Former PJ coordinator Gonçalo Amaral retired at midnight on 30 June 2008, to "savour freedom of expression".
Since then, he has given a number of interviews to Portuguese and European TV and press. This page covers interviews
for July 2008.
Gonçalo Amaral retired since midnight, to "savour
freedom of expression"
Tuesday 01 July 2008
Thanks to 'astro' for translation
The controversial coordinator, who was removed from the Maddie case, says he "leaves proud" and that
he is not "hurt". His last action was delivering the service mobile phone
The PJ's coordinator, Gonçalo Amaral, who was removed from the Maddie case over an opinion offence, is,
from today onwards, a free man. At midnight, he went into retirement and, according to what he told 24horas yesterday,
his first day "is going to be beautiful, with plenty to do and the ability to savour the plenitude of his freedom of expression".
Just enigmatic enough, Gonçalo Amaral, aged 49, had his last day at the PJ yesterday,
"a perfectly normal day". He arrived early, finished the operation into the process that lead, over the weekend, to the apprehension
of two and a half tons of hashish and the detention of six traffickers, and dispatched a few more cases. Before lunch, which
lasted from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., the controversial coordinator of criminal investigation delivered his duty pistol, his badge
and his card at the Faro Directory. At the end of the day, around 5.30 p.m., he delivered his service mobile phone.
In the evening, he hosted an "intimate dinner, with two colleagues that came from
Lisbon into the Algarve on purpose".
In the investigation
In a statement to 24horas, Gonçalo Amaral revealed that the future includes
"continuing to work in the area of criminal investigation, maybe as a consultant". "But not as a detective", he guaranteed.
At the same time, the coordinator who is now retired from the PJ is going to carry out a stay at an Algarvian law office,
in order to "maybe exercise [law]" within a year.
Gonçalo Amaral is also going to take advantage of his retirement to "dedicate more
time to his wife and children" and assured that, despite everything, he does not leave the PJ with hurt feelings, because
the institution and its servants deserve him "the utmost respect". "I leave, proud of having served the PJ and of having worked
with very good people, excellent professionals that still remain here".
This, despite him confiding to 24horas, in a reference to the controversial
Maddie case, that "many people remained upset" with him in Portimão.
Maddie book "is ready"
Gonçalo Amaral, who spent 28 years at the Polícia Judiciária, which he entered as
an agent in 1981, having passed through many different departments, revealed to 24horas that the book about the Maddie
case "is ready". It was written during his brief holidays, before he returned to the PJ in May, to leave now into retirement.
But the publication depends on the "judicial secrecy" which was not lifted yet. The book promises fabulous sales figures,
both in Portugal and abroad, mainly in Great Britain.
Gonçalo Amaral speaks of pressures
in the Maddie case, 01 July 2008
Gonçalo Amaral speaks of pressures in the Maddie
case
RTP Video (Short 'taster' for 30 Minutos programme, Portuguese language)
2008-07-01
Gonçalo Amaral speaks of pressures in the Maddie case
Former coordinator for the investigation of the Madeleine case said pressures existed
around the process of the case for it never to be solved. Gonçalo Amaral says that the presence of the officer Clarence
Mitchell is proof of that and argued that neither researchers nor directors should be afraid of working.
"I was removed because of the direction the investigation was heading"
03 July 2008
Thanks to 'debk' for translation, additional
text by Joana Morais
The former PJ inspector believes he was removed because he didn't wish to abandon
the homicide theory. He maintains that Maddie is dead and the only reason there isn't more evidence is because he wasn't allowed
to continue to the end of the investigation.
Amaral: We were doing the last diligences related to a very important witness who
was coming to Portugal.
Expresso: And the witness came to Portugal?
Amaral: As far as I know, the witness never came.
Expresso: But this was truly an important witness?
Amaral:
Very important.
====
Expresso: You believe Madeleine is dead?
Amaral: I believe it. That is my conviction.
Expresso:
Do you believe that the parents are involved?
