Gonçalo Amaral receives a one and a half year suspended sentence, 22 May 2009
Gonçalo Amaral receives a one and a half year suspended sentence Jornal de Noticias
22 May 2009 16h41m
Translation by Nigel Moore
Gonçalo Amaral was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, suspended, for misrepresentation of evidence in the case
of aggressions against Leonor Cipriano.
The ruling, read this afternoon, also ordered the acquittal of Gonçalo Amaral on the crime of omission of denunciation.
All defendants who were accused of the crime of torture - Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Leonel Marques and Paulo Marques Bom
- were acquitted.
The inspector António Cardoso, accused of the crime of forgery of a document, was sentenced to two years and three months,
also a suspended penalty.
The ruling in the case of alleged attacks on Leonor Cipriano was read this afternoon in the Court of Faro.
It was taken as proven that Leonor Cipriano was beaten by elements of the Judicial police who could not be identified,
and she didn't fall on the stairs, as was suggested. However, the court failed to ascertain the perpetrators of the aggressions.
The judges pointed out the importance of Teresa Magalhães' deposition, from the Institute of Forensic medicine, who clarified
the origin of Leonor Cipriano's lesions. On the negative side, they highlighted the lack of credibility of the victim's testimony
due to the constant change of versions that prevented them ascertaining who was responsible for the aggressions.
The case dates back to 2004
The process of alleged aggressions against Leonor Cipriano by inspectors of the PJ is related to the "Joana case, which
dates back to September 12, 2004, the day when the eight-year-old girl disappeared from the village of Figueira, Portimão,
in Algarve.
The accusations of the prosecutor against five ex-inspectors and inspectors of the Judicial police emerged following
interrogation of the PJ in Faro in 2004, when Leonor had appeared with lesions on her face and body in Odemira prison, where
she was in custody.
Eight months after the date the trial commenced - on 27 October 2008 - it would be known, on the 14th session of the
trial, if the five ex-inspectors and inspectors of the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) were to be acquitted or convicted by a court
of jury.
Joana's mother, Leonor Cipriano, and uncle, João Cipriano (siblings) were sentenced by the Supreme Court to 16 years
in prison each, for crimes of murder and concealment of the child's corpse.
For four days, the lawyer for Leonor Cipriano, Aragão Correia, requested the opening of a new investigation in the "Joana
case" and the acquittal of the girl's mother, after João Cipriano confessed in writing that he had tried to sell her.
Gonçalo Amaral: "I was expecting to be sentenced", 22 May 2009
Gonçalo Amaral: "I was expecting to be sentenced"tvi24
Leonor Cipriano: ex-Inspector Goncalo Amaral tells tvi24 that there was "much political pressure" regarding this case
22.05.2009
Thanks to Ines for translation
The PJ ex-inspector, Gonçalo Amaral, was not surprised at the revelation and was expecting to be sentenced in the case
of aggressions committed against Leonor Cipriano, the mother of missing (from the Algarve since 2004) minor Joana.
The former PJ Portimao coordinator told tv124: "I was not surprised; I was expecting to be sentenced. There has been
much political pressure regarding this case."
Questioned if he considered himself as a scapegoat in this case, the ex-coordinator of the Maddie investigation responded:
"Throughout my life I have been a scapegoat for many things... I am not sure if I am for this as well."
Regardless, Gonçalo Amaral believes in justice: "Our belief in justice does not stop here." He added that he will appeal
to a higher tribunal.
This afternoon, Gonçalo Amaral received a one and a half year custodial sentence for false testimony (suspended sentence
for the entire jail term). He was absolved regarding the crime of omission of denunciation.
Madeleine Cop Gets Suspended Sentence, 22 May 2009
A Portuguese police chief who previously ran the Madeleine McCann inquiry has been given a suspended jail term over an
unrelated case.
Goncalo Amaral was convicted of perjury after an alleged attack on the mother of another missing girl.
He was among five officers of the Policia Judiciara in Portimao accused of "scenes of aggression" against Leonor Cipriano,
whose nine-year-old daughter, Joana, vanished in September 2004.
Three officers were cleared of torture but Mr Amaral was found guilty of falsifying documents and given an 18-month suspended
sentence.
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, said the couple thought the conviction
"speaks for itself".
Mr Amaral was the officer in charge of the Madeleine investigation when her parents were made official suspects.
He was later removed from the case after speaking out against British officers and he then retired.
Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt said Mr Amaral was "a controversial figure" and added: "This is a real knock to
his credibility."
Mr and Mrs McCann are taking legal action against the former police chief over comments he made suggesting Madeleine
is dead.
The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, said they are suing him for defamation because his claims are hampering the
search for their daughter.
The McCanns want to block further publication of his book on the case, The Truth Of The Lie.
But Mr Amaral said he plans to counter-sue the pair for "defamation, slanderous denunciations and false statements".
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.
Madeleine chief detective is convicted of falsifying evidence in separate missing child case,
22 May 2009
Madeleine chief detective is convicted of falsifying evidence in separate missing
child caseDaily Mail
By GERARD COUZENS
Last updated at 8:04 PM on 22nd May 2009
The disgraced former head of the Madeleine McCann police investigation was today sensationally found guilty of falsifying
evidence in a separate missing child case.
Goncalo Amaral, 49, who was thrown off the Madeleine inquiry, was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence by a court
in Portugal.
Amaral was found guilty of falsifying evidence to help cover up for three of his officers who were accused of torture.
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann are suing Amaral for defamation over his book The Truth About the Lie.
In it he claims that Madeleine died in a tragic accident and then her parents covered up her death and hid the body.
Amaral was in charge of the Madeleine investigation when the McCanns, both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, were
named as formal suspects in September 2007.
Portugal's attorney general later said there was no evidence to link the couple to their daughter's disappearance in
May 2007 and cleared them as suspects last July.
Amaral, a father-of-three, was sacked from the investigation in October that year and later took early retirement.
He stood trial in relation to the investigation into the disappearance of eight-year-old Joana Cipriano from Figueira,
a village seven miles from Praia da Luz, on the Algarve, in September 2004.
Her mother, Leonor, and uncle, Joao Cipriano, were convicted of murdering her, although her body was never found.
But they later claimed they were tortured into confessing during a police interrogation which took place without the
knowledge of her lawyer or state prosecutors.
Amaral was found guilty by a jury of falsified documents to help cover for his officers, following a seven month trial
at Faro Court on the Algarve.
Today the three inspectors, Leonel Marques, Pereira Cristovao and Paulo Marques Bom, were all cleared of torturing the
the Ciprianos, who are serving 16 years for murder.
Amaral, who lives in the Algarve town of Portimao, was cleared of another charge of failing to report a crime.
A fifth officer, Antonio Nunes Cardoso, was found guilty of falsifying documents and was given a two-and-a-half year
suspended jail sentence.
The inspectors claimed Mrs Cipriano tried to commit suicide by throwing herself off a staircase.
As was the case with the Madeleine investigation, the hunt for Joana was hindered because police failed to seal off the
house where she was last seen.
A spokesman for the court in Faro said: 'Amaral has one month to appeal against his conviction.' Last night the McCanns
declined to comment on Amaral's conviction.
Their spokesman Clarece Mitchell said: 'Whilst Kate and Gerry McCann will not be commenting on the decision of the court
they will be continuing their defamation action against Goncalo Amaral.
