Date

Day

Event

Friday 01 February 2008

274

Rogatory letters to be re-sent today 24 horas

(Translated from Portuguese)

The Public Prosecution Office is due today to send the rogatory letters containing the questions that are to be asked to the McCanns, to England

The Public Ministry is due today to send the final version of the rogatory letter that is destined to question the parents of Madeleine McCann and their friends again.

This will be the end of a 'soap opera' that began after a magistrate from the British Home Office unauthorized her colleague at Eurojust, the European entity which processes the interchange of judicial issues among the various countries. She demanded that the letter is sent through official channels - which means through the Portuguese Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

José Lopes da Mota, the president of Eurojust, minimizes saying: "The letter was made with the collaboration of a representative from Eurojust. A magistrate from the Home Office decided that the legal procedures for the sending of the document had not been fulfilled and informed the colleague at Eurojust. After everything was duly analysed, we decided to request Portugal to make the letter again and to send it through official channels."

Pinto Monteiro, the Public Prosecutor, assumes he made a wrong option: "What happened with the rogatory letters is no secret. They were with Eurojust... Some obstacles were raised by the English magistrate. The letters ended up returning, and will now be sent through the international cooperation, which depends upon this Office. They will be sent today [yesterday] or tomorrow [today]."

Carlos Anjos, the president of ASFIC, the Criminal Investigation Officers' Union, was laconic: "At this moment, the ball is not in the PJ's court."

1) Card from Madeleine at McCann twins party Telegraph

Gerry and Kate McCann will throw a birthday party for their twins tomorrow - complete with a card from their missing four-year-old daughter, Madeleine. They want to give Sean and Amelie, who will be three, as normal a life as possible in the face of the continuing international hunt for Madeleine, who was abducted on holiday in Portugal. Around 30 family, friends and supporters of the McCanns' campaign to find her have been invited to their home in Rothley, Leics.

2) Missing Maddie's special prezzie Daily Star

LITTLE Sean and Amelie McCann will open a special present from their big sister as they celebrate their third birthday today. And their parents have vowed to go ahead with a party for the twins, their grandmother has revealed. A family friend says Kate and Gerry have bought a gift to give the tots from Madeleine. The pal said: “Every time these events occur, everyone is acutely aware that Madeleine isn’t there.”

Thirty adults and children will join in the celebrations at the family’s home in Rothley, Leics. Granny Eileen McCann, 67, said: “There will be presents galore, lots of fun and games, lots of food and a big cake. Of course, Madeleine being home would make it complete and we continue to pray for that blessing.”

3) Birthday party for McCann twins Daily Record

THE parents of Madeleine McCann are laying on a huge birthday party for their twins tomorrow. Sean and Amelie turn three today.

Kate and Gerry have planned a party at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. One of the guests said: "Up to 30 adults have been invited, plus their families. "The guest list includes immediate family, close friends, supporters and their children. It will be a big event going right through Saturday from lunchtime.

"The intention is to give Sean and Amelie as normal a birthday as possible. But Kate and Gerry are also inviting people who have supported them and the invitations are being extended to wives and families. As ever, it will be tinged with sadness because Madeleine won't be there to share it with them."

4) Present from Maddie for twins The Sun

TWINS Sean and Amelie McCann will get a special present from their missing sister Maddie today on their third birthday. Parents Kate and Gerry got the gift for the pair who, at three, are the same age as Maddie when she vanished last May. The twins will have a party tomorrow which Kate and Gerry, both 39, are hosting at their home in Rothley, Leics.

Grandmother Eileen McCann said: “Of course Madeleine being there would be our dream but we’ll do our best to make sure the twins have a lovely day.”

The couple’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Kate and Gerry are doing their best to ensure as happy a birthday as possible. Obviously it will be tinged with sadness.”

New Web Site Launched

Date Released: 01/02/2008 13:00:00

'The newly designed web site for the Help to Find Madeleine Campaign has been launched today.

