Robert Murat is targeted once more
THE Algarve Resident has an interview with Robert Murat. It’s in response to the widely reported opinion of one Stephen Birch. Luis Manuel Cabral writes in Portugal’s Diario de Noticias:
Maddie’s body may be in the backyard of Murat
Robert Murat is an innocent man. He was libelled and received damages in light of the media reporting on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. His name remains blackened.
This translation is via Google:
The “Morning Post” writes that after an exhaustive study of the land of Praia da Luz, and the changes that have suffered in five years, using images from Google which acquired, the entrepreneur Stephen Birch was taken, there are about two weeks , to the backyard of English Robert Murat. Passionate about the disappearance of Maddie McCann, Birch decided to mount surveillance of the nearby Ocean Club, where the girl was taken May 3, 2007. And when Murat left the house, he invaded her property with a geo-radar machine. Have you participated in the Judicial here who thinks he discovered the corpse of Madeleine. “I am fully convinced that it is Madeleine who is buried there” – about 60 inches below ground, “a passage in the area of cement that was built there after the disappearance of the child” and that the actual searches done in PJ ground “in the northeast corner of the house, following a line of trees,” the businessman said yesterday.
Ok. It’s garbled. But you get the gist. It is utterly appalling.
The article is underscored by the paper’s comment:
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The Daily News reserves the right to prosecute or provide authorities with information enabling the identification of those who use the comments boxes www.dn.pt to commit or encourage criminal acts considered by Portuguese law, including libel, slander I appeal to violence, disrespect for national symbols, promote racism, xenophobia and homophobia or any other.
That, too, sounds odd. Anything goes in the comments, unless the law says it doesn’t? The comments below the story are many and, more often than not, rooted in hunches and prejudice.
But what does Mr Murat have to say?
“Every single part of the house, inside and out, was checked in 2007 by more than 20 police officers, who found absolutely nothing. They used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) equipment, which was brought by a Civil Protection team, to search the grounds of the property and the area surrounding Casa Liliana.”
The paper adds:
Murat, who hasn’t lived at the house “for years”, said his mother Jenny, who is 76 years old, is feeling very uncomfortable in her own home. “Her privacy is being invaded again,” he said. “She is distraught and I am very angry. My lawyers are dealing with this.”
Referring to the photographs published by Correio da Manhã, which show Birch in Jenny Murat’s garden, Robert said he didn’t think there was any way the man could have entered the property as his mother has two large Serra da Estrela dogs that are kept outside as guard dogs.
Murat’s lawyer, Francisco Pagarete, told the Algarve Resident: “We are unsure as to the veracity of those photographs.”
When asked if his client would be suing Stephen Birch for unlawful entry to his mother’s property or for his claims, the lawyer said: “We are currently analysing the news report.”
Robert Murat concluded: “I don’t expect anybody to be on my side, I just want the truth.”
All utterly hideous.
The story needs closure. And we need to stay on the right side of the law. Anything might go in Portugal, but in the UK, it does not. Comments are closed.
Image: Robert Murat speaks at the Cambridge Union Society debate, ‘This House Believes the Tabloids Do More Harm Than Good.’ Picture date: Thursday March 5, 2009.
Spotter: Karen
Posted: 7th, July 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
