The Weakest Link
It’s all a game isn’t it? It’s only the life of a young girl…and women? Well everyone know’s they’re the weaker sex….
The following was sent to me by a reader:
The PJ’s ’secret traps” published Nov. 15
Chapter I – Bluffing in interrogations The McCanns’ weakest link It wasn’t by accident that the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) decided to interrogate Kate McCann first, on September 6, when it wanted to designate Maddie’s parents as arguidos. Two days before, in one of the rooms of the PJ’s department in Portimão, the conclusion was reached that she’d be the McCanns’ weakest link. And the decision that was taken in that meeting, who drew together the then coordinator Gonçalo Amaral — now replaced by Paulo Rebelo — the adjoint national director Guilhermino da Encarnação and several inspectors, among them Vítor Almeida and João Pereira.
Maddie’s mother profile pointed to her being more capable of carelessness [descuidos] — or regrets. That is, she was the ideal person to fall into a psychological trap. So she started to be heard as a witness: the impact would be greater when, during the questioning, she’d hear the questions about the death of her daughter, the accusation of hiding the corpse and the news that she was going to be designated as arguida. Not everyone agreed with the strategy. In Gonçalo Amaral’s mind, guarantees someone who heard him during those days, Kate was the couple’s strongest link: he saw her as a woman of strength, even by the way she had sacrificed her career for her children.
At the end of the several hours long questioning of Kate, the inspectors were sure of two things. One: There would be no confessions. The other: Kate wouldn’t break. “She cried after several questions, she lowered her head, she pulled herself together and immediately raised her head. At those moments, you could tell she was stronger, as if she was telling us she could take anything”, says the PJ source.Police interrogations, such as the ones in Maddie’s case, must be prepared in every detail. The questions to be asked to the arguidos are the investigators’ card hands [cartadas], but, just as in poker, the success of a less successful game is measured by a good bluff and by the reading of the opponent’s weaknesses. Sometimes it’s necessary to estimate how far the opponent will go. So questions are made with sudden gestures and by raising the voice tone, everything eye to eye. Always looking for the spontaneous answer.
In the Maddie case, there were allegedly muscled questionings, such as the one of Sergei Malinka, Robert Murat’s Russian friend. Shouting inspectors, punches on the table and other unspecified sounds were heard in the back of the PJ in Portimão.The Judiciária didn’t go that far with the child’s parents. There was no shouting and pauses were made every four hours, anticipating the coming into effect of the new Penal Process Code. Obstacles added to the pauses needed for translation. “The spontaneity was lost”, says a PJ source. Today, the PJ also thinks it took too long to designate the McCann couple as arguidos. “The four months allowed them to solidify their convictions”. In the current phase of the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Paulo Rebelo and Guilhermino da Encarnação, who are responsible for the investigation, must discover new leads and find out how to solve a case that threatens to soil the PJ’s reputation. — by António José Vilela and Ricardo Marques
January 13, 2008 at 8:56 am
Did the PJ not think their reputation was already soiled by beating the crap out of another poor unfortunate mother of a missing child, till she confessed to a crime she didn’t commit either? Would they have done the same to Kate if she had been unfortunate enough to have been born Portuguese? Poor PJ, it must be so dificult when your victims have the temerity to fight back.
January 13, 2008 at 1:28 pm
A very thoughtful piece. I also appreciated Nigel’s reply. If other European countries are not observing the rights and protections our citizens are entitled to when abroad, then it high time our government laid down the ground rules. These would include the attendance of British consular officials during police interrogations, the right to have legal counsel present, and in the case of a woman to have another woman present. There is also the right to disclosure of evidence against the accused. Our government has to be more assertive in this area. If the EU can regulate the weighing of bananas, then surely common standards for the treatment of foreign nationals must be a higher priority? The treatment of Kate was a disgrace.
January 13, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Bananas – so true John. More thought and care has gone into the weight and straightness of our bananas than about issues like the protection of our children and the rights of citizens abroad.
January 15, 2008 at 2:56 am
I’m not surprised by the antics and the only reason why they didn’t beat a confession out of Gerry or Kate is because the press was outside and it would be noticed if they cane out all black and blue. I don’t care what anyone says, the PJ DO NOT WANT TO FIND MADELEINE!!!!
If they do, it will show the world that Portugal is not a safe country to go to with our children and that the PJ tried to pin Madeleine’s disappearance on her distraught parents.
January 15, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I second Stacey’s comment. They don’t want to find her. But I can’t get rid of the impression that that is not just because they want the fuss to go away to protect the tourist trade. I hope they never escape the repercussions of this! I also hope that European unity starts to mean something in the coming years and that member states and their populations – all of us – will realise that when it comes to matters of humanity you can’t hide behind a barrage of whinges about national sovereignty to defend yourself against the critical eyes of the world. We’re all grown-ups now and it’s time to stop pratting around and do whatever it takes and say whatever it takes to protect our kids from this disease that afflicts humanity. Because whether it is blackmail, greed, revenge or paedophilia that lies behind this it’s a darkly diseased mentality that takes a child from it’s bed. We’ve got bad people among us getting away with stuff.