A controversial book about the disappearance of
Madeleine McCann by Gonçalo Amaral has been allowed to go
back on sale after the appeal court in Lisbon on October 19 overturned
the ruling to ban the publication, as the block on the book was deemed
unconstitutional.
Maddie –A Verdade da Mentira (Maddie –
The Truth of the Lie), written by former lead police
investigator in the case,
Gonçalo Amaral, was first banned in September 2009 after
Kate and Gerry McCann launched a case against the book.
In the book, Gonçalo Amaral claims that Kate and
Gerry McCann were involved in the disappearance of their daughter
Madeleine from their holiday
apartment in
Praia da Luz in 2007 and that they had
fabricated claims of abduction.
UK plans
Portugal’s Attorney General has reviewed the case and
stated that there was no evidence to suggest that the McCanns were
anything other than “entirely innocent” but the book can now go back on
sale as the ban had broken “a constitutional and universal right: that
to the freedom of expression” and the contents of the book did not
breach the basic rights of the plaintiffs.
The
50 minute DVD documentary based on the
book will also now be allowed to be sold again.
Gonçalo Amaral told Portuguese newspaper Correio da
Manhã: “I have a sensation of liberty and I am sure that democracy in
Portugal has been reinforced.
“My editor is going to immediately recuperate all the
books that have been seized and take them to be placed in shops for sale
once again and we are looking at other initiatives, including the
publication of the book in England.”
Appeal
A
spokesman for the McCann family told
the British press this week: “The defamation action against Mr Amaral is
very much continuing and Kate and Gerry’s lawyers are now examining the
detail of this latest ruling and are considering an appeal.”
The spokesman continued: “As painful and personally
damaging as the slanderous claims of Mr Amaral and his supporters have
been to us and our family, our primary focus has always been, and always
will be, to find Madeleine through our own best investigative efforts.”
Do you have a view on this story? Please email Editor
Inês Lopes at ines.lopes@theresidentgroup.com |