'The sentence speaks for itself.' A source close to the couple said the jury's decision could only strengthen their case
against the former policeman.
Amaral's book was a best seller in Portugal where it sold 175,000 copies.
His Portuguese publisher says they hope to release the book in the UK.
The former policeman has also attacked the McCanns in a documentary and in numerous interviews.
He is alleged to have been responsible for a series of leaks against the McCanns during his five months in charge of
the Madeleine investigation.
The McCanns have always maintained their innocence and said they believe their daughter may have been snatched by a paedophile.
They have hired a leading Portuguese libel lawyer to sue Amaral for defamation.
They hope to have his book removed from the shelves and pulped.
Outside court Amaral told Portuguese reporters he was not surprised by the verdict and hinted he would appeal.
He said: 'I wasn't surprised, I was expecting to be convicted. There is a lot of political pressure on the case.
'We trust in justice and this does not end here.'
Asked if he felt like a scapegoat, he said: 'Throughout my life I have been a scapegoat for many things. I don't know
about this.'
The collective of judges considered that Leonor Cipriano was tortured, even though it could not be proved by whom. In
the verdict read today, two PJ inspectors were accused, António Nunes Cardoso for document forgery and Gonçalo Amaral for
simple false testimony, he was acquitted in relation to the crime of omission of denunciation of the aggressions suffered
by Leonor Cipriano.
The other three arguidos [defendants], Leonel Morgado Marques, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão and Paulo Marques Bom were absolved
of the crime of torture.
It wasn't proved who ordered the aggressions to Leonor Cipriano in 2004.
Gonçalo Amaral received a one year and six months suspended sentence; and António Nunes Cardoso a two years and six months
sentence, also suspended.
Gonçalo Amaral was convicted for simple false statement, since the version of the alleged fall on the stairs of Leonor
Cipriano wasn't proved. Thus, the court considered that Amaral had lied, in order to cover the actions of his unknown colleagues.
The court concluded that António Nunes Cardoso falsified a document, which reported the fall on the stairs of Leonor
Cipriano. The sentence for Cardoso was aggravated, given his position as a police officer, "of whom is the requirement to
fight crime."
The lawyers for Leonor Cipriano, Marcos Aragão Correia and the assistant representing the Bar Rodrigo Santiago will appeal
as well as António Cabrita, Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer.
Facts
October 2004
Leonor confessed the crime on the 13th of October and alleged being beaten a day later.
Leonor Cipriano, confessed all of the facts related to her daughter's murder to the PJ on the 13th of October 2004, in
the presence of her lawyer, who at the time was Célia Costa. Leonor's brother, João Cipriano, had previously confessed the
crimes a few days before, on the 8 of October.
September 2004
Leonor Cipriano and her brother João were condemned by the Portimão Court to sentences of 20 and 19 years, respectively,
for the crimes of qualified homicide and for hiding the cadaver. The appeals to the Supreme Court ended up reducing the sentences
to 16 years each. The Cadaver of Joana, 8-years-old, was never found.
February 2005
Marinho Pinto, the actual head of the bar [Ordem dos Advogados] wrote the Expresso newspaper article which denounced
the aggressions suffered by Leonor Cipriano, using photographs which were under the secrecy of justice at the time.
February 2009
Marinho Pinto was requested in an appeal by the defence as a witness, however his testimony was prevented since the OA
decided for the first time in Portuguese legal history to become an assistant against the 5 PJ inspectors. In the same appeal,
the 'direct contact' between Leonor Cipriano's lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia and Marinho Pintoit was also referred.
Gonçalo Amaral interview outside the court in Faro, 22 May 2009
Gonçalo Amaral interview outside the court in Faro TVI
Gonçalo Amaral: Why? Because there is a lot of political pressure on the
case, there are various matters which are surrounding this, so this couldn't have ended with everyone being absolved. The
court was sovereign...
Marisa Rodrigues: Do you believe that there were scapegoats? You could have
been a scapegoat, is that it?
Gonçalo Amaral: During my life as a coordinator of the Police I was a scapegoat
for various things, and I don't know if for this one I'm one as well.
*
On the Side - Today's Law Quotes
'Target was hit, Gonçalo Amaral was convicted'... Marcos Aragão Correia, Leonor Cipriano's Lawyer
'I'm happy, I'm Portuguese, I'm a patriot' ... Rodrigo Santiago, the assistant lawyer for the accusation representing
the OA/Bar
'This is a big lesson for the Judiciary Police'... Pragal Colaço, lawyer for the defence of four PJ inspectors
'I still don't understand how there is a false statement' ... António Cabrita, Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer
'I was surprised, because, in fact it was obvious, that there was torture'... Marinho Pinto, current head of the Portuguese
Bar
Without identified authors, the collective of judges and jury at the Court of Faro decided yesterday to acquit the three
Polícia Judiciária inspectors that stood accused of torture against Leonor Cipriano, who was condemned to 16 years over the
homicide of her daughter Joana. The other two arguidos, including the former coordinator of the Joana and Maddie cases, Gonçalo
Amaral, were condemned to suspended sentences over forgery of documents and false statements.
Despite concluding that the plaintiff "suffered aggressions" while under the custody of the PJ, the court understood
that it was not proved "how said lesions were inflicted" and "who inflicted them", acquitting Pereira Cristóvão, Marques Bom
and Leonel Marques. Concerning the theory of the fall from the stairs, the court concluded that "the lesions were not compatible
with the explanation". The conviction was based on the deposition of a technician from the Forensics Medicine Institute, which
the inspectors' defence disputes.
"The two arguidos were condemned only because the antagonising deposition by professor Teresa Magalhães was considered
to be credible and everything else was forgotten," lawyer Pragal Colaço, who will appeal the condemnation of António Cardoso,
contested.
António Cabrita, Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer, also ponders an appeal over the condemnation of his client.
Leonor has no credibility
The jurors and the collective of judges at the Court of Faro considered that Leonor
Cipriano's deposition had "no credibility". According to judge Henrique Pavão, "she changed her version several times" and
"lightly" accused persons of aggressing her, based on a list of names that she carried into the court room. "She lied about
the identification of the aggressors and she lied about other crucial aspects," the judge mentioned.
Concerning the photographs that were taken of Leonor, which were included in the process, the collective considered that
they are "of weak quality" and that therefore, "it was not possible to conclude safely about what really happened".
Details
Suspended – The Court of Faro condemned
Gonçalo Amaral and António Cardodo to suspended sentences of one year and three months and two years and three months, respectively,
over false statement and document forgery.
Attack – Pragal Colaço, the lawyer to four of the accused inspectors, attacked
the head of the Laywers' Order, Marinho Pinto, saying that he should "be ashamed" over making the Order an assistant in the
case.
Union – The Union of the PJ's Criminal Investigation Workers congratulated
itself over the acquittal of "three colleagues". For Carlos Anjos, the decision "gave reason to the position that was defended
by" the Union.
Gonçalo Amaral - The court of Faro's decision explained, 23 May 2009
Gonçalo Amaral - The court of Faro's decision explained
The collective of judges at Faro court - made up of 3 judges and 4 jurors - considered that Leonor Cipriano
was tortured; even though it could not be proved by whom.
As a result, the 3 PJ officers accused of aggressions were acquitted.
