Once again, the investigation was not a one man show and it wasn't up to Gonçalo Amaral to decide whether to make the McCanns arguidos or not. It was a decision made with the judges from the Ministério Público, the head of the PJ Alípio Ribeiro and the other officers, such as Guilhermino de Encarnação. All this criticism of Gonçalo Amaral and the way he "ran" the investigation is totally pointless seeing that he was not the person who called the shots or made the important decisions. But there are those who continue with this battle because they do not know who else to blame.
- Alípio Ribeiro is on record as being critical of the decision, saying that it was premature.
- Yes, he would no doubt have consulted Guilhermino de Encarnação and team colleagues.
- If my understanding of the following is correct, the decision on arguido status (whether requested or imposed) doesn't involve the MP.
Há que notar, que a aquisição – quer por assunção, quer por constituição – da qualidade de arguido não pressupõe a intervenção do Ministério Público. http://octalberto.no.sapo.pt/estrutura_fundamental_do_processo_penal.htm- From what I can determine from the files, the magistrate's office played a fairly passive role (and there are provisions in the CPP regarding a certain amount of delegation to the PJ). They reminded the PJ to get the interpreters to sign legal forms; gave authorisation for her photo and description to be publicised (which is actually something that Amaral did do quickly, to his credit); and responded to requests for court orders (search warrants, phone-tapping, etc.).
- A question, though. I agree that Amaral was the coordinator and not an inspector, but unless his role was a glorified office boy, if he wasn't the head of the team in Portimão.... who was?
