Why was Gonçalo Amaral taken off the Madeleine McCann case?

[Eleanor]

The possibility of death in the apartment has not been disproved.

Amaral's removal from the investigation smacks of political intervention.

It smacks of incompetence to me.  But then I watched it unfold.

[stephen25000]

It smacks of incompetence to me.  But then I watched it unfold.

Of course you would say that, for obvious reasons.

[Lace]

The possibility of death in the apartment has not been disproved.

Amaral's removal from the investigation smacks of political intervention.

That is the excuse Amaral give.

Strange isn't it,  when SY opened the investigation into what happened to Madeleine,  and wanted the help of the PJ every request had to be in a written letter which they took an age to reply to,   everything they wanted to do regarding anything to do with Portugal had to be with consent from the PJ.   The PJ said if any of SY spoke to a journalist about the case then all correspondence would cease between SY and the PJ.

Yet Amaral said the British interfered with his investigation,   hmmm.

[ferryman]

It smacks of incompetence to me.  But then I watched it unfold.

I would say removing Amaral was one of the more competent features of the investigation; appointing him, the questionable decision.

The fiasco of how (certain elements of) the PJ (mis)interpreted the forensic results was unquestionably incompetent, especially considering that there were plenty around them who actually understood those results, including the Portuguese forensic laboratory.  Court-Real would have been delighted to set Amaral and co. straight, if only he'd been asked.

Actually, he was asked (or at least the laboratory was) and they did attempt to put Amaral straight on a few points.

Shortly afterwards, Gerry not Madeleine's father broke.

Not remotely the fault of the Portuguese laboratory ....

[stephen25000]

That is the excuse Amaral give.

Strange isn't it,  when SY opened the investigation into what happened to Madeleine,  and wanted the help of the PJ every request had to be in a written letter which they took an age to reply to,   everything they wanted to do regarding anything to do with Portugal had to be with consent from the PJ.   The PJ said if any of SY spoke to a journalist about the case then all correspondence would cease between SY and the PJ.

Yet Amaral said the British interfered with his investigation,   hmmm.

You can hmmm all you want to.

There has been clear and undoubted direct politician intervention in this case.

[Eleanor]

Of course you would say that, for obvious reasons.

Would you expect a PJ Inspector to understand Forensics and DNA?

[stephen25000]

Would you expect a PJ Inspector to understand Forensics and DNA?

No.

Unless they had a background in that field.

Do you ?

[Eleanor]

No.

Unless they had a background in that field.

Do you ?

Yes, I do, having had it explained to me.  It isn't difficult.

[Carana]

No.

Unless they had a background in that field.

Do you ?

If he didn't understand it, why didn't he call Corte-Real to explain it to him? Corte-Real came to the same conclusion as Lowe on Amaral's "documentary".

For some reason that tends to get glossed over...

[Carana]

The PT side of the situation seems a little awkward.

The PJ disciplinary unit had conducted an investigation into the slippery-stair saga in 2005

This mostly concerns Cristóvão, but Amaral was also at the Faro PJ station that night.
http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/sociedade/paulo-pereira-cristovao/ministra-nega-recurso-a-pereira-cristovao-de-pena-aplicada-pela-pj

Amaral had been a PJ coordinator under Encarnação in Faro. Then at the beginning of 2006, he got appointed as PJ coordinator for Portimão.
http://www.dn.pt/dossiers/sociedade/caso-maddie/noticias/interior/director-da-pj-so-falou-com-o-ministro-apos-demitir-o-inspector-978454.html

it's not clear if that was a "sideways" promotion or a real one (leading his own team on a particular turf).

Just a year and a bit later, Madeleine disappears and he's in charge.

Although he was made arguido on 4 May (and only charged sometime in June ish in the Cipriano case), removing him so soon after having been "promoted" might have been a bit awkward.

On the other hand, as the torture trial hadn't yet come to court, let alone the end of the legal road of appeals, he was afforded the presumption of innocence like anyone else, in theory.

Also, while the PJ regulations do include various categories of suspension, they appear to be sanctions for misconduct, and not preventive "gardening leave" pending judicial outcome.

Packing him off to somewhere else yet again would have required a vacancy, which may not have been available, plus perhaps the human aspect of not wanting to uproot his family.

What options did his superiors have at the time: send him back to Faro again? Was anyone else available to head Portimão at short notice?

One issue that I don't quite understand is why the PJ leaks to the media were allowed to go on for so long with no inquiry from above. Was it considered an acceptable alternative form of the slippery-stair treatment? Was the PJ too under-resourced to investigate it?

What does appear clear to me is that the national PJ director eventually did hit the roof in no uncertain terms...

[ShiningInLuz]

The PT side of the situation seems a little awkward.

The PJ disciplinary unit had conducted an investigation into the slippery-stair saga in 2005

This mostly concerns Cristóvão, but Amaral was also at the Faro PJ station that night.
http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/sociedade/paulo-pereira-cristovao/ministra-nega-recurso-a-pereira-cristovao-de-pena-aplicada-pela-pj

Amaral had been a PJ coordinator under Encarnação in Faro. Then at the beginning of 2006, he got appointed as PJ coordinator for Portimão.
http://www.dn.pt/dossiers/sociedade/caso-maddie/noticias/interior/director-da-pj-so-falou-com-o-ministro-apos-demitir-o-inspector-978454.html

it's not clear if that was a "sideways" promotion or a real one (leading his own team on a particular turf).

Just a year and a bit later, Madeleine disappears and he's in charge.

Although he was made arguido on 4 May (and only charged sometime in June ish in the Cipriano case), removing him so soon after having been "promoted" might have been a bit awkward.

On the other hand, as the torture trial hadn't yet come to court, let alone the end of the legal road of appeals, he was afforded the presumption of innocence like anyone else, in theory.

Also, while the PJ regulations do include various categories of suspension, they appear to be sanctions for misconduct, and not preventive "gardening leave" pending judicial outcome.

Packing him off to somewhere else yet again would have required a vacancy, which may not have been available, plus perhaps the human aspect of not wanting to uproot his family.

What options did his superiors have at the time: send him back to Faro again? Was anyone else available to head Portimão at short notice?

One issue that I don't quite understand is why the PJ leaks to the media were allowed to go on for so long with no inquiry from above. Was it considered an acceptable alternative form of the slippery-stair treatment? Was the PJ too under-resourced to investigate it?

What does appear clear to me is that the national PJ director eventually did hit the roof in no uncertain terms...

Interesting stuff, thank you.

When Amaral was taken off the case, was he actually removed from the position he had in Portimão, and if so, who got it?  I'm thinking of what they could have done earlier.

[stephen25000]

Yes, I do, having had it explained to me.  It isn't difficult.

How long was the explanation ?

[Angelo222]

I suspect the fact that the UK media picked up on the fact that he was an arguido himself was a source of some embarrassment for the PT authorities, hence they got rid of him as soon as he provided enough rope with which to be hanged.

Amaral made it clear to his superiors at the outset of the Maddie investigation that he was prepared to stand aside from the case due to the furore over the Ciprianos.  He was told that wasn't necessary and to carry on.

[Mr Gray]

You can hmmm all you want to.

There has been clear and undoubted direct politician intervention in this case.

there is in many international cases

[Mr Gray]

Amaral made it clear to his superiors at the outset of the Maddie investigation that he was prepared to stand aside from the case due to the furore over the Ciprianos.  He was told that wasn't necessary and to carry on.

cite.....as per forum rules