Interview with retiring Portuguese ambassador to Britain

This has just been posted in PFA, taken from the Morais blog. I would be very grateful if a Portuguese member here could access the original story and check the translation, because if it is accurate that the outgoing ambassador said that the McCanns called the media before calling the police, I would like to disabuse him of this lie. Thanks in advance.

Interview with Portuguese Ambassador in London
30 May 2010 | Posted by Joana Morais Leave a Comment

Excerpt of the interview with the Portuguese demissionary Ambassador António Santana Carlos in London

Journalist - The 'Madeleine McCann' case turned the relations between both countries difficult, mainly because of the media mutually attacking each other. You, Mr. Ambassador were strongly criticized by statements given in an interview to 'The Times' newspaper by the well known columnist Tony Parsons. Was this the most difficult case of your commission?

Ambassador - No. The story had a great media attention. What I said is that there are many more kidnappings in the UK than in Portugal, and no one mentioned that. There are speculations and books written [on the case], but we do not know what has happened. As far as I know the parents called first the media before the police. There were some problems with the lack of information and misunderstanding, since the British do not have the concept of secrecy of Justice. Besides 'The Times', I gave four other interviews on the British television stressing the importance for both countries police authorities to work together. There was even data that was investigated in British laboratories. Portugal was not trying to hide anything. The case was archived because there weren't evidence [material proves], but it might be reopened. I will not make value judgments, the parents lived difficult moments. I understand their pain because I have a son.

Journalist - Did the relations between both countries return to what they were?

Ambassador - Yes. I did not feel any kind of antagonism from anyone. In the statements given to 'The Times', I have said a few things which seem evident to me. For example, that we as Latins privilege the nuclear family, all together, and that we do not leave children alone. That was perceived as criticism. I also said that there was too much media attention, and that that has hindered the investigation.

Journalist - And now that you are going to retire, what do you intend to do?

Ambassador - I hope I have more time to dedicate myself to activities that give me pleasure, like playing golf. Here I could only practice it every two months. Besides that, I do not plan to be inactive but as of now I still haven't made any plans.

in DN Portuguese Communities, 30.05.2010 - by Rubina Vieira

IF that translation is correct, he's been misled by the stories in the papers, perhaps tv interviews also. Sloppy.

It should be pointed out, in terms of the media knowledge and divulgation, that witness RACHEL MAMPILLY, at around 2 a.m. on the morning of the 4th, assumes to have contacted the official British television BBC, through someone that she knew, reporting the disappearance and asking for it to be broadcast.

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/PJ/PJ_Report_English_Translation.pdf

PJ final report.

Why is Joana posting this garbage? Even the PJ KNOW it isn't true.

May wrote:Why is Joana posting this garbage? Even the PJ KNOW it isn't true.

I think she's lost the plot. She spent too much time listening to Levy. Among other things.

http://www.ibanet.org/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleUid=329261a6-5bf6-448a-9476-5b34ff80d6a2

Interacting with the media

The first thing to say is that you know, it’s not compulsory; I think
most people feel that when they’re caught up in a trauma, that they
should interact with the media. Any parent in this audience will
understand the complete devastation that we felt when we discovered
Madeleine was gone, and particularly within the first few hours when the
search around the vicinity of Praia de Luz found no trace of her, and
we felt completely devastated. And in the early hours of the morning we
phoned family and close friends to tell them of what happened. And I
think the feeling of helplessness that Kate and I had was magnified by
the distance of our loved ones and what they felt, that they couldn’t do
anything for us. And actually several people independently contacted
the media to tell them what had happened and in fact a very close friend
was already distributing photographs of Madeleine to all the major news
outlets in the early hours of the morning, which we didn’t know.

One thing we were discussing last night over dinner; it was interesting
that the only news organisation that actually refused to publish the
photograph was the BBC who came back saying ‘how do we know this is
true, and who are you to distribute the photograph?’ Every other news
outlet took it straight away and by the early hours of the morning it
was already on our breakfast television in the UK. By the time Kate and I
returned from the police station about 9 o’clock at night, there were
approximately 200 journalists in Praia de Luz.

http://blogs.news.sky.com/lifeofcrime/Post:966953a1-81cf-425d-846e-917581b397c5

It's 1,000 days since Madeleine McCann vanished and even now there are
intelligent, sane and rational people, in Portgual and in the UK, who
still believe that her parents Gerry and Kate phoned Sky News before
they called the police.They didn't.Even the Portuguese
police know they didn't.Anyone who believes they did rather blows
a hole in other things they think they know about the Madeleine case.

I hope by now the ambasador is fully appraised of the truth.

Brunt might be a tabloid gossip but he's got the antis number on that one. Some journalist you are, Morais. She stated it again as fact today.

That's amazing considering she's got the files, Bluj. Sometimes I wonder if she's ever read them.
Why the need for spreading lies?

Not just to spread them, but to so aggressively defend the stupidest, most mundane ones like this one.

Is it that she just can't admit when she's wrong, or something worse?

May wrote:Why is Joana posting this garbage? Even the PJ KNOW it isn't true.

Simple answer to that is that Joana Morais is garbage and garbage attracts garbage like a tip.

A small pile of rubbish soon becomes an even bigger pile, just like Morais' forum and blog!

Rosiepops wrote:

May wrote:Why is Joana posting this garbage? Even the PJ KNOW it isn't true.

Simple answer to that is that Joana Morais is garbage and garbage attracts garbage like a tip.

A small pile of rubbish soon becomes an even bigger pile, just like Morais' forum and blog!

So True.

Hard to believe that this woman is sooooooooooooSTUPID !!