Wednesday 26 May 2010

LIBEL LAWS

.
It seems that the new Government are to have a look at the Libel Laws and no doubt changes will be made.  We are reminded of two quotations:

There is a wide difference between speaking to deceive, and being silent to be impenetrable.
Voltaire

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7760491/Reform-of-our-libel-law-is-long-overdue.html
.

Tuesday 25 May 2010

Thursday 20 May 2010

BRAIN NOT IN GEAR - MOUTH OPEN

.
An anonymous reader has raised the fact that Gerry McCann, when speaking about his cycle ride in the Etape to raise funds for the Limited Company formed to deal with the donated funds to find Madeleine, said:

"I finished 171st out of over 3500 finishers so there is not much room for improvement next year!"

Do we take it from that statement that he is not expecting to find Madeleine in the next 12 months and will wish to cycle for funds yet again?  From this can we also assume that he is privy to some information about the whereabouts of Madeleine that we are yet to have revealed?


Are Carter Ruck aware of the faux pas and also others made in the past?   We wonder what their reaction will be, or are they just content to continue relieving the Maddie fund on paying their (no doubt high) legal fees?
.

Sunday 16 May 2010

IS THIS GERRY OR ?????

..
.
Todays Sunday Express carries yet another "was it him" picture taken on the beach at PdL before Maddie disappeared.   Why does such rubbish take over 3 years to be brought before the public who, maybe at the time, could have given some assistance.

We have studied the picture and, quite frankly, it could be almost anyone, including Gerry McCann himself!   The story given by the woman who took the snap is quite plausible as there are plenty of "con men" and "beggers" in the Algarve who will dream up any story to gain a small donation.  We have been accosted by them ourselves but would not credit them with the intelligence to attempt abduction.



Quoting from another source: 
In the case of an abduction, the waters are further muddied, but the sentiment and message is the same. The United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Juvenile Justice Bulletin, June 2000 states that in the case of the abduction of a child, their researches show that the parents are involved in 49% of cases, acquaintances in 27% and 24% of cases, a stranger.

We do not think that todays revelation will assist or enhance the current investigation.
.

Saturday 15 May 2010

81 MILES TO SWELL THE FUND OF ALL FUNDS

He'll be there somewhere
.
A reader posted the following link to Gerry's 81 mile bike ride: http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2010/05/another-81-miles-for-madeleine-gerry.html

We visited the site and after reading the Limited Company history we moved to the "Donate" page.  We were confronted with the Objects of the Fund as follows:

The full objects of the Fund are:
.
To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;
.
To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and
.
To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.
.
If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere.
.
We would like to comment that there is no evidence that we have seen, from forensic means, by reliable witness statements or otherwise, indicating that Madeleine was actually abducted.  As there is NO such evidence there can only be a suspicion of an abduction having taken place and consequently there can be no certainty that there is, or was, an actual abductor.    Hence, the object of the fund is flawed in its conception by such references having been made.
.
Perhaps were better to change the wording to "who disappeared", "Madeleine's disappearance" and "anyone connected with her disappearance" etc. etc.
.
From the preceding it would therefore seem that the Fund Objectives have been specifically created to give support and financial assistance to the family.  Furthermore the final object (If the above objects are fulfilled) is TOTALLY conditional on the primary objects being achieved, therefore no other missing child or family will obtain any help from the fund whatsoever until the Madeleine case is solved - and maybe not even after that!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have decided NOT to donate!
.

Thursday 13 May 2010

Madeleine Publicity Material

.
The "official" Find Madeleine web site is offering a set of publicity items so that the public can assist in spreading the word in the task of finding Madeleine.

The pack contains 10 posters,  a car sticker, 2 yellow ribboned luggage labels, and 2 purse reminder cards.  There is also a signed "Thank You" slip from Kate and Gerry.   The set costs a mere £1.75 and with postage at 96 pence each set must be heavily subsidised by the find maddie fund.   It is an excellent pack as can be seen below.

