Guest Author Ze Mole
Hard choice for the hacks yesterday Alastair Campbell giving evidence at the Iraq enquiry on the same day that the McCann case starts in Portugal. It was supposed to be apart from his old boss the most integral part of the enquiry but there nothing changed in what he said and after you hear it for around the umpteenth time you start to get very bored very easily. Not so over at the McCann libel case where things are beginning to be slightly more interesting than the opening day which had more hostility than substance.
From the very start of the day it was going to be a contentious. The top Maddie cop Goncalo Amaral claiming a days victory from yesterdays exchanges in the court and no doubt a positive step forward in the right to free speech and expression, something of which you will hear a lot of as this libel case rumbles on.
Amaral had every right to smile this morning with Moita Flores taking the stand to defend the disgraced Portuguese cop and giving a strong performance in defending a former colleague. Flores came out fighting mentioning under cross examination that only a “stupid person” would have attempted to pass a child through the apartment window and that this insistence on the window being the point of where Madeleine McCann left the apartment to be nothing more than to mislead the investigating police. Madeleine leaving by the window at the hand of the intruder is central to the abduction theory. Flores concluded his statement by attacking the press and singling out the UK press as leading a “smear campaign” directed at Mr Amaral. This line of cross examination was swiftly concluded by Judge Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues and dismissed it as irrelevant.
Flores finished by describing Amaral’s book as a “thesis, not the absolute truth”.
After lunch Jose Enes brought nothing new of note except to stick the boot in to the media again and mentioned that the Madeleine McCann case was comparable to the OJ Simpson trial concerning the contamination of evidence. Half way through Enes being on the stand, Mr Amaral got up and walked out of court and left the building to ride away in a waiting car. Amaral spared a moment to express his delight at the early testimony of Flores and that he had explained why Amaral had felt the need to write his book which is at the heart of this libel trial.
His parting shot ? Another stab at the UK press after he claimed one of my esteemed colleagues had referred to him as “incompetent”
Enes swiftly left the stand to be replaced with what I was told was the Portuguese equivalent of a magazine salesman from Wapping: Mario Lopes. Lopes like Enes before him brought nothing new to the hearing and seemed uncomfortable being on the stand.
Two different countries and two very different reasons for being there but one common theme “it wasn’t me mlud, it was the press”. Naturally.
Ze Mole will return tomorrow to bring us up to date on the day’s events at the continuing libel case against Mr Amaral in Portugal.
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The Raptor rubber bus award today goes to UnterdenTeppich for this belter:
@JondiPaolo we had enough McCann spin for the rest of our lives. Thought you were reporting on the court case
Nice move Einstein, have a go at the journalist and for that you get the award.
Todays full log from JondiPaolo now follows:
Mr McCann also rejected the charge that the trial was a bid to restrict freedom of speech, as has been claimed by Mr Amaral's supporters.
7 minutes ago from web He added that although the testimony had favoured Mr Amaral's version of events, it still had not produced any evidence Madeleine was dead.
9 minutes ago from web "That's why we carry on. We have other children who miss Madeleine dearly."
10 minutes ago from web "I hope that everyone remembers that there is a little girl missing that still has to be found," Mr McCann continued.
11 minutes ago from web He also rejected the testimony yesterday that Kate had had a dream about Madeleine lying buried somewhere, saying "that never happened"..
13 minutes ago from web "We made a mistake by leaving Madeleine alone in the apartment, and we have to live with that. We can't change it," Mr McCann said.
14 minutes ago from web Mr McCann added that mistakes were made during the investigation that now cannot be righted - but that was not the point of the court case.
15 minutes ago from web "The search for Madeleine is ongoing. We don't have any leads and we need to keep searching."
17 minutes ago from web "...are the same officers that we are depending on to carry on the search for Madeleine."
18 minutes ago from web "I think it's particularly disappointing that the police officers who considered us responsible for Madeleine's disappearance...
