Madeleine McCann: suspects to be questioned 'in very near future'
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Version 0 of 1. Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are set to question a number of suspects "in the very near future", Portuguese police have told the Guardian. Police confirmed that several people had been identified by Met police officers and that they are "mostly Portuguese". They did not say whether these suspects had criminal records. While not setting a date for the questioning to take place, police said they would not take place during the current phase of the investigation, which would expand to new sites on Wednesday and finish "no later than next Friday". Searches on the current site would end on Sunday, police said. Police explained that no date had been set for questioning to take place. The venue would depend on Faro Polícia Judiciária (PJ) director, Mota Carmo, who could question the "suspects at one of the two PJ police stations in the Algarve" located at Portimão and Faro. Police also confirmed that all the suspects are still resident in Portugal. No approval is required from prosecutors to question the suspects and the decision rests solely on PJ police, the source said. British detectives would not be able to intervene at any stage during questioning but they would be allowed to sit in during questioning, the police source added. The people police want to talk to would be immediately constituted as "arguidos" – or formal suspects – and would not be questioned as mere witnesses, the police source told the Guardian/Observer. |