Robert Murat Damages, McCanns Cleared And Bungling Cops
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
ROBERT Murat has been awarded damages for being libelled by 11 British publications in the matter of Madeleine McCanns disappearance.
When they were libelled, Kate and Gerry McCann got a front-page wholehearted apology from the Daily Star and a donation. The Express did similar.
Today the papers treat the matter as follows:
DAILY EXPRESS (Page 5 side column): Robert Murat, Micahela Walczuch and Sergey Malinka
Yesterday the Daily Express and other newspapers apologised in court for having wrongly suggested in a number of articles that Mr Murat, Ms Walczuch and Mr Malinka were involved in the abduction of Madeleine McCann and had told lies about their involvement and/or obstruction [in] the police investigation
DAILY STAR (page 2): Robert Murat, Micahela Walczuch and Sergey Malinka
DAILY MAIL (page 6, side column): Murat wins Madeleine court action.
In recognition of the distress caused, we have agreed to pay substantial damages to the claimants, plus their legal costs.
Legal costs kept low thank to an out-of-court settlement.
DAILY MIRROR (Page 6, side column): ROBERT MURAT, MICHAELA WALCZUCH & SERGEY MALINKA
We had wrongly suggested in a number of articles that Mr Murat and Ms Walczuch were involved in the abduction of Madeleine McCann; that Mr Murat and Ms Walczuch had lied to the police and obstructed their investigation; that Mr Murat was a paedophile who used his computer to access depraved sexual material; that Mr Murat and Ms Walczuch might be part of a paedophile ring; and that Mr Malinka had convictions for sex offences and had lied about his acquaintance with Mr Murat.
SKY NEWS: Murat Accepts Ł600,000 Damages
Says Murat:
“The newspapers in this case brought about the total and utter devastation of mine and my family’s life and caused immense distress. I’m pleased they have admitted the falsity of their allegations and I can start to rebuild my life. I can emerge from this action vindicated with the recognition and acknowledgement that what was said against me was wholly untrue.”
Mr Murat, whose action was against 10 newspaper titles for more than 100 articles, has repeatedly denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Wasnt Sky challenged as well?
THE SUN (page six, side column): ROBERT MURAT MICHAEL WALCZUCH
In various articles we wrongly suggested that they were involved in the abduction of Madeleine McCann, that they had lied about their involvement, that they might have been part of a paedophile ring and that Mr Murat had used his computer to access depraved sexual material
There is no word from Murat in any of the papers.
But compare that to this:
THE SUN (front page): THE HUNT FOR MADDIE McCANNS IN CLEAR. Suspect status lifted this Monday
Says a source.
Page11: McCanns cleared, but after 441 days ITS BACK TO SQUARE ONE
The Sun gets rent-a-copper John OConnor to say that the McCanns were VICTIMS OF THE COPS.
The Portuguese police took Madeleine?
OConnor says the response of the Portuguese police was to make them [McCanns] arguidos and conduct a vicious sniping campaign by leaking apocryphal stories to the Portuguese media.
You know, those stories that were taken up by the British media and passed off as news.
How completely wrong they were, says OConnor.
Tsk! A pox on those bungling coppers.
Its not like a newspaper would get it so wrong and point the finger at an innocent man and woman. As if. (See above).
Posted: 18th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (119) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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July 18th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Bugger! I’m going to have to throw out the silk lounging pyjamas …
July 18th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Chenier
I bet he wears bette davis 1930s loose trouser suits and ciggarette holders like you in his spare time!
July 18th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
M&A but they used many translators… the others weren’t made arguidos. No other houses were turned upside down. Twice.
Also, didn’t the journo say that when she spoke to the police about Murat initially they said ‘we are already watching him’? (will try and find link, time permitting)
all very strange………. I wonder if he will go for the Portugese publications also? they joined in the denigration.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Hi just_me
July 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
There are few things which make my blood run cold- actually there are no things which make my blood run cold, but I’m trying for Clarrie-speak here- but being compared to Clarence Mitchell is one of them.
I never wear pink…
July 18th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
still spinning Chenier. Eat your heart out Clarence Mitchell, Chenier is now the top spinner!
………………………..
what I really really want to know is why Murat was made an arguido in the first place. If it was just because of a Brit journo’s comment that his house / garden was trashed and he was arrested then it wouldn’t reflect too well on the PJ. The initial questioning and searching took place very early in the investigation before there was any hint of the McCanns being involved.
It’s all very strange… could it have been just because of local PDL rumours and gossip?
M and A
I understood it was because he had been the Police translator, and knew certain details that could be detrimental to the case.
But I don’t really think the journalist who fingered him had any real foundation other than what she thought
July 18th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Maria Says:
” Quite likely that the Mcsâ arguido status will remain but RMâs be lifted on Monday? ”
If the case is shelved, the arguido status becomes totally meaningless. It is meant to give a person certain rights during an ongoing investigation. Why do you need the right to remain silent if no questions are to be asked any more?