19 minutes ago from web "From our point of view, what happened here in the past few days is to be expected."
26 minutes ago from web "I think it's important that things have been debated in a court of law," he told reporters.
27 minutes ago from web Despite the avalanche of testimony favouring Mr Amaral over the past two days, Mr McCann seemed to be quite upbeat.
28 minutes ago from web He explained that he was leaving the court case as he had unavoidable work commitments in the UK, but that Kate would stay on until the end.
29 minutes ago from web Mr McCann held an impromptu press conference outside the front of the court where he was beseiged by journalists' questions.
29 minutes ago from web Sorry about the pause - we had a brief intermission during which Gerry McCann left the court.
31 minutes ago from web The marketing plan for the book was much smaller than normal, because we are a small publisher, Mr Lopes tells the court.
about 1 hour ago from web The book was published very quickly to take most advantage of marketing opportunities, the court hears.
about 1 hour ago from web Mr Lopes tells the court that Mr Amaral's book had been ready to publish in the last week of July 2008.
about 1 hour ago from web Mr Enes has left the witness stand, and has been replaced by Mario Sena Lopes, former chief editor at the book's publisher, Guerra e Paz.
about 1 hour ago from web ...the course of justice should not be diverted by books or films, it should be deaf and blind to them.
about 1 hour ago from web Mr Enes: Some parts of the book were put too strongly - it's not the way I would have done it, but that's because I'm from another era...
about 1 hour ago from web Mr Enes says that just because people put forward their own theories, it does not prevent other lines of inquiry being investigated.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes says the Madeleine investigation was the victim of 'friendly fire' from the media that hampered its course.
about 2 hours ago from web Right. Back to the courtroom. Mr Enes is still giving evidence.
about 2 hours ago from web He added that he had only this morning been described as 'incompetent' in one British newspaper.
about 2 hours ago from web The former policeman said what he described as a campaign against him in the British press is continuing.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Amaral added that he wrote the book to protect his honour and set the record straight.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Amaral said he was pleased with Mr Flores' testimony earlier, adding that for the first time it had been explained why he wrote the book.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Amaral has left the court building, stopping to give a few comments in Portuguese before climbing into a waiting car.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Amaral has suddenly got up and walked out of the courtroom, causing a murmur among the onlookers on the public benches.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes: I strongly respect the convictions and work of Mr Amaral.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes says his conclusions are often relied upon completely by the courts in which he gives evidence.
about 2 hours ago from web Sorry, that tweet should have read: Mr Enes tells the court he has been called to give evidence in several other cases as an expert witness.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes tells the court he has been called to give evidence in several courts and
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes' phone has just gone off, drawing laughter from the court. The judge is smiling too as the clerk has to turn it off for him.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes compared the Madeleine McCann case to that of OJ Simpson, saying that allegations of contamination of evidence had compromised it.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes says that the immense media interest in the Madeleine case was unhelpful for the investigators trying to solve it.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes was interviewed by a Portuguese journalist for a book about Madeleine's disappearance.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes has an associateship in chemistry and a doctorate in anthropology, but has now retired from the police force.
about 2 hours ago from web Mr Enes is giving evidence in person, rather than via video link as Mr Flores did this morning.
about 2 hours ago from web Jose Manuel Enes, a former forensic laboratory chief in the Portuguese police, is the next witness.
about 2 hours ago from web Judge Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues has arrived, so the afternoon's proceedings can begin.
about 2 hours ago from web We're expecting to hear from three witnesses involved in the publishing of the book this afternoon.
about 3 hours ago from web We're back in the courtroom, as are the legal teams, Mr Amaral and the McCanns. No sign of the judge yet though.
about 3 hours ago from web Waiting outside the courtroom for the afternoon's proceedings to begin. Mr Amaral is here too, chatting on a mobile phone.
about 3 hours ago from web The proceedings have adjourned for lunch. Back in an hour's time.
