The European Court of Human Rights ruled against the missing British child Madeleine McCann on Tuesday, saying she had given her parents the right to a fair trial in Portugal’s defamation war against a former Portuguese police officer.
Police officer Gonçalo Amaral, who was involved in the investigation into Madeleine’s 2007 disappearance, claimed in her book “Maddie, a Verdade da Mentira” that the girl’s parents were involved.
They sued Amaral for defamation. In 2015, a Portuguese court ruled in favor of the parents, ordering Amaral to pay compensation. Two years later, the decision was overturned by Portugal’s highest court.
The parents then appealed to the European court, alleging that their rights to a fair trial, private family life and freedom of expression were not respected by Portugal.
According to the court’s decision, the Portuguese judiciary did not neglect its duty to protect the rights of Gerry McCann and Kate Healy, and their claims regarding the presumption of innocence were unfounded.
“Even assuming that the applicants’ reputation was tarnished, this arose not from the allegation made by the author of the book, but from the suspicions expressed against them,” the court said.
Madeleine McCann was 3 years old when she disappeared from her room in a family apartment in the Algarve in May 2007. Initial investigations by the Portuguese police yielded no important clues, and for a time the detectives focused their attention on the parents.
The parents were questioned by the police as official suspects. The following July, Portuguese police dropped the investigation, citing lack of evidence, and acquitted them of any interest.
source: Noticias
