I think most people (except the McCanns and their supporters) understand that Amaral offered his opinion of what happened, just as the McCanns and people such as Mark Williams-Thomas offered theirs.
Would a former spouse, associate, neighbour or whoever bother to contact the police about potential suspicions? I think they would if they thought it would lead to the case progressing. The information could support any of the theories which are on the table or help to disprove one of them.
In my opinion there appears to be a fundamental misunderstanding in Portugal of the use of the media in a missing person case.
The three learned judges have missed the entire purpose of such media interviews ~ which in Britain are conducted under the auspices and control of the police ~ an assistance from which the McCanns did not benefit.
The learned judges seem to evidence a total failure of comprehension of the purpose of the McCann media appearances which I find extraordinary.
The reasoning behind the learned judges reaching the conclusion that the McCanns were therefore expressing an opinion and pushing
their theory ... giving Mr Amaral the right to publish a book about his ... is I think an extraordinary conclusion to reach.
It shows imo a totally different set of attitudes and thought processes regarding what to do in the event a child goes missing alien to most Western democracies, and leads one to wonder how any foreign national can expect a fair hearing in a civil case such as this one.
quote ~ "By proceeding in this manner, they opened the way for anyone to equally express an opinion about the case, contradicting their thesis – without losing their right to exercise a legitimate, and constitutionally consecrated, right to an opinion and a freedom of expression of thought." ~ end quote
