Madeleine McCann: Amaral’s Book Banned
GONCALO Amaral’s book on the Madeleine McCann case, The Truth Of The Lie, has been banned.
The McCanns’ Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the couple were “absolutely delighted“.
A judge at Lisbon’s main civil court outlawed any further sales or publications of the book.
Says Clarence Mitchell:
“Kate and Gerry McCann are absolutely delighted that the judge in Portugal has done the right thing by granting this injunction.”
Copyright for the book and film must also be handed over to the McCanns’ lawyer.
It bans him from repeating any of his claims about the McCann family and applies to a TV programme he produced earlier this year.
Mr Amaral, the former policeman, has to make it so that all unsold copies of his tome are removed from points of sale and distribution across Europe or face a 1,000 euro-a-day (£877) fine.
If he can find them…
Mr Amaral says he does not believe the McCanns’ account that Madeleine was kidnapped. But he was not paid to believe – he was paid to discover the facts. And he failed.
And instead of facts, we got more speculation. All we know is that McCanns are innocent; the police have proven no crime too place; there are no suspects; and Madeleine McCann is misisng.
Posted: 9th, September 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews Comments (90) | TrackBack | Permalink
September 12th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Yes and here’s another view from the ‘Glasgow’ crew
Bottom line is that you either believe there is a shady deal going on. Or you don’t.
If you do, it’s interesting, if you don’t, well either it’s not interesting or it’s interesting reading the barking theories
And either way, it’s all barking really. Woof
September 12th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
WOW! Ninety-One posts and Maria, Stig and Garth are all back on stage, we only need the “Glasgow” Brigade and it’ll just be like old times.
September 12th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Rockhopper: The deficiency in the DNA ‘evidence’ is so great that it would not serve in a civil case because it wouldn’t even come within the definition of ‘balance of probabilities’.
The DNA relates to only 17 cells found in the hire car. Such a sample is utterly minute and can be deposited by a person just brushing their fingertip lightly against something. Since many items of Madeline’s were transferred in the car when The McCanns moved to the villa, those 17 cells could have come from one of those items – if they were Madeleine’s cells in the first place, but even that could not be determined as the sample was too degraded to even make that determination.
In essence, there is no DNA ‘evidence’, it is a myth that has been used to sell newspapers.
Madeleine-McCann-Portuguese-detectives-lied-to-Gerry-McCann-about-DNA-evidence.html
AZ: Why is that people who cite Kate’s 40 unanswered questions always fail to mention that Gerry answered questions put to him? Furthermore, they also fail to point out that some of the questions were based on out and out lies by the PJ.
I have always held the view that Kate’s refusal to answer questions was probably a consequence of her becoming furious when it became obvious to her that the PJ were obviously not looking for Madeline but were devoting their efforts to proving that she and Gerry were responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance. It may well be case that her lawyer, Carlos Pinto, advised her not to answer the questions. If that was the case, she would have been a fool to ignore the advice of her legal counsel.
“Kate began by replying all the questions, but when she was made an arguida, she stopped talking. She went silent, in the company of her lawyer,”
September 12th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Garth, good to see you back in the world of fact and fantasies!
September 12th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Chesire Set, thanks for the clarification. Have to wait to find out now if the Portugal Courts will rule that under the Freedom of Press it is permissible to libel or slander someone or in anyway interfer with the ongoing search for a missing child with the book/story they printed and claim as their own.
Have there been any cases similar to this one taken before the Courts in Portugal in the past and ruled on?
September 12th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
…or even ‘their’ story 🙄
September 12th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
80 Cheryl says:
September 11th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Interesting, Amaral isn’t appealing he is having someone else do it Not willing to put his money where his mouth is!
————————————————————————————————–
Cheryl
The publishers ‘bought’ the story from Amaral and went to print. Amaral would not appeal it, only they can as its ‘thier’ story now
September 12th, 2009 at 9:41 am
That post was so contentious that you knew they wouldn’t post it twice. Double censorship
September 12th, 2009 at 2:01 am
I’m sorry but this is not an open debate… I tried to post something here but unfortunatly was rejected by the moderator….
This is how the McCanns get away… people are afraid of them.
They waste money in controling the media, if they were saying the true then that money would save millions of children all over the world…
I already know this will not be posted…. thanks
September 12th, 2009 at 12:42 am
The line between freedom of expression and libel is always a difficult one to draw. The McCanns have certainly succeeded in drawing the line where they wanted it to be when it came to the press. Press freedom is a crucial principle in a free society, but papers can, and do, stray into libel and have to pay for it if challenged. Whether or not the same will apply with this book is a different matter. The truth of what has been written normally has to be shown. The question is, can GA show that what he wrote is true when his own police force came to a different conclusion?
As you say, AZ, interesting times ahead! Who can tell?
Scotfree, yes, I’ve always assumed it was a block of questions, or that the lawyer simply said, “Say nothing at all for the moment!” As you say, we don’t really know what the situation was.
Can anyone clarify….. Are we assuming that any action taken against Amaral by the McCanns for alleged libel is separate from this business about banning the book? Did the McCanns bring an action aimed at getting the book banned, and, if so, are they also continuing with the more traditional libel action?
The most interesting thing about the ban is not whether or not it will ultimately be upheld or permanent, but that it demonstrates precisely what a Portuguese court thinks of the book, or at the very least, it shows that the court thinks there’s a good chance it could be shown to be libellous. Let’s not forget that the relevant Portuguese authorities in each case have :
(a) dismissed Amaral from the case in a humiliating sort of “sacking” and, obviously, in the full glare of publicity.
(b) found him guilty of perjury in a court of law, in relation to another of his cases.
(c) issued this ban on his book which suggests the McCanns are guilty of very grave crimes in relation to the disappearance of their child.
What on earth could these Portuguese authorities be scared of when it comes to Kate and Gerry McCann, two docs from Leicester? Surely we must at least consider seriously the idea that the decisions to take these three actions were well-founded and sensible and in each case were taken in good faith by the relevant, competent Portuguese authority, without external pressure and simply based on available information?
(Surely we can’t be sure it’s all the work of M16??!!)