Madeleine McCann On Your Doormat And In The Loire Valley
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY EXPRESS front page: MADELEINE: Parents are to sue over claims they gave her fatal overdose. (Plus page 7, with logo: THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE: Day 120).
THE WORLD’S GREATEST NEWSPAPER brings the news that the McCanns’ legal action is against the Portuguese publication Tal & Qual. (The Express, of course, has dutifully repeated all the allegations and smears that have emanated from the Portuguese press, for the delectation and disgust of Maddywatchers back home.) Spokeswoman Justine McGuinness says the McCanns “are not going to be a doormat any more”.
Meanwhile, the paper says the hunt has switched to a campsite in the Loire valley after sightings by holidaymakers.
DAILY TELEGRAPH page 2: Madeleine parents to sue newspaper
The Telegraph reports that the McCanns say they are suing to clear their name, not for the money.
THE TIMES page 5: Candle of hope for Madeleine
The paper says that Madeleine’s classmates “said a poignant prayer” yesterday, on what should have been her first day at school.
DAILY MAIL page 6: McCanns to sue over ‘killers’ slur
The paper says the McCanns believe it is time to stand firm against the allegations.
DAILY MIRROR page 11: Maddy school’s prayers
The paper says the McCanns spent a quiet day with their twins in Praia da Luz.
THE STAR page 22: SCHOOL’S SAD WAIT FOR MISSING MADDIES: Chair and locker are saved for her
The empty chair, locker and coat peg are once again invoked. Bishop Ellis headteacher Gail Neill says: “We are deeply saddened that we cannot yet welcome Madeleine McCann.”
THE SUN page 12: MADDIE SCHOOL PRAYER TRIBUTE
The paper also reports on the candle that is being kept burning at the school.
THE INDEPENDENT and THE GUARDIAN: No Madeleine news today.
Posted: 31st, August 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (459) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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August 31st, 2007 at 10:34 pm
If Gerry McCann has revealed to us that he was told by the police to act emotionless
Has he not gone against what the police have asked by letting us and a possible criminal know that?
Unless he has been told that he no longer has to be emotionless.
In which case why does he still keep his hands very still and his face very straight?
August 31st, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Potsy, the M’s see this as damaging their campaign to find Madeleine, not to mention their reputation. A lawyer will handle it and it will be months before anything comes from it. I sincerely hope that Madeleine’s plight has been resolved by then.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Molly, thanks for that.
If I have read this and other reports correctly, the issue is that PJ have never made any such statement that supports the T&Q headline. Definitely not officially and Sousa is reported to have restated again today that the M’s are not suspects. So I think T&Q are up the creek. Emidio doesn’t say his three sources are from within the PJ but I bet Sousa and friends will want them named.
Personally, I think something had to be done. The story is that this action is not for money, but whether you dislike the M’s or not they and their family are the ones suffering from this and would have every right to keep any settlement. However, I suspect public opinion will prevail and it would be donated to the fund.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Apologies for the multiple posts folks - I’m catching up and there are lots of excellent points out there this evening
August 31st, 2007 at 10:06 pm
As for why the McCanns have not yet been charged in Portugal for child neglect. That case cannot be tried until the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance is concluded as all the details required for the prosecution of neglect cannot be stated in court under the secrecy laws until that time. As soon as the secrecy is passed as the disappearance is closed for whatever reason, there could well be a charge of child neglect leading to death with a ten year sentance.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
This was taken from the Mirror Forums:
On the libel case all the newspapers are quoting from the Associated Press statement that GM emailed for distribution by AP to all media.
“The couple, from Rothley in Leicestershire, have grown increasingly angry about the speculation surrounding their daughter’s disappearance.
They have told friends they will fight the criminal case all the way to the courts. If successful, they can then apply for indemnity in the civil court.
If the McCanns do give evidence at trial, it will be the first time they have publicly discussed the case as they are not allowed to talk about the investigation.
But under Portuguese law, they can talk about events that night as part of other legal proceedings. “They are 100pc on this,” said a friend.
“They will take it all the way if necessary and take to the witness stand to defend their reputations.”
*********
“Fight the criminal case all the way to the courts”?
August 31st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Just logged on…in the States….The papers are reporting that they are sueing to save their reputation….Did I read that right?…..ahhhhhhhh!!!!
Also if my child were missing, you could call me kooky and dress me funny, or whatever, I wouldnt care… would be too busy looking for her to care…..or be crying…
Are they not charging them with neglect…ever? Or waiting for other charges to be proved?
August 31st, 2007 at 10:01 pm
today in RTP online:
http://www.rtp.pt/index.php?ar…..;visual=16
The director of Tal&Qual weekly newspaper guaranteed to Lusa that he never accused the McCanns of killing their daughter, clarifying that last week’s headline only transmits what the police believe.
