Leonor Cipriano was sentenced in 2005, to 16 years and 8 months in prison for murder and the concealment of her eight-year-old daughter's corpse. She was released from prison on Thursday.
Joana disappeared on September 12, 2004, from the village of Figueira, Portimão, and has never been seen again.
Today Leonor Cipriano left Odemira Prison claiming she is innocent of her daughter's death and that she only confessed to the crime because she was beaten by police inspectors in Faro.
This differs from her confession in court that she and her brother João had killed the girl, cut up the corpse body and concealed it in a freezer, later feeding the sections to pigs.
Cipriano claims that she was "convicted without evidence."
"What I've always said is what I'll always say. I entered this prison without doing harm to my daughter. I will always say for the rest of my life, wherever she is, who has taken her, who has done her wrong, please return her," Cipriano stated to TVI today.
As for Cipriano's immediate future, she said, “I am going to work. I have a little job. I don’t need to add anymore”.