I disagree, any parent of a missing child would do what the parents of Ben did and that was to stay and encourage both police and civilians to look for the child. Alas, no trace of Ben has ever been found but they tried, they put personal gain aside and dedicated their lives to finding their missing child. The Needham's don't attract hate, derision and loathing.
Unless someone comes forward, I cannot see Madeleine ever getting justice but it won't be the good people of Portugal to blame.
The main reason why Ben's family were not given the same vile treatment as the McCanns is because the internet was not prolific in those days. Even so - they haven't completely escaped criticism and suspicion. Neither has Sarah Payne, who was forced to close her Twitter account because of the abject cruelty of some spiteful people.
The internet has increasingly been used by barmy and/or nasty conspiracy theorists to get their kicks. Nowadays it seems to be the norm for these people to attach themselves to every tragedy going. Once upon a time they only had poison pen letters to spread their bile. So much easier to do now from behind a computer screen. Cowards, the lot of them IMO.
The disgusting character assassination campaign which was launched against the McCanns and their friends by elements of the PJ and others in order to sway public opinion against them - was and is truly shameful. Add to that the different customs, the bafflilng (to me) legal system, the differences in culture, even the language barrier and a desire to protect their tourist industry at all costs - and I would say that Madeleine does not have a cat in hells chance of ever receiving justice in Portual.
The McCanns have followed the advice of the experts on how to give Madeleine the best possible chance of being found. Why doing that is considered to be wrong by some people is beyond my comprehension.
AIMHO
