Madeleine Parents Back In Portugal Resort, 11 December 2009

Madeleine Parents Back In Portugal Resort Sky News Andy Jack 8:22pm UK, Friday December 11, 2009 Kate and Gerry McCann have returned to Praia da Luz where their daughter Madeleine went missing in 2007. It is the first time Mrs McCann has returned to the resort on the Algarve coast. Sky News Crime correspondent Martin Brunt, who is in Portugal, said: "I understand they are planning to visit the Ocean Club complex from where Madeleine disappeared. "It will be an important and emotional visit, especially for Kate McCann." Earlier on Friday, in Lisbon, the McCanns' court battle with an ex-police chief who believes Madeleine is dead was postponed for a month. Brunt said: "I understand the McCanns have taken a three-hour car journey down from Lisbon after the aborted case. "This is the first time Kate McCann will have returned to the resort. Gerry has been back at least once to take part in a TV documentary. "And Kate has always said that - spiritually, at least - she felt very close to her daughter in Praia da Luz. "How long they will stay and who they will meet isn't known. "But they might find some resistance to their presence there because there were protests outside the court today and that anti-McCann feeling that was a little in evidence is a lot stronger in Praia da Luz."

Distortion, lies, fabrication and slander, 12 December 2009

Distortion, lies, fabrication and slander Daily Mirror By Emily Nash 12/12/2009 Kate blasts Madeleine cop Kate and Gerry McCann yesterday accused ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral of cynically distorting the facts of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance to make money. They hit out after appearing at court in Lisbon where Amaral was trying to overturn an injunction banning his book and a TV documentary about his Madeleine probe. Amaral, 50, claims the injunction breaches his freedom of speech. But Kate, 41, said: "Freedom of speech should not include distortion of the truth, lies, fabrication and slander. "Freedom of speech should not outweigh the rights of human beings, it should not outweigh the rights of our family and children to respect." The ban was imposed by a judge after the McCanns said Amaral was making "obscene" amounts of cash from a book that libelled them. Gerry, also 41, yesterday said the furore over Amaral's book threatened to obscure the fact that the McCanns were still searching for Madeleine. He added: "There is an innocent child missing here and that's what this is about. We are here to fight for our daughter. We are the only people who will do it and continue to do it." Madeleine vanished from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007. After four months, Amaral named Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, as suspects. A month later he was sacked. It was subsequently revealed he falsified evidence in the case of the mother of another missing child. Yesterday he avoided eye contact with the McCanns as he strolled past them in court. Amaral's appeal is part of a libel prosecution over The Truth of the Lie, which sold more than 200,000 copies in Portugal and was made into a TV documentary. In the book he claims Madeleine died in the McCanns' holiday apartment and challenges their version of events. In September, following a year-long campaign by the couple, a court ordered all unsold copies of the book to be pulped and banned repeats of the documentary. The McCanns are asking for £1million compensation which they plan to donate to the Find Madeleine fund. Yesterday's hearing was postponed until January because Amaral's solicitor has swine flu. Asked if she was disappointed at the delay, Kate said: "As it stands the injunction remains so we have no reason to be." Amaral yesterday released a second book which details the legal wrangles over the publication of the first.

Updates, 12 December 2009

Updates: Saturday 12th December 2009: Yesterday morning Gerry and I attended the Civil Court in Lisbon for the planned trial relating to the injunction against Goncalo Amaral's book and DVD. The trial was postponed until January as Mr Amaral's Lawyer was unable to attend. As the injunction remains in place (following the Judge's decision in September), we have no reason to be dissapointed. For us it was important to be there, especially for Madeleine. We travelled to Praia da Luz yesterday afternoon. I have longed to come back here for two years for personal and emotional reasons. Early this morning we went to the lovely little church of Nossa Senhora da Luz. It was so quiet and peaceful - a real sanctuary. Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting at the same time since we feel closer to Madeleine. We then walked down to the rocks on the beach, with its crashing waves and sense of vastness and freedom - another place where I've always felt able to reach out to Madeleine and find a little solace. For the rest of today we are planning to catch up with some very good friends. We hope that the media will respect our privacy and needs, as requested, as well as those of the local community.

