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

[faithlilly]

I haven't been told, perhaps you should drop them a line and ask them to justify it to you, then you could let us know?

Perhaps we'll be told when the annual accounts are made public..........then perhaps not !

[Anna]

Firstly he has not set this up Anna, a supporter did and I understand that if there is any money left after paying Amaral's legal fees it will go to a Portuguese children's charity.

Thanks faith, I didn't know that. I must have missed some of that while sick and I am still catching up. Nice to know that a children's charity might benefit too.

[Mr Gray]

It is also possible that they believe that Amaral has a legal and moral right to appeal the courts decision, and want to make sure that he has the resources to be properly represented in that appeal.

if you look at the site there are statements such as ...punished for telling the truth....amaral himself says he is in this position simply for doing his job,,......

it is those sort of lies I object to...and there are far more.. ....

many of these people believe that a cadaver dog who has never ...ever made a mistake...in 200 cases detected the scent of a corpse in the apartment...it is those lies being peddled that I object to

[Anna]

Anna, are you quite happy fr people to donate the mccanns fund:

past; present; or future.

How people spend or donate their money, is entirely up to them as far as I am concerned, Stephen.
Nobody tells me what I should and should not spend my money on and I have no right to judge how others spend theirs.

[Montclair]

He is absolutely entitled to have an opinion and think what he likes ... unfortunately he didn't stick at that ... he wrote a book to advertise that personal opinion.

In doing so he broke Portuguese Law which considering his role as an enforcer of the law is bizarre.  He also disregarded the right of the McCanns to the presumption of innocence and caused them years of psychological harm and distress

Gonçalo Amaral did not break any law. The judge only expressed her opinion that, as a retired policemen, he abused his situation and that his right to freedom of expression and opinion were limited due to the fact that he had been a public servant. That is her opinion only. He has never been sanctioned by the PJ hierarchy for any kind of abuse of his "dever de reserva". I would like to remind you that the Tribunal de Relação came to the exact opposite conclusion in its acórdão in October 2010.

[Mr Gray]

Gonçalo Amaral did not break any law. The judge only expressed her opinion that, as a retired policemen, he abused his situation and that his right to freedom of expression and opinion were limited due to the fact that he had been a public servant. That is her opinion only. He has never been sanctioned by the PJ hierarchy for any kind of abuse of his "dever de reserva". I would like to remind you that the Tribunal de Relação came to the exact opposite conclusion in its acórdão in October 2010.

The fact is that her opinion is rather important as she is judging his case and from what we have heard from Oxford she is absolutely correct

[stephen25000]

The fact is that her opinion is rather important as she is judging his case and from what we have heard from Oxford she is absolutely correct

Oxford's opinion.

Let's see what happens next.

[Mr Gray]

Oxford's opinion.

Let's see what happens next.

No ...the Judges opinion einstein

[Alice Purjorick]

The fact is that her opinion is rather important as she is judging his case and from what we have heard from Oxford she is absolutely correct

Oh stop it!
She gave the defendants the right to appeal against her judgement as well.

[stephen25000]

No ...the Judges opinion einstein

You really must not get angry.

As we have seen before in Portugal, judges verdicts can be overturned.

[Angelo222]

The fact is that her opinion is rather important as she is judging his case and from what we have heard from Oxford she is absolutely correct

At the end of the day it is only an opinion which a higher court might find wanting.

[Brietta]

Gonçalo Amaral did not break any law. The judge only expressed her opinion that, as a retired policemen, he abused his situation and that his right to freedom of expression and opinion were limited due to the fact that he had been a public servant. That is her opinion only. He has never been sanctioned by the PJ hierarchy for any kind of abuse of his "dever de reserva". I would like to remind you that the Tribunal de Relação came to the exact opposite conclusion in its acórdão in October 2010.

OK ... so Portuguese Secrecy Laws do not apply to Mr Amaral ... thank you for that information.  What about the denial of the McCanns right to the presumption of innocence ... is that applicable only as far as they are concerned too?

The Appeal Court should be very illuminating as far as exceptions are concerned.   

[Mr Gray]

At the end of the day it is only an opinion which a higher court might find wanting.

this has been a fantastic result for the McCanns...remember all the posts during the trial saying how poor the McCanns witnesses were...we all knew amaral would appeal if he lost but many on here did not expect him to be so humiliated by his own country's court

[Mr Gray]

Now what happens if the appeal court overturns the decision ?

Mmm.

As to ruining a life, prey tell what happened to Madeleine dave ?

amaral has not been granted an appeal yet...try and keep up

[mercury]

At least he does what he says, appeals at every turn. The Mccanns said they would appeal to the court of human rights when the original injunction on the book was overturned. They didn't. And I've never read anything by anyone giving reasons as to why.