Madeleine McCann: 100 Days Of Voyeurism And Entertainment
THE case against Robert Murat is making slow progress, or no progress. An unblinking Madeleine McCann continues to stare at readers from the front page of the tabloids, scaring parents and children via leaflets in banks and cinema adverts.
But now there is a new bad man. He is Francisco Pagarete. He is the lawyer acting for suspect number one Robert Murat.
“Lawyers sick outburst,” says the Mirror’s front page. “These bloody McCanns should just go away and leave this town,” says he. “They’re giving it a bad name.”
The Express also leads with the lawyer’s words, albeit abridged to “Why don’t these bloody McCanns go home”. The words hang beneath the word “MADELEINE”, the Express’s bold statement playing at the bold facts.
And there is more from Pagarete. “As a Portuguese person I think it is strange that somebody would leave their kids. Then, after the first thing happened, they left their twins and went to see the Pope. It was like the McCanns on tour.”
The McCanns did meet the Pope. Or, as Mick Hume points out in the Times, “as a BBC headline put it, in a Lloyd-George-knew-my-father moment, ‘Pope meets Madeleine’s parents’.”
That was the private moment played out before millions. The McCanns were doing their bit, getting spiritual succour. But why were we all invited to watch? Were the media outlets going out of their way to help one family or just giving the public what they wanted: grief.
But there was no news. There is no news. All is a public spectacle. And now the lawyer for the only suspect is the bad man who says bad things.
“You would never leave them alone like that in a foreign country and go to have a drink. It is not a normal thing,” says he.
Many may well be appalled. Others will agree with Pagarete. But these words and their reporting add nothing to the case, shed no light on the girl’s disappearance.
In any case, the McCanns aren’t leaving. “I won’t be driven out by bullies,” says Kate McCann on the Mail’s front page. This is the “Kate McCann interview”.
Says she: “Sticks and stones… we will never go through anything worse than being parted from Madeleine. We will not be leaving or be forced out. I am not prepared to be bullied into something that I don’t want to.”
So she won’t go. And tomorrow when it will be 100 days since Madeleine disappeared, the McCanns will be in Praia da Luz. And so too will be the TV cameras and the newspaper reporters.
They will want a story. And they will get balloons, doves and to review an investigation that has turned into voyeurism and entertainment…
August 10th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
The “case against Robert Murat” appears to be a fiction created and sustained by the red top press. That has helped to keep the entertainment going. There never really was a “case”. The only “progress” it can make is for the man to be cleared and justly compensated for the needless hell he has been put through.
Pagarete is only voicing the beliefs of many people. You can sense the frustration the locals are feeling at having the McCanns continually moping around. It’s not as if they realistically have any hope of finding Madeleine after. Perhaps it is time for them to go home and concentrate on the well being of their remaining children.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Sorry. I meant to write
…any hope of finding Madeleine after all this time.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
MAZ, If you had a child missing would you go home and just try to forget about it? My God, I would never give up. I would go to the depths of hell to find her if need be. I don’t know if Madeleine will ever be found, but I can keep hoping and praying for a miracle.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
well said Sandra!
August 10th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Has Ben Needham’s mother ever given up hope?
Parents don’t give up because they can’t - I don’t think it comes down to choice, whether a child is missing 3 months, three years or far longer.
It’s true that Murat has been given hell (but he hasn’t been cleared yet either.)
The McCanns are also being given hell. When a crime like this is committed the ramifications are wide and extreme and everyone gets caught up, innocents as well… even Murat’s lawyer is ‘caught up’ more than he wanted. He’s annoyed because he’s getting married this coming week and I guess wanted this all over by then…
August 10th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
i wonder if the mccanns would be so keen to stay where they are if madeleine hab been “abducted” in sunny Birmingham or somewhere similar. And before any angry brummies respond I myself are a Brummie
August 10th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
i swear i reall know it was them have said it for ages its obvious. can you also remember when the dad of madaline went home Why? well i think he took her body in suitcase or evidence and hid it or buried it at home. im well known for being a bit psycic i had a horrible dream the mum did it and hes covering up cus he loves her she dint to it on purpose she just lost it. x
August 10th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Is Murat’s lawyer really saying all that is being reported? I think I read that Murat’s lawyer said his (lawyer”s) mother kept him on a leash? Did I read that right? If true, too bad she let him off! I don’t think he is helping Murat’s case if he is really saying all that I read.
Also, there is a story about a police officer who supposedly accused another mother with a missing child and a picture that is hard to believe, if true. None of the information is clear so ???? but
Wiith so much reporting it would take time to sort to make heads or tails. The entire scene is such a nightmare!
August 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
THIS IS SUCH A SAD STORY, ITS A SHAME SOME PEOPLE HAVE TO TAKE THE MICK! REMEMBER THERE IS A LITTLE GIRL MISSING. THE POLICE (BRITISH) WILL GET THE TRUTH IN THE END SO INSTEAD OF POINTING THE FINGER AT PEOPLE LIKE THE McCANNS OR R MURRAT WHY DONT WE JUST LET THEM DO THEIR JOBS AND PRESUME INNOCENT UNLESS OTHERWISE IS SAID BY THE BRITISH POLICE. STOP GIVING PAPERS LIKE THIS ONE ANY PUBLICITY! FIND A DIFFERENT PAPER THAT TELLS THE TRUTH!
AND IN MY OPINION I THINK THE McCANNS ARE INNOCENT PARENTS FIGHTING TO GET THEIR DAUGHTER BACK! THEY COULD DO WITHOUT THIS SORT OF PUBLICITY!
August 10th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
YES THE PJ POLICE WERE INVOLVED IN THE TO TORTURE OF A WOMAN TO GET HER TO CONFESS TO THE MURDER OF HER DAUGHTER! SHE STILL CLAIMS SHE IS INNOCENT AND THAT THE POLICE IN ALGARVE FORCED THE CONFESSION OUT OF HER!