A look at the controversial article by Spanish journalist, Aníbal Malvar, published in the Spanish newspaper El
Mundo on 27 April 2008.
Disappearance: The
Mystery Uninterred:A Confused Year Without Madeleine, 27 April 2008
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Disappearance: The Mystery Uninterred:A Confused Year Without Madeleine
El Mundo
On the brink of the anniversary, "Chronicle" returns to Praia da Luz and considers how Portuguese and British
police are more worried over their private war than looking for the child. The Portuguese insist: she is dead, and the McCanns,
implicated. The British still believe she is alive.
Section: Chronicle Date: 27.04.2008 Journal: El Mundo
We can never lose our policemen’s intuition, [expletive deleted]. We must remain skillful ... we are
not Norwegians, Finns,[expletive deleted]. We are Portuguese and Portuguese cops will dig around, improvise, rely on intuition,
make use of the CSI, that is true, but we can also walk around like angels with white christening gowns, properly sterilized,
starched and eating lettuce leaves because they are healthier. The member of the gang smokes, likes to eat and drink a few
drinks." [Note: “Malta,” so far as I know or can find in any dictionary, is not a Spanish word; it is Portuguese.
It means “gang,” but rather in the sense, I think, of “our gang” or “band of brothers,”
than any sort of group of bad fellows.]
So exhorts the chief Joao Tavares, from the passenger seat of the Ford Focus, to the inspector Francisco Meireles.
They are cops. They are a gang of friends. They are Portuguese police. When this conversation occurs, it has been five months
since Madeleine McCann disappeared from the apartment of her parents in the Algarvian locality of Praia da Luz. Since that
night of May 3 in which the girl disappeared, they make this trip from Portimao to Luz frequently. At night. They have done
it so many times in these five months that Meireles could remove his hands from the steering wheel, because the Ford Focus
already knows the 21 km from memory. If you don’t know it by heart, the Ford Focus is also Portuguese, a brother. That
night, Tavares is angry, and therefore wanted to return. It is the night of October 2, 2007 and his boss, Gonçalo Amaral,
has been removed from the investigation. Amaral has been removed, he says, because of those lettuce-eating Englishmen who
are trying to protect the McCanns: because Amaral Tavares, Meireles and the whole group of Polícia Judiciária of Portimao
are convinced that the couple are guilty of the disappearance of their daughter. And they have succeeded in concealing it
thanks to the high-level influence that the McCanns enjoy in the British Government.
April 23, 2008. The journalist parks the car at the same place and Tavares Meireles waits: “To see if
the dead girl tells us something." The girl remains silent ...
The little fence of apartment 5-A Rua Françisco Gentil Martins is closed with a cumbersome padlock, because
there are still curious pilgrims to the unburied mystery of the Virgin Madeleine. Already, in the Algarve, nobody is worried
about her. Tourism has not fallen. The periodicals re-sell what they sold before (they tripled their print runs and visits
to their sites in the hot period of the investigation). In the small garden are blooming well-arranged wildflowers, some flowers
that someone must take care to safeguard from the dryness of this premature summer. The tulips of the neighbourhood are already
lying down in the sun, and April has not yet ended. Everything remains as before Maddie. They who most agree are the only
ones of this luxurious neighbourhood of white houses that speak Portuguese: the domestic servants, the delivery men, the fishmongers.
In Porto da Luz [Note: Must mean PRAIA da Luz.] there is no census. The population is floating [fluid]. British,
French, Germans, Americans appear for a summer and disappear forever. Of course, no one is accustomed to losing a child.
So, perhaps, the McCanns acted with little good sense that night of May 3. They called Britain before the
Portuguese police. And, before the Portuguese police, they called all their neighbours, so that when Gonçalo Amaral, coordinator
of the Polícia Judiciária, arrived with his team of investigators, the flat at 5-A Françisco Gentil de la Rua was brought
to a standstill by fat, British, self-designated field marshals organizing searches on which there was no agreement. And trampling
evidence like imbeciles.