The purpose of the new site is to focus attention on the primary goal which remains to Find Madeleine McCann.

The fund have been working hard to design the site to make it more user friendly and easier to keep up to date. It is hoped that the new site will allow people to find what they are looking for quickly. The new site still allows Gerry to update his blog, but it also has the additional facility to allow authorised persons to issue News Items without the need for the Web team to write the code for the pages.'

www.findmadeleine.com

Saturday 02 February 2008

275

Cops 'Too Hasty' Over Madeleine's Parents Sky News

Updated:17:40, Saturday February 02, 2008

Portugal's top policeman has said detectives were "hasty" in making Madeleine McCann's parents suspects in her disappearance. Kate and Gerry McCann were named as 'arguidos' - or formal suspects - four months after their daughter vanished from their holiday flat in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ), revealed he believes there "perhaps should have been another assessment" before this happened. In an interview with Portugal's Radio Renascenca, to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Ribeiro said there was a "certain hastiness" in making the McCanns suspects.

The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell welcomed the senior officer's comments and called for the couple to be formally cleared. He said: "Now that the national director of the Policia Judiciaria apparently accepts that they should not have been made arguido, it follows that there is no case for Kate and Gerry to answer."

Mr Mitchell said the couple's arguido status not only damages "their reputation in the eyes of the world" but "is also directly hampering the search for Madeleine. Many people who may have vital information have possibly not been coming forward because they have wrongly suspected the McCanns," the spokesman said. "If the Portuguese police, under Mr Ribeiro, now do the only proper thing by eliminating Kate and Gerry from their inquiry, they and our own investigators can work together rapidly and effectively to find Madeleine and to bring those responsible for her abduction to justice."

Mr Ribeiro has previously expressed caution about the case. On September 10 - just three days after Mr and Mrs McCann were named suspects - he suggested that forensic tests had not been conclusive.

The couple's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, today welcomed the senior officer's comments and called for them to be formally cleared.

Portuguese police say decision to make McCanns suspects was too 'hasty' Daily Mail

Last updated at 17:34pm on 2nd February 2008

Portugal's top policeman has said detectives were "hasty" in making Madeleine McCann's parents suspects in her disappearance. Kate and Gerry McCann were named as "arguidos" - or formal suspects - four months after their daughter vanished from their holiday flat in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ), has revealed he believes there "perhaps should have been another assessment" before this happened. In an interview with Portugal's Radio Renascenca, to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Ribeiro stressed he did not give his officers orders about who should be named an arguido. But he said there was a "certain hastiness" in making the McCanns suspects.

The couple's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, today welcomed the senior officer's comments and called for them to be formally cleared. He said: "Now that the national director of the Policia Judiciaria apparently accepts that they should not have been made arguido, it follows that there is no case for Kate and Gerry to answer. As I have consistently said, Kate and Gerry are entirely innocent of any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine.

"Now, in the light of Mr Ribeiro's remarks, we urge the Portuguese judicial authorities to act humanely by removing their arguido status as swiftly as possible. Not only does it continue to damage their reputation in the eyes of the world, it is also directly hampering the search for Madeleine, as many people who may have vital information have possibly not been coming forward because they have wrongly suspected the McCanns.

"If the Portuguese police, under Mr Ribeiro, now do the only proper thing by eliminating Kate and Gerry from their inquiry, they and our own investigators can work together rapidly and effectively to find Madeleine and to bring those responsible for her abduction to justice."

Mr Ribeiro has previously expressed caution about the case. On September 10 - just three days after Mr and Mrs McCann were named suspects - he suggested that forensic tests had not been conclusive. The head of the PJ told Portuguese state broadcaster RTP then: "We can't say with certainty whether it was the blood of person 'A' or person 'B'. "They help guide us in our investigation but not with the mathematical precision some people are saying."

Note: Ribeiro has only said the decision was hasty. He has not said that the decision, in itself, was wrong.