about 5 hours ago from web Duarte: What does the title of the book (by Mr Amaral) mean? Flores: The book is a thesis, not the absolute truth.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: Mr Amaral was the co-ordinator of the investigation. He was not in the field.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: Mr Amaral was the victim of a smear campain. He is a good professional with a good technical background.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: It was a scandal to see such nasty portraits painted of the Portuguese investigators by the British media.
about 5 hours ago from web Glamorous judge Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues halts the cross-examination of Mr Flores by the McCanns' lawyer, saying it is not relevant.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: Sections of the British media spread propaganda about Mr Amaral.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: The book is autobiographical, it traces a period of Mr Amaral's life.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: The documentary (based on Mr Amaral's) book is a hypothesis that believers take to be the truth.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: The McCanns have every right to do everything they can beyond what the Portuguese police did in order to find their daughter.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: This case is pathetic. A citizen is being prevented from freely expressing his opinions in a reponsible way.
about 5 hours ago from web Isabel Duarte, the McCanns' top lawyer, leaves the bench and approaches the couple for a quick huddled chat before returning to the fray.
about 5 hours ago from web Flores: I worked in a different part of the police to Mr Amaral but I know him from the investigation and I respect him a lot.
about 5 hours ago from web The McCanns are both in conversation with their interpreters. Gerry however looks relaxed and smiles as he talks.
about 6 hours ago from web The McCanns' lawyer, Isabel Duarte , is repeating the same question to Mr Flores. Yesterday, she became quite impassioned on their behalf.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: The theory about passing the child through the window makes it seem as though someone is trying to fool the police.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: It would have been a very stupid person who tried to pass a sleeping child through the window of the McCanns' holiday flat.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: A detective has to think about what went through the head of the victim and the criminal.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: Many, many hours were spend by officers checking out every other possible line of inquiry.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: It is not true to say that the police only pursued the line of inquiry that the McCanns were guilty.
about 6 hours ago from web Mr Flores is being cross-examined by a lawyer from a Portuguese television company that aired a documentary based on Mr Amaral's book.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: No-one should be allowed to steal our constitutional rights - rights that were very hard to win. That is what this trial is about.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: No judge should be able to order people not to think about a case just because the police investigation has ceased,
about 6 hours ago from web As on the first day of the case, the McCanns are sitting on the front bench, listening impassively to the proceedings.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: The good name of the McCann family is not attacked by Mr Amaral's book. The book is about the investigation.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: Our constitutional rights cannot be attacked
.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: We would all like to find Madeleine alive, but that is another thing.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: It is not possible to ask an investigator anywhere in the free world to follow the abduction line only.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: I have spoken to respected experts on crime and none of them agrees it would be possible to pass a child through the window.
about 6 hours ago from web Flores: mcanns have been trying to convince police since the beginning that abduction was the only line of inquiry worth pursuing.
about 6 hours ago from txt Flores: PJ investigation was based on well-established principles of police work adhered to all over the world.
about 6 hours ago from txt Flores is an acquaintance of amaral's and wrote the preface to the sequel to his book about madeleine.
about 7 hours ago from txt Flores: this case involves a question of freedom of speech.
about 7 hours ago from txt We're back in court. The first witness is moita flores, former senior policeman and noted public figure.
about 7 hours ago from txt Mr amaral claimed victory outside court, saying the witnesses had borne out his argument.
about 7 hours ago from txt Gerry mccann: anyone else with children would do the same.
about 7 hours ago from txt Gerry mccann: this is the legal process we're going through to protect our daughter. We're looking for more information to help the search.
about 7 hours ago from txt Gerry mccann: we're not denying the existence of the dogs, or anything else. It's evidence we're interested in.
about 7 hours ago from txt Gerry mccann outside court: we've heard no evidence madeleine is dead.
about 7 hours ago from txt Kate and gerry mcann are sitting outside the court, only a few yards away from where mr amaral and his team are standing.