It was the first thing that made Gonçalo Amaral suspicious, who on Wednesday after 28 years on the force,
has agreed to leave the police with a paltry pension of 1,000 euros per month. Why? "There are things that have no price.
Dignity is one of them, and it has been withdrawn by their superiors in Lisbon," said one of his men, who spent a decade a
decade working alongside him.
The sin of Amaral was of thinking – after it would be of word and deed, not of omission – ever
since that first night: when the Portuguese arrived and the whole world, starting with Kate and Gerry McCann, spoke of abduction.
Nobody suggested that the three-year-old girl could have left by her own feet, despite the McCanns’ admitting not bolting
the door in case something happened in the house. And his entire group of Judiciária suspected another thing: the twins Sean
and Amelie, despite all those beery British field marshals in the adjoining room, were not awakened at any time. Neither when
the parents decided to move them in their arms to another room did they open their eyes. - These kids were doped, as it
showed then. - That was not proved. - Many things were not checked.
COLONIAL WAR
It is not only Amaral’s team in the Algarve that thinks that the investigation on the McCann culprits
has not existed. The journalist Helder Nunes, director of the weekly Windward of Portimao, and who has followed the Maddie
case in great detail, announced to Chronicle a few hours before it happened the news of the week: "Gonçalo Amaral will leave
the police and will write the book of what really happened to Maddie." (Amaral, who no longer speaks with the press, announced
his resignation just three hours after claiming that he wanted to regain his ‘freedom of expression ‘).
Nunes, who knows Amaral, explained his reasons before the decision of the police will have been formalized:
"The Portuguese police are convinced that there was an accident at home, that the McCanns have a social and political position
to defend and that they went mad and disposed of the corpse. The British police spend the whole investigation by concealing
evidence that might incriminate the McCanns, because that would involve Gordon Brown." Nunes does not forget that the British
prime minister gave to the parents one of his closest advisers, Clarence Mitchell, to be the spokesman for the family before
the media. Do not forget that Gerry McCann was in the spotlight of the British ministry of Health to access a relevant government
office. Do not forget that parents called Britain prior to the Portuguese 112, when they were closer.
Chronicle was with Gonçalo Amaral, "the great enemy of the McCanns” -as his resignation on Thursday
to the police was called by the Portuguese newspaper 24 oras - one week before he was to depart from the case. [Note: This
is a rehash of an interview that was printed in September 2007.]
- You have not seen the mother. You do not know the mother. She is cold. She is smart. She is an actress.
Amaral was set off by the press to criticize the efforts of the occult British police, their stubbornness
in preventing the McCann investigation. And also charged to McCann after a tense night interrogation on 7 September. Two days
later, the couple and the twins fled the Algarve and took refuge in Britain. Six days later, Amaral spoke for the first time
with the press since the disappearance of Maddie. He chose a foreign means: Chronicle. He requested that the meeting not be
recorded as an interview but as a result of third [party] sources. He only wants to be transcribed his denials in those matters
in which the British press has just screwed him: they have accused him of drunkenness, laziness, and, that which hurts him
most, of being a bad dresser. -- Do you not want to respond to the accusations? - No. -- Doesn’t the media
commotion bother him so much? - As San José said, justice is done in silence.
It is no longer necessary to maintain that anonymity. Gonçalo Amaral met with the journalist in an uncouth
bar in Olhao, 80 kilometres from Portimao. His appearance agrees with that of which he is accused by the British lettuce-eaters:
undoubtedly he has slept in the suit in the past three days; he hasn’t shaved; as he has a reputation as a drinker,
the journalist- also with true pleasure –orders one whisky after another during the interview, glasses that the red
eyes of Amaral continue following with anxiety; but the Torrente who dramatised Gonçalo Amaral on my whiskies and his waters
immediately shows other cards: - You're talking to me of police novels. You write police novels. I do other things. I read
other things. I do not you see you. And I read a lot.