Kate McCann Returns To Praia Da Luz, 12 December 2009

Kate McCann Returns To Praia Da Luz Sky News blogs By Martin Brunt December 12, 2009 6:31 PM Kate McCann must have got up at an unearthly hour to ensure her emotional return to Praia da Luz went unnoticed. We missed her and so did the fishermen who were on the beach long before dawn. Apparently she and Gerry were there at 5.30am to wander the deserted seafront and visit the nearby church which became their sanctuary in the weeks after Madeleine's disappearance. So, they managed to keep the trip private, as they intended - but it must have taken some determination. It also meant they avoided bumping into any of the locals who don't share the sympathy others have towards the couple. As Kate said in a statement:: "For the rest of the day we are planning to catch up with some very good friends."

McCann prayers on Praia trip, 12 December 2009

McCann prayers of Praia trip The Sun From ANTONELLA LAZZERI Published: 12 Dec 2009 KATE and Gerry McCann tonight attended a service at the church in Praia da Luz where they used to pray for their missing daughter. Looking upset the couple walked hand in hand into the tiny Nossa Senhora da Luz church. They were attending a vigil mass taken by Father Jose Pacheco. The catholic priest comforted the couple in the days after Maddie went missing on May 3rd 2007. The couple who are devout Catholics had earlier visited the church at dawn. They later said on their website that their pain felt "rawer" in Praia da Luz but they had found comfort from being there. Kate wrote: "Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting at the same time we feel closer to Madeleine." She and husband Gerry decided to make the heartbreaking trip on the spur of the moment after a court case in Portugal's capital Lisbon was unexpectedly postponed. The couple drove the 150 miles in a hire car and were last night believed to be staying with the Rev Haynes Hubbard and his wife Susan. The couple run the Anglican church in Praia da Luz and befriended Kate and Gerry when Maddie went missing in May 2007. They have visited the McCanns in England several times. Kate and Gerry are expected to stay the weekend and visit the Ocean Club resort where Maddie disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday. Kate was today described as a "broken woman" according to her Portuguese lawyer. Isabel Duarte said Kate had cried when she told how she wanted to go back to the resort where Maddie was abducted from. Senhora Duarte, the McCanns' legal representative in Portugal, revealed: "Kate is a broken woman. She was crying when she told me she wanted to go to Praia da Luz. "She says it is where she feels closest to Madeleine." She was with them in Lisbon on Friday where they were due to attend the start of a court action against former police chief Goncalo Amaral. The McCanns are also expected to visit the apartment block where they were staying in Praia da Luz. Kate also wants to go to the church where she regularly went to pray for Maddie after she went missing. She has never been back to the resort since Maddie was snatched from a holiday apartment there. Gerry, 41, has been back since the nightmare events. He was there for the filming of a TV documentary earlier this year. Kate did not go with him - at the time she felt it would be too traumatic. But yesterday she decided she was finally ready. Kate, also 41, has said before that Praia is special. And a source confirmed: "It is the place she believes she feels closest to her daughter. "It was the last place Kate saw and held Madeleine." The source added: "They didn't tell anyone they were going this weekend. They decided totally on the spur of the moment." Kate and Gerry had been in Lisbon to take on former cop Goncalo Amaral, 50. He was going to court to try to overturn a ban on the sale of a book he has written about the McCanns. Amaral, who headed the Maddie investigation before retiring, claims the couple lied about Maddie's disappearance. In the book, The Truth Of The Lie, he says Maddie is dead, the McCanns disposed of her body and made up the story of her abduction. Amaral claims the book ban - introduced after an appeal by Kate and Gerry earlier this year - denies him freedom of speech. But, speaking outside the Portuguese court, the couple hit back. Gerry said: "There is an innocent child missing here and this is what this is about. It's not about freedom of speech but the search for our daughter." Standing by his side at the entrance to Lisbon's Palace of Justice an emotional Kate said: "Freedom of speech should not outweigh the rights of human beings. "They should not outweigh the rights of our family, the children, for respect. "The rights to a proper, reasonable and fair search." Earlier the McCanns, of Rothley, Leics, came face-to-face with Amaral as they sat inside the Palace of Justice. It is the first time they have seen him since they were made official suspects in Maddie's disappearance in August 2007. They were later cleared of all suspicion. The hearing was postponed after Amaral's lawyer went sick with swine flu. It will now be held in January.

