One good thing about the Portuguese system is that the Police are not allowed by Law to release any details of the case - whatsoever - without Judicial clearance, the latter is given in exceptional circumstances only. Therefore any press speculation is just that, speculation, they are not working from facts, only "informal" leaks. By definition the latter are automatically suspect, in other systems credance would be given to such leaks. Any "Trial by Media" can therefore be automatically ignored.

That system can add to speculation of course as each newspaper tries to outdo the other for stories with impact and circulation content, but at least its a level playing field, you know its speculation, cant be anything else. Media stories are framed and approved in terms of Impact & circulation, any that contain "Truth & Justice" are by co-incidence only, investigative Journalism on the basis of "Truth & Justice" only went out the window long ago.

Personally, I am content to wait for facts.

Thanks for that Zydor. Actually I have no truck with the system. It is the strange way the system is working there. Three examples:

The McCanns are free to go--no charges-no limits--yet they " apparently "were asked to confess to homicide.
The hire car used by the McCanns was still being used by them until they left the country.
The McCanns can say what they like in the UK.

Doesn't something smell "fishy" here?

Doesn't something smell "fishy" here?

Yes, but....

Where in the American judicial system or that in Britain, would you find two people listed as suspects in a crime, then offered a deal for a confession (two years jail only if you confess to homicide), and then NO CHARGES ARE BROUGHT!

I would see these keystones and show you JonBennet Ramsey.  Pretty much the same situation, except they had a body.  I dont think it is unique to Portugal (who I admit I know almost nothing about their legal system), but of legal systems in general (where the defendants have some rights).

From what I have read, I think the request for a confession was a fishing trip. They have no leads, and were hoping one of the couple would turn against the other.

I would be sickened if I found out the parents were responsible for the death of their child. But I would be morte sickened if I found out the investigation was stalled while the police went on a fishing trip with nothing on the hook.

They were not asked "to confess" - they were given an option of lesser charges, a perfectly normal mechanism in nearly all democratic countries. Thousands of people a in UK alone every year are arrested and later released with no charges, so far I see no difference here, apart from Media fishing for circulation impact.


Why should that be a problem if the car had been searched for all relevant evidence, if there was any to be found. They might as well drive it as any other person.


No they cant, they cannot break the terms of the release from Portugal, specifically they are not allowed to talk about any details of the case. That is no change to the situation in Portugal.

The Media will always highlight cultural differences in lifestyles and law - its an easy way to stir up emotion as many people always take the high ground that "their" system is better. From that point on, its easy to stir up a &^&*£ Storm of controversy. The system these days is usually too rigorous to allow lies being told in the Media - never 100% but nearly so - however, the Media is ever more efficient in not letting the truth get in the way of a good story, you just dont tell the whole truth, or tell it in a way it knows will stir emotion, make an impact and boost circulation.

I have no idea what the truth is, no one does, not even the Media - its all heresay and drama seeking. The police are not allowed to release details - so its all pure speculation. It maybe that in the end things went wrong - etc etc - it maybe they did do it - who knows. The relevant authorities in Portugal are there to find out. If they mess it up, then no doubt that will be dealt with.

Do we intervene in every case involving a National abroad, in every case here in UK in case "they got it wrong", or just in cases where the Media decide the time is right for a "weepie" to hit the news stands? Of course not, its silly. As in all things there is a middle ground of real life where judgement calls have to be made. They cannot be made on the basis of Media stories, and emotive pictures of weeping people who happened to be clutching babies when the photo was taken.

I assure you I am as sympathetic to their plight as the next person, but lets wait for facts before feeding a Media induced %^%$£ Storm designed to convince people they are leading a charge for justice on a white horse.

Zydor, I'm inclined to agree with you and we should wait until a final statement is made by the Portuguese Police. However I still remain sceptical and biased because of "perceived" bungling by the authorities. I admire your sensible reasoning but would be willing to wager a bet on the fact that the case has been badly handled. If this is not so I shall eat my cabbage leaf hat!

When I was attacked in 97 and the trail went cold, the police detective started looking at my husband. I found out they were investigating our family. They asked neighbors about us and at the very end with nothing to go on they wanted me to take a lie detector test. I was outraged. I got in a fight with the dectective telling him I was in no way going to drive the many miles he wanted me to at the time and take my free time for such an idiotic test when I knew I was attacked. At the time pictures were taken of my scraped up arm and egg on my head.

They came up with nothing on us. We had no record. We had never even ever called the Police on anybody before. In fact, during this time they were the ones who botched up a few things along the way.

That's when I started to believe the Ramsey case was handled the same way. When the lead goes cold, go on a fishing expedition and cause alot of trouble to get somebody on the hook. Anybody will do it seems to close the case.

Which, btw, is one reason I'm against the death penalty. You take a poor dumb schmoe from the projects and put him under police interrogation, and I could see a scenario where a false confession could be coerced. And DNA testing on many inmates has proven me right many times.

Unless we have rock solid evidence of guilt, we need to seriously err on the side of caution.

I bow to Zydor's knowledge on the way the Portuguese system works. He says "lets wait for the facts" and I go along with him on that. It would be shocking if the McCanns were deviously involved (the British press seems less sympathetic this week, by the way), but I hope above all hope that they are exonerated and the search for Maddie can continue. If something sinister appears in this case I guess I'll have to forgive the PG. If there is no hard evidence I'll judge the PG accordingly.

Well, the "facts" are almost in and the bunch of bumbling "Clouseaus" are no nearer to the truth are they? After putting the McCanns into "suspect" phase, they have now decided not to prosecute OR recall the McCanns to Portugal. If that is not an admission of failure then I don't know what is. Time is the factor here--fools wasting time while they could be searching for a missing girl--or a body. Time was wasted while one Clouseau decided to look for a scapegoat. Am I being over-critical? I don't think so--this case was handled badly ever since Sergeant Fernando Plod crossed the police tape.