Wednesday 20 October 2010

Gonçalo Amaral's book can now return to the bookshops.

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Gonçalo Amaral's book on the Madeleine McCann case can now go back on sale in bookshops. The Lisbon Court of Appeal has supported the former coordinator of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) who has always maintained his theory about the death of the British girl.

"The book's contents do not infringe any of the complainants' fundamental rights," and, "the exercise of its writing and publication are inherent in the constitutional rights guaranteed to all by the European Convention on Human Rights and the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic," reads the ruling to which JN has had access.

In September 2009, after an injunction filed by the McCanns, the Lisbon Civil Court banned the sale of the book, "A Verdade da Mentira," (The Truth of the Lie) and any further showing of the documentary based on the work and issued by TVI, a decision which has earned harsh criticism from the Appeal Court judges.

The prohibition which told the former PJ coordinator that he was ordered not, "..'to express your opinion in any form (written, interview, analysis,comment) on what you wrote in that book,..' restricts a constitutional and universal right: the freedom of opinion and expression," according to the ruling.

The three judges who signed the ruling also consider that the decision by the Lisbon Civil Court violated the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Apart from seeing, "A Verdade da Mentira," return to the bookshops, Gonçalo Amaral also regains his right to freedom of expression.

Jornal de Noticias 19/10/10

By Marisa Rodrigues


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