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

[stephen25000]

I thought the original injunction judgement was quite well thought out and balanced, but then compare that to the Supreme Court ruling...

I suggest you wait for the appeal.

[ferryman]

I thought the original injunction judgement was quite well thought out and balanced, but then compare that to the Supreme Court ruling...

The perils of ex-parte rulings ....

[Carana]

What does using the means of social communication mean?  Is that reference to the internet or can it be taken as TV and radio?

It's normally translated as media, in context, meaning traditional media. Some of these laws may predate the recent concept of "social media", so I'm not sure about that.

http://www.linguee.com/english-portuguese/search?query=meio+de+comunica%C3%A7%C3%A3o+social

[Brietta]

It's normally translated as media, in context, meaning traditional media. Some of these laws may predate the recent concept of "social media", so I'm not sure about that.

http://www.linguee.com/english-portuguese/search?query=meio+de+comunica%C3%A7%C3%A3o+social

Thanks Carana ... however if that link to the penal code is applicable to him and my reading of it says it well may be, it is probably a good idea for him to try to keep the appeal process going for a few years to postpone the severe penalties of disseminating confidential information gained in his position as a public servant.

[Carana]

Thanks Carana ... however if that link to the penal code is applicable to him and my reading of it says it well may be, it is probably a good idea for him to try to keep the appeal process going for a few years to postpone the severe penalties of disseminating confidential information gained in his position as a public servant.

Depending on what the bit below means, I think that may have already been dealt with.


Criminal investigation officers, retired for various reasons of disciplinary penalty application, retain special rights, being holders of an identification card for recognition of their quality and the rights they enjoy [paragraphs 1 and and 2 of article 149 of the Organic Law of the Judicial Police and Ordinance No. 96/2002 of 31 January].

The statute of the retirement [approved by Decree-Law 498/72 of 9 December] establishes, from its original wording in the respective artº 74, paragraph 1, that
the retired, apart from his right to a retirement pension, remains bound to the civil service, keeping the titles and the category of the position he held and the rights and duties that do not depend on being in activity.

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/v01.htm

[Carana]

I was reading Amaral's Nova Gente interview again.

It certainly gives an indication as to what his appeal arguments are likely to be.

In his view:

- He wasn't being tried for the crime of defamation, but for an offence of opinion.

- There is no direct link between his book / documentary and any damage to the McCanns.

- He merely reported the "truth".

- No duty of confidentiality should negate his right to freedom of expression to defend his good name and professional dignity against defamation and injustice.

http://pjga.blogspot.com/2015/05/nova-gente-interview-with-goncalo-amaral_15.html

[ferryman]

I was reading Amaral's Nova Gente interview again.

It certainly gives an indication as to what his appeal arguments are likely to be.

In his view:

- He wasn't being tried for the crime of defamation, but for an offence of opinion.

- There is no direct link between his book / documentary and any damage to the McCanns.

- He merely reported the "truth".

- No duty of confidentiality should negate his right to freedom of expression to defend his good name and professional dignity against defamation and injustice.

http://pjga.blogspot.com/2015/05/nova-gente-interview-with-goncalo-amaral_15.html

Interesting take ....

[Carana]

Interesting take ....

CdaM tried that in the Murat case, but the appeal judges didn't agree.

[ferryman]

CdaM tried that in the Murat case, but the appeal judges didn't agree.

The advantage the McCanns have over Murat is that Murat couldn't disprove the allegation against him by the paper.

The McCanns have been able to disprove, at least a very large number, of specific allegations against them.

[Carana]

The advantage the McCanns have over Murat is that Murat couldn't disprove the allegation against him by the paper.

The McCanns have been able to disprove, at least a very large number, of specific allegations against them.

But that would be an issue in a UK court (if ever such a case would have even got that far), not necessarily in PT. And the judge didn't want to even want to know about dogs, DNA or anything else. Not her remit.


It's not about whether any specific details were true or not, but what damage the book and documentary caused directly and to whom. At the same time, as the Murat appeal case demonstrated, there is a certain liberty in terms of appreciation under the rules of common sense (or whatever the term actually is).

I can sort of understand throwing out damage to the twins, as the judge ruled that any damage would have been indirect.

The saddest of all (IMO), was that the damage to the search for Madeleine wasn't accepted due to the lack of demonstrable evidence. And the fact that so many negative leaks, many of which weren't even based in reality, were allowed to happen during his tenure is neither here nor there, in terms of this trial.

On the other hand... the judge does appear to have considered the matter in depth.

[ferryman]

But that would be an issue in a UK court (if ever such a case would have even got that far), not necessarily in PT. And the judge didn't want to even want to know about dogs, DNA or anything else. Not her remit.

That's the issue all over the world where there are libel laws.

Only difference is where burden of proof lies.

No point in libel laws otherwise.

[Carana]

That's the issue all over the world where there are libel laws.

Only difference is where burden of proof lies.

No point in libel laws otherwise.

The burden of proof is part of the issue, but not the only one. And it doesn't relate to proving whether x, y, or z detail was materially true or not, but the damage caused by an ex-police officer who promoted his interpretation of selected details in the files as being the "truth", particularly at a time when a more balanced view by the prosecutor, who had reviewed all the files available had come to a much more nuanced conclusion, and the fact that by insisting on his view was denying the McCanns their right to the presumption of innocence in the criminal activities that he continually attributes to them.

I still have trouble accepting the idea that he hasn't at least contributed to damaging the search for the most important person in this case... I wonder if that could be an issue considered by the appeal judges or not.

[Alice Purjorick]

The burden of proof is part of the issue, but not the only one. And it doesn't relate to proving whether x, y, or z detail was materially true or not, but the damage caused by an ex-police officer who promoted his interpretation of selected details in the files as being the "truth", particularly at a time when a more balanced view by the prosecutor, who had reviewed all the files available had come to a much more nuanced conclusion, and the fact that by insisting on his view was denying the McCanns their right to the presumption of innocence in the criminal activities that he continually attributes to them.

I still have trouble accepting the idea that he hasn't at least contributed to damaging the search for the most important person in this case... I wonder if that could be an issue considered by the appeal judges or not.

Provided someone can prove beyond doubt she was alive at the time of the books publication and thereafter I guess.

[Carana]

Provided someone can prove beyond doubt she was alive at the time of the books publication and thereafter I guess.

Why would anyone have to prove beyond doubt that she was alive at the time of the book's publication?

There was no evidence that she'd died. It's not even as if she'd disappeared in a plane crash in an ocean.

Even if she had died, who would call in with concerns about Uncle Peter/ Pieter/ Pedro's strange behaviour or odd items found in his home if it were assumed that the parents had disposed of her?

[Carana]

Still reading through the Nova Gente interview...

This was the bit I'd remembered about his view on the hierarchy of his rights versus any administrative infringement:

I am a free man, and like any other citizen in this country, I have the right to express my opinions. I was a Criminal Investigation coordinator, a policeman, and there is no reserve duty, a functional or merely instrumental thing, from the exercise of a profession, that superimposes a fundamental right and freedom of expression. To state that the duty of reserve limits freedom of expression for life, or even during the exercise of the profession of policeman, is to elevate that duty, which is merely administrative, above freedom of expression and fundamental rights, consecrated in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on the European Convention of Human Rights.

I think I can see a few problems with that argument...