The full radio interview is not released in Portugal until tomorrow, so we are not yet able to place Mr Ribeiro's comments in their full context.

Maddie: Police conducting a battle between David and Goliath SOS Madeleine

The French website 'SOS Madeleine' reports the following in a blog (translated by Beachy and posted on 'the3arguidos' forum):

"In the McCann inquiry, given the obstacles that have been created in the United Kingdom, the better tactic would have been to continue the investigation without naming the parents as arguidos," said a source from the PJ about statements of their National Director, adding that "at the moment the investigation has become a battle between David and Goliath."

The National Director of the Judicial Police (PJ), Alípio Ribeiro, considered yesterday that there had been "haste" in constituting Kate and Gerry McCann as arguidos in the disappearance of their daughter. Alipio Ribeiro also confirms that the right direction is being followed by the investigators and that this is an investigation and we must be patient.

The statements by the Director of the PJ were made during the recording of the "Diga Lá Excelence" programme on Radio Renascença which will be broadcast tomorrow afternoon, in which he is questioned by journalists and Paula Paiva Celso Torres.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann, responded rapidly to the statements by the National Director of the Judicial Police stating that the couple had "very well received comments from Alipio Ribeiro in which he accepts that Portuguese police officers under his authority had acted in haste in designating the McCanns as official suspects." Clarence Mitchell went further, and even before full knowledge of Alipio Ribeiro's interview, invited the Portuguese authorities to remove their status as arguidos, with "humanity."

The former director of the British Media Minitoring Unit, who became head of public relations for the McCann couple, responded via the Find Madeleine web site, which now has a new design. The site has adopted a more low-key look and more pink, maintaining the sale of bracelets and T-shirts but no longer [reporting] the financial situation of the Madeleine Fund.

Sunday 03 February 2008

276

Alipio Ribeiro on TV in Belgium

Link here

Translation of interview:

Q: To what extent have the Maddie case and the criticism directed at PJ shaken the force?

AR: This is, without doubt, a high-profile case that has taken on extraordinary dimensions in the media. I have not felt any internal criticism. We have devoted all our know-how to this case, we have involved our best men in the investigation, and there is a multidisciplinary team of officers still working on it, but the whole process is a work of patience.

Q: There has clearly been unequal treatment in comparison to other cases of missing persons in Portugal. Why? Was there pressure from Britain?

AR: There have been no cases of unequal treatment.

Q: How many persons have disappeared and not benefited from the amount of investigation carried out in the specific case of Maddie…

AR: We do not have other cases of missing persons of this dimension. You must understand that this case, from the outset, is a difficult one.

Q: Is all this investment been the result of pressure from Britain?

AR: Of course not.

Q: What were the contents of your conversation with the British ambassador when you met with him?

AR: I spoke to the ambassador on several occasions, the first of which was on the morning after the disappearance. He manifested his concern abou the child’s disappearance and informed me of the British police’s offer to collaborate.

Q: We have already taken knowledge of the very difficult scenario the PJ found when they arrived at the crime scene. Certain procedures were seen as mistakes in the context of criminal investigation by certain observers. For example, the fact that the crime scene was not immediately sealed off. How do you react to this criticism, which has come mainly from Britain?

AR: I think we have never been criticised directly by the British police. We have always communicated with them and informed them of what we are are doing and have never been criticised by them. That is what is important to us.

Q: Gonçalo Amaral’s removal as head of the Portimão PJ was not, at least in part, an acknowledgement of shortcomings in the investigation?

AR: Mr. Amaral had to go for obvious reasons. He made statements he should not have made in the context.

Q: Do you think there was, or not, hastiness in making Kate and Gerry McCann arguidos?

AR: Now, with hindsight, and with the experience I have of the magistracy from the Public Ministry, I think maybe one should have made a different assessment. I have no doubts about that.

Q: Was there a certain hastiness?

