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The court will have to set a new date for the start of
the trial.
The parents of Madeleine McCann, the English girl who disappeared
from the Algarve in 2007, and Gonçalo Amaral have not
reached an out of court agreement in the civil case in
which the ex–inspector of the PJ is accused of alleged
defamation.
A source for the defence told Lusa news agency that the “parties
did not reach an agreement” and that a “reactivation”
request has already been made to Lisbon’s Civil Court
1ª, which will now have to decide on a new date for the
start of the trial.
The first court session had been planned for 24th January, during
the previous week, the judge deferred the suspension of
the hearing, in which Madeleine’s parents are requesting
compensation of 1,2 million euros for alleged defamation
by the ex – inspector of the PJ.
In this action, which led to the request for the freezing of
Gonçalo Amaral’s assets as a precautionary measure, Kate
and Gerry McCann are also demanding the protection of
their rights, liberty and guarantees.
In a connected case, the 7th Lisbon Civil Court decided, in January
2010, to uphold the ban on the sale of the book “Maddie
– The Truth of the Lie”, written by Amaral, as well as
the video of the same title, based upon a documentary
shown on TVI
The banning of the book and video presenting Amaral’s thesis about
the involvement of Kate and Gerry McCann in their
daughter’s disappearance as well the hiding of the body
was temporarily decreed on 9th September 2009.
On 19th October 2010 the Lisbon Court annulled the decision of the
7th Civil Court, after which the McCann couple appealed
to the Court of Supreme Justice.
On 18th March 2011 the Court of Supreme Justice upheld the decision
of the Lisbon Court.
Madeleine McCann disappeared on 3rd May 2007 from an apartment in
the Praia da Luz resort, where she was on holiday with
her parents and twin siblings.
At the time of her disappearance, Gonçalo Amaral was the
coordinator of the Criminal Investigation Department of
the Portimão PJ.
Kate and Gerry McCann, who have always claimed that their daughter
was abducted, were made arguidos in September 2007.
The case was archived for lack of evidence in July 2008, however
the Public Ministry will allow a re-opening of the case
if new information about the girl’s disappearance
arises. |