.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Portugal – Interior Justice Ministry

.
Translation with many thanks to KAREN on the 3As
http://www.abc.es/agencias/noticia.asp?noticia=368611

Portugal – Interior Justice Ministry

The Lack of News in the Madeleine Case Impedes its Re-Opening


Lisbon, 3rd May. The Portuguese authorities have not made any step to re-open the case of the British girl Madeleine McCann, who disappeared three years ago today, as no new evidence has emerged that justifies another investigation.

According to legal sources consulted by Efe, in spite of the statements periodically made by Madeleine’s parents and those that they made in their libel case against the ex PJ officer who related them to the death of their daughter, no new news has been made public about the case being re-opened.


With the event of the third anniversary of the disappearance of their daughter, Kate and Gerry McCann have appeared on various European TV stations and printed media to insist that their Daughter is alive and to ask for help in looking for her.


The couple, who in 2007, organised the biggest media campaign to gather funds ever seen in a case of a disappearance, have repeatedly said, without giving details, that they have new leads about their daughter’s possible fate.


But Portuguese Justice, which officially closed the case a year after the disappearance, can only re-open it with new evidence and formal denunciations made before the police.


The Portuguese Public Prosecutor, upon archiving the case on 21st July 2008 discounted the indications linking the McCanns to their daughter’s death as well as those that pointed to the abduction of the girl by some stranger.

After having declared them as official suspects in the case, the prosecutors also discarded acting against the couple for having left Madeleine, who was three years old on the night of her disappearance, alone with her younger siblings, whilst they dined with friends.
The couple state that they took turns in going to see the children, but in their statements and those of their friends, as well as the cadaver traces detected in their car and belongings, is where the Portuguese police found the greatest number of contradictions and suspicions in the case.


The Portuguese authorities, accused of not having acted rigorously during the first hours of the disappearance and neglecting the crime scene, never found a trace of the girl and were not even able to bring the couple’s friends back to Portugal for a re-construction of the facts.
The evidence they collected with the help of British police and dogs remained for months in a British laboratory which finally issued a report without sufficient certainty to implicate the parents or shed some light onto the case, according to statements by the then responsible Portuguese police officers.

The McCanns, who suddenly left Portugal when they were declared suspects in September 2007, returned last year to quarrel with the police officer who led the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral, dismissed and retired early and now in danger of ending up in ruin because of the couple’s law suit.


The book in which Amaral covers the details of the investigation – also gathered from the public summary of the case – and suggests that Madeleine died in an accidental manner and that the parents disposed of the body - was banned last February after a first victory of the British couple in the Portuguese civil courts.


Madeleine disappeared on 3rd May 2007 from an apartment in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve and the only thing that remains of her for the moment are the thousands of pages of a Portuguese investigation without guilty parties, and the images and comments of the web page her parents maintain.


The McCanns have always declared themselves to be innocent and determined to find their daughter to whom they today dedicated this message: “Madeleine. Still missing, still missed, we are still looking for you”..
.

Saturday 1 May 2010

MADAM YOUR SLIP IS SHOWING

.
http://textusa.blogspot.com/2009/05/kate-mccann-confesses-finally.html


A MUST to read!
.

NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS

.
This is the latest update as shown on the findmadeleine.com site.

Update: Saturday 13th March 2010

Today we joined hundreds of runners to take part in a 10km run in Hyde Park to support the work of the charity 'Missing People' (http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/).
'Miles for Missing People' is the first of what will now be an annual event.

Doesn't say much about their efforts to keep everyone in the picture being dated 13 March and now 7 weeks old!   Why also is there never any information about what the "detectives" hired by the McCanns are doing?   Surely they should be pushing out any information that could be useful in the efforts to find this litle girl?   Or is it that they are just on one great big "jolly" around Europe and the World at the expense of all those good people who have contributed millions to the Maddie Fund?

Why is there suddenly an apparent reduction in publicity and effort by the McCanns - is it a case of letting the whole thing gradually slide out of the limelight and disappear into the ether never to be returned to the light of day?   Is it an attempt to lull the public into forgetfulness and hope that they themselves will move into obscurity and everyone will forget they left their chldren alone and unprotected on that fateful day of 3rd May 2007?

It is about time we saw some positive contribution from the "detectives" even if only to justify the money being spent on any endeavours they may be making.
.