The Cape Verdean community of Portugal has spoken out against the revelations in Correio da Manhã newspaper last week suggesting Madeleine McCann may have been abducted and later murdered by an immigrant from Cape Verde, in retaliation for his having been sacked for stealing €5 from a cash register on the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz.
Smarting from what could well be the latest collateral damage of this long-running mystery, the community’s statement coming out of Lisbon stated members feel “tarnished”.
Twenty years ago, the statement reads, the community was equally hurt by allegations that one of their members had killed a child (in Odivelas) and eaten its liver. These allegations were later retracted – but the inference is that the damage had been done.
“Once more, history is repeating itself. A Cape Verdean is suspected (for how much longer?) and the community once again feels tarnished.”
The statement adds that Cape Verdeans all believe deviant behaviour should be punished, but in this case the principal suspect “cannot defend himself against the accusations” which may be exactly why the man has been singled out.
Last week it was widely reported in the press that the PJ police were working on the theory that Madeleine McCann was taken by a former Ocean Club employee who is now dead.
Police identified a former Ocean Club employee – a Cape Verdean man aged 40 – on the complex at the time, following analysis of mobile phone activity.
It is reported that the man subsequently died in an accident involving a tractor in 2009. The suspect’s widow has been questioned and the investigation continues.