AR: There was a certain hastiness.

Police chief: We were too quick to make Gerry and Kate 'arguidos' Daily Mail

By GERARD COUZENS in Praia Da Luz and POLLY DUNBAR in London

Last updated at 09:30am on 3rd February 2008

Kate and Gerry McCann's bid to clear their names over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine has been given a massive boost after the head of Portugal's police admitted it had been a mistake to rush into making them official suspects. Alipio Ribeiro, the Policia Judiciaria's national director, has said he believes the decision to make the McCanns "arguidos" last September was taken too quickly and without thorough enough assessment. The sensational admission is the clearest sign yet that the couple's arguido – or official suspect – status may soon be lifted.

The development was welcomed by the McCanns as "fantastic news". Mr McCann said: "We need a breakthrough and this looks like it could be one. It is fantastic news. We still have a long way to go but people in Portugal need to understand what has been happening and what we have been going through. We know it will take the police a long time to accept what has been happening is wrong but it is an important step towards that."

The couple have now demanded to be cleared immediately so they can concentrate on finding Madeleine, who has been missing since May 3 last year. Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said that since there was "no case to answer" Portuguese authorities should "act humanely by removing their arguido status as swiftly as possible". He added that their status as suspects could potentially be harming the search for their daughter by discouraging those with information from coming forward.

The statement by Mr Ribeiro, which came as Madeleine's twin siblings Sean and Amelie celebrated their third birthday yesterday, was made in a radio interview to be broadcast today. Ribeiro tells Portugal's Catholic Church-owned Radio Renascenca: "I think there perhaps should have been another assessment before the McCanns were made official suspects. I don't have any doubt about that ... there was a certain hastiness."

The admission is the first by the Policia Judiciaria that the case of the missing four-year-old has been mishandled and gives a substantial boost to the McCanns' hope that those investigating Madeleine's disappearance have now moved away from the theory that they accidentally killed her.

It also appears to back up criticisms voiced by the McCanns' lawyer in Portugal, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, who suggested in December that police had waged a smear campaign against the couple by rushing to make them suspects on September 8 – just days before a new law would have made it impossible without firm evidence. Portugal's Attorney General Fernando Pinto Monteiro has already admitted the McCanns, both 39, might not have been named arguidos after its introduction.

Mr Pinto de Abreu said: "Before September 15 last year you could be made an arguido without any suspicions or evidence against you. Now, to constitute someone as an arguido, it is necessary to have evidence in the file. That's why the national public prosecutor said that if this inquiry was launched now, maybe they would not have been made arguidos."

Asked whether he thought police acted deliberately as they knew the new law was coming in, he added: "I don't know if that's true, but yes, it's possible." He added: "Many people who may have vital information have possibly not come forward as they wrongly suspected the McCanns."

The McCanns told yesterday how their twins were bringing joy to their lives as they held a party to celebrate the children's birthday. The couple said the twins were making life "a little more bearable", but added they were praying they would never have another birthday without their big sister.

Fifty close friends and family members joined the McCanns at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, for the party. One guest said: "Kate and Gerry did their best to ensure as happy a birthday as possible but obviously it was tinged with sadness." The children were given a special present from Madeleine, bought and wrapped by their parents, to mark their birthday on Friday.

Police 'too hasty' over McCanns Sunday Express

Sunday, February 3 2008. By Matt Drake

EDIT

'Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria which is leading the hunt for missing Madeleine, told Portugal’s Radio Renascenca, owned by the Catholic Church: ''At this moment in time and speaking with the experience I have of Portugal’s Public Prosecution Service and the constitution of arguidos, I think there perhaps should have been another assessment before the McCanns were made official suspects.

''I don’t have any doubt about that. The national director of the Policia Judiciaria doesn’t give out orders on the constitution of arguidos but there was a certain hastiness.'''

