BREAKING NEWS: Portuguese judge orders ex-cop Goncalo Amaral to pay Kate and Gerry McCann 250k euros each in libel trial decision

Re: The Sun Newspaper today have done a Hatchet job on Goncalo
Post sar Today at 1:19 pm

this is like a pent up tidal wave of press, gloves are off on the anti's

£24
Dear Dr. Goncalo Amaral
24 mins ago
We do this out of respect, admiration and the cause itself. This is NOT charity, you need not feel guilt for the few that have little to offer good sir. One could only be so lucky as to have such a man go this far for any one of us. In the face of MI5 and all that is twisted and corrupt you have held your ground. We reflect but a fraction of those informed. We are informed enough to know you are a Great Man. We regret that we have little to give, it is not a reflection of that which you deserve good sir. Yours Sincerely Your Friends

Delighted by the verdict the dogs findings were proven.
Now that's a first!

Barbara ‏@19Barbara57 1h1 hour ago
@fiorifan If it required the assistance of The Sun to find an extra 100 donors where are the 10s of 1000s of troof seekers? #McCann

Hounder: The Supreme court saw fit to overturn the book and video ban, so how do you square that with this lesser judge and trial now not allowing it to be sold.

Best of all The Sun - who advertised the fund !! My partner suggested this may have been a deliberate twist and I wonder if that is a possibility.. if you were writing a smearing article intending to condemn the 'trolls' who were supporting Amaral would you really give details of the fund? I think not - or at least I wouldn't . I would just suggest it and let the public believe the donators were hateful sick trolls.

https://inforrm.wordpress.com/2015/05/03/news-gerry-and-kate-mccann-awarded-damages-of-e500000-in-portuguese-libel-action-summary-of-the-judgment/#more-30567

News: Gerry and Kate McCann awarded damages of €500,000 in Portuguese libel action, summary of the Judgment

On 27 April 2015, the First Civil Chamber of Lisbon handed down judgment in the claim brought by Gerry and Kate McCann against the former Portuguese police officer, Gonçalo Amaral over his book Maddie – The Truth of the Lie. The claimants were awarded damages of €500,000 plus interest. The judgment, in Portuguese, is available here (McCanns v Amaral [pdf]). There is, at present, no definitive English translation.

The action was brought by Gerry and Kate McCann, on their own behalf and on behalf of their children, Madeleine, Sean and Amelie.

The first defendant Gonçalo Amaral was, until 2 October 2007, the Inspector of Judicial Police in charge of coordinating the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. He retired on 1 July 2008.

On 21 July 2008, the Attorney-General’s office issue a “Notice for the Media” announcing that the Madeleine inquiry was to be archived although it could be reopened if there was new evidence.

On 24 July 2008 the defendants published a book “Maddie – The Truth of the Lie” (“the Book”), written by the First Defendant. The Second Defendant, the publisher, Guerra e Paz Editores, SA, also distributed a DVD of the same title.

The Book claimed that Madeleine had died in the family apartment on 3 May 2007 as a result of an accident for which Gerry and Kate McCann were responsible but that they faked an abduction and then hid the body in order to evade justice.

The First Defendant earned a total of €342,111 from the sale of the Book.

The Court found a number of “proved facts” concerning the disappearance of Madeleine and the police investigation


The Court noted that, at the heart of the case was a conflict between the right to a good name and the presumption of innocence of the claimants and the right to freedom expression of the defendant.

The Constitution of Portugal recognises, under the heading “Other Personal Rights”

“Everyone is recognised as having the right to his or her personal identity, civil capacity, citizenship, good name and reputation, and likeness, the right to speak out and the right to the protection of the privacy of his or her personal and family life” (Article 26(1)).

Article 37 of the Constitution is headed “Freedom of expression and information” and provides

Everyone has the right to express and publicise his or her thoughts freely, by words, images or other means, and the right to impart, obtain and receive information without hindrance or discrimination.  The exercise of these rights shall not be prevented or restricted by any kind or form of censorship.   Offences committed in the exercise of these rights are punishable under the general principles of criminal law, which the courts of law have jurisdiction to try.

The rights to reply and to make corrections, and the right to compensation for loss suffered, shall be equally and effectively all individuals and corporate persons.