Afterwards one learns that Torrente has studied, with the highest marks for his promotion, criminology, psychology,
sociology and law. One day one of his subordinates asked him: - Chief, and what is the branch of investigation that puts
you over? - People.
[Note: The journalist appears to have given Amaral the nickname “el Torrente,” which in Spanish
means the rushing stream, the torrent, or the flood. Since it appears that he is also saying that Amaral – somewhat
longingly – stuck to water whilst watching the journalist drink water, perhaps this is a play on the fact that Amaral
was drinking water rather than spirits that night.]
THE HUGO BOSS SUIT
It is not important that they labeled him drunk or lazy. What bothers him is the English press with their
objective of wrinkled suits, sweaty from three sleepness nights of sitting in an armchair in the Judiciária, with crumbs in
lapels and in the understanding (that he is wearing them):
But [censored word], Aníbal. This suit is Hugo Boss!
Finally, Gonçalo Amaral was dismissed as the coordinator of the investigation on 2 October 2007 (25 days after
the McCanns were accused). [Note: The McCanns have not been formally accused. The writer is obviously referring to their being
made arguidos.] The reasons: he had spoken to the press - Chronicle first and Portuguese Diario de Noticias one week later
- criticizing the obstructionist British police. [Note: The adjective entorpecedora, as applied to the British police, is
an important choice of words, in my opinion, and it is not possible to determine exactly what the author is saying. The Spanish
verb entorpecer can mean to obstruct, to hinder, to set back, and also, in the sense of work, to delay. All I can say is,
pick one. The meaning clearly is that the British police were not helping matters.]
Chronicle has managed to speak with one of the collaborators of Amaral. Despite having resigned on Wednesday,
he has not thrown in the towel. He is preparing a book, the book, about the shame felt by Portuguese investigators faced with
pressure from the British in this matter. You're not alone.
Between 1990 and 2007 Paulo Pereira Cristovao was in the Policia Judiciaria as an inspector. He worked in
the departments of Combate y Bandidismo, human trafficking, terrorism, and eastern Mafias. In his publishing success “A
Estrela de Madeleine” – recently pubhished in Portugal by the publisher Presença – he confirms with names
and surnames all Amaral’s theories: their little girl died; they concealed it to avoid a Portuguese prison, which they
consider Third World; they involved their friends and high British officials (the presence of MI6 in the area is common knowledge
with police and journalists living in the Algarve since then; they made the body disappear; turned the case of the disappearance
into the biggest media event in all history; they put forward a false trail in press conference[s]. No one has sued Pereira
Cristavao. His work is not on the shelves of bookstores: it is sold piled on top of the counters.
Julian Peribáñez is a detective. The agency of Julian Peribáñez, detective of the agency Metodo 3, has taken
seven months searching for Madeleine. And contrary to what the Portuguese cops think, they are looking for her alive. More
than 20 detectives have worked simultaneously on the case. An exorbitant cost. [Note: The Spanish word would be “exorbitante,”
but I can’t think of any other way to translate it.] They have checked more than 2,500 clues and have followed a hundred
in Argentina, Mexico, Morocco, Bosnia, Portugal ...
“We continue to look for Madeleine alive. Otherwise we would not be doing it," he says, convinced. He
does not scorn the Portuguese police, but he follows the trail of the British investigators: Maddie is alive; the parents
have nothing to do with it; the Portuguese feel they are being treated like a colony and are going at it the easy way.
"The little girl, unfortunately for us and especially for her, is no longer in the world of the living. Even
if someone had her in his possession, would he keep her alive knowing that she is the most looked-for little girl in the world?
I do not think so. The excessive advertising that [the parents ]gave, since the first night, to her face and iris were her
special condemnation. The rest is lip service, friend. She died and may God take care of her, because she was an innocent
who fell into a world of pure beasts." Thus said Joao Tavares. Amen.
