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The
McCanns sought €1.2m in damages from Amaral, saying they
were “totally destroyed” and “depressed” by Amaral’s
allegations, and felt “ashamed” that they might appear
to have been to blame for their daughter’s
disappearance.
Amaral had argued in his defence that his claims stemmed
from the police investigation and that Portuguese media
had already reported the possibility that the parents
might have played a role in Madeleine’s disappearance.
The
appeals court “decided that [Amaral] had the right to do
what he did,” said Duarte. “It said he can write what he
wants. It absolved him, said he didn’t have to pay
anything.”
The
lawyer said the McCanns took the reversal in their
stride after a long time battling in Portuguese courts.
“They’re used to it,” Duarte said.
Portuguese police closed the case in 2008 because
authorities had detected no crime, but British police
are still looking into it.
Detective chief superintendent Mick Duthie told London’s
Evening Standard on Monday that Scotland Yard’s probe
was ongoing and officers still hoped to find her alive.
In
April the Home Office granted the investigation, called
Operation Grange, £95,000 to cover another six months of
the inquiry. This came after the number of officers
working on the operation was scaled down from 29 to four
in October 2015.
Duthie, who is head of Scotland Yard’s homicide and
major crime command, said: “There is ongoing work. There
is always a possibility that we will find Madeleine and
we hope that we will find her alive.
“That’s what we want and that’s what the family and the
public want and that is why the Home Office continue to
fund it. There is work that needs to be done still.” |
