28. Gordon Brown was told that Portuguese detective Mr Amaral, who took the McCanns in for questioning, would be removed from his post before he himself was informed.
Verdict - This is in no way a "fact" - the source himself describes it as a "rumour".
Source - Gonçalo Amaral's book which is currently the subject of a court case in Portugal.
The relevant portion from Chapter 21 of Amaral's book is quoted below. No attributed source is provided:-
Quote:
"The only point of note here is that Stuart Prior's personal perspective on the case is absent from the files, unlike other key UK participants such as Grime, Harrison, the liaison officers to the McCanns Leicestershire Police) and others ...
According to a British correspondent, the Prime Minister personally called Stuart Prior to ask for confirmation of my dismissal. Why would the head of the British government be interested in a lowly Portuguese official? We refuse to believe the rumours going around, according to which the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon was dependent on my dismissal. Rumours, of course, nothing more. I cannot help but think that for the first time in its history, the judiciary police has dismissed a simple official from his post because of external pressure." |
From The Telegraph:-
Quote:
The Portuguese detective leading the Madeleine McCann investigation has been sacked from the inquiry after launching an astonishing public attack on his British counterparts.
...
He had accused British detectives of only chasing leads Gerry and Kate McCann want followed up. The move came after Portugal's Justice Minister Alberto Costa stepped into the row by insisting there is "fruitful cooperation" between the two countries' police forces over the inquiry. Mr Costa said Portuguese police intend "to increase the collaboration" with their British counterparts and that the important thing is "to concentrate on the job and not on the comments" made by Mr Amaral.
|
Quote:
Gonçalo Amaral was convicted of perjury after an alleged attack on the mother of another missing girl.
Three officers were cleared of torture but Mr Amaral was found guilty of falsifying documents and given an 18-month suspended sentence. |
It is a fact that the British and Portuguese Governments talked to each other during the Madeleine McCann case. This is standard procedure when any foreign national is the victim of a serious crime.
However, even if Gordon Brown was made privy to Goncalo Amaral's impending dismissal, why is that a reason to personally attack the McCann family?