By Emily Caulkett-
A person has been declared an official suspect by Portuguese prosecutors investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Prosecutors did not name the person of interest but said they were acting on the request of German authorities.
Christian Brueckner, 44, has been confirmed by reliable sources to be the man in question made an official suspect over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in 2007.
The 44-year-old was told he was now an “arguido” in Portugal in his German prison cell on Wednesday morning, one insider said.
In 2020 German police said they were investigating a man in connection with the case – but he has not been charged.
An ‘arguido’ – normally translated as ‘named suspect’ or ‘formal suspect’ – is someone who is treated by Portuguese police as more than a witness but has not been arrested or charged.
In response to the announcement, his lawyer said: ‘The step taken by the Portuguese authorities should not be overrated.
‘Without knowing the Portuguese legal situation in detail, I assume that this measure is a procedural artifice to stop the statute of limitations threatening in a few days.’
Police in Portugal are thought to have acted in the last few days to prevent him escaping charges due to Portugal’s statute of limitations which kicks in for serious crimes after 15 years.
One well-placed source said: ‘The legal grounds for making Brueckner an arguido include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.
Portuguese sources have confirmed authorities there have made Christian Brueckner an official suspect over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
Vanished: Maddie Mcann Image: PA
The 44-year-old was told he was now an “arguido” in Portugal in his German prison cell on Wednesday morning, one insider said.
A written statement issued by the Portimao section of the Faro Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution (DIAP) said: “As part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, a person was made an arguido on Wednesday. “
Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office and the country’s Policia Judiciaria have yet to make any official comment.
But one well-placed source said the decision was linked to Portugal’s statute of limitations which means the authors of crimes punishable by a maximum prison sentence of more than 10 years cannot generally be prosecuted there once 15 years has passed.
Madeleine vanished aged three from her family apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007.
The source said: “The legal grounds for making Brueckner an arguido include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.
“But it is obviously linked to the fact that the Portuguese authorities want to keep their options open with the 15-year deadline looming.” Brueckner stayed silent after being informed he had been made an arguido and declined to be questioned as part of the Portuguese criminal procedure.
It is not yet clear who told him he was being given arguido status but it happened after a formal international letter of request issued by Portuguese authorities to their German counterparts.
‘But it is obviously linked to the fact that the Portuguese authorities want to keep their options open with the 15-year deadline looming.’
Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office and the country’s Policia Judiciaria have yet to make any official comment.
Next month will mark the 15th anniversary of then three-year-old Madeleine’s disappearance from the Portuguese Algarve resort of Praia da Luz where she was on holiday with parents Kate and Gerry on May 3, 2007.
Portuguese police would have had to charge him by the anniversary of her disappearance on May 3 in less than two weeks or face a seriously reduced risk of convicting him.
According to Portuguese law, crimes punishable by more than 10 years in jail, which covers kidnap and murder must be heard within 15 years.
Kate and Gerry, from Rothkey, Leicestershire, were themselves made arguidos in the case and questioned at length several times before they were cleared of any involvement.
Portuguese police chief Gonçalo Amaral who led the initial investigation and ordered the couple to be made official suspects was later taken off the case.
A Portuguese court awarded the parents of missing Madeleine McCann damages totaling £436,000 after a libel case in which they sued Amoral for the publication of a book ‘In The Truth Of The Lie, in which Mr Amaral alleged Madeleine had died in the family’s holiday apartment in Praia de Luz in the Algarve, and that her parents had simulated her abduction and hidden her body.
However, Kate and Gerry McCann lost the Supreme Court appeal case following the libel appeal case of ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral, who led the search for their daughter, following claims he made about them in his book.
The couple are locked in a 13 year legal battle with Amoral after they took their case to The European Courts Of Human Rights to appeal against the Supreme Court blow to their initial court victory.
Madeleine went missing while on holiday in May 2007 and Mr Amaral had suggested the couple had faked her abduction.
Bruckner is currently serving seven years in Oldenburg prison, northern Germany, after being convicted of raping a 72-year-old woman in 2005 in the Portuguese report of Praia da Luz, from where Madeline vanished two years later.
The source said: “The legal grounds for making Brueckner an arguido include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.
“But it is obviously linked to the fact that the Portuguese authorities want to keep their options open with the 15-year deadline looming.” Brueckner stayed silent after being informed he had been made an arguido and declined to be questioned as part of the Portuguese criminal procedure.