Movement in the Maddie McCann case: Portuguese prosecutors now officially accuse Germans
Created: 04/22/2022, 11:51 am
By: Anna Lorenz
Missing since 2007: Maddie McCann disappeared in Portugal without a trace.
Now the Portuguese police are officially accusing Christian B. (archive image) © Luis Forra/dpa
May 3, 2022 marks the 15th anniversary of the disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann.
The Portuguese public prosecutor's office has now declared a German to be the official suspect.
Portugal – It has been almost 15 years since then three-year-old Madeleine “Maddy” McCann* disappeared from a holiday resort in Portugal;
To this day, the police assume that she was kidnapped, but there is no trace of the girl.
Now, it seems, the local authorities could have crucial information: On Thursday (April 21), the Portuguese public prosecutor announced that the previously suspected German Christian B.* was now "Arguido" in the case of the British woman's disappearance.
This substantiates the accusation against the 45-year-old with a relevant criminal record, who is now officially accused of the crime.
Maddie McCann: Current status of the investigation – Braunschweig public prosecutor suspects Germans
Global investigations and search campaigns have not provided any more precise information about what really happened on the night of May 3, 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal, despite large sums for relevant information, prominent commitment, political support and media attention since the disappearance of little Maddie.
Several suspects, including the Briton's parents themselves, have been targeted by investigators in recent years - but there have been no decisive clues about Maddie's whereabouts.
The girl, who should now be almost 18 years old, was allegedly seen again and again by various witnesses, but the British woman has not been found to this day.
Last year there was movement again in the case: the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig announced* that they - like the British judiciary - have been investigating the German Christian B. since 2017;
There was circumstantial evidence that made it "100 percent certain" that the now 45-year-old, who has previous convictions including child abuse and rape and is currently serving a prison sentence, kidnapped Maddie in 2007.
According to Hans Christian Wolters from the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig, the death of the little Brit is sadly to be expected.
Maddie McCann case: Portugal now officially accuses suspect – defender speaks of “artifice”
As the Portuguese public prosecutor's office announced yesterday (April 21), Christian B. is now officially classified as a suspected perpetrator.
The German, whom both acquaintances and publicized cruel chat histories clearly suspect of having suitable motives, was in the holiday resort from which Maddie disappeared in 2007 at the time of the crime.
He is also said to have made a phone call just a short distance from the crime scene and re-registered a car the next day.
Against the multiple criminal record sex offender, who is currently serving a prison sentence in the JVA Oldenburg because of the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in the Portuguese Praia da Luz in 2005, is also still because of the rape of an Irish woman in the year 2004,
Friedrich Fülscher, who defends Christian B., showed himself to
BILD
however, remained calm about the statement made by the Portuguese public prosecutor.
“The move by the Portuguese authorities should not be overstated.
Without knowing the Portuguese legal situation in detail, I assume that this measure is a procedural device to prevent the imminent statute of limitations in a few days.” In Portugal, the statute of limitations for murder is 15 years, which would be May 3, 2022 ;
At least in German law, the lawyer alludes to this, it is possible to prevent the expiration of criminal statutes of limitations by officially accusing a suspect.
While Christian B. can therefore expect to be charged in Portugal soon, the impending statute of limitations there does not affect the German investigations: Because the penal code in this country provides that
that murder is not time-barred.
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