Madeleine McCann And Amaral Policing
MADELEINE McCann is missing and the Mail has news.
No, not of the girl. No news of her. The Mail looks instead at Goncalo Amaral, billed as the officer leading the search.
We’ve not heard of Amaral before now. But we will hear of him again now that his name has been brought to the fore.
The Portuguese officer has become embroiled in another sex case. Or no, dear reader, this is no repeat of Soham policeman Brian Stevens, who was charged with offences relating to the possession of indecent images of children. He was later cleared.
This is the matter of how Amaral, head of the regional Judicial Police, is accused of beating up a suspect during questioning. He and four fellow officers are said to have assaulted Leonor Cipriano, whose nine-year-old daughter Joana disappeared in the Algarve in 2004.
Joana’s body has never been found.
The Express (“Madeleine: Police chief quizzed over torture of mother”) has a picture of Mrs Cipriano’s bruised face. This is the same Mrs Cirpriano who, along with the girl’s uncle Joao, was convicted of killing her daughter and jailed.
The Express hears “echoes” of this in the Madeleine McCann case. It says police failed to seal off the house where the girl was last seen. It says “hundreds of police trampled over the crime scene”.
But police did watch the McCanns apartment, although it as not immediately sealed off. Hundreds of police did not storm the crime scene. In fact, the papers told us that little was being done, that evidence of police action was in short supply.
And then there is Mrs Cipriano. The Times says she killed Joana when the girl discovered mother and brother having an incestuous relationship. Similarities between then and now, at least to the Express’s mind.
And what of Mr Amaral? Well, he’s still in his job. A police source tells the Times that he is “very angry”. And: “He is very upset because reporters never speak of their successes.”
Might it be that rather then being clueless dolts, the Portuguese police get the job done?
And are we to believe that Mail and Express readers are appalled at this alleged use of brutal police tactics against people who harm children?
How long before the papers begin to laud Mr Amaral and demand more of his kind…?
Posted: 11th, June 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (30) | TrackBack | Permalink