9 CLUES FOR A PUZZLE
After one year, the Maddie case has been converted into an impossible to resolve puzzle. All tracks that,
at some point, seemed definitive, were afterwards dead ends. Here are some:
Parents suspects. Four months after the disappearance, Kate and Gerry McCann are declared suspects by the
Portuguese police, of the accidental death of their daughter after being interrogated separately. The contradictions into
which they fell- they argue that they were taking turns in order to monitor their children while several witnesses claim that
they had not moved; they said that someone had come from outside but the window shutter was not forced and denied having left
the apartment that afternoon, when they were filmed in an ice cream shop - they were put in the spotlight of the same British
press that a month ago apologized to them.
Sedatives. The Police went so far as to consider the hypothesis that the death of Madeleine had been caused
by an overdose of sedatives. From Kate’s diary can be inferred her difficulties in controlling the child, "hyperactive"
according to the mother. Kate’s father went so far as to speculate in public (albeit to deny it) with that possibility.
It was also published that after the birth of the twins, Madeleine was subjected to treatment to control jealousy and the
doctors prescribed tranquilizers. The track of the pills also faded away, although the twins slept like as angels in the presence
of 40 people the night in question.
The friends. The McCanns had dinner the night of the disappearance with three other couples of doctors, and
the mother of one of them, at the Tapas restaurant, 30 metres from the hotel. The versions do not coincide in some details
as those relating to monitoring of the children. Jade Taner [sic, should be Jane Tanner], present at that table, says she
saw a man with a child in his arms. His description-dark hair, slim, 1.70 meters, served to make a portrait robot [efit] on
the alleged hijacker. He was accused by hearsay of a third party neighbour. Question of jealousy. A few days ago all were
called back to testify. No progress.
The "criminal". Robert Murat is a British citizen who lives with his mother near where the girl disappeared.
He was the first suspect - 15 May. He was released for lack of evidence. Son of a Portuguese, he is divorced and has a four-year
girl who lives with his ex-wife in England. He was denounced by journalist Lori Campell, of the Sunday Mirror, for his strange
behavior during the investigation, in which he worked as a translator for the police. He announces that he is bringing lawsuits
left, right, and centre.
The blood. The dogs used by the Police found cadaver odour on the floor and on the key of the car, a Renault
Scenic, which the McCanns rented after the disappearance of their daughter. They also found traces of blood in the trunk.
Before others had already appeared on a wall of the bedroom occupied by the parents of the girl. However, the analysis laboratories
in Birmingham concluded that the remains in the car belonged to an adult male with a probability of 72%. The walls of the
apartment were cleaned with detergent, and the contamination that was the result of the presence in the apartment that night
of some 40 or so people, eventually invalidated these remains as evidence.
Bones. The discovery of some bones in a dam of the Algarve in January seemed the end. They were animal.
Pictures. Rare has been the month that has gone without published photos with alleged Madeleines anywhere
in the world: Morocco, Spain, Holland ...
The mulatto. The coincidence of some pictures, in which one sees a mulatto man in a park next to Maddie before
her disappearance and the same character accompanying Robert Murat after his arrest, did run the hypothesis of an alleged
paedophile network led by police who drew children of the country in order to sell them abroad for the purpose of the traffic
in organs. All known paedophile networks were swept to no avail.
The flight. Following diplomatic pressure from London, the McCanns left Portugal, although the Portuguese
Penal Code provides (Article 138) the crime of negligence for leaving the children alone without a caregiver could have been
charged.
Lead: Portugal. Abductions. Missing persons. Case of the girl Madeleine McCann. On the brink of the anniversary,
"Chronicle" returns to Praia da Luz and considers how Portuguese and British police are more worried over their private war
than looking for the child.
Signature: Anibal Malva
*
Note: The police officers João Tavares and Francisco Meireles are fictional
characters based on various officers and inspectors, not anyone in particular. They are symbolic of PJ inspectors
working on the Madeleine case.