Note: Alipio Ribeiro does say that the decision to make the McCanns arguidos was hasty, however he is not pressed as to the reason why he believes that. The UK press, with some help from Clarence Mitchell, have interpreted his words to mean that the McCanns should not have been made arguidos and are therefore innocent of all charges. But is that the correct interpetation of Ribeiro's words?

Mr Ribeiro says, in this brief interview, that 'We have devoted all our know-how to this case, we have involved our best men in the investigation, and there is a multidisciplinary team of officers still working on it, but the whole process is a work of patience.'

Those do not sound like the words of someone who feels his officers are wasting their time and have made a bad decision to make the McCanns arguidos. Indeed, he also makes it clear that there has been no criticism from the UK police over the Portuguese handling of the case. Again, it's difficult to imagine such support for a 'wrong' decision.

It may well be that Ribeiro simply meant that the decision to make the McCanns arguidos was hastily done to beat the change in the law around arguido status, which happened after 15 September and imposed certain new legal restrictions.

He does not say that the decision itself, in terms of the McCanns being made suspects, was wrong - only that the actual decision to make them arguidos was done with hastiness. He gives no indication that the course of the investigation is about to change or that the McCanns can be expected to have their arguido status lifted.

Monday 04 February 2008

277

Divers search remote reservoir for Madeleine's body after underworld tip-off Daily Mail

By VANESSA ALLEN

Last updated at 09:08am on 4th February 2008

A grim search for Madeleine McCann's body has been launched at an isolated reservoir.

Teams of frogmen began scouring the remote Barragem do Arade amid claims the girl's body was dumped there last May. The private search - funded by a Portuguese lawyer - came as Portugal's most senior detective admitted that police had rushed into making Kate and Gerry McCann suspects in the case.

Alipio Ribeiro, the national director of the Policia Judiciaria, said his officers had acted with "a certain hastiness" and should have assessed the evidence again before naming the couple as official suspects. But he defended his men against claims they had acted under political pressure and had failed to investigate properly.

Last night there were calls for him to resign over the comments, as lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia revealed he was forced to fund the £1,200-a-day reservoir search himself because the police had refused. The human rights lawyer said he was convinced the massive man-made lake was "the perfect hiding place" for an abductor to conceal a body.

Mr Correia, 32, ordered the search after underworld contacts told him Madeleine was raped, murdered and her body dumped within 48 hours of her disappearance on May 3. He said he believed the abductor killed the child, weighted down her body and then threw it from a pumping tower into the murky water beneath. His team of six divers have already found a five-metre length of knotted nylon cord, which has been handed in to Portuguese police for analysis. The remote reservoir is surrounded by dense woodland but a dirt track cuts through it to a bridge which links the water tower to the shore.

Mr Correia told the Mail: "I am convinced this is the place. It's not overlooked, it has easy access by car and if you threw the body from the tower the water is 55ft deep there. The divers have already found a cord tied in knots down there, right below the tower. I have given it to the police. It's logic that if you throw a body into the water then you would tie it to something to weigh it down."

The lawyer from the Portuguese island of Madeira said he would continue the search until he found proof to support his theory. He refused to say how much he had paid to finance the trawl, but his team of six British and Portuguese divers were estimated to cost around £1,200-a-day. They have already been searching for four days and are expected to return today, meaning the operation has already cost about £6,000.

Search coordinator Alan Wilson said the divers were only able to cover a small area in each dive because the murky water meant there was zero visibility once they descended below a few feet.

"Everything's black because there is no light," he said, adding: "The divers are searching entirely by touch, feeling in the silt for anything suspicious that shouldn't be there. It's a long, slow process."

Mr Correia said he was first told about the reservoir on May 6, three days after Madeleine vanished from Praia da Luz, some 40 miles away. He passed the information to the police but said they ignored it, despite a May 5 witness sighting of a girl resembling Madeleine with a woman in Silves, a ten-minute drive from the lake.