Gonçalo Amaral was found guilty of false testimony because he upheld, under oath - five months after the 'events' - the
version that he had been given by his subordinates, i.e. that Leonor Cipriano had been injured when she tried to commit suicide
by throwing herself over the railing of the stairs inside the PJ building in Faro.
This was considered to be a false testimony because the facts that Dr Amaral testified to, could not be proved.
His defence, according to what we could read in the papers throughout the trial, and to statements that his lawyer made
to the media, outside the court building, was that he could not have given another version of the facts because this was what
the inspectors who witnessed the episode, reported to him.
Gonçalo Amaral's condemnation was as atypical as the process, 24 May 2009
The final ruling in the trial of the so-called "Leonor Cipriano case", in which two of the five Polícia Judiciária (PJ)
inspectors and former inspectors were condemned, ended up revealing itself as atypical of the process: the court of Faro
considered that the practice of torture was proved but failed to indicate who the alleged aggressors were.
During all of the court sessions, no witnesses to the alleged torture acts were presented and the final ruling ended
up being based on the reports from forensic experts, which were not founded on a physical examination of Leonor Cipriano,
but rather on photographs that had been published years earlier by Expresso, and whose authenticity is still questioned.
Given the importance that was attributed to the photographs, it is strange that the court didn't consider the doubts
that persist concerning their origin. Doubts that could have been clarified if the defence had been permitted to hear the
former journalist that was behind their publication, who is now the head of the Lawyers' Order – through the cunning
decision of entering the Order as an assistant in the process, Marinho Pinto kept the control over the proceedings in the
Court of Faro, and at the same time escaped questioning.
Reading the final ruling, one can conclude that the court sustained its decision on the photographs, credible or not,
as it couldn't base itself on Leonor Cipriano who throughout the process gave several contradictory statements, thus confirming
the analysis that had been made by Paulo Sargento, who described her as a compulsive liar.
Leonor changed her version about the manner in which she was aggressed, the dates and times, several times, but also
the place where everything took place, and even her aggressors: one day she directly implied former coordinator Gonçalo Amaral,
the next day she confessed that she hadn't even seen him on the day of questioning.
Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Leonel Marques and Paulo Marques Bom, who stood accused of torture, were found innocent, while
António Cardoso and Gonçalo Amaral were condemned to suspended sentences: two years and three months and one year and six
months in prison, respectively.
The "snowball" effect
António Cardoso's report, which earned him his condemnation, and in which the
inspector merely described in what manner Leonor Cipriano fell on the stairs, was not handed over to the scientific police's
lab, where an expert could have found a false signature, a changed date or even the replacement of excerpts of the text: presiding
judge Henrique Pavão, in the name of the collective, upon considering that torture was proved, automatically removed the value
of Cardoso's report – if there was torture, then the report has to be false.
It is within this context that former PJ coordinator, Gonçalo Amaral, ends up being condemned: saying that torture existed,
is to state that Cardoso lied when he wrote his service report, therefore – no matter whether he tells the truth or
a lie – Amaral had to be condemned. Wasn't that the initial goal?
- Like the French say, "c'était Q. F. D."
Joana Case: Court says that Leonor Cipriano lied, 25 May 2009
The Court of Faro will request the Public Ministry to open a judicial inquiry on Leonor Cipriano over the crime of false
statements in the trial of present and former PJ inspectors within the "Joana case".
In the ruling, that was read out on Friday and which the Lusa Agency accessed today, the collective of judges considered
that the statements that Leonor Cipriano produced during the trial sessions contained "flagrant and relevant contradictions",
and therefore determined that a certificate should be extracted, to which a copy of the tape recordings was added.
In the verdict, it is mentioned that the mother of the child that disappeared on the 12th of September 2004, in the village
of Figueira, in Portimão, "was offered (…) an extensive opportunity to reveal the truth" during the trial sessions at
the Court of Faro, but "essentially seized the opportunity to lie".
"Leonor Cipriano lied about the manner in which she was beaten, about the identification of the persons that beat her,
about the time and the manner how she revealed that she had been beaten, in short, she lied about every essential aspect of
the statements that she gave," the verdict stresses.
Underlining that Leonor Cipriano presented "no plausible reason whatsoever to have done so," the collective of three
judges, presided by Henrique Pavão, considered that Joana's mother revealed "major contradictions" and that she presented
"very different versions for one and the same fact".
The verdict, which will also be sent to the PJ's Department of Discipline and Inspection, where an inquiry is being held
against present inspectors António Cardoso and Paulo Marques Bom, considered the aggressions as proved, although without establishing
the aggressors' identity, and determined the condemnation of two of the five arguidos in the process.
Gonçalo Amaral, a former coordinator of the PJ's Criminal Investigation Department in Portimão, who was acquitted of
the crime of omission of denunciation, was condemned to one and a half years over the crime of false deposition, with a suspended
sentence over a similar period.
Inspector António Nunes Cardoso, who is still in service, was condemned to two years and three months over forgery of
document, with a suspended sentence over two years.
Former PJ inspectors Paulo Pereira Cristóvão and Leonel Morgado Marques and still inspector Paulo Marques Bom, who all
stood accused of the crimes of torture against Leonor Cipriano, following the questioning at the PJ in Faro, in 2004, were
acquitted.
Leonor Cipriano and her brother, João Cipriano, were condemned by the Supreme Court of Justice to 16 years in prison
each, over the crimes of homicide and concealment of Joana's cadaver.
Leonor Cipriano appeals against Gonçalo Amaral's sentence, 28 May 2009
Leonor Cipriano appeals against Gonçalo Amaral's sentence IOL Diário
Joana's mother requests condemnation and effective prison sentence for the four PJ inspectors that were acquitted of
the crime of torture in May
Leonor Cipriano, the mother of Joana, the little girl that disappeared from Figueira in 2004, has appealed against the
sentence of Gonçalo Amaral and three other former PJ inspectors, in the case of aggressions that she allegedly suffered during
questioning in Faro.
The appeal, which was filed this Thursday at the Appeals Court of Évora, requests the condemnation and effective prison
sentence for the arguidos that were acquitted by the Court of Faro, tvi24.pt was told by Leonor Cipriano's lawyer, Marcos
Aragão Correia.
According to the document that was given to tvi24.pt by Aragão Correia, Leonor Cipriano files an appeal because she disagrees
with the sentence that was given on the 22nd of May by the Court of Faro, where inspectors Leonel Marques, Paulo Cristóvão
and Paulo Marques Bom were acquitted over the crime of torture.
Joana's mother also disagrees the acquittal of Gonçalo Amaral over the crime of omission of denunciation, as well as
the application of only 1 year and 6 months in prison with a suspended sentence over the crime of false deposition.
Justifying these discrepancies, Leonor Cipriano's defence mentions that the ruling of May 22 "suffers from contradictions",
by acquitting the arguidos. This because "the ruling itself considered proved that a fall from the stairs didn't exist [as
the defence alleged] and that the arguido Gonçalo de Sousa Amaral knew that truth perfectly well."
Alleged complaint from Gonçalo Amaral's wife
Leonor Cipriano's defence further mentions that one of the "extremely important pieces of evidence" against Gonçalo Amaral
was refused by the judge three months after the first request. That evidence concerns a complaint that was presented by the
wife of arguido Gonçalo Amaral against her own husband.