The translation above was a collaborative work done by Astro,
Beachy, Joana, Tiffany, Stinky Sardine, The Academic, Anna, Santacoloma, Mercedes, Fenugreek, SkinnyDip, Eraumavez, Mantra,
Kazlux, Cassen, Ines and other Spanish-speakers. To all a big Thank you, Muchissimas Gracias e Muito Obrigada.
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El Mundo article by Anibal Malvar was lifted from the pages of "A Estrela de
Madeleine" by Paulo Pereira Cristovão, 28 April 2008
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El Mundo article by Anibal Malvar shown to have been lifted from the pages of "A Estrela de Madeleine"
by Paulo Pereira Cristovão
This report has been adapted from an article by
Joana Morais
Monday 28 April, 2008
Yesterday, a controversial article was published in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, which many considered to have ridiculed the Portuguese police. The article also contained quotes attributed to
Gonçalo Amaral which were picked up and reported by the
Daily Mail today.
The journalist Anibal Malvar quoted a conversation between two Portuguese inspectors: João Tavares and Francisco Meireles,
in which they described the "Portuguese cops" virtue of "improvisation".
Malvar affirms that this conversation was heard when they met on
the 23rd of April 2008: 'The Journalist parks the car in the same place where Tavares and Meireles waited for him'.
However,
the two inspectors Malvar quotes, João Tavares and Francisco Meireles, are fictional characters from a book entitled
'A Estrela de Madeleine', by Paulo Pereira Cristóvão. The words he reports hearing are actually sentences that the characters
speak in the novel.
The following section of Malvar's article, in Spanish, is a word-for-word copy of Chapter 9, page 63 of Paulo Cristóvão's
book:
«No podemos perder nunca nuestra intuición de policías, cojones. Tenemos que seguir siendo
mañosos... no somos noruegos, ni finlandeses, cojones. Somos portugas, y la bofia portuga se revuelve, improvisa, se fía de
la intuición, se ayuda de los CSI, eso es cierto, pero también podemos andar por ahí como angelitos con batitas blancas, debidamente
esterilizados, engominados y comiendo hojitas de lechuga porque son más saludables. La malta fuma, le gusta comer y beber
unas copas».(...)
Malvar then goes on to report what he heard from João Tavares:
«La pequeña, infelizmente para nosotros y sobre todo para ella, ya no está en el mundo de los vivos.
Incluso, si alguien la tuviera en su poder, ¿la iba a mantener viva sabiendo que es la niña más buscada del mundo? Yo creo
que no. La publicidad desmesurada que le dieron [los padres, desde la primera noche] a su rostro y su iris especial fueron
su condenación. El resto es palabrería, compañero. Murió y que Dios cuide de ella, porque era una inocente que cayó en un
mundo de bestias puras». Lo dice Joao Tavares.
The section above translates as: 'The little Girl, unfortunately for us and specially for her, is not in the world of
the living anymore. Actually, if someone had her would they keep her alive knowing she is the most sought after girl in the
world? I don't think so. The huge publicity given by the parents, since the first night, to her face and eye in particular
was her condemnation. The rest is words, mate. She died and may God take care of her, because she was an innocent girl who
fell in a world of pure beasts. Said João Tavares.'
This particular section, above, seems to be a mix of comments made
by Carlos Anjos and Moita Flores, which do not appear in the book 'A Estrela de Madeleine', however the journalist affirms
that he is listening to João Tavares - a fictional character!
Excerpt from
the Book "A Estrela de Madeleine" by Paulo Pereira Cristovão:
The
science and the cunning Chapter 9, Page 63
'… speaks João Tavares, the inspector who is
the chief of Francisco Meireles: "We can not lose our intuition as cops. We have to be wilful… we are not Norwegian
nor Finns.
"We are Portuguese and the Portuguese cops improvise, count on intuition, use the help of the CSI's, sure, because it
is not possible to do everything without them, but we cannot ‘walk’ down here like little angels in little white
lab coats, properly sterilized, in a stiff manner and eating leaves of lettuce at lunch because it is healthier and because
the foreigners think that is better, do you understand? We smoke, we like to eat and to drink. And so what?
