In the aftermath of their libel case defeat, the parents of missing Madeleine McCann are reported to be threatening people found selling the damning book "Truth of the Lie" that has been once again freed from censorship.
The UK’s Daily Mirror claims Kate and Gerry McCann “have warned anyone caught selling ex-police chief Gonzalo (sic) Amaral’s book in the UK would face legal action”.
But the story fails to address the fact that, right now, there is no legal basis for this tactic.
Amaral’s thesis will be returning to bookstores in Portugal next week as both he and his publishers Guerra e Paz have won the civil action lodged against them.
It is possible the McCann’s lawyers will argue that the appeal they claim to be lodging with Portugal’s Supreme Court could cover threats of legal action - but this is also debatable, say legal experts
“The book is not held to be defamatory in any jurisdiction in the world”, said one - pointing out at the same time that an appeal to the Supreme Court in Portugal is equivalent to an appeal to the House of Lords in Great Britain.
“These courts only listen to cases involving important points of law, of general public importance”, he told us. “They are not interested in facts, nor minor squabbles - nor whether the Court of Appeal has made a good or bad decision.
“They are only interested if they have to clarify something which the substantive law has not made entirely clear”.
In other words, an appeal by the McCann’s to continue their action against former PJ coordinator Gonçalo Amaral “may not even be entertained”, said the source.
Be that as it may, the fallout from Tuesday’s decision is reverberating through the world’s media channels, particularly as Amaral has hit back almost immediately with the news that his lawyers will now be suing for compensation.
The bill “could run into the hundreds of thousands of euros”, writes the Mirror, explaining that Amaral is said to be suing for “years of financial losses in which his good name has been called into question”.
Negotiating with his publishers today, the former detective confirmed to the Resident that “what the McCanns are doing is illegal. I am in talks with my publishers for a book in the English language, as there is as yet no publisher in the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand - not even Amazon - that is selling it.
"The McCanns will learn to respect the right to opinion and freedom of expression”, he added - stressing that “any version” of Truth of the Lie in English that can be found on the Internet is also illegal, as neither he nor Guerra e Paz publishers have given their authorisation to translations.
Article by kind permission of http://portugalresident.com
Comments
Come on guys ! Still waiting for any answer from any Portuguese pond life beginning to evolve a spine.
Well we live in a world of press freedom...so let him write and publish his book. If they are innocent it will, all come out....so as well will be the truth if they are guilty.....
What are they frightened of?
Perhaps they should concentrate on finding their daugher rather than protecting their egos and generating income through the courts..
So little progress that even today the Portuguese Police cannot hold anything resembling a publicity event 'to appeal for information from anyone who might know something relevant to a missing person enquiry'.
Why ? Is it true what so many Portuguese will whisper to a foreigner that so many Police recruited in earlier times and still in post today were 'The Wrong Uns'. They joined up, like previous generations, to better themselves. Fully expecting they would be getting a basic wage and anything on top - leftover after sharing with senior officers was theirs. Commission from either 'not investigating crimes' or from 'prosecuting the innocent to distract attention from the guilty'.
With a background like that what pile of "do do" might come out if the Portuguese Police began 'appealing for witnesses'? Like more developed countries do?
All we need now is some Portuguesers to offer us their take on "Police appeals for information" and why it would not work here.