Sahill, as I understand it, it is not legal in Portugal to involve unofficial (ie non-police) individuals or organisations in ongoing criminal enquiries. “Inspector Olegário Sousa, of the Polícia Judiciária, said: “The investigation in Portugal only can be done by police forces.” ” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2324229.ece

This point was made in relation to some unscrupulous ‘let’s find Maddie’ fakery by Dutch PI ‘clairvoyants’, but presumably the point that, “Portuguese detectives have contacted officers in the Netherlands complaining that the company has broken laws that mean that only police can investigate criminal cases “, would apply to PI’s who work without any assistance from ectoplasm or the ether too.

So why don’t the McCann’s simply ignore this law, if it would help get Madeleine back?

Well, there seems to be a subtext throughout this case, which (whatever the resolution) will, I presume, eventually become the subject of overt coment, as the family either a)finally lose patience with the handling of it, or b) lob any old dollop of mud at the Portuguese authorities in an attempt to resist extradition/ defend themselves at trial. Namely, that from the first the parents have scrupulously attempted to ‘co-operate’ with the police investigation, even when it has not gone in directions they might like. Their criticism (or even comment) of the investigation has been muted, and they have abided – to a degree I find remarkable – by the Portuguese policy of embargo on release of evidence, even when this has led to the gulf being filled with speculation and innuendo, that has laid them open to personal and venomous attack.

If they are innocent this is presumably because they feel that trying to keep the authorities on board (and avoiding at all costs alienating the people in the best position to accomplish that), is their best hope of recovering their daughter; if they are guilty of involvement in her disappearance, because they have hoped the appearance of co-operation would divert attention away from themselves. Either way, though this restraint is now beginning to fray, they have still not sought to come forward and lay before the media the definitive account of their version of events that night or since. (Did Gerry really tell his sister that the window showed evidence of having been forced? What did Kate actually shout when she found her daughter missing? etc) Instead we still have dribs and drabs of supposed quotes from friends and family members and apparent leaks from the Portuguese police, all media filtered, that combine to make the family and/or their friends look inconsistent and vague at best, at worst downright deceitful.

Now they are home, I doubt the Portuguese legal framework carries any force in regard to their actions in this country, despite their arguido status, if they wish to speak out on these matters. The fact they choose not to (about the tetchiest it has got is Kate McCann’s mild rebuke that during her prolonged interrogation she was devastated to realise the police were really no longer actively looking for Madeleine), suggests their legal representatives are still encouraging them to ‘play the game’ with the Portuguese system, and not be seen as in any way hostile to the people officially charged with finding their daughter.

Presumably that would include not hiring PI’s, who would not only get no co-operation from the police, but may well constitute an illegal investigation if they began poking around.

Leon, I didn’t know you and Redwood were that close.

That or he reads PP and decided to skank me with no credit.

El Cid: Ask youself this question (a bit like Rawl’s hypothesis) If you had access to £1m but could use it to find your missing daughter or use it to hire Pichochet’s lwayer, what would you do?

Lastly (given this rather brief post) this case has explained to me more about English and British Class warfare then I ever thought existed. I really cannot believe how the media have behaved, this is a massive PR exercise, to ram home the point look at this:

http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/

P.S. Spanish (Portuguese) commentators often talk about the British tabloid press in a holier than thou way that is just bullsheeeeet and irritating (not you Clara).
P.P.S. And in the same way xenophobic bigots tend to judge other countries differently, there is a tendency from some on the left to assume the worst of their own kind while making allowances for others.

Leon, I didn’t know you and Redwood were that close.

I understand Castilian indeed, both spoken and written. I could have written this in Portuguese but Douglas might start translating

Tim
It would be nice to believe that the media get more rational in their coverage but so far no hopes that it would become wiser have been fulfilled. I see this clearly in Portugal too where the pressures put on the police in this case are a major concern. I still believe they do want to find the truth though.

El Professor
Wouldn’t it be easier for the police (and cheaper) to frame Murat? He was media’s favorite suspect, Russian friends and a fake eye… he is half Portuguese, half British. It would please everyone and, most important, nobody would say the evidence was planted. Why would Portuguese police complicate things and frame the McCanns instead?

Ravi
“I think it is somewhat disingenuous to talk about a timetable for solving a crime without actually knowing all the details of the investigation, and based solely on tabloid opinion makers and the power of hindsight.”
Well said Ravi

Clara

any reader of agatha christie and other detective genres surely knows that police are clueless across the world. and what can you expect – given how dodgy we are, its surprising they’ve caught the no. of criminals they have. its so easy for us to say well i would have found out if i were them. there are so many unsolved cases. of course this is partly the government’s fault for making crime seem like something that can be ‘controlled’ and ’solved’.

could be a good trick that though – for future references. !

*( of course we can theorise as to where the body is or isn’t – but theorising is what it is. for example, i would say if they were the ones wot did it, the focus on portugal might well be the red herring, i.e. do we know that madeleine ever went to portugal? she may well be buried in their back yard. who knows? depends if we have good reason to believe what we are told – madeleine disappeared on day x in location y. anyway)

I think you are being unfair. It has been reported that the police have been following 2500 leads since the investigation began, which turned to be false. A lot of resources have been put into this investigation, but you need to consider that Portugal is a small country, and doesn’t have the resources or the expertise that Britain has in dealing with such cases. The fact that they have asked England for help shows the commitment to solve this case as soon as possible.

I think it is somewhat disingenuous to talk about a timetable for solving a crime without actually knowing all the details of the investigation, and based solely on tabloid opinion makers and the power of hindsight.

I believe you are right about finding the body, but explaining how they could hide the body for so long is perhaps less troublesome, considering the parents and friends are doctors, and would know what to do to preserve it. You talk about the possibility of planting evidence… but it can’t be the police as the McCanns were suggesting, as for that they would need to find the body.

Anyway, what I find really troublesome and which you mention, is the leaks that keep coming out, presumably by the police. I find that contemptible.