July 18th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
sorry totally off topic, but can someone explain what this mean please in simple english…
wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise woman doubts often, and changes her mind; the fool is obstinate and doubts not; she knows all things but her own ignorance.
M and A
it means simply that someone who thinks things through can see what could be wrong with something/situation
But someone who is headstrong and doesn’t think things through is a prat
She is a know it all, but doesn’t comprehend how foolish/ignorant she is
July 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Sorry. Wrote my post before BF’s appeared.
Quite likely that the Mcs’ arguido status will remain but RM’s be lifted on Monday?
Have a good day, all. Work this afternoon and then on holiday for a few days. Will miss Anorak on Monday!
.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I foolishly expected to see front page apologies to Robert this morning, how stupid I must be! They press were happy to print all the lies about him on the front page, but I suppose an apology won’t sell the papers.
I watched the interview with Robert on the BBC and was very impressed, he could have been so very bitter and angry, but he was dignified, and seems tobe more concerned with Madeleine being found than anything else.
I hope he and his family can now get on with their lives and manage to put this dreadful experience behind them.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
brandon flours
Thanks for the information. Interesting to note that it states Gerry is the father, but is Kate the biological mother? So sad indeed.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
One interesting outcome would be if RM’s arguido status were to be lifted on Monday but not the Mcs’.
I presume that is a likely possibility if the police still believe they were involved but have no evidence. Here in the UK, people can remain “of interest” to the police for a long time.
Incidentally, I imagine that evidence of long-standing sedation of Madeleine by her parents could be fairly damning in a court of law. Might well form part of the basis for a neglect charge. Indeed, I don’t see how the police could possibly fail to act if the test results indicated that. (See Carmen’s earlier post about Battut’s article last year.) Madeleine’s grandparents might even consider suing them if they didn’t….. They have the twins to worry about.
If it’s not true, of course, the Mcs might consider suing Battut next.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
18/07/08
English in PortimĂŁo to defend secrecy - Correio da ManhĂŁ
âCMâ reveals â 15 of the 19 genetic markers found
English want secrecy
The McCanns want to hide the data from the Birmingham laboratory
One magistrate and two policemen, including Stuart Prior, responsible for the connection with the PJ, were at the Court in PortimĂŁo yesterday, trying to convince the Public Ministry prosecutor MagalhĂŁes e Menezes not to release the entire process of the disappearance of Madeleine from the judicial secrecy. One of the situations that the English want is that the preliminary report from the Birmingham lab, which mentions that â15 of the 19 genetic markers that were found in a residue that was collected from the coupleâs carâs boot, are a match [with the missing child]â is not made public. Their pretention was denied.
Also the residues that were collected behind the sofa, according to the first report, âcoincide with the corresponding components in the DNA profile of Madeleine McCannâ, which led the Portuguese police and also the English liaison officer to fundament their suspicions that the child died between 5.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. at the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, and that the body was transported in the car that was rented by the parents 22 days later.
With the lifting of the judicial secrecy next week, some of those documents may be made public. CM knows that the fundaments of the preliminary report, allied to the elements that were collected by the investigation in the meantime, led the authorities onto the path of the parents as suspects of the childâs death. Kate and Gerry McCann later alleged that there were no indicia against them, but another report, signed by Mark Harrisom, the English policeman who was assigned to help the Portuguese authorities, also peremptorily stated that the little girl was dead. The English officer even admitted the possibility that the body of little Madeleine had been thrown into the sea, and equally defended the potentialities of the sniffer dogs, that are experts in detecting odours of cadaver and blood.
Details
Extracted from the hair. Madeleine McCannâs DNA was extracted from several residues that were collected at the apartment. Among them, hair that was found on the little girlâs brush and also saliva that was collected from the pillow.
19. In Portugal, the collection of 19 genetic markers is demanded for the determination of paternity. But in other countries, like the USA, only 12 are demanded.
15. On the residues that were collected from the rented carâs boot after the disappearance, 15 genetic markers that are identical to Madeleine were found.
Traces of a crime
Two dogs that are specially trained to assist in criminal investigation detected cadaver odour in the McCannsâ bedroom, in the living room, on Kateâs clothes, on the little girlâs soft toy and on the car key, as well as blood traces in the car boot and in the apartmentâs living room.
Theoretical contamination possible
The second report from the English lab, which was sent after the childâs relatives were made arguidos, raises theoretical doubts that end up annulling the first conclusions.
The technicians say that if the residues that were collected are from one single source, then they belong to Madeleine. But if they were contaminated with DNA from Kate or Gerry (who present genetic resemblances because they are the biological parents), they may not belong to the child. Apart from that, according to the experts, the obtained results are so complex that they do not allow for an absolute reading.
British technique can be verified
The technique that was used by the English experts to verify the residues that were collected from the McCannsâ apartment and car is one of the most sophisticated in the world.