Pilgrimage in Portuguese lands, 12 December 2009

Pilgrimage in Portuguese lands Joana Morais By Antonieta Janeiro 12/12/2009 Thanks to Joana Morais for translation They are mistaken those who thought that the famous Doctors McCann were travelling to Portugal to assist the first session of the claim filled against Dr. Gonçalo Amaral regarding the temporary injunction, because of 'insults' made against them in the book 'Maddie, The Truth of the Lie'. They brought more in their luggage: In yet another claim against Gonçalo Amaral (this time for allegedly lying to the Court as to the goods and wages earned), they had in mind a glorious Hollywoodesque entrance, obfuscated by flashes, inundated with questions, with requests for autographs, with swarms of journalists, television channels, anonymous public and a crowd bath similar to the ones of 2007. A Portuguese lawyer, who said she was in a deep state of stress, accompanied them. However, God writes straight with crooked lines ... and the virus H1-N1 contaminated the 'Maddie case'! Besides the frustration of having entered a court for nothing, they mainly felt the frustration of not having anyone waiting for them to give them that superstars status. Quite the contrary! The star, this time was the man against whom they voted the entire world's hatred, because he might prove the «Truth» of the lie(s) that they have forged all over the world. The posters that were seen in the open sun of a winter morning were in support of Gonçalo Amaral. There was not a single word with «Maddie», «McCann», «fund», «search». NOTHING! There was a bunch of red carnations that was offered to them, but whose meaning they did not know – it was the «poisoned chalice». Visibly tense, uncomfortable and disappointed, they went forward with the «plan B» : A PILGRIMAGE TO THE PAST. It was, after all, what the McCanns really wanted - MEDIA and PROPAGANDA. They failed in Lisbon ... they headed to the Algarve! Unfortunately, that theory that "the killer always returns to the crime scene” seems to apply to them. They returned to the macabre route of the church and rocks on the beach. It was very clear heard, at the Courthouse door, the failed act of Kate saying that Maddie was entitled to a decent funeral, «...Madeleine has the right to a proper...uhm... a... a proper ... a proper... search » God be praised! Where (in this context) the adjective «proper» applies to the noun «search»?!? Are there, by chance, «fitting searches», «decent searches», «due searches »....?????????? If she had hesitated in the adjective «right», «accurate», etc…, before saying 'search', it would be different, especially since she was speaking fluently. She was not looking for an exact adjective to define an idea or concept. Now, PROPER ??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then, later in Aldeia da Luz, she had another slip, stating that it was THERE where she felt closer to Maddie. It never went unnoticed the saga of the church key, the prayers made at any time of day or night, always going in and locking themselves inside to meditate. In cases of extreme agony, it is admissible for the parish priest of any church to facilitate the out of hour’s entrance for the relief and moral support of some parishioner. But this was not the case. And so strange and disturbing it became, the Bishop of the Diocese had to intervene in person and order the suspension of all those special meditations behind closed doors. This happened, I believe, before they rented a car and changed apartments. By now, and without private key, there it went Kate McCann on a pilgrimage to Praia da Luz, stopping in two places, which according to her, are where she feels the closest to Madeleine - the Church and the rocks from the beach. Next appears in the British press a story-teller fantasying about «lairs», «traps», «hide outs», probably guarded by giants, monsters, ghosts and goblins, within 10 miles of the Ocean Club, citing examples such as the Austrian abductees , raped and walled up for years without realizing that these were teenagers and that Maddie was a girl-child. For a paedophile, there is no difference. However, for a sexual pervert who hides his special prey, there is a difference between a teenager and a little child. And there is another big, huge difference, too. We are all inserted in the great European Global Village. But there are features that distinguish the Latin and Peninsular people from the Anglo-Saxon. It is an insult to our Culture and to our Institutions, what a half a dozen Anglo-Saxons have been doing at our Lusitanian Coasts. Lisbon, December 12, 2009

