Gonçalo Amaral confirms he will appeal the damages decision to higher Court.

[G-Unit]

The McCanns 'won' the 'libel' trial (partly). Amaral 'lost' the 'libel' trial (partly). As a result they get all his money plus interest. He didn't libel them though, apparently he 'damaged' them by writing his book when he did and by his conclusions in the book. They were 'damaged' already but he made it worse. He didn't damage the search for their daughter and he didn't damage any of the children.

The McCanns were 'delighted' with the verdict. They told Sky News;
 
"We want to emphasise that the action was never about money. It has always been focused on the effects of the libels on our other children and the damage that was done to the search for Madeleine," they said in a statement.
http://news.sky.com/story/1473806/mccanns-delighted-with-433k-libel-victory

I wonder what they were delighted about? Neither of their stated aims was achieved. They achieved the complete ruin of Amaral however, and had the book banned (again), so a good result. Or was it?  Even Sky, the Mccann's friend, printed a picture in the above article of police digging up Praia da Luz, rather than, say, an age-progressed picture of Madeleine.

People have donated £ 10,000 in seven days to Amaral's legal defence because of their anger at being labeled as 'trolls' and because they think that Amaral has been victimised by the actions of a couple who say it's not about money but appear to spend most of their energies gathering it.

[Montclair]

The McCanns expressed aim was to stop Amaral accusing them.

They have succeeded.

Amaral must not call their innocence into doubt or use privileged information gained in the course of his employment.

The McCanns' expressed aim was to destroy him from the beginning. As Kate said in her book, she wanted him to suffer pain and feel fear.

[OxfordBloo]

The McCanns' expressed aim was to destroy him from the beginning. As Kate said in her book, she wanted him to suffer pain and feel fear.

And in that they have been successful. Ruined and gagged.

[OxfordBloo]

That is one judge's opinion only. The ruling of the Tribunal de Relação ruled that Gonçalo Amaral's rights to freedom of expression, as a Portuguese citizen, prevailed over his obligations as a retired policeman. Furthermore, the judges stated that his 26 years of experience also validated his opinion. The complete opposite of last week's decision.

AFAIK, Gonçalo Amaral has never been punished by the PJ hierarchy for breaking professional standards and if they believed that he had, any measures should have been taken 7 years ago.

BTW, the McCanns have never been declared legally innocent.

Unfortunately it is the current decision of the Portuguese Legal system and will remain so unless Amaral appeals. He has another four weeks or so.

We shall see.

If he does not appeal, will you accept it as a final decision?

[stephen25000]

And in that they have been successful. Ruined and gagged.

Ruined hardly, his assets were already seized.

Gagged hardly.

Too late for that.

Interesting to see the number of donations to Amaral, compared to the latest mccanns charity  PR exercise.

As to the mccanns getting any money from Amaral, when is that exactly ?

[OxfordBloo]

Ruined hardly, his assets were already seized.

Gagged hardly.

Too late for that.

Interesting to see the number of donations to Amaral, compared to the latest mccanns charity  PR exercise.

As to the mccanns getting any money from Amaral, when is that exactly ?

Rather than benefiting from the 350 000 euro profits from his book, he owes the McCanns 500 000 and will have to rely on his police pension. He will lose his house.

He cannot make any more pronouncements about the McCann's 'guilt' and cannot profit in future from his authorship of the book which he has been ordered to surrender his copyright rights.

Ruined and gagged.

[faithlilly]

But the book has been banned which effectively stops any possible effect it might have on the search.

THERE WAS NO EFFECT Oxy it has been legally proven. You can't cherry pick the verdict and promote the parts that suit your agenda. How does that promote justice ?

[OxfordBloo]

They haven't been charged and/or been through the court system as regards Madeleine's disappearance, in case you haven't noticed.

The crime hasn't been determined.

Try to keep up.

No crime, no guilt, therefore innocent in the eyes of the law.

[faithlilly]

And in that they have been successful. Ruined and gagged.

Maybe from a financial point of view but not morally.

[OxfordBloo]

Maybe from a financial point of view but not morally.

You may not believe him to be morally questionable but many other people would.

He is a convicted criminal and has been found civilly liable for abusing his position as a law officer to benefit himself financially.

I would say that those two facts do dent his claim to morality.

[stephen25000]

When the court releases Amaral's sequestered funds after he fails to appeal or loses his appeal.

Then of course there is the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

So the money is years away.

Shame.

[faithlilly]

You may not believe him to be morally questionable but many other people would.

He is a convicted criminal and has been found civilly liable for abusing his position as a law officer to benefit himself financially.

I would say that those two facts do dent his claim to morality.

Did the judge say anything about Amaral abusing his position to benefit himself financially ?

[OxfordBloo]

Did the judge say anything about Amaral abusing his position to benefit himself financially ?

He was found liable for publishing a book for profit using privileged information nd ignoring his responsibility to maintain the innocence of people.

[Carana]

THERE WAS NO EFFECT Oxy it has been legally proven. You can't cherry pick the verdict and promote the parts that suit your agenda. How does that promote justice ?

I disagree with that formulation. It's not that it was proven that there wasn't any - it was considered not proven that there was one. There is a nuance.

[Montclair]

Unfortunately it is the current decision of the Portuguese Legal system and will remain so unless Amaral appeals. He has another four weeks or so.

We shall see.

If he does not appeal, will you accept it as a final decision?

Of course, Gonçalo Amaral is going to appeal, you can be sure of that. BTW, this decision is not enforceable yet until all appeals have been exhausted (that is if the higher courts uphold that decision).