Lisbon Court denies Kate and Gerry chance to give evidence

A lot of them do that, don't they?

Odd, the Gonzo Fan Club doesn't seem to be bothered that the world is still waiting for their oafish idol to play his fabled Ace. Why, it's almost as if he doesn't have one! Never did, is just another bullsh*tter.

That was such a nice get together we had in the SSSS on our old forum. Who photographed that burning ace?

Bennett's not a happy hounder:

REPLY: This is totally bizarre.

Apart from maybe North Korea, Zimbabwe, Somalia and the Central African Republic, where else in the world apart from Portugal is one not allowed, in civil trials, to say anything in one's own defence, or 'only with the judge's permission'?

Dangerously close to heresy, is that.   

Mind you, he can relate to that himself.   

               

How's this for delusion from some hounder or other?

. What has now become more important, and why Amaral cannot speak in this case is because there is the possibility that the JIT will bring something to the Judicial table in due course. Amarals powder needs to be kept dry.

What, the same non-existent 'powder' he's been keeping dry for over six years? Don't be so stupid - Gonzo has no Ace, and never did. He's just an empty vessel, a big-time Billy Bullsh*tter whose devoted fans are too blind to see through.

I think his powder has been washed out by the deluge.        

Catherine Higgins ‏@justmebeingme4 2h
Goncalo Amaral, who led the police investigation, is due to speak to a conference next month in Nottingham #McCann http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241897/Madeleine-McCann-detective-Goncalo-Amaral-visit-UK.html …

Imbecile forker.       

That was years ago, and it was only Bennett's lot, anyway. It never happened - but it will be entertaining to see how many of the haters fall for it all over again.

They will see it as a sign that Amoral has won in the libel suit.          

They aren't going to like this:

http://news.sky.com/story/1190033/madeleine-mccann-parents-in-court-setback

Madeleine McCann Parents In Court Setback
The couple are suing a former Portuguese detective over claims he made in his book, which they say exacerbated their anguish.

A request by Madeleine McCann's parents to give evidence at a Portuguese libel trial over a book by a former local police chief has been rejected, according to a family source.

Kate and Gerry McCann are suing Goncalo Amaral over claims he made in The Truth of the Lie, which they say damaged the hunt for their missing daughter and greatly added to their anguish.

The McCanns are also taking legal action against his publisher and the makers of a documentary based on the book.

They had wanted to testify in the court case, which is taking place in Lisbon.

But a family source said permission had been refused ahead of the next hearing date, which is on Tuesday.

The couple are said to be disappointed by the decision, and their lawyer Isabel Duarte is likely to appeal against the judge's decision.

An application by Mr Amaral to give evidence is also understood to have been turned down.

Mr McCann's sister Trish Cameron told the court last October that the family's pain over Madeleine's disappearance was "multiplied 100 times" by the book, while the trial previously heard how Mrs McCann had considered suicide in the aftermath of its publication in 2008.

Madeleine's mother travelled to Lisbon at the start of the trial, and her husband has attended several times in the hope of being able to give evidence.

Madeleine, who was then nearly four, disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant with friends.

British detectives launched a fresh investigation into the youngster's disappearance in July this year - two years into a review of the case - and made renewed appeals on television in the UK, the Netherlands and in Germany.

After shelving their inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance in 2008, Portuguese authorities said in October that a review had uncovered enough new information to justify reopening it.

It really doesn't show the court in a good light, refusing to let the McCanns make a victim impact statement.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/358729/Madeleine-McCann-s-parents-left-furious-after-court-gags-them-from-giving-evidence

Madeleine McCann's parents left furious after court gags them from giving evidence

KATE and Gerry McCann were seething yesterday at being gagged from giving evidence against the man who accused them of covering up daughter Madeleine’s death.

By Jerry Lawton/Published 4th January 2014

They wanted to tell a Lisbon libel trial how ex-detective Goncalo Amaral’s claims left them devastated.

But Portuguese Judge Maria de Melo e Castro ruled neither they nor Amaral could give evidence. The doctors, both 45, from Rothley, Leics, are suing Amaral, 56, for £1million over his book The Truth Of The Lie and a television documentary.

