McCann vs Amaral Libel Trial

Until last week ago we weren't sure the trial the McCann vs Amaral libel in Lisbon would happen.

Almost exactly a year ago, we said in our "Textusa Non-Random Ramblings" post that we thought the Black Hatscouldn't allow it to happen:

"I think that the McCanns have much more to fear from it then does Amaral. Sticking to the possible event itself, I repeat what the blog has stated many a time before and is that is that the McCanns cannot afford for facts to be discussed publicly in Court. One just has to go back to the Trial about the book and remember how disastrous it was for the McCanns when facts started to be discussed, to the point of making Isabel Duarte speak of unfollowed leads that were never asked to be followed and the willingness of Gerry McCann in reopening the process that was never formally materialized.

We did also say, in the same post, that"If the Trial is to take place, which I believe it will one day, the best outcome that the McCanns can hope for is to be publicly questioned and thus openly ridiculed, further damaging their already irreparable reputation and credibility."

During our Summer break we kept hearing dates for hearings but as the sources were far from being reliable and as the slowness of the Portuguese Justice system is almost a touristic attraction, we followed the issue but didn’t give it much attention.

Then about a week ago, we heard it from the grapevine that Mr. Amaral had requested for the trial to be held behind closed doors.

That changed our vision of what was going on.

It made sense. We may be wrong but we believe we know the reason for this request and it made us believe that the time for the trial had arrived.

But we lacked confirmation. We looked for it but found none.

The media, the one that matters, spoke nothing of it, and the fact it was mentioned by the other, it only made us believe that our belief in the occurrence of the trial in September 2013 was baseless.

As you can see by our comments yesterday, the trial was ongoing and we still were finding it hard to believe it was happening... and indeed it was.

First of all, it seems that the Judge didn’t allow Mr Amaral to fight in the ground of his choice, one without media. We think his advantage has enough manoeuvre room to overcome this minor setback.

What surprises us in looking at the opposing team it’s that it’s much, much too weak. Like lambs to the slaughter.

It starts with the absence of Gerry who certainly has more important things to do like picking daffodils and chasing fireflies than have his presence show his indignation and sufferance inflicted upon him by a certainly malevolent Portuguese detective.

After all he did find time to give his face to the Hacked Off but not to show it in Lisbon for the libeltrial.

It seems that in Rothley, the important affairs fall under Gerry's area of responsibility while Kate deals with the minor ones, like Maddie.

It continues with Emma Loach who directed the Mockumentary, which we’ve debunked and showed for the monstrosity it really is. We’re sure that with the load of obstructing lies it contained it was a big help to anyone looking for Maddie.

Then we have Susan Hubbard, an active participant of the Mockumentary in her role as TS’ mother, who confesses resorting to the help of a distraught mother whose child had just been supposedly abducted to settle in Praia da Luz, a town which the referred distraught mother was also stranger to: the distraught, helpful and altruistic Kate McCann.

Were there no ex-Pats to assume this role?

You may say that Kate and Susan hit it off so well that they instantly became best friends. They may, but we thought Kate’s best mate in PdL was Fiona Payne. Couldn’t have been her to help Susan settle in?

And we’re sure Mr Bean refused to be part of this team (our apologies Mr Atkinson, we’re referring solely to the hilarious character you created and not yourself, obviously) for that is the only reason we can see why they brought in Dave Edgar, the Mockumentary’s biggest star.

That’s not scraping the bottom of the barrel. That’s giving up on the scraping and heading for the nearest sewer and bringing the first thing one could get a hold of after all the rats dashed for cover.

Lastly but not least, we have Mrs Duarte. The lawyer defeated in the book injunction case.

And what does she have to say?

Entering the court, on SIC Noticias she stated that it’s all about personality rights which are usually defined as the inalienable and non-transferable right that every individual has to control the use of his body, name, image, appearance or any other aspects that constitutes their identity.

As far as we can understand about this sort of thing, it seems to come down to Mr Amaral unauthorized use of the McCanns image and name in his book.

Did Kate McCann obtain from Mr Amaral any sort of authorization to use his name, as well as from all those many others she mentions and mistreats, in her book?

And also got an authorization from Ricardo Paiva who she qualifies as f****** t****** in it?

On the same occasion, this time for Sky News, Duarte stated that although Maddie’s death hasn’t been proved, it has been proved the exact amount Mr. Amaral profited from his book.