The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry are grateful to anyone who feels they have important information in the search for Madeleine. If his search produces significant results he must, of course, share that information with both the police and our investigators."

Mr Mitchell also welcomed Mr Ribeiro's admission that police had rushed to make the McCanns suspects in September, and called for their names to be cleared. In a radio interview, the policeman said: "Maybe a different evaluation should have been made. I have no doubts about that. There was a certain hastiness." He pledged to correct any failings in the investigation but insisted police were still working on it, adding: "This whole job is a work of patience."

The couple learned of his comments on Saturday, as they prepared for a party to mark the third birthday of their twins, Sean and Amelie.

Mr McCann, 39, said the comments could be a much-needed "breakthrough" and added: "It is fantastic news. We still have a long way to go but people in Portugal need to understand what has been happening and what we have been going through. We know it will take the police a long time to accept what has been happening is wrong, but it is an important step towards that."

Correio da Manha (Google Translation)

A lawyer Madeiran is paying underwater searches in the dam of Arade, in the county of Silves, since last Thursday. Marcos Aragon Correia believes that is where is the body of Madeleine McCann.

For the lawyer, who yesterday once again followed the work, "this dam is the place most likely to be the girl who has got rid of the body." The searches are being carried out by five divers Portuguese and British company's Dive Team, Lagos.

Until now, the main 'track' was found a strange string of five meters - formed by several pieces of belts, blinds, united among themselves with us - however delivered to the GNR of Lagos. "A rope was to seven meters deep, under the bridge that connects the tower of the dam. I think that is a very strong indication, "argued Aragon Correia.

The lawyer revealed that researchers deprived of Method 3 "already know the track and see it as very credible, since it is coupled with the information that guarantees a camionista have seen Maddie be changed in a car to another, in Silves, May 5 "(two days after his disappearance of Light).

Aragon recalled having received a clue that led to the dam of Arade "on May 6," but excuse to reveal who gave him the information. "They told me that Maddie had been launched to a desert lake, with water cloudy and heavily wooded shores," says the lawyer. "In addition, the site had particular characteristic as a beach, which fits with this place, which could identify the December 10 last. Immediately informed the PJ, who thanked but did nothing, "he adds.

Aragon Correia wants to continue the searches in the morning, despite the difficulties experienced by divers, due to the "zero visibility from two meters can only use the touch."

Mr McCann, 39, said the comments could be a much-needed "breakthrough" and added: "It is fantastic news.

"We still have a long way to go but people in Portugal need to understand what has been happening and what we have been going through.

"We know it will take the police a long time to accept what has been happening is wrong, but it is an important step towards that."

Mr and Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, were made suspects on September 7 but forensic evidence in the case has proved inconclusive. They have always denied any involvement.

PJ officers discontent with Ribeiro's comments Diario da Noticias

(Thanks to 'Li' from the3arguidos forum for translation)

The statements of Alípio Ribeiro generate dissatisfaction in the Criminal Police

JOSÉ MANUEL OLIVEIRA

The inspectors are against the statements made by the national director.

The discontent is installed amidst the inspectors of the Judicial Police (PJ) of Algarve. The problem were the statements made by the national director, Alípio Ribeiro, to the programme "Diga lá Excelência" of the RR and to the newspaper Público, in which he acknowledges there has been "some haste" to constitute arguidos Gerry and Kate McCann for the supposed death of their daughter Madeleine ,nine months ago, in Praia da Luz, near Lagos, where the family spent holidays and the child disappeared. The researchers continue to suspect of the involvement of the British couple in the concealment of the body of the girl on the night of May 3, 2007, although the results of the samples of blood and hair collected are not conclusive.

When the mother of Maddie was heard on 6 and 7 September,at the Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC) of Portimão of the PJ, several inspectors wanted to arrest her. However, the public prosecutor of Portimão, José Magalhães e Menezes, objected to. Even so, and already after Gerry and Kate have returned to the United Kingdom, some researchers involved in the process maintained the conviction that they have evidence that could lead to the preventive arrest of the couple. Only the political pressure from the British have prevented them from going further.