The parents of Madeleine McCann have announced today, through BBC News, that they are going to sue Tal&Qual after this paper reported on news that indicate that the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) believed the couple killed Maddie accidentally.
“I keep the story, I won’t change a comma”, director Emidio Fernando told Lusa, clarifying that the newspaper “never accused anyone, just says what the police believes”.
Saying he is “absolutely tranquil” concerning a possible lawsuit, the weekly’s director said the McCanns’ intentions are “based on the articles that were published in English newspapers, which say that Tal&Qual accuses the family of a crime”.
“If we published the story, it’s because we are certain of it”, Emidio Fernando said, adding that “what the newspaper assumes is that the police believe” the possibility that the parents killed the English girl accidentally.
“I trust our sources and please note that I say sources in plural, because they are more than three”, the director said, who guarantees that the weekly he directs “never wrote anything that has not been confirmed, since this process [of Maddie’s disappearance] started”.
Although they have not received any notification about a possible defamation lawsuit that the McCanns have announced to be filing, the complaint is, according to BBC News, against the newspaper and the director.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Moderation - apologies for the delay in answering, I have had a day away from the computer
I have 3 contacts in and around PDL - all Portuguese rather than ex pats and not related to, or familiar with, each other.
On another note you say in one of your earlier posts that the groundswell of opinion in the UK supports the McCanns … I have to say that, amongst my aquaintance (family, friends, work colleagues, and others) I have not found this to be the case at all. In fact I have yet to speak to anyone who does not regard them with distaste at best and downright suspicion and dislike at worst - and it has been that way since Madeleine first disappeared. Obviously there ARE people who support them 100%, but I have yet to meet one of them in person.
I’m not implying that the reaction of people that I know is in any way indicative of guilt - it is after all just people’s opinions, but I’m not convinced that the overwhelming support desribed in our media actually exists, any more than the overwhelming public grief described in detail when Diana died was ever true.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Point is itsme, if they’re as genuine as they’re trying to make out, then NO it’s not theirs! However, if what I suspected all along turns out to be the truth, then YES I suppose it’s theirs to keep. Rather sickening on a full stomach!
August 31st, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Nothing wrong with a good disagreement is there Angry? However I’ll soon be gone as I MUST disconnect and catch up on some work…….
I’ve always stuck up for Murat however, the PJ must have something on him or he would have been released and allowed to leave the country.
However my money has always been on someone totally off our radar but well on the PJ’s.
It just bothers me that ANYONE can be tried and convicted by the media and the internet, be it Murat, the McCanns or their friends.
Being convicted of something I didn’t do has always been one of my phobias and I’ve never even had a speeding ticket!
August 31st, 2007 at 8:56 pm
@julie - company
for all i have seen its a regular registered company in the UK and so subject to accounting and taxes, as its not charity status. the balance has to be published.
but - whats the point ? they can do with the money whatever they want. its theirs.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Do you hide in the doorway waiting to mug me Moderation.
There is as much evidence against me and you as there is against Murat, and I have never been to Portugal.
Does that make us suspects?
Its a smokescreen and nothing more.
———————Mods and Admin,
Angry, you posted at 8.45ish, sadly too many links and the spammer caught it, just one link per post,even if just a few words and it will get through
August 31st, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Its knowitall Moderation having another pop at me - Here we go again.
McCanns told not to leave Portugal amid fresh hopes
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/europe/article2884001.ece
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20070822/twl-mccanns-told-not-to-leave-portugal-41f21e0_1.html
http://itn.co.uk/news/8041c45dcd47fe88c303d967660f84ee.html
How many more do you want
August 31st, 2007 at 8:43 pm
So you KNOW that do you Angry? How?
The general consensus seems to be pretty split against Robert Murat. Don’t you read the papers in UK? He is still very much prime suspect.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I have another few “thoughts” here regarding the company/fund.
Should the worst happen in this case, and it goes on to become another unsolved case of a “missing child”, at which point is the decision made to donate the “proceedings” to organisations dealing with missing children? Who’s going to make that decision … if it is actually the intention???
Are companies which have been set up such as this one has, subject to an annual independent audit? If so, are the findings of the audit allowed to be made public?
August 31st, 2007 at 8:38 pm
AshamedToBeBritish (73) You said
So in effect, that principle you so proudly boast, has been well and truly undermined by the two faced, bigotted and arrogant British public.
Please don’t tar us all with the same brush. I don’t know a single person outside the forum that has said anything about Murat. We all believe he has been the scapgoat to date, to give the press someone to focus on other than the real suspects, the McCanns.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Angry, you misinterpret yet again. They were not ‘told not to leave Portugal’, they were told a breakthrough was imminent!
They can leave any time they want… don’t forget Gerry McCann flew to Edinburgh last week!
August 31st, 2007 at 8:32 pm
There is only one reason for suing the paper, and that is to re-enforce their claim that they are innocent, thereby swaying public opinion towards them.