In the complaint, which was presented on the 23rd of December 2007 in the shape of a letter that was directed at Guilhermino
da Encarnação, the PJ's Joint National Director in Faro, Gonçalo Amaral's wife asks for help to trace her underage daughter
that was living with her father.
In the letter, which Leonor Cipriano's lawyer sent to tvi24.pt, Alexandra Leal mentions that she found her husband, Gonçalo
Amaral, "consuming alcoholic drinks, together with other colleagues". In another excerpt, the wife of the former coordinator
of the PJ's Criminal Investigation Department of Portimão mentions that Gonçalo Amaral "ordered me to enter the house, where
he insulted me and threatened me with death".
Contacted by tvi24.pt and questioned about whether or not he received said complaint at the time, Guilhermino Encarnação
declined to comment.
To tvi24.pt, Aragão Correia, Leonor Cipriano's lawyer, mentions that the letter, to which he had access through a source
at the PJ's Faro Directory, was only "mentioned for the first time five months ago". At that time, according to Aragão Correia,
both Gonçalo Amaral and his wife, Alexandra Leal, "denied that any complaint had been presented" and "stated that the letter
was not authentic".
Joana's mother's lawyer stresses that the letter from Gonçalo Amaral's wife, and another document from the PJ's Piquete
[official records], which proves that the complaint entered the police, is of "extreme importance". This because it "proves
the violent, criminal and inhuman personality of arguido Gonçalo Amaral," the lawyer states.
Leonor Cipriano's defence argues that those two documents were "completely ignored" by the Court and now requests for
them to be known by the Appeals Court in Évora.
Leonor Cipriano and her brother, João Cipriano, were condemned by the Supreme Court of Justice to 16 years in prison
over the crimes of homicide and concealment of a cadaver.
Leonor Cipriano's lawyer requests revision of sentence and wants acquittal, 08 June 2009
Leonor Cipriano’s lawyer requests revision of sentence and wants acquittalLusa/SOL
Today, Leonor Cipriano's lawyer has presented the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) with an
extraordinary appeal for the revision of the sentence that Joana’s mother was condemned to, due to his consideration
that new facts have been discovered
The request for a revision of the sentence appears after it was proved in court that Leonor was aggressed in the building
of the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) in Faro, although it was not proved who aggressed her or in what manner.
In a press release, Marcos Aragão Correia says that the girl's mother – who was condemned to 16 years in prison
over the co-authorship of Joana's murder – must be "acquitted" because there are new facts and evidence that raise "very
serious doubts" about the condemnation's justice.
As a first "turnaround" in the process, the lawyer points towards Leonor Cipriano's confession, which was made in January,
in which she denies being involved in her daughter's death and points to her brother, João Cipriano, as being responsible
for her death, after a failed attempt to sell the little girl.
At the time of the confession, five PJ inspectors and former inspectors stood trial in Faro, involved in a process of
alleged aggressions on Leonor during questioning, a trial during which she gave false testimony, which has already prompted
the opening of an inquiry.
The Court of Faro ended up acquitting the three inspectors that stood accused of torture, but condemned two (Gonçalo
Amaral and António Cardoso), who were accused of other crimes, to suspended prison sentences.
According to Aragão Correia, Leonor's condemnation was based on "false confessions" that were obtained under "brutal"
torture, but also on the false accusations that were proffered against her by the brother who until a short while ago incriminated
her as a co-author of the crime.
In order to try to reverse the situation, the lawyer says he bluffed with João Cipriano in order to convince him to sign
a confession, that was written down at the Prison of Carregueira, Sintra, in May, in which he stated that he tried to sell
the little girl.
Aragão Correia told Leonor's brother that he had heard that a convict that had been condemned to over 20 years for murder
was going to be transferred to the Prison of Carregueira with the purpose of murdering him.
The order to kill João would have come from elements of a criminal network that tried to buy Joana, stresses Aragão Correia,
who assumes that he invented the story in order to force Leonor's brother to confess that he had lied throughout the entire
process.
"João Cipriano has no juridical gain from this confession, quite to the contrary," the lawyer stresses, adding that,
apart from homicide, the convict will now have to answer over the crime of human trafficking.
According to Aragão Correia, Leonor Cipriano's condemnation was already "very frail" and "doubtful" from a factual and
juridical point of view, gaps that are stressed by the new evidence and facts.
"We can only conclude that the court merely based itself – unconsciously – on the false indications of the
inquiry, namely on the false confession from Leonor (which was obtained under torture) and above all on the systematic lies
of João Cipriano," the lawyer underlines.
The process of alleged aggressions against Leonor Cipriano is linked to the 'Joana case' that dates back to the 12th
of September 2004, the day when the child, aged eight, disappeared from the village of Figueira, Portimão.
Following the questioning that took place at the PJ in Faro, Joana's mother allegedly presented lesions to her face and
body, which prompted the accusations from the Public Ministry against former and present PJ inspectors, three of whom were
indicted over torture to obtain a confession.
Leonor Cipriano and her brother, João Cipriano, were condemned by the Supreme Court of Justice to 16 years in prison
each, over the crimes of homicide and concealment of Joana's cadaver.
Leonor Cipriano tries to annul condemnation, 09 June 2009
Leonor Cipriano's lawyer asserts that he "discovered new facts and evidence" that he believes are enough to annul the
condemnation of Joana's mother over homicide and concealment of a cadaver. This is what he requested in the revision appeal
that he filed with the Court of Portimão yesterday.
The new "evidence" is statements from relatives and acquaintances of Leonor, who attest that she was a "good mother",
"incapable of hurting her daughter" and that she "never beat her". Aragão Correia further mentions two alleged confessions
by Leonor and João, in which both report an attempt to sell the child to a foreign couple.
Another argument is the decision by the Court of Faro in the process that accused five PJ investigators in the "Joana
case". On the 22nd of May, it was accepted as proved that the woman was aggressed at the PJ in Faro in order to confess where
she had concealed the child's body. Nevertheless, the lawyer insists that Leonor was aggressed in order to confess the homicide.
The appeal will be forwarded to the Supreme Court of Justice.
Amaral wants Leonor's lawyer committed, 15 June 2009
The former coordinator of the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral, will request from the Public Ministry of Faro a series of psychiatric
examinations and assessments into the personality of Marcos Aragão Correia, suggesting even that he is committed. In the appendage
to the criminal process for defamation against Leonor Cipriano's lawyer, Gonçalo Amaral defends that the accused suffers from
a 'pathological imbalance with traits of social dangerousness.'
With this appendage, Gonçalo Amaral, wants to verify the non-imputability of the Madeiran lawyer, who supports Kate and
Gerry McCanns' abduction thesis in the Maddie Case and who assumed the defence of Leonor Cipriano, Joana's mother, in the case
of aggressions which saw five elements of the PJ sat at the defendants bench.
'Marcos Aragão seems, indeed, a permanent danger to himself and to others,' said Amaral in the document to the Public
Ministry(PM). Convinced that the examinations will prove the dangerousness of the lawyer, the former coordinator asks the
PM for preventive measures to be applied. 'Dangerousness, which, if confirmed, may require appropriate and regular psychiatric
monitoring, or ultimately the preventive commitment to a mental hospital.', refers the document.