Amaral: erm...........
Expresso: Hiding a cadaver?
Amaral:
erm....... I can't say anything about this during the secrecy of justice. We can only talk about this when the secrecy is
lifted.
*
Note: Tomorrow Expresso will publish the full interview.
The book is finished. 200 pages. Ready for publishing "immediately" upon the secrecy being lifted.Also notice Mr.
Gonçalo Amaral has a good sense of humour, his already grilling some sardines.
Gonçalo
Amaral interviewed by Expresso, 04 July 2008
"Since the day I left I knew the process would be archived"
Carlos Rodrigues and Rui Gustavo Lima
12:30 | Friday, July 4, 2008
Thanks to 'astro' and 'debk' for translation
The former inspector reveals some secrets from the investigation into the Maddie
case. He guarantees that the process contains evidence, not personal convictions, and he reveals that Paulo Rebelo, his successor,
never contacted him to talk about the case. When asked about what he would say to Gerry and Kate McCann, today, he replied:
"I'm worried about the girl, not the parents".
Your name and your
career will remain connected to the Maddie case forever?
I'm not worried about that. I have always worked
in a team, with the preoccupation and the goal of reaching the discovery of the truth. No policeman likes to leave a case
halfway through. Was that what happened with this investigation?
Is it left halfway through?
Not according to my will. Have
you agreed with the decision of the former director of the PJ, who removed you from the case?
No. It's
an unfair and dangerous decision. I was not removed from the investigation due to incompetence. I left because of the direction
that the investigation was taking. But the strategy was not decided by me only. It was everyone. It involved the English police
and other Portuguese policemen. And what was being investigated, was the little girl's death, even an accidental one.
After you left, was that course maintained?
I don't know.
I'm very naïve and I want to believe that my exit from Portimão had the purpose of advancing the investigation, because the
person that took over is much more efficient.
Do you believe that
Madeleine McCann died in the apartment on the evening of the 3rd of May?
Yes. That is what I and other
persons believe in. And this is not because we idealised it that way. Is
there evidence to sustain that thesis?
I can't enter any details of the process. I will only say this:
I am certain that I, and the persons who worked with me, did a good job and I doubt that anyone else could do better. Some
day, people will see the process, they may agree or not, but there is nothing in there that questions my professionalism. Was the investigation's direction, homicide, disturbing the political power?
This
case was more political than a police case.
Did any politician
pressure you?
I was not pressured, I was removed. If
there was a homicide, where is the body?
That was what we were going to establish next. On the day that
I was removed, I was carrying out diligences for a fundamental witness to come to Portugal. It was necessary for the PJ to
pay for the trip, to arrange for lodging, and that was being taken care of. But then the important witness never came to Portugal
and was never heard. But why? Why was an exception opened? The
English police was used by the McCanns to send the PJ information that often was nothing but noise?
Yes.
And the fact that the couple had a press advisor, is a figure that is not even foreseen in the penal process code. In some
way, we were all influenced by the campaign that was built, which said that the child is alive and must be found. I don't
say that the English police was being ordered around by the McCanns, but it was influenced, like we all were. The PJ should
have found a way to protect the investigators from everything else.
That
is strange: you say that it was established with the English police that the direction that should be followed was the little
girl’s death, that there were enough indices, but there seems to have been an inflexion.
Yes. And
I was removed. I don't know whether there is a direct connection. I know that colleagues from the investigation have requested
the police's directory for a syndication, to see whether the work was badly done. Whether mistakes were made.
Do you believe that you reached the truth?
I am convinced
that we were on the right path and that we might end up knowing everything or not, but a great part. Now, that which we have
collected and which we consider to be indices, may not be valued in the same manner. One of the criticisms is that the results from the months when you were leading the investigation are lots of
convictions and zero evidence. Do you agree?
I was the coordinator of the investigation from 3 May to
2 October. Five months. After me, there came other people that have been there nine months. I am not comparing, but we were
professional and I'm not ashamed of anything. And when the process is public you will see if it is true that there is nothing.
