in Diario de Noticias today:
http://dn.sapo.pt/2007/09/10/sociedade/pj_acredita_indicios_justificam_prev.html
Copied from:
http://helpmadeleine.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=latest&action=display&thread=1182386581&page=25 post # 363
PJ believes clues justify preventive custody
The Policia Judiciaria (PJ) believes to have “enough clues” in order to incriminate Kate and Gerry McCann, who have been constituted arguidos on Friday, and subject to ‘termo de identidade e residencia’ [basic coercion measure]. They are suspected of the death of the child, on May 3, in the apartment at Praia da Luz, and of hiding her body. But it will be on the coming days that it will be known whether the attorney from the Public Ministry (PM) in Portimao, who today receives the report of the interrogations that were performed on Thursday and Friday on the parents of the British child, decides to notify the couple at their home address in England, to return to Portugal, in order to present themselves before a judge.
And only that judge can change their present coercion measure, which could reach, in an extreme situation – which is not the present one – preventive custody. If that is the decision from the PM, Maddie’s parents will have to present themselves in Portimao at the date that is indicated by the attorney. If they fail to do so, an international arrest warrant could be issued against them.
But this is where difficulties start. One of the jurists that were heard by DN reminded us that “it will be sufficient to present a doctor’s certificate, alleging any kind of health problem, in order to postpone a questioning or a simple PJ diligence, thus compromising the ongoing investigation”. Anyway, the couple has said they are available to return to Portugal when they are notified to do so. But the PM could also just reach the conclusion that there is not enough evidence to sustain the death theory in court.
Trust in the evidence
As DN could confirm with sources that are close to the process, in the ten vehicles that were subject to forensic tests in August, it was only in the Renault Scenic that was rented by the McCanns 25 days after their daughter’s disappearance that “biological fluids that match the child’s genetic profile in 80%, were detected under the car trunk’s textile cover”. And it was only the fact that the sample that was sent to the lab in Birmingham, UK, was “reduced”, “didn’t allow to reach the 100%” in results of forensic testing. During the searches that were performed at the “Vista do Mar” villa, in the Luz Parque area, at Praia da Luz, which was occupied by the McCanns from July until yesterday morning, cadaver odors were detected on clothes that belong to Madeleine’s mother, and on the now famous soft toy that belonged to the child.
‘A sort of flight’
Although legally nothing prevented the McCanns from returning home, the Judiciaria ended up being surprised about their decision, which represents, in the perspective of several investigators, “a sort of escape”, which, naturally, “may have consequences on the process’ development, with delays”. Even more so as PJ, according to what DN knows, had “advised” the McCanns not to leave Portugal without knowing what decision the judicial instances will make concerning an eventual change in their present coercion measure.
The other arguido
Francisco Pagarete, the lawyer for Robert Murat, who remains an arguido in the case for suspected kidnapping, although there are two suspects of death, was not surprised about the McCanns’ new juridical situation. “The fact that they have been made arguidos does not surprise me. But we have no further comment to make”, he told DN. Concerning his client’s situation, he said he is still “waiting for a rapid solution”, but will not propose any initiative. “The PM has to analyse the clues and see if there is any indication that leads to my client to stop being an arguido”.