Amaral, who led the investigation into three-year-old Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2007, claimed she died in the family’s Praia da Luz holiday apartment and accused the McCanns of faking her abduction. The couple claim Amaral added to their heartache and damaged the search.

Amaral denies defamation and claims everything in the book is based on police and court files, which were made public.

Their lawyer Isabel Duarte said: “Obviously Gerry and Kate were disappointed... We believe they have the right to give evidence in the case.’’

On Tuesday lawyers for the McCanns, Amaral, publishers and the documentary producers will give their closing statements in the five-month long case.

Last night a source close to the couple said: “They are very disappointed by the judge’s ruling. It is yet another blow. They will not be going to court. There is no point now. It would simply turn into a media circus.”

It really doesn't show Portuguese courts in a very good light.

http://stopthemyths.prophpbb.com/topic6269.html


Re: Madeleine McCann parents cannot give evidence at detecti
PostPosted by Hael » Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:56 pm

A superb post summing up the incalculable damage Gonzo has done to Madeleine McCann and her family.

Quote:


It's not just about a police officer who didn't do his job properly; it's about what that police officer did to influence others. He influenced their behaviour in such a way that it DOES hamper the search for Madeleine.

And if you can't see it, then you are blind. And if the Portuguese legal system can't see it, then its proof that it is corrupt.

The outcome of this case centres on the opinion of only one person. And I pay her the compliment of assuming that she isn't stupid.
At this stage she quite probably has enough information to make a decision. And she would have to be blind as well as stupid not to know of the distress and damage that Amaral caused.

Here's a perfect example of the bizarre manner in which Portuguese 'justice' is bailed out:

http://www.cmjornal.xl.pt/detalhe/noticias/nacional/portugal/triplo-homicida-apanha-25-anos-e-esta-em-liberdade

Almada
Triple murderer picks up 25 years and is at liberty
Man killed his lover and the parents of this shot. Judgment was read on Friday the Court of Almada. (Updated at 16h58)

ohn Carvalho was sentenced on Friday for the 3rd criminal judgment of the Court of Almada, to 25 years in jail for murdering his lover, Maria do Rosário, the father and mother of this, in November 2005.
Maria do Rosario, 40, was hit with a shot in the face and another in the chest, shot her lover in Costa da Caparica, Almada. Parents, Antonio and Maria Rosa, both aged 71, heard the shots and rushed to the aid. When the match was already dead. They tried to escape but were shot in the back.
Despite the conviction, João Carvalho will remain free at least until the court has ruled on the possible extent of measures of constraint to apply (while waiting for the development of the resource, if it is brought), which, according to judicial sources, only expected next week.
The lawyer of the family of the victims, Diogo Martins, who said satisfied with the sentence, said it's up to prosecutors to evaluate and propose a possible modification of measures of coercion.

The prosecution has to act in accordance with what is your understanding. Ie, depending on the procedural status of the accused, the prosecution will promote what you have right," he said.
In his view, "although no direct evidence existed, the truth is that the circumstances surrounding the commission of offenses were clear and specific" and therefore "could not have been otherwise decided."
The court Almada also appealed to families of three victims, but Talego Amelia, Aunt Mary of the Rosary, do not understand that the defendant had left at liberty after having been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
"We had hoped that he had been arrested today.'s A man who killed three people eight years ago and it is still free. And now even have the right to appeal. We are shocked by all this," he said.
"It's been a great suffering for the family. He [the defendant João Carvalho] passes us on the street and laughs," added Amelia Talego.

========

Not surprisingly, the good people of Portugal are up in arms about this - doesn't matter what crimes are committed, it's impossible to get more than 25 years in Portugal.

Murderers have burned people alive in lifts, King Ghoba murdered three young people and raped many more - 25 years. And the soft sentences for child abuse are a national scandal, as anyone who follows Portuguese media knows.

Good choice of photo by the Mirror - Gonzo's as shifty-looking as he's scruffy.

I have to say that I quite like this.



sallypelt Yesterday at 7:27 pm

This is interesting information:

Vexatious libel litigants in Portugal have little to lose, because:


1. It costs relatively little to bring a criminal libel case in Portugal as it is essentially paid for by the Public Prosecution Service. (Judges themselves who bring libel cases enjoy favourable terms…and are exempt from paying any court costs!)