Kate McCann: I can find a little solace at the resort where Madeleine was taken, 13 December 2009

Kate McCann: I can find a little solace at the resort where Madeleine was taken Daily Mail By MATT SANDY Last updated at 1:56 AM on 13th December 2009 Kate McCann has revealed how her emotional return to the resort where her daughter disappeared has allowed her to 'reach out to Madeleine and find a little solace'. She returned to Praia da Luz in Portugal yesterday for the first time since she was named as a suspect by police investigating Madeleine's disappearance more than two years ago, just before her fourth birthday. Kate and her husband Gerry, both 41-year-old doctors, visited the picturesque church where they prayed for the safe return of Madeleine, below right. They also took a poignant early morning walk along the beach. Gerry and Kate McCann in Lisbon last week Writing on the Find Madeleine website yesterday, Kate said: 'I have longed to come back [to Praia da Luz] for two years for personal and emotional reasons. 'Early this morning we went to the lovely little church of Nossa Senhora da Luz. It was so quiet and peaceful – a real sanctuary. Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting at the same time, since we feel closer to Madeleine. 'We then walked down to the rocks on the beach, with its crashing waves and sense of vastness and freedom – another place where I've always felt able to reach out to Madeleine and find a little solace.' It is not known if the couple also visited the holiday apartment from where Madeleine disappeared but last night they returned to the chapel for a Mass led by Jose Manuel Pacheco, the church's Catholic priest. Isabel Duarte, the McCanns' lawyer in a libel case against Goncalo Amaral, the former local police chief, over a book he wrote, said Kate had wept at the thought of returning to Praia da Luz. She said: 'She was crying but she very much believes Madeleine is still alive. She felt she had to return to Praia da Luz as it was the last place she saw her and that is what she remembers. 'She feels she left part of herself there. She needed to return for psychological and sentimental reasons.' She also told how Kate relies on her young twins Sean and Amelie. She added: 'She depends on the twins and it is very important for her to be with them. The twins would like to come to Praia da Luz but not at this time.' The couple travelled to Praia from Lisbon, where they attended a court hearing linked to their action against Amaral, whom they accuse of botching the investigation. The case was adjourned to next month. As they left court, the McCanns were heckled by shouts of 'Viva Goncalo Amaral, Viva Portugal'. The couple, from  Rothley, Leicestershire, stayed in Praia for four months after the tragedy. They were cleared after police shelved the case last year.

Kate McCann: I must be near Maddie, 13 December 2009

Kate McCann: I must be near Maddie Sunday Express By James Murray in Lisbon Sunday December 13, 2009 BRAVE Kate McCann told yesterday how she felt "closer" to her missing daughter Madeleine after making an emotional trip to the resort from where she was snatched. Kate, 41, admitted that although her pain felt more raw in Praia da Luz, Portugal, she also felt more at peace. And she described how she and husband Gerry gained comfort from a visit to the local church yesterday. Kate said: "Early this morning we went to the lovely little church of Nossa Senhora da Luz. It was so quiet and peaceful – a real sanctuary. "Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting at the same time since we feel closer to Madeleine. "We then walked down to the rocks on the beach with its crashing waves and sense of vastness and freedom – another place where I have always felt able to reach out to Madeleine and find a little solace." LEGAL ACTION: Gerry and Kate McCann outside court in Lisbon Kate told how she had longed to return to the resort for two years for personal and emotional reasons. She said: "We have no reason to be disappointed. For us it was important to be there, especially for Madeleine." Kate and her husband Gerry hurriedly left Praia da Luz on September 8, 2007, and flew back to Britain after they were wrongly made suspects in Madeleine's disappearance. On Friday, some 824 days since that day, the GP made the heart-rending return journey with Gerry to try to find some peace from her torment and discover what really happened to Madeleine. In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Express the McCanns' lawyer Isabel Dwarte said: "She is eager to be in the place where she left everything. She told me it was very important for her to be in the place where Madeleine had disappeared. "It was a very important part of her life. Psychologically and emotionally she needs to be there, she has to be in that place again. "She wanted privacy, not to make a fuss or a riot but she cried when she was talking about this to me." The couple, from Rothley, Leics, had hoped to make a private visit to the Mark Warner Ocean Club complex and apartment 5a from where Madeleine was taken on May 3, 2007, just a few days before her fourth birthday. However, details of their trip soon emerged and scores of journalists descended on the resort, forcing them to put their visit on hold. Mrs Dwarte said: "Mrs McCann is more confident in finding Madeleine. She has a new force, a new strength. She added: "I like her very much. As a mother myself, I cannot comprehend what she is going through." The McCanns' 150-mile drive to Luz followed a day of high drama in Lisbon on Friday when they had a fleeting encounter at a civil court with ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral. He was attempting to lift a ban on his book Truth Of The Lie which suggests that Madeleine is dead. Mr Amaral, who was removed from the Madeleine case, is being sued for £1million by the McCanns who say his theory is untrue and hampers their search for Madeleine. When the case was postponed until January, Mr Amaral stayed in Lisbon to launch his second book, called Amordaca Inglesa, or English Gag, which he claims "explains the legal process and my views of freedom of speech in Portugal". Among those in the audience buying a copy of the book was Mrs Dwarte, who won the injunction banning the sale of his first book. She said: "I want to analyse it and see if there is anything to do, if there is something that violates the rights of my clients."