Among the probatory material presented are news articles with public declarations made by the lawyer. 'Aragão Correia
affirmed that he is a psychic medium, and he assured that he had visions of Maddie and Joana', quoting the weekly newspaper
SOL. Other news articles refer to the conviction [belief] of Aragão regarding the intervention of secret societies, led by
Bush [the former US president], whose objective was to create a climate of insecurity in order to implement the implantation
of electronic chips in children.
The CM has tried, without success, to contact and speak with Aragão Correia.
Profile
Marcos Aragão Correia, a Madeira lawyer, came to the Algarve in December 2007
to search for Maddie in a dam. He assumed the patronage of Leonor Cipriano in order to lead the accusations against the
PJ.
Public Ministry accuses former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral of torture on Leandro Silva, 01
July 2009
Public Ministry accuses former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral of torture on Leandro Silva Público/Lusa
Lisboa, 01 Jul (Lusa) – The Public Ministry has accused former Polícia Judiciária inspector Gonçalo Amaral of aggression
on Leandro Silva, the partner of Leonor Cipriano, who was condemned over homicide and concealment of the cadaver of her daughter
Joana Cipriano, in 2004, in the Algarve.
According to documents from the Public Ministry, to which Lusa agency was given access, Gonçalo Amaral stands accused
of a crime of torture in co-authorship.
The accusation mentions that on the 13th of October 2004, in the PJ building in Portimão, the former inspector grabbed
Leandro Silva's neck and punched him twice in the abdomen and slapped him twice in the face, while asking him to indicate
where the child (Joana) was.
As a direct consequence of said aggressions, further according to the Public Ministry, Leandro suffered several lesions,
namely a "contusion of the back grid" that prevented him from working for five days.
In May, the court in Faro condemned Gonçalo Amaral to one-and-half year of suspended prison sentence, over false testimony
in the case of aggressions against Leonor Cipriano.
It was considered proved that Leonor Cipriano was aggressed at the PJ by non identified Judiciária officers, and did
not fall down the stairs, as had been suggested.
Nevertheless, the court failed to determine who the authors of said aggressions were.
This case dates back to 2004 and is related to the so-called "Joana case", which concerns the disappearance, on the 12th
of September of the same year, of an eight-year-old girl from the village of Figueira, Portimão.
The Public Ministry's accusations against five actual and former Judiciária inspectors appeared after the questionings
at the PJ in Faro in 2004, at a time when Leonor reportedly appeared with lesions to her face and body at the Prison of Odemira,
where she was under preventive custody.
Joana's mother and her uncle João Cipriano were condemned by the Supreme Court of Justice to 16 years in prison each,
over the crimes of homicide and concealment of the child's cadaver.
Joana: Public Ministry accuses Gonçalo Amaral over crime of torture, 01 July 2009
Joana: Public Ministry accuses Gonçalo Amaral over crime of torturetvi24.pt
At stake are alleged aggressions against Leandro Silva, former partner of Leonor Cipriano
The Public Ministry of Faro accuses the former PJ inspector, Gonçalo Amaral, over a crime of torture in a case of alleged
aggressions against Leandro Silva, a former partner of the mother of Joana, the little girl from the village of Figueira that
went missing in 2004.
The information is communicated by lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia, who represents Leonor Cipriano in the case of aggressions,
that she was the victim of, by PJ officers.
In the accusation, which that lawyer made available to the media, it can be read that at the time of the facts, the 13th
of October 2004, Gonçalo Amaral was the coordinator of the PJ's serious crime and drug trafficking Regional Section in Faro.
On the afternoon of that very same day, two agents, who could not be identified, went to pick up António Leandro Silva
at home and drove him to the PJ in Faro.
There, he was questioned by an inspector to whom he stated that Leonor Cipriano had confessed to him that she had abandoned
Joana's body in a ruin, near Figueira.
When the questioning was over and he was leaving, upon reaching the stairs, two agents, who could not be identified,
grabbed him "each by one arm", preventing him from moving, and "at the same time the arguido came from behind and grabbed
his neck with both hands" and placed himself in front of him.
Immediately after that, Gonçalo Amaral, according to the accusation, "punched him several times in the abdomen and slapped
his face while he told him to indicate where Joana was".
The aggressions resulted in a "contusion of the dorsal grid" and 15 days of sick leave, five of which he was incapacitated
for work.
The arguido acted in conjunction with the non-identified other inspectors, with the intent of "provoking the aforementioned
lesions and to disturb his capacity for determination", leading him to give different statements concerning the little girl's
whereabouts.
According to penal law, the crime of torture is punished with a prison sentence between 1 and 5 years, unless another
legal disposition provides for a heavier sentence.
Marcos Aragão Correia explains to tvi24.pt the time lapse of almost five years between the alleged crime and the accusation,
with the fact that the Public Ministry only came to know about the case in October last year.
"In 2004, Leandro tried to press charges but a PJ agent deceived him, saying that he could only do so when the Joana
process would stop being under judicial secrecy".
When he took over Leonor's defence, the lawyer counselled Leandro not to give up. "It was at that time the he complained
to the PJ. This is a public crime, therefore the right to complain doesn't prescribe within six months," the lawyer sustains.
On the other hand, Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer confirms that he received the accusation and finds it strange that Leandro
only filed a complaint four years after the alleged crime. "He never mentioned that, not even at Leonor Cipriano's trial,
and now he decides to press charges," he mentions.
Concerning the contents of the accusation, António Cabrita considers that it "is worth what it is worth", adding that
the Public Ministry preferred to "brush the subject away by accusing, thus forcing the decision on the judge".
António Cabrita has not spoken with his client about this accusation yet, but considers that the opening of the instruction
phase should be requested, and all questions that may shake the Public Ministry's thesis should be prompted.
Leandro wants Gonçalo Amaral to pay compensation of 500 thousand euros, 01 July 2009
Leandro wants Gonçalo Amaral to pay compensation of 500 thousand euros Jornal de Notícias
The Lawyer of the former companion of Leonor Cipriano wants the former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral to compensate his
client with about 500 thousand euros for allegedly assaulting Leandro Silva.
The Public Ministry accused the former inspector of the Judiciary Police of aggressions to Leandro Silva, who will be
defended in the process by Marcos Aragão Correia, the same lawyer who won the conviction against Gonçalo Amaral in the case
of the aggressions to Leonor Cipriano.
According to documents of the Public Ministry that the news agency Lusa had access, Gonçalo Amaral is accused of torture
as a co-author, of a crime that has been perpetrated on the 13th October 2004, in the premises of the PJ in Faro.
In statements to Lusa, Marcos Aragão Correia said he will request, in court, for compensation from Gonçalo Amaral
for the torture inflicted to Leandro, a value that is still being calculated, but might ascend up to 500 thousand euros.
According to the lawyer, the testimonial proof will be reinforced by a report from the Clinical Hospital of the Barlavento
Algarve in Portimão, where Leandro Silva entered hours after the alleged torture.
Leandro Silva entered the emergency room of that hospital with chest pains, on the dawn of 14th October 2004, the same
day that Leonor Cipriano was assaulted on the premises of the PJ in Faro.
According to Aragão Correia, the medical reports will allow the case against Gonçalo Amaral to be "once again won".
"I am extremely pleased to see that the Public Ministry worked competently," said Aragão Correia, regretting only that
it was not possible to identify the other perpetrators of the attacks to Leandro Silva.
According to the lawyer, the identification of Gonçalo Amaral was easier because he is a media personality and has physical
traits more "easily identifiable".