We thought the book issue was over when it was finally solved the disrespect shown by the losing party in the return of the ceased books.

But apparently it isn’t.

So it was Mr Amaral’s profit that hindered the search.

In what way? Did they expect Mr. Amaral to give it all to the Fraudulent Fund and because he didn’t they sulked?

See how weak this team is?

This is like seeing Tiny Tim being sent, without crutch, into a boxing ring to be clobbered in a fight for the heavyweight world title.

If it wasn’t for the pure malice and evilness of these people one should feel pity for them.

Your child has gone in tragic circumstances. How can you quantify anguish or apportion it to a book's influence on your reputation?

When you are not prepared to speak up for yourself and just let others do it for you. Not too well, it seems, as the first day hearings showed.

How was the biggest and most expensive search for a child in Portugal affected by this book?

The decision to wind down the search and archive the case was made BEFORE the book was published.

As Kate says herself on page 317 of her book: "In some ways, we were glad the investigation had been closed."

How can they claim the search has been hindered when a Review by Scotland Yard, costing £5 million plus and ongoing for over 2 years, is taking place?

What about the UK's refusals to provide credit card transactions and medical records, Kate's refusal to answer questions, the UK's delay in forwarding 2 statements to the PJ?

And then we have the criminal private investigators, who directed questionable searches to Morocco or the Arade dam.

But here they are. And that is what concerns us.

We can see only two reasons for them to have come.

The first, most obvious and most likely, they were forced to come. A defeat in persona outweighed largely desertion so they were told to proceed and do their best to contain damages.

Comprehensible and likely.

We did say in Ramblings our post that "All the “Establishment” has to do is to remain absolutely and completely motionless when and if the McCann vs Amaral Trial ever occurs.

(...)

But that would be in the case the "McCann Team" had come in full-force, like in the last time, namely with its captain, Gerry McCann, which certainly isn't the case. And the most likely reason for him not to have come.

The other reason for this weak team to have come may be that the game is not being played on the board we see the pieces, as it usually has been in anything to do with Maddie.

Lest we forget, Mr Amaral, and all of us, is up against an “octopus” that not only has 8 tentacles but 8 very powerful ones.

It has shown clearly, from time to time how powerful an "animal" it is.

For example, so powerful that allowed the impudence for Rogerio Alves to to say “Notice what happened to the McCanns. For some time it was wanted to convey the idea that they were responsible for the death / disappearance of their daughter. Today this idea is completely anachronistic and almost no one will believe it.”

Speaking in the name of general society is easy when one knows that those who can prove our words different are nicely and comfortably under the most shameless strictest of control.

So our fears reside solely outside that Court Room.

No doubt the UK press will give the court evidence the usual spin.

But who knows what Mr Amaral has yet to say.

We are also sure that if anyone is perfectly aware of how powerful and lurking is who he's up against, that person is Mr Amaral. A person whose dignity is noted, his perseverance unquestionable, his resilience envied and his courage admired.

A true Admiral at the helm of our ship right now. We wish him well for the remainder of the hearings.

We don’t want the justice we personally want. That justice is as just as the justice we personally don’t want. We just seek a just Justice.

You know, the one without personal or corporate interests involved.

If that just Justice is applied then the sea will be calm with following winds.

But we’ll have to wait to see for the result to fully understand where this trial is really taking place.

Would fortune have it that the McCann vs Amaral libel trial be on the same day that it was announced that there would not be a public inquiry about the 1998 Omagh bombings in which 29 people lost their lives.

BBC says that "Theresa Villiers said she did not believe there were sufficient grounds to justify a further inquiry beyond those that have already taken place.

And also says: "Theresa Villiers told BBC News that, given the "extensive series of investigations", a new public inquiry "wouldn't tell the families more than they already know.""

So let’s hope that the tangible result of the SY Review / Investigation about Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is not just the squandering away of public funds, and thus proving that the circus is simply carrying on even if the clowns do change from time to time.

No taxpayer's money for Omagh, only, and not that little of it, for Maddie, who everyone knows is not alive.

Yesterday, in the beginning of the morning we said that we saw no reason to change our chartered course. By the end of the same morning we took the decision to do exactly that and write this post.

We know you understand and support us.

The blogeditorial line will be reassumed as soon as possible.