It is used in that country and in the United States because it allows for the extraction of DNA profiles from very tenuous residues, by augmenting the amplification cycles. Due to the fact that it demands for very expensive material, and leads to results that are difficult to decode, this technique has not earned followers in Europe yet.
In these reports, which were sent to the PolĂcia JudiciĂĄria months apart from each other, the authorities start by explaining the technique that is used, and state that they used a reference DNA sample from Madeleine McCann. That sample was obtained from âsaliva stains that existed on the pillowcaseâ.
DNA from the rest of the family was also verified, because they contain similar genetic markers and to avoid any confusion with the results.
Throughout the 22 pages of the report, which was signed by the same expert in both cases, it is frequent for the specialist in Microbiology and Biochemistry to admit that the complexity of the obtained data does not allow for a correct reading.
Nevertheless, the laboratory has duplicated the residues, a fact that makes it possible for the same results to be contradicted by the Portuguese Forensic Medicine experts.
According to what our newspaper was able to establish, some questions are still in the air and the foreseen archiving on Monday is certainly not going to clarify them. Namely the motive for the test results to have taken several months to be made known to the authorities, and having been altered in such a substantial manner.
It should also be referred that separate tests were made afterwards, which originated other reports â they all continued to be inconclusive.
Gerry is the father
The possibility, which was advanced by a Portuguese newspaper, was never under investigation. Gerry is Maddieâs and the twinsâ biological father, according to what the genetic profiles of the family members were able to confirm.
Murat Compensation â Murat is going to receive 757 thousand euros from British newspapers that recognized yesterday that they had published defamatory and false news about him.
Archiving Evidence â The archiving of the process, which is due to be announced on Monday, does not mean that the case is going to be buried. It may be reopened if new evidence appears.
McCanns Arguidos - If there is no final dispatch, Kate and Gerry remain as arguidos. Today, Robert Murat also maintains the same status.
source: Correio da ManhĂŁ, 18.07.2008, paper edition
http://www.joana-morais.blogspot.com/
July 18th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
‘Please note that, for legal reasons, we have disabled reader comments on this article’
The Express, under its apology.
The apology itself read:
‘The Daily Express today takes the unprecedented step of making a front-page apology to Kate and Gerry McCann.
We do so because we accept that a number of articles in the newspaper have suggested that the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up.
We acknowledge that there is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter’s disappearance.
We trust that the suspicion that has clouded their lives for many months will soon be lifted.
As an expression of its regret, the Daily Express has now paid a very substantial sum into the Madeleine Fund and we promise to do all in our power to help efforts to find her.
Kate and Gerry, we are truly sorry to have added to your distress.
We assure you that we hope Madeleine will one day be found alive and well and will be restored to her loving family.’
You will note that ’caused the death’ is the context in which the ‘completely innocent of any involvement’ arises…
July 18th, 2008 at 11:58 am
‘The portuguese love children and see them as a blessing and they are welcome where ever you go’ This morning
July 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am
how do you put one on?
July 18th, 2008 at 11:51 am
coolandcalm Says:
July 18th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Morning All. Just passing throughâŚ..
____________________
EEEEEK - I hope you’re not “Passing Through” - now there was a scary poster
Morning C&C
July 18th, 2008 at 11:51 am
portugal on this morning
an ideal family destination
July 18th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Forgot to thank Anorak for finding a photo of me that is flattering! mwah mwah.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Morning All. Just passing through…..
Maria… re: Chenier’s post and the Express apology to the McCanns… it also went on to say ‘….We acknowledge that there is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter’s disappearance…’.
Am posting this in the interests of honesty in cutting and pasting!
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/38490/Kate-and-Gerry-McCann-Sorry
July 18th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Is just-me on her hols?
July 18th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Maria Says:
July 18th, 2008 at 11:28 am
BUT I do wonder why you find it so much easier to accept what the newspapers accepted and apologised for in his case than what they accepted and apologised for in the Mcsâ case!?!
———————————————–
‘The Express said it accepted that a “number of articles in the newspaper have suggested that the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up”.
Perhaps you would care to cite posts in which I have claimed that the McCanns caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up?
July 18th, 2008 at 11:38 am
morning June! How’s the stick going
July 18th, 2008 at 11:37 am
june
I thought the fact that murat won libel means that this must be true?
Sorry, I am not with it
July 18th, 2008 at 11:36 am
EXCELLENT BF!!!
(Good news to hear)
July 18th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Mods and Admin
Please think before you hit the submit button, just had to pull two libellous posts.
Word things carefully then we can leave them alone
July 18th, 2008 at 11:34 am
julie
Shes fine thanks
July 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am
It’s my Friday feelings
July 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Good morning everyone
BF - how is your friend
Maria, I echo your thoughts - I too am disappointed that the papers were not required to publish a rather large apology on their front pages!
July 18th, 2008 at 11:31 am
lone pigeon
I dont get what you are trying to say?