The accusation states that the former inspector grabbed the neck of Leandro Silva, then struck two punches in the abdomen
area and two slaps on the face while asking him to indicate where the child (Joana) was.
As a direct result of the assault, according to Public Ministry accusation, Leandro suffered several injuries, including
a "contusion of the dorsal grid" which prevented him from working for five days.
It was proved that Leonor Cipriano was attacked in the PJ by unidentified Judiciary elements and that she did not fall
on the stairs, as it was once claimed.
However, the court failed to determine who were the perpetrators of the aggressions.
This case dates back to 2004 and is related to the 'Joana case', which refers to the disappearance, on 12th September
of that year, of an eight year old girl in the village of Figueira, Portimão.
Amaral is accused of torturing Leandro, 02 July 2009
The Public Ministry has accused former the Polícia Judiciária coordinator in Portimão, Gonçalo Amaral, over the crime
of torture against Leandro Silva, the partner of Leonor Cipriano – condemned over the homicide and concealment of the
cadaver of her daughter Joana, in 2004.
The process started over a complaint from Leandro, who alleged that he was beaten on the 13th of Octover 2004, at the
PJ in Faro, after giving a testimony within the process of his stepdaughter's disappearance. Leandro says that Amaral was
the author of said aggressions.
According to the Public Ministry's Accusation dispatch, which Correio da Manhã has accessed, the arguido, aided by two
members of the PJ that the plaintiff fails to identify, grabbed Leandro's neck with both hands and punched him in the abdomen
several times and slapped him in the face twice, while simultaneously asking for him to indicate where Joana's body was. Amaral
stands accused of the crime of torture, as a co-author. Following this process, Joana's stepfather demands 500 thousand euros
in compensation.
The fundaments for the Public Ministry's accusation, as understood by António Cabrita, Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer, are very
"forced". Because, according to the former coordinator's lawyer, the plaintiff "had already given a statement, therefore the
torture acts that he says he was targeted with would have made no sense". After an initial analysis, António Cabrita told
Correio da Manhã that he had already seen "archived processes with more abundant evidence".
Lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia, on the other hand, understands that the Public Ministry's accusation against Amaral is
a "second victory" and the third one "is the condemnation".
At the same time, as far as Correio da Manhã could establish, Aragão Correia, in a separate process, demands compensation
between 100 and 500 thousand euros over alleged defamation by Gonçalo Amaral. At stake are the statements from the former
PJ coordinator in the press, at around mid-June, suggesting the commitment of the lawyer who defends Leonor and Leandro [to
a psychiatric facility].
Details
Witnesses –
The Public Ministry's accusation is based on witness statements from Leandro's family members and a medico-legal analysis
of the lesions.
Instruction – Amaral's defence is expected to request the opening of the
Instruction and to contest the Accusation.
THE disgraced ex-boss of the Madeleine McCann probe has been charged with torturing a witness
in another missing child case.
Goncalo Amaral, 49, is accused of punching and slapping Leandro Silva - who wants £430,000 compensation - during the
2004 hunt for Joana Cipriano, eight.
Mum Leonor, 36, girlfriend of Leandro, was jailed for killing the girl in Figueira, Portugal, just miles from Praia da
Luz where Maddie disappeared.
The court of Portimão has accepted the appeal for extraordinary revision of the ruling that condemned Leonor Cipriano
to 16 years in prison over the death of her daughter, Joana. At the extreme, the trial may be annulled and carried out
again.
Leonor Cipriano's lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia, justified the appeal with the existence of new facts that raise "serious
doubts about the justice of the condemnation", as determined by the Penal Process Code.
One of these facts is the alleged confession that was signed, last May, by Leonor's brother – João, who has also
been condemned to 16 years in prison over Joana's death – according to which he admitted to having tried to sell the
little girl. Joana disappeared on the 12th of September of 2004, from the village of Figueira. Her body was never found.
Earlier, in January, Leonor Cipriano had also denied her involvement in her daughter's death. According to that version,
it would have been João Cipriano who killed Joana, after a failed attempt to sell her.
On the other hand, the lawyer also thinks the fact that it was proved in court that Leonor was aggressed in the Polícia
Judiciária's building in Faro and forced to confess the crime is fundamental for the re-appreciation of the case.
Five PJ inspectors and former inspectors, including Gonçalo Amaral, who became known after heading the investigation
into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, were tried, but it was not proved who was responsible for the aggressions against
Leonor Cipriano. Three of them were acquitted from the accusation of torture. Gonçalo Amaral was condemned to one and a half
year in prison with a suspended sentence for false deposition.
Meanwhile, the Public Ministry has accused the former PJ coordinator again, but this time over co-authorship of torture.
According to the accusation, the victim was Leandro Silva, Leonor Cipriano's partner. The case has allegedly taken place at
the PJ in Portimão, during questioning, within the Joana case investigation.
After the favourable decision by the court of Portimão, the case now rises to the Supreme Court of Justice, which may
determine the annulment of the first trial and order a new one for the "new facts" to be considered.
Marcos Aragão Correia launches 'support site' for Leonor, Leandro, Kate and Gerry, 17 July
2009
A new website was launched this week, dedicated to the "memory of Joana Isabel Cipriano Guerreiro and Madeleine Beth
McCann". The website, which is owned by Marcos Aragão Correia, the lawyer for Leonor Cipriano and Leandro Silva, traces parallels
between the cases of missing children Joana and Madeleine, stating that both girls "continue to protect" their parents even
though "very far away from here".
Leaving no doubts concerning what Mr Correia believes happened to both Joana and Madeleine – "abused and murdered"
-, said website dedicates less energy and resources to 'supporting' the two couples than to attacking Gonçalo Amaral, the
former Polícia Judiciária Coordinator who led the Criminal Investigation Department of Portimão during the investigation into
the Joana case, and during part of the investigation into the Madeleine case.
The opening statement by the website's author, which mentions that "Gonçalo Amaral is one of those evil, very evil persons",
is written in an almost childish language, describing Leonor, Leandro, Kate and Gerry as "mommies and daddies, so beloved
by their little girls".
The insistent comparison between the two couples is only briefly interrupted to state that the McCanns, English citizens
with "money, social standing and good connections", were spared Mr Amaral's "Macchiavellian action against the rights of those
children and their parents", contrary to what happened to Joana's family.
An 'open letter' to Gonçalo Amaral, authored by Mr Correia, calls the former inspector "shameless", and states that he,
Marcos Aragão Correia, does not "support criminal presidents like the case of your [Amaral's] idol, George W Bush". Furthermore,
Mr Correia proclaims his belief in "Spirituality" and in communication with the dead, stating that the late Pope John Paul
II believed in the same principles.
Mr Correia claims that, contrary to Gonçalo Amaral, he wants the missing children to be found, thus "unmasking the hideous,
false Satanist 'need' to massively implant microchips in Human Beings".
The letter finishes with the 'promise' that until Gonçalo Amaral "gives peace to the souls of these girls and their parents",
he will be relentlessly persecuted by Mr Correia, "in the name of Peace and Justice".
Other areas of the website reproduce assorted legal documents that have been reported in the Portuguese press, namely
Leonor Cipriano's request for an extraordinary revision of the trial that condemned her over the murder of her daughter Joana,
as well as 4 photos of each of the two "abused and murdered" girls.