The Constitution also guarantees the presumption of innocence (Art 32(2)).

After considering case law from the European Court of Human Rights, Portugal and other jurisdictions, the Court noted that Gonçalo Amaral was the coordinator of the case, that even after retired he had a link to the public sector and his former position and this came with duties and one being the duty of confidentiality that continued after retirement. Employees in the judicial police cannot make public disclosures related to lawsuits except in limited circumstances. This duty was essential to the preservation of public confidence in the institutions of administration of justice.

The Court noted that the First Defendant relied on his former position both in the book and documentaries and that there was a period of only 3 days between the archiving of the case and the publication of the book.

In these circumstances, the conflict between rights should be resolved by taking into account the fact that the accused faced criminal investigation and the First Defendant was an investigator of the judicial police for 27 years. Having been in charge of the judicial police he did not enjoy full freedom of expression. His freedom was conditioned by his functions which imposed special duties on him, include the duty of confidentiality.

The Court said that there had not been any harm to the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine or to Sean and Amelie. The only parties to be compensated were Gerry and Kate McCann. They were awarded €250,000 each. In addition they were awarded interest, calculated in the sum of €105,000.

The Court made an order prohibiting the Defendants from further distributing the book and requiring them to collect all copies of the book from bookstores and warehouses within 60 days. The defendants were prohibited from publishing new editions of the Book.

The decision was widely reported in the media. The McCanns were reported as saying that they were “delighted” with the verdict.

“We want to emphasise that the action was never about money. It has always been focused on the effects of the libels on our other children and the damage that was done to the search for Madeleine,”

The First Defendant has stated that he will appeal.

scoobydoo » Thu May 07, 2015 8:36 am

I think it comes down to freedom of expression and does that give him freedom to use his position to state his opinion and speculation as facts to the public which is what the judge said (or to use the codefendents words, invent things or as his own lawyer implied to claim a missing child is dead even if she may be alive). But the judge made a point her ruling was in line with European rulings so he has little scope for successful appeal.

He might appeal costs or damages, but although costs are high they are lower than his profit for his libel. He only actually has to pay the victim 250k when he made nearly 400k from the book plus interview fees, the fact there are two victims doesn't make a difference. The judge cannot lower the damages to the victim just because the defendant was prolific in his victimization, that would be awarding him for having multiple victims. Interest is neither here nor there as the idea is that the victim should have had that money in their account accruing interest and the defendent should not have been profiting from the interest.

Appealing is very risky for amaral. It will be costly and interest will build up, the McCanns could appeal costs, the children could appeal their case, there could be moves for criminal prosecution for breaking judicial secrecy. If he delays it repeatedly again there is a distinct possibility that the investigation will have moved on and evidence that his book harmed the investigation could very well come out in which case he's kerflucked if the children's case is still ongoing. I think he lost support in Portugal when it came out that there had been multiple attacks and the police even had forensic evidence, and tanner told the truth and he hadnt bothered to check the creche records. His codefendents weren't argueing he told the truth were they?

His argument to his fan club is that he was just doing his job, but as the judge isn't a desperate simpleton she is going to realise that writing as book for personal profit was not part of his job as investigator.

Truthiness2 wrote:
That 'book' wasn't proposed, written, and printed in three days (after the archiving).

That means Amoral broke judicial secrecy by writing the book and sharing it's contents with the publishers, editor, printers etc.

He came by that material, not as a result of his own work, but as a result of his position. He profited greatly from the information he gained because of his position, whilst smashing to pieces the professional responsibility of that position - secrecy.

He mixed privileged information with his own bizarre theories and presented them as fact. He played on his former position to give it authority and gravitas.

He earned a fortune by breaking his own country's secrecy rules.

He earned a fortune by stating, as fact, that the McCanns were responsible for covering up the 'death' of their daughter, without any evidence to back it up.

He never expected the SY review and the reopening of the investigation. He never expected the Portuguese police and SY to emphasise that parents were not suspects ie innocent.

He trampled over the rights of the McCanns - setting himself up as judge and jury.

He effectively helped the person who abducted Madeleine - by making him non-existent and invisible.