2. In Britain litigants who bring false actions for libel are ordered to pay the other side’s legal costs and expenses, and if found to have lied are prosecuted for perjury and given a jail sentence. No such consequences hang in the balance in Portugal.

3. Even when the European Court of Human Rights determines that Portugal is in breach of Article 10 governing Freedom of Expres​sion(which it invariably does) and orders the State to reimburse the applicant all fines and damages paid plus expenses incurred, the Portuguese litigant still gets to keep his/her “compensation” as the bill is footed by the Portuguese taxpayer!

There are therefore few deterrents to discourage spurious claims. Hence, libel actions are used as a highly effective intimidatory and persecutory weapon to silence critics, whistle-blowers and consumers alike, leaving the hapless individual who has spoken out with a European Criminal Record and the claimant with a profit! A win-win situation for any malicious litigant.

Unlike in Britain, where it is considered essential that libel cases be determined by a jury, and thus it remains the only civil case still to be decided by twelve members of the public, in Portugal the decision rests at 1st instance with one judge.

The offence of aggravated defamation is an inversion of democracy because it provides for greater punishment where the plaintiff is a judge, public official, lawyer or member of the clergy; insulating from criticism and scrutiny the very people who exercise power over other people’s lives, and therefore need to be subject to greater, not less, scrutiny and accountability.

The only legitimate purpose of libel laws is to protect reputations from unwarranted attack and the dissemination of false statements of fact. A reputation is an objective, definable concept and hence the European Convention refers to the balancing of the rights of freedom of expression and protection of reputation.

In Portugal, criminal libel proceedings can be initiated on the flimsy and totally subjective argument that “one’s honour has been offended”, regardless of the legitimacy of the criticism or the veracity of the statement, and the Portuguese version of Article 10 of the Convention has substituted the word “reputation” for the term

You can read it in full on this link: http://algarvenewswatch.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/are-libel-actions-in-portugal.html

sallypelt

Posts: 1191
Join date: 2012-11-10

The offence of aggravated defamation is an inversion of democracy because it provides for greater punishment where the plaintiff is a judge, public official, lawyer or member of the clergy; insulating from criticism and scrutiny the very people who exercise power over other people’s lives, and therefore need to be subject to greater, not less, scrutiny and accountability.

Gonzo's gang like hiding behind that one, don't they? It's as UN-democratic as it being a CRIMINAL offence to call the president a clown in Portugal.

Good job the sensitive little flowers don't live in the US or UK, isn't it?

And The McCanns get to keep the Damages if they win, and then later lose on appeal.

Quote from: Montclair on Today at 03:26:19 PM
Gonçalo Amaral did not make the accusations, these accusations were the conclusions of the interim report. The McCanns and their team started this whole libel case off because of the insults made about Gonçalo Amaral, even after he was taken off the case. He wrote the book to defend his honour and that of the PJ and the judicial authorities since his superiors did nothing about the insults from the press.

Notice the Gonzo mouthpiece fails to explain exactly why the PJ have no intention of doing anything to help her idol, indeed, were last heard of trying to stop his pension and the perks he had from being an ex-officer?

Notice the Gonzo mouthpiece fails to tell the world that, away from his own clique and hangers-on, the PJ, like all sane people, regard Gonzo as a disgrace and embarrassment?

Plus, why try to distance themselves from the disgrace of an investigation to begin with? Gonc was in charge of the investigation. Did anyone see anyone else's name credited with being in charge of it before he was fired? Sorry, he resigned.

His name was on his book as author. I don't remember seeing anyone else's name as co-author?

Why did The PJ refuse him the right to defend his honour while he was still employed? But never mind. Who cares?

Convicted perjurers who defraud their own brothers haven't a shred of honour TO defend, Sabot.

lily wrote:Plus, why try to distance themselves from the disgrace of an investigation to begin with?  Gonc was in charge of the investigation.  Did anyone see anyone else's name credited with being in charge of it before he was fired?  Sorry, he resigned.

His name was on his book as author.   I don't remember seeing anyone else's name as co-author?

No, no, Lily, The investigation wrote the book.

Personally, I think he had a ghost writer. But no one is owning up, predictably.