There are indications and they are in the files. We did hundreds of interviews and searches. Thousands of diligences and from
that there are no results? The little girl went up in smoke?
Did
the theory of the death of the child continue to be followed after your exit?
I don't know. I can say
that ever since that day I knew the process would be archived.
That
being so, is there still a death to be resolved?
There is. And diligences to be completed.
Who made the decision to constitute the McCann’s arguidos?
Everyone.
And the national director was informed of all the decisions. Alípio
Ribeiro agreed with the decision?
Exactly.
But
then he ended up saying that the decision was hasty.
Hasty? Four months later? When there were concrete
diligences that reinforced some of the indications? While we waited for results of various tests? And beyond that, in our
law there exists the principal of no self-incrimination. A person can't continue speaking forever as a witness and providing
evidence ("indications"). There is certainly a stigma in the arguido status, but I don't know what is worse. They were made
arguidos, this was public, for simulating a crime and hiding a cadaver.
Do you think that you made any mistakes?
I made one. The error of the first hour. There are things
about which I still cannot speak. But we know that there are things which could have been done in another way. No one should
be shocked if we begin, immediately, to wonder if the parents were involved.
After leaving the investigation, did you ever speak with your successor, Paulo Rebelo?
No.
It is an interesting question to consider. If they removed me for the barbarity of speaking to the press, and not for incompetence,
it would be normal to be consulted. But this never happened.
If,
as all seems to indicate, the case is archived, the public is going to hold the Portuguese police responsible. How will you
react?
Archival is not a declaration of innocence. A process can be archived and reopened. The archival
of this case could be the declaration of some incapacity of the police, or it could have a different meaning.
What would you say to Madeleine's parents?
I have nothing
to say. My overriding preoccupation is with the little girl, not the parents.
Gonçalo
Amaral interviewed by TVI, 04 July 2008
Gonçalo Amaral Former coordinator of the Madeleine McCann
Process, interviewed by TVI
"I was Kicked in the Butt"
04 July 2008
Are you convinced that Madeleine McCann is dead?
Gonçalo Amaral - I do have that conviction. It is an interpretation in the light of the Law based
in concrete elements, with the knowledge that I have of the inquest and of the diligences done. Yes, I am convinced that she
died there.
If the father and the mother were constituted as arguidos it’s because they were suspects?
GM - They were suspects and there were evidences for them to be constituted as arguidos, actually,
strong elements relatively to two types of crime: hiding a cadaver [corpse occultation] and simulation of a crime [faking
the crime of kidnapping]. That was public and at the time that I left the investigation that was the situation.
And the crime of abandonment, for what reason aren’t the parents accused?
GM – The issue there is to know if the children were safe or not. For me it’s evident,
even because the parents talked about kidnapping, that there was no safety.
Don’t you feel frustrated as the case isn’t moving forward?
GM – I do not feel any frustration over the decisions made in courts. I have been around
for many years and I do have a great admiration for the magistrates. I understand up to where the work of magistrates can
go.
However you don't understand why you had to leave?
GM – No, not that. I respected the decision as a professional. There was an understanding
between the Portuguese and British authorities that the girl was dead and that there was a need to solidify the evidences
that existed and move forward to try to understand where she could be.
Do you believe that the PJ's reaction had to do with the politicising of the case?
GM – I believe that there was more politics than police [at work]. But on the field we did
our best and we never felt any defence [probably meaning defence by the Director of PJ towards the ongoing attacks].
Do you think that it is normal for the case to be archived?
GM – It doesn’t shock me.
