Sky Blogs: FrontlineMissing Madeleine - A Portugese [sic] View09/05/2007
The disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been a big story for a number of media outlets. Martim Cabral, Deputy News Editor for Portuguese TV station SIC, gives us his perspective.
The search for Madeleine is one of the biggest manhunts that I can remember ever having taken place in Portugal.
The sheer number of police officers, detectives and members of other emergency and rescue services involved has left many people here in Portugal wondering if the same effort would be made if the victim wasn’t a foreigner.
The authorities say they treat all cases with the same thoroughness, whatever the nationality, but the fact is that in the Algarve at the moment the only thing missing are the armed forces.
Notwithstanding the criticism which has been voiced in the British media about the search operation, the fact is that Portuguese detectives have an enviable record in these kinds of cases.
In 2006, 30 children (the majority adolescents) went missing in Portugal. Twenty-four were recovered. It’s not 100 per cent but it’s not bad.
The fact is the Portuguese Judiciary Police (Detective Division) has a very good reputation for thoroughness and an enviable success rate.
As a journalist I too am frustrated by the laws of this country, which prohibit police officers during an investigation from speaking to the press.
The reasoning behind the law is legitimate and valid – it aims to protect the identity of the people being investigated and someone who could turn out to be innocent from having their names splashed all over the media and their reputations ruined.
But the fact remains that we live in an era of 24 hours news cycles – my station (SIC TV) also has a 24 hour news channel like SKY as well as an Internet site. And these media ‘beasts’ have to be fed regularly.
The answer surely is for the authorities to hold regular briefings where they can reveal some information without prejudicing the investigation – especially in a case like this one where there is such huge international interest. This is what the Portuguese police in the Algarve are now doing.
