que la PJ est parvenue après les premiers interrogatoires au Britannique, pourtant avare en explications à propos de certains faits qui n’ont pas cessé d’intriguer les inspecteurs chargés des investigations.

It is now certain that Robert Murat is more victim than guilty party. That, at least is the conclusion arrived at by the PJ after the first interrogations of the British man, however lacking in explanations about certain facts which have not ceased to intrigue the inspectors in charge of the investigations.

Après 14 mois le Britannique garde encore le souvenir du jour où il a été amené par les inspecteurs vers les installations de la PJ a Portimão, où il a été interrogé pendant de longues heures en présence des agents de liaison de la police britannique, sans pourtant recevoir la moindre aide de son consul, Bill Henderson, ou des services du consulat, occupés avec Kate et Gerry McCann, les parents Madeleine, la petite fille de trois ans que les médias britanniques, en particulier le The Mirror, diront ressembler à sa propre fille. Même son ambassadeur, John Buck, très présent à Algarve pendant les jours qui ont suivi la disparition de Madeleine, ira l’ignorer pendant toute la durée de l’enquête, du moins en ce que concerne une éventuelle aide, que sa mère sera forcée de rechercher au pays natal et auprès d’un avocat portugais, maitre Francisco Pagarete.

A suivre...

After 14 months the British man retains the memory of the day he was taken by the inspectors to the PJ's offices in Portimao, where he was interrogated for many hours in the presence of liaison officers from the British police, without, however, receiving the least help from his consul, Bill Henderson, or the services of the consulate, who were busy with Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of Madeleine, the little three year-old girl whom the British media, in particular The Mirror, would say resembled his own daughter. Even his ambassador, John Buck, a strong presence in the Algarve in the days following Madeleine's disappearance, was going to ignore him for the duration of the investigation, at least concerning any possible help, which his mother would be forced to look for in her home country and from a Portuguese lawyer, Me Francisco Pagarete.

To be continued.

SOS Madeleine McCann 13/07/08