Exclusive: Madeleine McCann search cash due to run out in three months, 13 December 2009

Exclusive: Madeleine McCann search cash due to run out in three months Daily Record Dec 13 2009 CASH funding the search for missing Madeleine McCann will run out in three months. Maddie's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, are now preparing to open talks with multimillionaire businessman Brian Kennedy to extend his backing. The couple had feared the fund set up to trace their little girl, who has now been missing for 31 months, would be exhausted by the end of this month. But they have boosted it with payouts won in legal actions against newspapers in Britain and abroad. Glaswegian Gerry and Kate, both 41, flew to Portugal last week for a new libel action against former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral, who wrote a book claiming Madeleine died in an accident, but on Friday the trial was adjourned until next month. It could see them net £1 million - cash that would be immediately diverted to the fund to find Madeleine, who was just about to turn four when she disappeared from their Algarve holiday home in May 2007. Scots double glazing tycoon Mr Kennedy has not yet indicated that he will continue to contribute cash The McCanns' PR man Clarence Mitchell, who also acts as spokesman for Scots doubleglazing tycoon Kennedy, said: "No one is worried about the situation. "Brian Kennedy has not said he won't continue to back the fund and the search will not cease until we have found her. "As and when the fund diminishes, there will be talks with Brian and various other backers. There is approximately £500,000 left in the fund and there is enough money to keep going until early spring. "Money is being spent more slowly. We had thought it would run out by the end of the year but the drain has not been so severe. "If it had not been for the libel settlements, the fund would have depleted long ago. A lot of work that has been done has ruled things out. "A number of leads are being followed at the moment. Kate and Gerry do feel that progress is being made." Kate and Gerry, who both work as doctors in Leicestershire, have pledged never to give up looking for their daughter. The fund is keeping costs down by running a smaller team of detectives and concentrating the search on southern Spain, Portugal and northern Africa. Kevin Halligen, an Irish crook who posed as a security consultant, was paid £300,000 from the fund and is now facing fraud charges.

