For anyone who doesn't already know, Goncalo Amaral was the Portuguese police officer who originally took charge of the investigation to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann. At the time of the child's disappearance he ran the Portimão police office and was fresh from another missing child enquiry, that of little Joana Cipriano.
Amaral was Coordinator of the Maddie enquiry, it was his job to pursue various theories and collate all resources available to him. The Portuguese police were joined in the investigation by a team of English police from Leicestershire Constabulary. This collaboration was initially tolerated but soured when Amaral publicly criticised the foreign police. This in turn led to his dismissal from the investigation, he was demoted and moved to other tasks. Soon after he took early retirement.
Later it was revealed that Amaral had begun writing a book about the Maddie investigation while still a serving police officer, the book being based on the police files. He published the book after retiring but it was immediately banned in the UK.
Why did he feel the need to write a book at all?
A Verdade da Mentira by Goncalo Amaral
Foreword
Certainly, this book responds to the need I felt to defend myself, having been discredited by the institution for which I worked for more than twenty-six years, without being given any chance to explain myself, publicly or within the institution itself. I made the request several times, but it was never heard. I, therefore, scrupulously respected the rules of the police judiciaire and I refrained from making any comment. But this goes without saying: I experienced that silence to which I was constrained as an attack on my dignity. Later, I was removed from the investigation. It was then that I understood that it was time to speak. To do that, I requested early retirement in order to be able to express myself freely. However, the purpose of this work is more important: to contribute to finding the truth so that justice can finally be done in the investigation known as the "Maddie case."
Truth and justice are two values strongly anchored within me, which reflect my profound beliefs: they always guided the work I did for the institution to which I am proud to have belonged. Even in retirement, they continue to inspire me and to be present in my life. In no way does this text seek to challenge the work of my colleagues in the police judiciaire or to compromise the ongoing investigation. I am convinced that the disclosure of all the facts may, in the present case, result in harming the investigation. However, the reader will have access to unpublished information, to new interpretations of events - always with respect for the law - and, of course, to relevant enquiries. The only objective of a criminal investigation is the search for truth. There is no place for the "politically correct."
Goncalo Amaral
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