"We are good police officers and whoever wants to compare results with us will lose."'
Gonçalo Amaral's alleged interviews
Also, in this El Mundo article, Malvar reuses and adds some words to an alleged 'interview' with Gonçalo
Amaral. However, Malvar's interview was originally published
back in September 2007, and he has pasted it into the new article giving the impression that Mr Amaral is still following the investigation.
Mr Amaral is forbidden to comment by the Portuguese secrecy code of Justice.
In this 'new' interview, Malvar also affirms
he was the first to get an interview with Gonçalo Amaral. Malvar adds that in order to get that interview he promised
to keep Gonçalo Amaral as an anonymous source, but now, because he is going to retire, he considers that fact is no longer
relevant.
However, an ethical journalist must honour an agreement not to use the name of a source unless the source explicitly
agrees to release him from any promise of confidentiality. A reporter should never assume that a change in the interviewee's
circumstances justifies release of their name, as Malvar has done in saying that it is alright for him to use Amaral's
name because Amaral is about to retire from the PJ.
The right to keep professional secrecy is a right of a journalist,
but it is also an obligation which guarantess the confidentiality of the sources of information.
Aníbal Malvar also
appears to have added a few more words to Gonçalo Amaral's statement.
Paulo Santos, Amaral's lawyer said today to Lusa
News Agency: "Those statements are a complete lie. Gonçalo Amaral never told the journalist anything. They seem to be citations
that were collected from the book about Maddie, which was written by former PJ inspector Paulo Cristóvão", he referred.
This
was a collaborative work done by Astro, Beachy, Joana, Tiffany, Stinky, The Academic, Anna, and other Spanish-speakers. To
all a big Thank you, Muchissimas Gracias e Muito Obrigada.
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Spanish newspaper
quotes fictional police as being real, 30 April 2008
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Fernanda Câncio
30/04/2008 (Thanks to 'Li' from the3arguidos forum for translation)
"We can never lose our intuition as cops, damn! We have to continue to be sly... we are not Norwegian, or
Finn, damn! We are Portuguese and the Portuguese cop improvises, believes in intuition (...) We guys smoke, like to eat and
drink. So what?"
The quotation belongs to a text published in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, section "Chronicle" and is attributed
to the "chief João Tavares", identified as one of the members of "Team Maddie" from the DCI of Portimão, speaking with the
"inspector Francisco Meireles".
"When this conversation takes place", we can read, "5 months have passed by since the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann". It is the night of 2nd of October, the day when Gonçalo Amaral was removed from the investigation. "he was removed",
continues the article "because of those British that eat lettuce and try to protect the McCanns: Because Amaral, Tavares ,
Meireles and all the DCI group are convinced that the couple is guilty".
"Amaral, Tavares, Meireles": the three names of policemen that the journalist Aníbal Malvar, 43 years old,
13 working in El Mundo, quotes in the two pages text as being part of the "group of the DCI of Portimão", it confuses who
has been following the case: if everybody knows who Gonçalo Amaral is, nobody heard about João Tavares and Francisco Meireles.
Publishers ask journalists in the ground to try to identify these two officers with so much to tell about
the case. The mystery is quickly solved: Tavares and Meireles only exist as characters of the book The Star of Maddie, that
the ex inspector of the PJ, Paulo Pereira Cristóvão published in March.
Malvar even mentions the book and his author describing the "theory" that is defended on it - and that coincides
with the one that is defended by the "group" of Gonçalo Amaral: the child died and the parents and eventually their friends
made the body disappear. But the Spanish journalist forgets to refer a little detail that he was quoting sentences taken from
a book, speeches from fictional characters.