Kate 'too traumatised' to see Madeleine flat again, 14 December 2009

Kate 'too traumatised' to see Madeleine flat again Daily Express From Nick Fagge in Berlin Monday December 14, 2009 HEARTBROKEN Kate McCann returned to Britain yesterday without visiting the holiday apartment where she last saw her missing daughter Madeleine. She was in Portugal with husband Gerry to give evidence at a Lisbon hearing into the ban on a book on the case by ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral. The couple, both 41, headed to Praia da Luz after Friday's court case for the first time since they left two years ago after wrongly being made suspects in the case. Vanished They have been completely cleared of any wrongdoing. The two, both doctors, hoped to return to the Mark Warner Ocean Club complex and visit apartment 5a. This was the last place they saw Madeleine before her disappearance on May 3, 2007. But it is believed Kate was too traumatised to go into the holiday flat before they flew back to the UK and returned to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. On Saturday night, the couple, both Roman Catholics, attended a service at the nearby Nossa Senhora da Luz church, which they regularly visited after Madeleine vanished. Kate cried during the entire memorial service and had to be comforted by Gerry who held her hand tightly throughout. The priest, Father Jose Pacheco, offered a prayer for Madeleine and all the world's lost children. The couple were comforted with hugs by other parishioners and a candle was lit beneath the picture of the British youngster hung in the church. The McCann's Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte said Kate had found the visit to Praia da Luz very upsetting. She said: "She was crying but she very much believes Madeleine is still alive. "Kate felt she had to return as it was the last place she saw her and that is what she remembers. "She feels she left part of herself there. She needed to return for psychological and sentimental reasons." The McCanns made the 150-mile pilgrimage to Praia da Luz after Friday's dramatic hearing where they fleetingly came face-to-face at a civil court with Goncalo Amaral. He was trying to lift a ban on his book The Truth Of The Lie. Mr Amaral, who was removed from the Madeleine case, is being sued for £1million by the McCanns who say his theory is untrue and hampers the search. The case was adjourned until January after Mr Amaral's lawyer went sick with swine flu. The McCanns face further anguish as funding for Madeleine's search runs out in three months, it emerged yesterday. They are now preparing to open talks with multi-millionaire businessman Brian Kennedy to extend his financial support.

McCanns leave Portugal, 14 December 2009

McCanns leave Portugal Correio da Manhã They leave Praia da Luz by early morning light for England J.M.G. 14 December 2009 - 00h30 Kate and Gerry McCann left Portugal for England early in the morning yesterday. Maddie's parents left Luz discretely and quite early, landing in the UK at around 14h00. The McCanns spent two nights in Praia da Luz, where their daughter Madeleine disappeared in May 2007. Kate and Gerry came to the Algarve on Friday, in the evening, after having been in Lisbon for the trial of the injunction brought against Gonçalo Amaral's book. The hearing was postponed due to the illness of the former Judiciária coordinator's lawyer. On the site dedicated to the search for their daughter, 'findmadeleine.com', the McCanns published that they were in the church in Luz on Saturday morning and took a stroll along the shore. The Media on site, however, only saw Kate and Gerry in the late afternoon of Saturday, when they attended the Mass in the chapel of the town.

VIP treatment for the McCanns, 15 December 2009

VIP treatment for the McCanns Editorial of the Magazine 'TV 7 dias', nº 1187 (paper edition only) By J. Paulo Canelas 15/12/2009 Thanks to Joana Morais for translation The McCann Couple continue to receive state honours, as if they are members of the British Government: after the escort to the Algarve airport, from where they "fled" to their England, more than two years ago after being constituted as arguidos in the Algarve in the subsequence of the investigations made by Judiciary Police of Faro; they have now returned to our country to "forbid" the sale of Inspector Gonçalo Amaral's book, as if they were heroes. Let us see, they dealt with journalists at the airport as if they were "starlets" - Messi or Kaka [football players] couldn't do any better - and to complete the "circus", they entered the Palácio de Justiça [Lisbon Courthouse] through the door reserved for the magistrates, with VIP treatment of which there is no memory. The Portuguese State, as always, embarrassed before the power of some - who does not remember the "case" of the Ambriz massacre, with Angola, in Durão Barroso's time? - bows before the great influences and yet again brings us another depressing demonstration of subalternity to the instituted international powers. It would be important that the Justice Ministry - or the Foreign Office, why not? - justified why Kate and Gerry are "entitled" to enter "from the backdoor" of what is considered the "ex-libris" of the Portuguese Justice... and, on the opposite side, the cases of children at risk, like the well known cases of Esmeralda (of the sargent) or Alexandra (the little Russian girl) are treated in the 'Public Square', without VIP's entrances or any other type of privacy.

