Madeleine McCann: man made formal suspect by the Portuguese authorities


A German man has been formally identified as a suspect in the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann 15 years ago, Portuguese prosecutors said.

Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist, has become an “arguido”, translated as “named suspect” or “formal suspect” who is treated by the Portuguese police as more than a witness, but has not been arrested or charged.

The German’s lawyer said his client has not been charged in the case.

Prosecutors in Faro did not publicly name the man, but said in a statement that German authorities identified him as a suspect at their request.

The timing of the move could be related to Portugal’s 15-year statute of limitations for crimes with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years or more. Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, while she was on vacation with her parents in Praia da Luz in Portugal.

It is the first time Portuguese prosecutors have identified an official suspect in the case since Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s parents, were named suspects in 2007. They were later acquitted.

Prosecutors said the investigation was carried out with the cooperation of British and German authorities.

The development could see Brueckner extradited to Portugal for formal questioning.

The German newspaper Bild reported that his lawyer, Friedrich Fuelscher, said the Portuguese decision appeared to be a “procedural trick”.

German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was presumed dead and that Brueckner, 44, was likely responsible. However, British officials continue to treat him as a missing persons case, and his parents “I still hope” that Madeleine is alive.

He is currently serving a sentence in the Oldenburg prison in northern Germany for raping a woman in 2005 in the same area of ​​the Portuguese Algarve region where Madeleine disappeared.

Brueckner, known as Christian B in Germany due to the country’s strict privacy laws, was convicted in 2019 of raping a 72-year-old American woman and was sentenced to seven years in jail.

A federal court in Karlsruhe, in southwestern Germany, rejected an appeal against the conviction in November 2020.

Brueckner has denied involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine, who disappeared from her family’s vacation apartment a few days before her fourth birthday while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby tapas bar. Her disappearance in Praia da Luz sparked one of the largest searches of its kind in recent years.

Next month will be the 15th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Brueckner lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007 and robbed hotels and vacation apartments, according to court documents seen by Reuters in 2020. He also forged passports and was caught stealing diesel from a Portuguese port. Police are also looking into whether he has any links to other missing children in the area.

Portugal’s judicial police handed over documents bearing hundreds of names related to Madeleine’s case, including Brueckner, to British authorities in 2012. German police received their first tip linking the convicted rapist to Madeleine’s case in 2013.



Reference-www.theguardian.com

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