Frances @foxylady93 · 2h 2 hours ago
important new info has been sent to Amaral's lawyers for use in his appeal against the #McCann hoax.. @dminnimouse https://www.facebook.com/groups/jkjoannekilcoyne/ …

Deborah Jayne Law
2 hrs
WE HAVE EXCLUSIVE INFORMATION WHICH WILL HELP THE APPEAL.
AND THIS HAS NOW BEEN LOGGED WITH SENHOR AMARALS LAWYERS
WE CAN REVEAL THIS TO YOU LATER THIS AFTERNOON

Robert Guest Public Information Page
1 hr ·
BREAKING NEWS - We have just come off the phone to Gonzo and will be the first to break the news about his appeal, please do not share this with anyone connected to the McCann's legal representation as we don't want to give the game away.
P.S. I have blocked Isabel Duarte so we should be fine.

David Steel Basically their 'WORLD EXCLUSIVE' was to say that Fiona Payne has used the words 'In Memory' on her own GoFund page. They see this as an admission from K&G McCann that Maddie is dead and they will be passing this information on to Amaral's lawyers. Yes, believe it or not, that was their world exclusive. Thick as F*ck.

My 84 year old mum pressed this £10 into my hand this evening, to donate to this cause. She is not on any of the Facebook groups, and she is not on Twitter. However, she has watched The Truth of The Lie documentary, as well as numerous other clips and documentaries, on YouTube, and has come to the conclusion, like all of us here, that she does NOT believe the McCanns version of events. The only thing she knows about trolls is that there was a nasty one under the bridge in the Three Billy Goats Gruff! Thanks mum

.... are genuine.

Yeah, the world is full of 84-year-olds eagerly watching YouTube fillums made by convicted perjurers. These people are as stupid and gullible, as they are nasty.

might be a stalker @__StuartB__ · 21h 21 hours ago
@nikki_plummer @DAFFODIL53 I hope he comes to the UK and uses #legalaid to appeal the greedy #mccann,

PumpedUpKicks ‏@SupaNovaBurst 15m15 minutes ago
Reading through the #McCann hashtag is like reading a case study in monginitus...Babs and dreary driscoll are fine specimens of mongs.  

AnneGuedes ‏@aacg
@ThePlebian There are misunderstandings because it was translated from the French which has mistakes. I'm ready to work with Anna on it.

Idk, Joss, to me the word 'proven' means there is no reasonable doubt that there was blood and cadaverine in the apartment and hire car. Given that, how could the judge rule against Dr Amaral unless she was implying that there is some other possible explanation other than the McCann' s involvement which cannot be ruled out?

perhaps some of goncs supporters on here could tell me why gonc has no real support....having to rely on a single mum from northfield...where is his support in Portugal...As I have said the McCanns are backed by some pretty influential people...why has gonc got no support...is it because those with more sense realise what a crook he is

scoobydoo » Sun May 17, 2015 1:00 pm
He's a nasty bully plain and simple. Like a typical workplace bully he is incompetent and uses bluster and aggression to cover it up. He picks on those he thinks will be vulnerable and the minute his victims stand up to him he is blindsided and desperately tries more bluster to keep up appearances. Hence he thought once the McCanns left he was home free. They would know their place and he could make a fortune blaming them. But when they stood up to him it backfired and he ended up trying to convince people he was some columbo character and was going to whip out some ace to prove the McCanns did it (because all good detectives keep essential evidence to themselves to use to allow them to make money from a book without fear of being sued!). But the McCanns didn't run away and eventually he appeared in court and lost. There was no ace. Now he claims he will appeal so he can sell his book and sue the McCanns, their friends, and others. Again just bluster. He can appeal, but only for his case as he doesn't own the book. So appealing won't sell the book. He can't sue the mccanns or anyone else as they didn't do anything to him. They have a right to sue him. The McCanns don't care about getting the money, they wanted vindication from the courts and the book sales halted. They got that and amaral can't change that. The publisher is unlikely to appeal as they admit the book is lies and its not worth it financially. Aside from risk of litigation the haters have published so many copies of his book for free on the internet that its not worth anything any more as no one interested in it will buy it. Therefore no publisher will ever be interested in it again.