In summary, a website that proclaims that "the mommies and daddies of Joana and Madeleine are not alone", and that those
who support Leonor, Leandro, Kate and Gerry are part of "the front line that defends the implantation on Earth of a truly
fair, charitable society, based exclusively on the loving Moral that constitutes the happiness of all fortunate planets" -
it is not in vain that the website's title is "The little girls that came from the stars".
A mixture of esotericism and interplanetary spiritualism with the matching dose of political conspiracy theories, in
what essentially seems to be nothing more than another excuse for the relentless demonization of Gonçalo Amaral, to a degree
of almost insanity that drives the website's author to accuse the former PJ coordinator of "opening his mouth that is filled
with rot and bad breath to continue to unload the falseness, the lies, the hatred and the violence that characterise his poor
beastly heart".
Time will tell what ties actually bind the case of Joana to the case of Madeleine. Time will tell to what degree the
comparison between Leonor and Leandro, and Kate and Gerry is adequate.
And time will, no doubt, tell who exactly it is that spreads lies, hatred and violence, in a self-admittedly persecutory
exercise under the pretence of seeking Truth and Justice for two little girls who deserved so much better.
The Court of Faro accepts the appeals of Leonor Cipriano, Gonçalo Amaral and Nunes
Cardoso, 25 September 2009
The Court of Faro accepts the appeals of Leonor Cipriano, Gonçalo
Amaral and Nunes Cardoso Sol/Lusa
The Court of Faro has accepted the appeals of Leonor Cipriano (mother of the missing child in Figueira, Faro),
former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral and the officer Nunes Cardoso, who were both tried in a case of alleged torture
and other crimes.
25 September
2009 Thanks to Joana Morais for translation
In the dispatch to which
the news agency Lusa had access today, the Judge Henrique Pavão, found that the appeals submitted to the Court of Appeal
in Évora were admissible. These appeals were made to the ruling
of the Judicial Court of Faro on 22 May 2009.
Without determining the perpetrators of the alleged aggressions
to the mother of Joana Cipriano, the Court of Faro acquitted of torture the former inspectors of the Judicial Police (PJ)
Paulo Pereira Cristóvão and Marques Leonel Morgado, as well as Paulo Marques Bom, who is still in active service,
but condemned Gonçalo Amaral and António Nunes Cardoso for other crimes.
Acquitted
of the crime of failing to report the alleged aggression, Gonçalo Amaral, the former coordinator of the Criminal
Investigation Department of the PJ of Portimão, was sentenced to a year and a half for the crime of making a false
statement, with the sentence being suspended for the same period.
The conviction of the former PJ Inspector, who
was also involved in investigating the disappearance, in the Algarve, of the British girl Madeleine McCann, also received
an appeal from Leonor Cipriano, with the lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia, considering the sentence insufficient.
For the inspector, António Nunes Cardoso, a sentence of two years and three months, for forgery of a document, was
imposed; also with a suspended sentence for the same period.
Aragao Correia, who presented to the Attorney General's
Office a request for an extraordinary review of the sentence of 16 years' imprisonment imposed to
Leonor Cipriano for the crime of homicide and concealment of the cadaver of her daughter Joana, also called for the
condemnation of Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, Leonel Morgado and Paulo Marques Marques Bom.
The Joana
case goes back to 2004. The eight year old disappeared on 12 September, in the village of Figueira, Portimão, and the
investigation led to charges against Leonor Cipriano and her brother, João Cipriano,
both convicted in the first instance Court to 18 years in prison each.
In March 2006, following an appeal, the
Supreme Court of Justice lowered the sentence to 16 years in prison for Leonor Cipriano and João Cipriano.
Leonor Cipriano's lawyer confesses to having used "creepy" method, 19 October
2009
Leonor Cipriano's lawyer confesses to having used "creepy" method ionline
The
Public Ministry in Portimão is surprised about Leonor Cipriano's lawyer's appeal in which he "admits to
having violated basic rules"
by Augusto Freitas de Sousa Published
on 19th October 2009 Thanks to Astro for translation
Leonor Cipriano's
lawyer confessed that he obtained a statement from his client's brother "based on absolutely
forbidden methods". In it, João Cipriano assumed that he had tried to sell his niece Joana.
This,
at least, is the understanding of the Public Ministry in Portimão, after analysing, and refusing, the
request from Marcos Aragão Correia for a revision of the sentence that was applied to Joana's mother, who
has been condemned to 16 years and eight months in prison over qualified homicide and concealment of a cadaver. It is now
up to the process' judge to decide whether or not he accepts the appeal. According to the Public Ministry's decision,
the lawyer – in the document in which he requested the revision of the appeal – presented a confession from
João Cipriano "that could be used as the basis for a movie scene". In that written document, Aragão
Correia confesses to having invented a story to fool Joana's uncle: a police source allegedly told him that an inmate
intended to murder Leonor's brother.
A technique that he called
a "bluff" and that allowed him to obtain a statement from Joana's uncle, confessing to having
tried to sell his niece. This confession led the Public Ministry to consider that the lawyer is violating the Lawyers'
Order's statutes, which forbid "contacts with witnesses or other process parties with the purpose of instructing,
influencing, or, by any other means, changing their deposition, thus damaging the discovery of the truth". On the other
hand, it suggests that "the activities that were undertaken by the lawyer" are communicated to the Order.
Among other explanations, the Public Ministry thus refers that the "new evidence" that is presented is not valid
and adds that references to "false confessions that were extorted by the PJ team, which was responsible for the investigation,
under brutal and cruel torture" and the allegation that 'Gonçalo Amaral took his degree in criminal investigation
in Guinea-Bissau, or an analogous country, or was fuelled by still unknown interests in the sense that truth would never be
discovered', do not contribute to the serenity, being completely alien to the appeal", concluding that the process
that accused the PJ's agents has not reached a final decision yet.
The president of the Lawyers' Order's
Faro District Counsel, Augusto Cabrita, told i that in this case of eventual violation
of the Order's statutes, it has to be established what Aragão Correia's main address is, and in case it is
in Madeira (there is a main and a secondary address), it will have to be the Lawyers' Order in Madeira that open the process.
And, in that case, this will be yet another process that the lawyer will suffer at that body in Madeira.
Leonor Cipriano. Jurors waiting for 16 thousand euros, 23 October 2009
Leonor Cipriano. Jurors waiting for 16 thousand
euros ionline
The
Faro Court decision that condemned Gonçalo Amaral can only move into appeal after the members of the jury are paid
The eight jurors that
were present during the process of Leonor Cipriano against Polícia Judiciária (PJ) agents have not been paid
by the Court of Faro, which is delaying the appeals that were filed by the lawyers at the Appeals Court. An amount that exceeds
16 thousand euro has not been paid and is standing in the way of a decision from the Appeals Court, given that the appeals
concerning applied sentences and acquittals cannot move from the first instance into the Appeals Court unless the eight members
of the jury are paid. The law does not foresee any legal deadline for appeals to reach the Appeals Court.
Five
appeals are at issue. One from the lawyer that represents former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral, who did not conform over
the condemnation for false deposition. One from the representative of Leonor Cipriano, who did not agree with the acquittal
of Leonel Marques, Paulo Cristóvão and Paulo Marques Bom. And a third appeal that was written by the lawyers
who represent one of the Judiciária agents, António Cardoso, condemned over document forgery.