The DN found, that there are people in the PJ that understand that the new declarations of Alípio Ribeiro are nothing more than a situation of bluff, and were only meant to "test waters".

In the interpretation of some inspectors,when the national director of the Judicial Police talked about "precipitation" in the constitution of Madeleine's parents as defendants, that still remain subjected to Term of identity and residence in England, he did it to "see what were the reactions of the McCanns and also the Portuguese. "

Other researchers have confessed their "dissatisfaction" by the assertions of Alípio Ribeiro, saying "it's difficult to work in a country that most resembles a banana Republic. The more you do you can not make a difference" .

Astonished and speechless facing the interview of the national director of the PJ is the lawyer of the Portuguese-British Robert Murat, the first to be constituted defendant in Madeleine's case on May 14, 2007, on suspicion of kidnapping, and after his mother's house was passed through fine comb, about two hundred meters of the apartment of The Ocean Club, where the child disappeared, as well as the inspection to the family's car. "I find this all very strange",said yesterday to the DN Francisco Pagarete.

With a sad voice,the lawyer refused to make more comments. He did not mention if he is also considering requiring to the MP the withdrawal of the status of arguido of Robert Murat. "It is a situation that I have not yet looked at," noted the lawyer which, as the DN advanced at the time, bet in the closure of the case concerning his client from November 13, 2007, when seven months since he was accused were completed. "I do not intend to make any comment in relation to the statements.I will not react in any way," insisted the lawyer, not hiding his surprise by the considerations outlined by the maximum responsible of the PJ.

Underworld contacts apparently claim Madeleine's body was dumped in this remote reservoir

Divers have been searching the Barragem do Arade for several days

Fresh blow for McCanns as Portuguese legal advisors rule out lifting 'arguido' status Daily Mail (Note: this report was later updated on 05 February 2008)

By GERARD COUZENS

Last updated at 12:34pm on 4th February 2008

EDIT

Kate and Gerry McCann's hopes of clearing their names were crushed today after it emerged that they are set to remain official suspects over their daughter's disappearance. The couple had expected to have their arguido status lifted after police chief Alipio Ribeiro admitted at the weekend that detectives bungled by rushing to blame them. But government legal advisors have now delivered a fresh blow to the couple by ruling out any intervention, according to reports in Portugal.

A source at Portugal's Attorney General's Office told Portuguese daily 24 horas: "We will be saying nothing officially about Mr Ribeiro's comments. The fate of Madeleine's parents will be reassessed at the appropriate moment."

Antonio Cluny, president of Portugal's District Attorneys and Magistrates Council, has now urged Mr Ribeiro to show "restraint and reserve." He added: "This idea that authority representatives comment about ongoing judicial proceedings is becoming a very dangerous habit."

The McCanns - still suspects SOS Madeleine McCann

(Translated from French langauge)

PJ Magistrates and Inspectors did not appreciate the declarations made by the National Director of the PJ; Alipio Ribeiro, even though today the police sources have reaffirmed that that there was a misinterpretation: the director’s words should have been in the sense that, if Kate and Gerry had been named as witnesses, “perhaps they would not have left for the UK. They would have cooperated more fully with the Justice”.

In the Algarve, most of the PJ inspectors have received their director’s statements with surprise, because the line of inquiry has not changed and if the investigation seems to have reached a dead end, in the eyes of the public, several diligences are currently being carried out even if the most important “remains the interrogation of the couple’s friends”, revealed one of the sources in Portimao.

The inspector continue to suspect the couple of having hidden their daughter’s body during the night of 3rd May, confirms the same source for whom “the inquiry is indeed a work of patience” as Alipio Ribeiro stated. “He is not wrong about that”.

