Kate and Gerry McCann face a fresh setback after learning that their legal team
would not be given access to police files of the investigation into their
missing daughter.
Madeleine’s parents had hoped that a recent change in Portuguese secrecy laws
would result in evidence relating to the case being made available.
Under the new Portuguese Penal Code, which was introduced in a bid to make
police investigations more transparent, arguidos – or formal suspects - should
be told the evidence against them.
But Kate and Gerry McCann have been informed that the overhaul in the system
does not apply to "complex" cases like Madeleine’s.
"Their lawyers applied for full access to the police file but that has
been denied," said Clarence Mitchell, the official spokesman of the
McCanns.
"They have been told that the case has too many complexities and therefore
the restrictions will not be lifted," he said, alluding to a caveat in the
new regulations, which were brought in at the beginning of the new judicial
session in September.
He said the pair, who were made formal suspects on
September 7, have still not been told what evidence the police have against
them.
Detectives allegedly became suspicious after microscopic traces of blood were
found in the McCanns’ holiday apartment and bodily fluids believed to be
Madeleine’s were discovered in their hire car.
However, initial DNA results have so far proved inconclusive.
It was thought that this week could see the release of police files relating to
the case against Robert Murat, 33, who was made the first formal suspect on May
14.
But Francisco Pagarete, the lawyer acting for the
British ex-pat, said that although it had been exactly six months since Mr
Murat was made an arguido he expected to receive no information from the police
about his client.
"This is the first deadline when we should be told whether Robert Murat is
to be formally accused of the crime or not," Mr Pagarete
told the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha.
But he said that he thought his client’s status would be automatically extended
for at least another two months because the public prosecutor had evoked the
"special complexity" clause.
Last week it emerged that the McCanns and Mr Murat could remain arguidos for 15
years if no new evidence was found. |