If they won the case, which I don’t think they can given the fact that there was no direct alligation against them, only a third party reiteration, would they donate the money to the fund?
No chance.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Maria, I have watched a few interviews with the McCann’s (we don’t get many of them aired over here, but a few have been), and I have yet to see ANY indication from either parent, that they are the parent’s of a little girl who was “abducted” by an unknown perpetrator. They can “say” as such, but their outward body patterns are totally against the norm for a case such as this.
I am not the only one who feels this way about the McCann’s behaviour, many posters have indicated the same. I have felt this way since the very first time I saw an interview with the parents. This was shortly after Madeleine disappeared, and it was my first observation of the entire case. Until today, I stick by my judgement of the parents’ behaviour!
August 31st, 2007 at 8:28 pm
From the moment the PJ told the McCanns not to leave Portugal they became suspects under European law, otherwise the PJ have denied them their right to free movement within member states of the EU. That breaches their human rights.
Personally I believe thay have always been suspects irrespective of the fact that they were told they weren’t. Without an assurance that they weren’t suspects they would have hightailed it out of there pronto.
There is proof in the pudding because they said they were leaving immediately after the forensics experts had found new evidence.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Maybe not, but hopefully it will make all the other rags think twice before printing the most obvious lies. It has been getting worse on a daily basis, I think someone had to call time.
The UK media are certainly more understanding of them.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Most coverage in this case has been about the possible guilt of Gerry and Kate McCann.
We really can’t jump to conclusions about what has happened to Madeleine. We can only hope that the Portuguese police will solve this terrible crime.
I do however feel certain that Gerry McCann is guilty of one thing: Complete lack of judgment. A libel case is not going to help their missing daughter. Neither will it improve their “image” in the media.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:18 pm
continue 97: or maybe it was just another stupid MC-attempt to push the abduction theory, by mentioning a reason why an abductor chose her, despite all difficulties and risk…
August 31st, 2007 at 8:17 pm
I posted on one of the forums a clipping form the local ex-pat newspaper that infers the results are already with the Portugese authorities……….
Maybe they are figuring out what to do before releasing the details. IF they release the details!! Secrecy don’t forget!
THE BRITISH laboratory analysing several DNA samples taken from the McCanns holiday apartment and two cars hired by the group told The Resident on Tuesday it cannot comment on whether the results have already been sent to Portuguese authorities.
A spokesman at the Forensic Science Service, in Birmingham, said: “That is not for us to comment on, I am afraid. That would be with the Portuguese police”.
Maria, I agree with you, none of know how we would react until we were actually walking in their shoes.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:13 pm
continue 95:
…to me it sounds like encouraging him and make him right…
August 31st, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Julie, I believe I’m right in saying that, in the absence of the PJ organising it for them (which is what normally happens here), Kate made a desperate public televised appeal to the abductor within days of Madeleine’s disappearance.
I do understand what you are saying about their public face and I THINK I would feel like you. But what can safely be judged by that? I am certain that Rhys Jones’ parents are desperate and grieving deeply but I personally THINK I could not go to public events like football matches if my son had just been shot. It does not make me doubt their sincerity for one moment. I THINK I could not face a TV interview if my daughter had disappeared but that does not make me doubt the parents’ sincerity. Maybe I WOULD find my comfort in the public applause for my son at a football match if that was where we had spent so many happy hours together. Maybe I WOULD face the TV cameras if I thought there was any way it might help or make even more people look out for my daughter.
I think it is very difficult to know how one would react to such tragedies. If you remember, Kate was barely able to stand after a few days and had to be physically supported on one occasion in church. (No doubt some people who call her cold now will say she was only pretending then!) Then a trauma psychologist took over the case and managed to turn their initial despair and certainty of her death into something more positive, the belief that she COULD be alive and that therefore they had to act decisively on that assumption At least, that appears to be the picture to me.
I do think it is dangerous to make assumptions and as you say, we can be sure of nothing.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:05 pm
appeal to the abductor ? - GMs blog entry adressed to the abductor was terrifiying: “At the very least, help us by letting us know what has happened to our beautiful little girl.”
when moving away all facts and believe in an abduction, then it was most likely some peadophile spending days to find the moment to “snatch”, rather than a (regular) criminal. and he picked her, because he found her “beautiful”, what else…???
and then to refer to her as “beautiful” i found pervert.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:04 pm
LOL Jonathon, yip that’s like the pot calling the kettle black … think that’s how the saying goes !!!!
August 31st, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Julie, thanks for the link. Unfortunately it looks like the SY team has gone over empty handed? Thats is annoying.
One thing that did amuse was this comment:
Former Policia Judiciara director Moita Flores said: “How can such a prestigious laboratory allow suspicions to grow in this case? Why don’t they come out and tell us what they have found? There has to be a very strong motive because this situation is not normal and by taking so long, for whatever reason, they are jeopardising their reputation.”
All I can say is Moita, now you know how it feels, you SOB!