*
Gonçalo Amaral and Madeleine's case: "There was more politics than police" Gazeta Digital
04/07/2008
Paulo Reis, Transcription with help from Claudia
The former Polícia Judiciária investigator criticised
the PJ director and the Justice minister, in an interview, tonight, with TVI, a Portuguese TV channel. Asked if he believed
that Madeleine was dead, Gonçalo Amaral said that he
was "convinced" she was dead "based on the evidence
collected". When the journalist asked: "Was she killed, there (in the apartment)?", the former PJ inspector said: "She died
there". About Madeleine's parents being named as formal suspects, Amaral spoke about "strong evidence" as the base for the
decision and referred that "there was a common understanding", between Portuguese and British police officers involved in
the investigation, about the fact that Madeleine was dead.
"There
was evidence, about two different crimes – which were referred by the defence lawyer, Pinto de Abreu, in a public statement
– and it was hiding a body and a criminal simulation. That was the situation, when I left the investigation," Mr. Amaral
said. The former PJ inspector, who has a Law Degree from Lisbon University, mentioned the fact that "these kind of cases of disappearance, frequently bring with it other crimes,
sometimes fake statements or physical abuse".
Questioned about the fact that the McCann were not accused of negligence
or child abandonment, Amaral said that "it was clear they (the McCann children) were not safe", when Madeleine disappeared,
but reminded that it's easier, with UK laws, to charge parents in those kind of situations, once the Portuguese Law is more
complex, it requires the existence of intention to leave the children in a dangerous situation. Gonçalo Amaral refused to
comment any decision from the Public Prosecutor's Office of from the Courts and refused to admit that he was "frustrated"
with those decisions. Asked about his removal from the investigation, the former PJ inspector told the journalist that he
had no contact with PJ director, on that day, and he only knew the reasons when he had a "private conversation" with Alípio
Ribeiro – refusing to give details about it.
Gonçalo Amaral revealed that the "statement" he gave to Diarios de Noticias – and was the reason for his removal, according
to the PJ director – was not correctly reproduced and it was not a statement to a newspaper, but just an informal talk
with a journalist from Faro, "very close to the family, a friend of my wife", who called him to ask about the email sent to
the web site of Prince Charles, denouncing a former employee of Ocean Club as the kidnapper. "What I said, talking not to
a journalist, but with a friend, a personal talk, was that Police should concentrate in what was the common conclusion of
British and Portuguese Police: the child was dead and it was necessary to consolidate the existing evidence and move forward,
to find where she could be and what happened." At that moment, the kidnapping line of inquiry was "already closed", and "another
door was opened", Mr. Amaral said. When asked about the existence of political interference in the investigation, is answer
was short and clear: "I think there was more politics than police."
"We did our job, the best we knew and we were the target of a lot
critics and insults, from the British newspapers", the former PJ inspector said. When the case of Joana Cipriano was first
raised by the British Media, Mr. Amaral contacted the PJ director and called the attention for the risks, because those news
about his alleged involvement in the "torture" of the mother of Joana Ciprianio would be, soon, a large campaign against him,
and talked about the convenience of taking him out of investigation. "What they told me, later, was that I had all the support
and should continue the work."
"Surprised" with his removal from the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral
used a popular Portuguese phrase to explain what he felt, when he knew about his removal: "I
felt as if I was kicked up in the ass, on October 2." About the influence and importance of the McCann, Mr. Amaral
said that "there is a all story to be told, about this case, and I think that the journalists that followed this case, have
a great opportunity and responsibility, in helping to understand what happened. This is really, a case that is different from
all other cases." Gonçalo Amaral criticized the Justice minister, who said, after his removal, that "it was, now, time to
work": "Mr. Justice Minister Alberto Costa, we worked hard."
Download
the audio from the full TVI report and interview here.
Gonçalo Amaral placed a strong bet on this witness
Text: Carlos Tomas
July 07, 2008
Thanks to 'astro' for translation
When he was discharged, the former investigator of the Maddie Case
was preparing to hear an Irishman, who was considered to be a very relevant witness. But the present investigators don't give
him credibility
The statements from the Irish citizen who is considered to be a key witness
in the Maddie case by Gonçalo Amaral, the man who lead the entire investigation, were not considered to be relevant by the
investigators from the Polícia Judiciária who presently hold the process.
