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They were the ones who took him to court for defamation and
asked to suspend the judgement in order to negotiate. On
the eve of the trial of Goncalo Amaral, against whom
they filed a complaint, the McCanns asked to negotiate.
by Hernâni Carvalho
Not often the accusers ask to negotiate before a trial, but in this
case it was so. TVmais found that, on the eve of Goncalo
Amaral's trial, the McCann couple lawyers proposed a
meeting in order to reach an extrajudicial settlement
[out of court].
In court, Madeleine McCann's parents demanded from Goncalo Amaral
(see box*) a compensation of
1,2 million euro
for alleged defamation. Now it's them who propose an
extrajudicial settlement. TVmais also learned the
lawyers for the defendants have accepted a meeting to
take place within the following 20 days.
As all parties have agreed, the start of the trial, scheduled for
the 24th of this month at the 1st Civil Court of Lisbon,
“has been suspended because the parties are trying to
reach an agreement”, said a judicial source to Lusa News
agency. All witnesses have already been notified of the
suspension of the hearing.
Now follows a period of six months, after which, if there is no
agreement, the hearing will be scheduled and the trial
will start.
“Unsuitable”
This trial was supposed to have started twice and was postponed as
many times.
In this action Kate and Gerry McCann further claim for the
protection of rights, liberties and guarantees and in
order to secure the amount they claimed, the McCanns
asked for the seizure of Goncalo Amaral’s assets. To
understand how he interprets the step taken by the
McCanns, we contacted Goncalo Amaral, who told TVmais
“the eve of every negotiation is the most unsuitable
moment to speak”. Until the close of this edition we
were unable to talk with the McCann couple.
Defendants
The process is taking place at the 1st circuit of the Civil Court
of Lisbon. Madeleine McCann's parents demand
1,2 million euro
for alleged defamation. The defendants are Goncalo
Amaral, former coordinator of the Judiciary Police and
author of the book “Maddie, The Truth of the Lie”, the
book publishers
Guerra & Paz, Valentim de Carvalho
who produced a documentary based on the book, and
TVI, who have
broadcast it.
Book Unbanned
With a legal proceeding made by the McCann couple, the prohibition
of the book and documentary “What Lies beneath the
Truth”, which present Goncalo Amaral’s theory of the
involvement of Kate and Gerry McCann on their daughter’s
disappearance and hiding her cadaver, was
provisionally ordered
on the 9th of September of 2009.
However, the Appeals court and the Supreme Court of
Justice had favourable decisions benefiting Gonçalo
Amaral, as it is explained in the ruling of the
Appeals Court of Lisbon ( transit in
rem judicatam on
22/11/2010), and in the decision of the
Supreme Court ( transit in
rem judicatam on
13/09/2011) rejecting the appeal made by the McCanns.
As we published at the time the courts decreed for the
book trustee [Isabel Duarte] to return the books to
Gonçalo Amaral and to the book publisher. And so it
happened (26/04/2012).
Box
The Madeleine McCann case
Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007, from the apartment 5
of the Ocean Club, a tourist resort in Praia da Luz, in
the Algarve, where she was enjoying a holiday with her
parents and twin siblings. At that time Goncalo Amaral
was the coordinator of the Department Criminal
Investigation of the Judiciary Police of Portimão. Kate
and Gerry McCann remained in Portugal until they were
made
arguidos [official suspects of a crime], in
September of that same year. Then, they left for England
with the twins. The process was eventually archived for
lack of evidence in July 2008, although the Public
Ministry admits the reopening of the case if new data
(just like the Law states regarding any closed or
archived process) about the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann emerges. |