McCanns make Luz return, 18 December 2009

McCanns make Luz return Portugal News 19/12/2009 (appeared online 18/12/2009) The parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann paid a brief visit to the resort where she was last seen alive over the weekend. The trip followed the postponement of a scheduled court hearing in Lisbon relating to a libel case involving former police detective Gonçalo Amaral. The hearing was postponed until January after Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer was unable to attend due to illness. Kate and Gerry McCann and Gonçalo Amaral were at the court, despite not being compelled to do so as it is a civil case. It was also the first occasion the former detective and Madeleine's parents had come face-to-face since they were famously declared arguidos back in September 2007. Mr Amaral had called on six witnesses, all of whom are current or former PJ police detectives, to appear in his defence, though only inspector Tavares de Almeida was present. Prior to entering the court room last Friday, Gonçalo Amaral told the multitude of journalists gathered outside the building that "Portugal is a country with freedom of expression." "Portugal has been a free country since April 25 [1974] and I cannot be incriminated for writing a book. There were others who also wrote a book", he explained, adding he counted on the cooperation of his former PJ colleagues during the trial. Around a 100 members of the Projecto Justiça group had also gathered at the court house, wearing t-shirts reading: 'Liberdade de Expressão', or Freedom of Expression. They also handed out red carnations, a symbol of Portugal's peaceful revolution in 1974 that resulted in the overthrow of a fascist dictatorship. Kate McCann accepted one of the carnations handed out by the group. The McCann family initiated proceedings against Gonçalo Amaral earlier this year over the contents of his controversial book 'Maddie – The Truth of the Lie'. They are also seeking that the book be banned for good. Published in 2008, Gonçalo Amaral's book is currently unavailable, having been removed from shelves following an injunction imposed earlier this year, on September 9th, as the result of opposition from the McCann family. On Tuesday, he launched his second book – 'The English Gag' – which is being published by a Spanish editor and is aimed at "all those who want to silence him". The book reportedly recounts Gonçalo Amaral's day-to-day life since working on the Madeleine McCann case and includes passages on such topics as his leaving the police force; his role in the Leonor Cipriano case and the effects of the McCann's injunction on the sale of his book 'Maddie – The Truth of the Lie'. Amaral's first book is based on his conclusions reached from investigations that at one point he headed. One of the most controversial conclusions is the ex-inspector's indication that Madeleine's parents were in some way involved in her disappearance. Kate and Gerry McCann, who are being represented by Isabel Duarte, allege that Gonçalo Amaral's theories, which are published in the book and in a video based on the book, are in their opinion, unsustainable. The family therefore asked that the book and the video, which were released after a documentary broadcast on Portuguese TV channel TVI, be removed – albeit temporarily – from the market. Also named in the litigation is publisher 'Guerra & Paz', Production Company Valentim de Carvalho, and TVI, for divulging Gonçalo Amaral's theory that the parents were involved in Madeleine's disappearance. The McCanns are requesting the protection of their rights and freedoms, as well as having instigated a second course of legal action against the former police chief in which they claim he made 'defamatory declarations' for which the family is asking compensation of at least €1.2 million. According to the McCann family's British lawyer, Ed Smethurst, the couple claim Amaral made 'continuous and damaging' statements, in Portugal and abroad, about the child's disappearance. Gonçalo Amaral is accused of having profited by "obscene amounts of money for selling his theory via his book and in interviews", as well as having damaged "donations, new leads, investigations, information and witnesses" relating to Madeleine's disappearance. The action against Amaral was filed by Kate and Gerry McCann, along with Madeleine and her twin siblings, Sean and Amelie. The McCanns have so far received around €700,000 in damages from British newspapers, though Gerry McCann told The Portugal News back in April that he believed the cash in the Find Madeleine Fund will have run dry by the end of the year. Meanwhile, and following the postponement of court proceedings last Friday, Kate and Gerry travelled to Praia da Luz where they stayed during the weekend. Kate, who was on her first visit to Praia da Luz in over two years, released a statement from the resort on Saturday evening in which she spoke of the litigation and their trip to the Algarve. "I have longed to come back here for two years for personal and emotional reasons. Early Saturday morning, we went to the lovely little church of Nossa Senhora da Luz. It was so quiet and peaceful - a real sanctuary. "Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting at the same time since we feel closer to Madeleine. We then walked down to the rocks on the beach, with its crashing waves and sense of vastness and freedom - another place where I've always felt able to reach out to Madeleine and find a little solace." Edition: 1041