A "mistake" that he admits to the DN: "I thought that I had identified
them as characters in the book". But he guarantees, "these men exist, they are not literary characters although obviously
they do not exist with those names". Malvar bases this certainty on the fact that "the book was written by an ex inspector
of the PJ with direct sources in the investigation. It is obvious that Paulo Cristóvão was not writing a fictional book".
The
author of the book states that he never spoke with the Spanish journalist till yesterday when he last phoned him, "asking
if everything that was in the book was factual or fiction", he says that "he was completely amazed when he read in an article
of a credible newspaper, policemen characters presented as real, as if they were real people", characters that he created,
"reading sentences from those characters as if the journalist had heard them or somebody has told him those conversations".
He considers it "shameful" but he assumes "at a certain time in the dialogue with the journalist I stopped
being amazed and felt sorrow. I got the idea that he was not being malicious, he only wanted to shine". Apart from that, Cristóvão
thinks that Aníbal Malvar "wanted to defend the Portuguese police" and he even "says good things about Gonçalo Amaral".
In
fact, in his article Malvar includes the description of a meeting with Amaral, the removed inspector (that asked to retire
and announced a book) and reproduces statements from that meeting, including a description of Kate McCann as being "an actress,
cold and cunning".
Amaral had asked confidentiality to the journalist asking him to attribute the interview to "sources" - this
is said in the text - but the journalist decided to reveal it because the inspector already asked for his retirement.
Malvar says he subscribes to "Amaral's thesis" concerning the case, and does not see in the exposure
of the ex inspector any deontological fault although he did not speak with him. As to Tavares and Meireles he does his mea
culpa "I wanted to defend the Portuguese police and used a literary reference, to which I gave all credibility. It was an
editing mistake. I apologise for writing the article badly".
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Aníbal Malvar says
that his article in "El Mundo" was misunderstood, 30 April 2008
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The journalist that wrote an article in "El Mundo" about the PJ inspectors, namely about Gonçalo Amaral, apologises
24horas
Aníbal Malvar says that his article in "El Mundo" was misunderstood
Text: Paula Silva
30/04/2008 (Thanks to 'Li' from the3arguidos forum for translation)
The author of the devastating article published in "El Mundo" says there is a misunderstanding... But
he apologises
"It was never my intention to offend the Portuguese police or Gonçalo Amaral. If I did it, I apologise".
This were the words of Aníbal Malvar to the 24 Horas yesterday.
The journalist, 43 years old, that will be sued for what he wrote said that he tried to speak with Gonçalo
Amaral to clarify any misunderstanding but was not able to.
Aníbal Malvar says he is surprised with the repercussion that his article published last Sunday is having
in Portugal. "The article is a literary one and has several sarcasms and it's perhaps because of that that was misunderstood",
he claims.
Malvar says that he made critics but to the British police. "What I wanted to denounce was that the PJ of
Portimão could not do their work because the British colleagues did not allowed. The influences were several and at a high
level", he said to 24 Horas.
"Removed by political reasons"
The Spanish journalist says that the former coordinator of Maddie's case was a person with clear ideas about
the disappearance of the little girl". His conviction was that the McCanns were involved", assumes the journalist.
Malvar claims that Amaral, with whom he talked once during more than three hours in September, last year,
in Algarve "was removed from the police by political reasons".
In the article it is attributed to Gonçalo Amaral the following sentence about Kate: "You did not see the
mother (of Madeleine). You don't know the mother. She is cold. She is cunning. She is an actress". Gonçalo Amaral said that
he is going to sue.
"Silliness is not a crime"
Paulo Pereira Cristóvão, former PJ inspector, received yesterday a phone call from the journalist of "El Mundo"
asking him if two of the policemen of his book "The star of Maddie", João Tavares e Francisco Meireles, were true or fiction.
The Spanish journalist used these names in his article with some sensational sayings. Example "We smoke, we like to eat and
to drink". Cristóvão said to him that they were fictional. "Although he publishes passages of my book I don't have how to
sue him because being silly is not a crime" he said to 24 Horas.
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With thanks
to Nigel at
McCann Files
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