These
three appeals are joined by two that were filed prior to the sentence and for which the PJ agents' lawyers are responsible.
One of the requests focuses on the Lawyers' Order being made an assistant in the process – which the agent's
defence considers not to be one of the Orders' purposes and says is at odds with its statutes. And the second one was
filed because the defence considers it had a right to hear a statement from Marinho Pinto, the head of the Lawyers' Order,
which was refused because he was an assistant in the process, The defence called Marinho Pinto (given that as a journalist
he published Leonor Cipriano's photos in the "Expresso" newspaper) as a witness, but due to the fact that he
made himself an assistant, the judge rejected his witness statement.
This is a total of five appeals that wait
for delivery at the Appeals Court in Évora, in order to be evaluated. According to judicial sources that were contacted
by i, the case may drag on for some time, given that the Judicial Court of Faro may not have enough financial resources
for this year, in order to pay over 16 thousand euro that the jury is owed.
According to the Jurors' Statute,
"after the sentence is read in the first instance, compensation is attributed based on every day that the function was
effectively exercised". This means that each one of the jurors – four effectives and four substitutes – receives
one account unit (102 euro) for each day of work. There were approximately 16 court sessions, three meetings of the jurors
with the judges and one interview during selection phase, which sums 20 days of pay for each juror.
In this process,
in which Leonor Cipriano accused the Judiciária inspectors of torture, it was the defence that requested a jury trial,
although the use of jurors is uncommon in Portugal. According to statements made at that time, the defence lawyers wanted
"for the people to judge the police agents".
Less serious cases are tried by a judge.
More
serious cases are tried by three judges, or exceptionally, by a jury.
By José
Manuel Oliveira 19 November 2009 Thanks to Astro for translation
The Supreme Court of
Justice has summoned the mother and an uncle of Joana Cipriano, who are serving a 16-year prison sentence over the co-authorship
of the death and concealment of the body of the child, that disappeared on the night of the 12th of September 2004, from the
village of Figueira (Portimão), where the family lived, for new hearings.
In a press release that was sent
out yesterday, lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia, representing Leonor Cipriano, the mother of Joana (then aged eight), mentions
that "the 5th section of the Supreme Court of Justice has started probatory diligences in order to establish the details
of new facts that have been recounted by Joana Cipriano's mother and essentially corroborated by the child's own uncle
(João Cipriano), by the mother of both, by the child's stepfather, and by other independent witnesses, within the
Extraordinary Sentence Appeal".
According to the version that was presented by Marcos Aragão Correia
to journalists on the 16th of January this year, at the door to the Court of Faro, where the trial of five Polícia
Judiciária inspectors was taking place, three of them standing accused of the moral authorship of torture over Leonor
Cipriano, she said she had been convinced by her brother to accept the sale of Joana to a couple in Spain, that was known
to him. Nonetheless, the deal failed "because the money didn't exist".
DN tried to hear lawyer Marcos
Aragão Correia, yesterday, but he kept himself out of reach.
Leonor Cipriano to be questioned on the 9th of December, 27 November 2009
Leonor Cipriano to be questioned on the 9th of December Destak
27 | 11 | 2009
20.03H Thanks to Astro for translation Leonor Cipriano is going to be questioned on the 9th of December at the Penal Execution Court in Elvas,
following the extraordinary appeal that was filed by the lawyer representing the mother of Joana, the child that disappeared
from the village of Figueira, Portimão, in the Algarve, in 2004.
The hearing of Leonor Cipriano,
who is serving a prison sentence of 16 years and six months for the crimes of homicide and concealment of a cadaver, has been
scheduled for 2 p.m. and was determined by the 5th Section at the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ).
The SCJ's
dispatch, dated November 13, also determined the hearing of João Cipriano, Leonor Cipriano's brother who is equally
serving a prison sentence of 16 years and six months at Carregueira Prison, in Sintra, over the practice of the same crimes.
Leonor Cipriano's lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia, has requested the extraordinary revision of the sentence
that was applied to Joana's mother, presenting a confession by João Cipriano for his niece's homicide.
Aragão Correia has further requested the opening of a new inquiry, with the purpose of determining the agents and
causes of Joana's disappearance, on the 12th of September 2004.
Nevertheless, in its answer, which Lusa agency
was able to access, the Public Ministry considered that the extraordinary appeal is not "admissible", considering
that the confession is insufficient "to raise doubts for a revision of the decision".
Public prosecutor
José Franco Pinheiro has stressed that there are no new facts and has revealed strangeness over the fact that Leonor
Cipriano's lawyer has confessed to obtaining João Cipriano's confession "based on absolutely forbidden
methods".
On the other hand, former Polícia Judiciária (PJ) inspector Gonçalo Amaral
has requested the opening of the instruction of the process in which the Public Ministry has constituted itself as an assistant
of Leandro Silva, Joana's stepfather.
Leandro Silva accuses the former inspector of having aggressed him on
the 13th of October, 2004, at an interrogation in the PJ building of Portimão, for him to confess the location where
Joana's body was deposited.
Supreme Court refuses to review Joana case sentence, 09 January 2010
Lack of new evidence
dictated the decision. João Cipriano denies his niece's death and accuses his sister of having sold her daughter.
The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) deliberated not to carry out the sentence review that had been requested by Leonor
Cipriano, who serves a 16-year prison sentence, just like her brother, João Manuel, over the co-authorship of the death
of her daughter Joana, who went missing on the night of 12/09/2004, in the village of Figueira, near Portimão, where
she lived, and whose body has still not appeared.
The judicial decision is due to neither the existence of any "effectively
new facts", nor "truly relevant" evidence after hearing the two inmates within an extraordinary appeal for
revision of sentence, in December 2009. The child's mother's lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia, has lamented the
judicial decision and stated to Diário de Notícias, yesterday, that he will gather "new evidence in order
to request a new revision".
The Supreme Court's decision, that is dated 17/12/2009 and signed by judges
Souto Moura, Soares Ramos and Carmona da Mota, which Diário de Notícias had access to, mentions that João
Manuel Cipriano, Joana's uncle, who was heard at the Sentence Execution Court, in Lisbon, "denies having written,
denies having signed and does not remember having dictated, to anyone, the contents of a statement that was presented as being
authored by him". Nonetheless, he confirms the visit from his sister's lawyer, Aragão Correia, to the Carregueira
Prison, in Belas (Sintra), where he is held, who asked him to speak about his niece's case, adding that if he did not
say the truth, an inmate from another prison might come to murder him on behalf of the people who wanted to buy Joana.
After recognising, during said meeting with Aragão Correia, that he had murdered his niece after trying to
sell her, a deal that failed "because there was no money", João Cipriano ended up presenting a different
version to the Supreme Court's judges. According to the document, he asserted that he "never tried to sell his niece
to anyone, but on the night that she disappeared, his sister told him to come to the door because there was a car near the
church that was going to take her daughter, whom she had sold to a foreign couple". In that statement, Joana's uncle
says that he "saw the car, saw his niece entering the vehicle in which she was driven away. He never saw his niece again."
On the other hand, Leonor Cipriano confesses that it was her brother who talked her into handing her daughter over
to a Spanish couple in exchange for money, but when facing a failed deal, João "killed" the child and buried
her body "in the hills of Figueira".
