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Decision related to
negotiation attempt
The trial that opposes the McCann couple and Gonçalo
Amaral, in which Madeleine’s parents demand a
compensation of
1.2 million euro over
alleged defamation by the former PJ inspector, has been
suspended due to an attempt to reach an extrajudicial
agreement.
A judicial source has told Lusa agency that the start of
the trial, which was planned for the 24th and the 25th
of this month at the 1st circuit of the Civil Court of
Lisbon, “has been suspended because the parties are
trying to reach an agreement”.
The judge’s order granting the suspension was signed at
the end of last week, which means that now a six-month
term runs its course, after which, if there is no
agreement between Gonçalo Amaral and the parents of the
child that went missing in 2007, in the Algarve, an
audience will be scheduled.
The start of this trial has been postponed twice, the
first one on the 9th of February of 2012.
The judge then scheduled the start of the trial at the
Palace of Justice for the 13th of September of the same
year, with another three sessions on the agenda, but
none took place due to Gonçalo Amaral’s lawyer’s
unavailability, as he was submitted to a stomach exam
under anesthesia.
Under this action, which prompted the request
for the seizure of Gonçalo
Amaral’s assets under an injuction, Kate and
Gerry McCann further claim for the protection of rights,
liberties and guarantees.
Under a connected process, the
7th circuit of the Civil Court of
Lisbon decided, in January 2010, to uphold
the prohibition to sell the book “Maddie – The Truth of
The Lie”, by Gonçalo Amaral, and the vídeo with the same
title, based on a documentar that was exhibited by TVI.
The prohibition of the book and the video, which
presents Gonçalo Amaral’s theory of the involvement of
Kate and Gerry McCann on their daughter’s disappearance
by hiding the cadaver, had been provisionally ordered on
the 9th of September of 2009.
On the
19th of October of 2010, the
Appeals Court of Lisbon annulled the Civil
Court’s decision, after which the McCann couple appealed
to the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ).
In a decision dated
March 18, 2011, the SCJ confirmed the Appeals
Court’s decision.
Madeleine McCann disappeared on the 3rd of May of 2007,
in an apartment at a tourist resort in Praia da Luz,
where whe was on vacation with her parents and two twin
siblings.
At the time of the disappearance, Gonçalo Amaral was the
coordinator of the Criminal Investigation Department of
Portimão’s Judiciary Police.
Kate and Gerry McCann, who have always stated that the
child was abducted, were made arguidos in September
2007.
The process was archived due to a lack of evidence, in
July 2008, although the Public Ministry admits reopening
if new data about the disappearance of Madeleine
emerges. |