During the month of September, there were several inspectors who requested the temporary imprisonment of Kate and Gerry McCann, already holding, at that moment, the firm conviction that there was enough evidence to justify this measure: “Today we have made much advance in the inquiry and we are certain that that Madeleine’s parents and their friends could explain what happened to the child”, the source affirms, saying that for him “the couple’s departure from P da L has complicated things. We are obliged to depend upon the good will of the British authorities.”

During the month of September, the Portimao Public Ministry Attorney, José Magalhães e Menezes, decided to name them arguidos without recurring to preventative imprisonment, leaving the door open for their departure to the UK as the British authorities had requested via their diplomatic representative in Portugal.

Reactions : "All of this is very strange"
Francisco Pagarete, Robert Murat’s lawyer, has refused to comment on the statements made by the PJ Directors, emphasising that “all of this is very strange”. The lawyer of the British man, who has been an arguido since 14th May, declares his surprise at the statements made by Alipio Ribeiro, but prefers to wait for the evolution of the inquiry before deciding if he should react.

“In order to avoid this type of situation there must be discretion and reserve in speech” advises the president of the Public Ministry Magistrate’s Union, Antonio Cluny, who finds it “troubling” to see a PJ official talk about an ongoing inquiry.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, University professor of law and political commentator, has stated on Portuguese television that Alipio Ribeiro’s statements are “very serious”. Former Minister and State Advisor, Marcelo accuses Alipio Ribeiro of having “ killed the police investigation when he said that there was haste in declaring the McCann couple as arguidos in the case”.

Tuesday 05 February 2008

278

Apologetic police chief says it was right to make the McCanns 'arguidos' Daily Mail

Last updated at 10:41am on 5th February 2008 (update of article that first appeared yesterday)

EDIT

Detectives were right to make the McCanns official suspects, says apologetic Portuguese police chief.

Alipio Ribeiro has reportedly said sorry to his officers for saying they rushed into making Gerry and Kate McCann suspects in their daughter Madeleine's disappearance. Mr Ribeiro apologised to a police union boss and senior detectives in the Algarve, the newspaper 24 Horas reported today.

The director of the Judicial Police said he had made an ''error of expression'' when he said there had been ''hastiness'' in making the McCanns ''arguidos'', or formal suspects. He apologised to Carlos Anjos, head of the Judicial Police Inspectors Union, and to officers leading the Madeleine investigation.

A union source said: ''What he says is that he didn't mean to say it, but that faced with pressure from the media, the words came out of his mouth. He guaranteed that he maintains total confidence in the teams who investigated and are investigating the case.''

A senior police source said: ''Statements like these should be made internally, but never through the media.''

Alipio Ribeiro recognised that he should have been more cautious when he referred to the McCanns 24 horas

(Translation by 'Li' from the3arguidos forum)

The PJ chief apologises.

The national director of the PJ had to explain that he expressed himself badly when he said that there was a precipitation in the constitution of the McCanns as arguidos.

The statements of Alípio Ribeiro, high responsible for the PJ, when he said that there was a precipitation in the constitution of the Mccanns as arguidos provoked a wave of revolt in that institution.
Yesterday the director of the PJ excused himself to the Union Association of the Employees of Criminal Investigation (ASFIC) presided by the investigator Carlos Anjos and also to the responsible of the DIC of Faro. 24 Horas discovered that according to the explanations of Alípio Ribeiro to the responsible of these institutions and to the Ministry of Justice everything was due to an "error of expression". "What he said is that he did not want to say that but due to the pressure of the media, those words came out of his mouth". He guaranteed that he has all the confidence in the teams that investigated and are investigating the case, explained to 24 Horas a responsible from ASFIC, that asked not to be named. Carlos Anjos, president of the main Union of the PJ, said that about Maddie's case and concerning the statements of the national director of the PJ the "silence is gold". A position that was also assumed by Guilhermino da Encarnação, director of the DIC of Faro and by Gonçalo Amaral