McCanns in Portugal as Amaral book is launched

By LIZ GRIFFITHS AND ELOISE WALTON [email protected]

Kate and Gerry McCann are expected to face former police detective Gonçalo Amaral in court today (Friday) – on the same day that he launches his latest book.

Entitled A Mordaça Inglesa – A História de um Livro Proibido, (The English Gag – the story of a forbidden book), the launch is due to be held at a book shop in Lisbon following his court appearance earlier in the day for the libel suit against his first book on the Madeleine case.

Gonçalo Amaral will be present at the launch of his book at the Livraria Ler Devagar – Lx Factory in Lisbon, which is due to feature a presentation by Professor José Adelino Maltez, a lecturer from the law faculty at Lisbon University.

A spokesman from the PR company A Planeta, which is involved with the promotion of the book, told the Algarve Resident on Wednesday: “The latest book by Gonçalo Amaral is about freedom of expression following the book about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann entitled The Truth of the Lie. It will cost 12 euros.”

According to British newspapers, the McCanns, who filed a one million sterling pound libel suit against Gonçalo Amaral,

Several police inspectors validated Gonçalo Amaral’s (pictured) theory in court on Tuesday. Photo: CHRIS GRAEME

will be present for the beginning of the trial at the High Court.

This will be the second time Kate and Gerry McCann have returned to Portugal since Madeleine disappeared.

Gonçalo Amaral was originally in charge of the Madeleine investigation but was later removed from the case.

He then wrote a book about the investigation, The Truth of the Lie, which claimed three-year-old Madeleine McCann died in an accident at the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007 and that the McCanns later disposed of her body.

Kate and Gerry recently won a court battle to ban the book from further publication.

Meanwhile, according to the Belfast Telegraph, Kevin Halligen, whose firm was once employed by the Find Madeleine fund to help with the investigation, has been remanded in custody after US authorities launched extradition proceedings over an alleged 1.3 million pound fraud.

Kevin Halligen, a 48-year old from Surrey, is allegedly wanted in the US for taking money from Dutch company Trafigura via a London-based law firm.

He was arrested at a hotel in Oxford, England

Gonçalo Amaral’s latest book entitled A Mordaça Inglesa – A História de um Livro Proibido (The English Gag – the story of a forbidden book) is due to be launched today (Friday)

on November 24 after staff recognised him from a newspaper article in the Sunday Times that stated he had gained defence and security contracts by claiming to be a former British secret agent.

Kevin Halligen’s Washington-based company, Oakley International, was alleged to have been paid around 300,000 pounds sterling by the Find Madeleine fund to help with finding missing Madeleine McCann.

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