Guardian-Besieged! 10/08/2007
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Guardian-Besieged! 10/08/2007
Bampots Sun 14 Feb 2016, 6:52 am
This article gives sense of the tide turning with the locals,even Mark Warner want them to stay away.
It's the friends againthat help,tho life is throwing a lot at the McCanns as Kate says we can cope with a lot.
...."behind the high gates of their villa,loaned to them by friends"...read on,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/10/world.ukcrime
'Besieged' McCanns weather media storm in Portugal
Couple will stay until they know Madeleine's fate
· We will not be intimidated, says missing girl's mother
Esther Addley in Praia da Luz and Steve Boggan
Friday 10 August 2007 00.17 BST Last modified on Friday 1 January 2016 15.10 GMT
Gerry and Kate McCann spoke out yesterday about the "hurtful, intrusive and disrespectful" treatment they have received at the hands of the Portuguese media in Praia da Luz, the small Algarve town where they have remained since their daughter Madeleine disappeared more than three months ago. Relations between the family and the local media have worsened in recent days, with increasingly hostile lines of speculation surfacing about the couple and the friends with whom they were on holiday in early May.
Portuguese photographers and reporters now camp daily outside the couple's villa and follow the family by car.
Mrs McCann insisted they would not be intimidated. "Sticks and stones ... We will never go through anything worse than being parted from Madeleine. We will not be leaving or be forced out. I am not prepared to be bullied into doing something that I don't want to. We can cope with a lot and we still have a lot of strength but this speculation and the actions of the Portuguese press has been hurtful, intrusive and disrespectful to our other two children. The press here have badly overstepped any reasonable line."
Despite the couple's defiance, however, it emerged yesterday that they have been asked by Mark Warner, the holiday firm that operates the complex from which Madeleine disappeared, to stay away from the Ocean Club resort because the media presence was disrupting other guests. Though the couple moved out some time ago, they have continued to bring their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to the resort's creche. They have been offered an alternative, they said, but have so far declined to take it up.
With the small town's beaches now packed with holidaymakers, the couple face a besieged existence behind the high gates of their villa, loaned to them by friends. "We are trapped," said Mrs McCann. "What can we do?"
The couple's criticisms were directed at local media. British journalists in Praia da Luz have been careful not to harass the family.
The lawyer representing Robert Murat, the only official suspect to date, said yesterday that most residents of Praia da Luz wanted "those bloody McCanns" to leave the resort because their continued presence was damaging its reputation.
The couple have insisted they will remain until Madeleine is found. Speaking to the Guardian by telephone, Mrs McCann said: "We have had so much support from the local community, no negativity at all. I know it might seem illogical, but I feel closer to Madeleine here. Yes, there are probably things we could do even better from the UK, but just right now it wouldn't feel right to leave."
Tomorrow will mark 100 days since Madeleine disappeared from her bedroom while the couple were eating dinner nearby. Events planned to mark the date have been scaled back as a result of the negative publicity, but the couple have continued to investigate further ways to drive forward the investigation.
The latest, launched today, is an initiative in partnership with the video-sharing site YouTube to create a global internet channel for those looking for missing and abducted children. The site is the brainchild of one of the McCanns' friends.
Mr McCann said: "Clearly there has been a shift in the investigation. But we do not know of any new evidence to suggest that Madeleine is not alive."
His wife added: "People haven't said to us to give up hope but they have said to get on with our lives, whatever that means. We have to find Madeleine and find out what happened to her, and balance that against what is best for our other two children. But life is going on. It is a weird life filled with uncertainty and the void created because Madeleine is not here. But it is life."
It's the friends againthat help,tho life is throwing a lot at the McCanns as Kate says we can cope with a lot.
...."behind the high gates of their villa,loaned to them by friends"...read on,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/10/world.ukcrime
'Besieged' McCanns weather media storm in Portugal
Couple will stay until they know Madeleine's fate
· We will not be intimidated, says missing girl's mother
Esther Addley in Praia da Luz and Steve Boggan
Friday 10 August 2007 00.17 BST Last modified on Friday 1 January 2016 15.10 GMT
Gerry and Kate McCann spoke out yesterday about the "hurtful, intrusive and disrespectful" treatment they have received at the hands of the Portuguese media in Praia da Luz, the small Algarve town where they have remained since their daughter Madeleine disappeared more than three months ago. Relations between the family and the local media have worsened in recent days, with increasingly hostile lines of speculation surfacing about the couple and the friends with whom they were on holiday in early May.
Portuguese photographers and reporters now camp daily outside the couple's villa and follow the family by car.
Mrs McCann insisted they would not be intimidated. "Sticks and stones ... We will never go through anything worse than being parted from Madeleine. We will not be leaving or be forced out. I am not prepared to be bullied into doing something that I don't want to. We can cope with a lot and we still have a lot of strength but this speculation and the actions of the Portuguese press has been hurtful, intrusive and disrespectful to our other two children. The press here have badly overstepped any reasonable line."
Despite the couple's defiance, however, it emerged yesterday that they have been asked by Mark Warner, the holiday firm that operates the complex from which Madeleine disappeared, to stay away from the Ocean Club resort because the media presence was disrupting other guests. Though the couple moved out some time ago, they have continued to bring their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to the resort's creche. They have been offered an alternative, they said, but have so far declined to take it up.
With the small town's beaches now packed with holidaymakers, the couple face a besieged existence behind the high gates of their villa, loaned to them by friends. "We are trapped," said Mrs McCann. "What can we do?"
The couple's criticisms were directed at local media. British journalists in Praia da Luz have been careful not to harass the family.
The lawyer representing Robert Murat, the only official suspect to date, said yesterday that most residents of Praia da Luz wanted "those bloody McCanns" to leave the resort because their continued presence was damaging its reputation.
The couple have insisted they will remain until Madeleine is found. Speaking to the Guardian by telephone, Mrs McCann said: "We have had so much support from the local community, no negativity at all. I know it might seem illogical, but I feel closer to Madeleine here. Yes, there are probably things we could do even better from the UK, but just right now it wouldn't feel right to leave."
Tomorrow will mark 100 days since Madeleine disappeared from her bedroom while the couple were eating dinner nearby. Events planned to mark the date have been scaled back as a result of the negative publicity, but the couple have continued to investigate further ways to drive forward the investigation.
The latest, launched today, is an initiative in partnership with the video-sharing site YouTube to create a global internet channel for those looking for missing and abducted children. The site is the brainchild of one of the McCanns' friends.
Mr McCann said: "Clearly there has been a shift in the investigation. But we do not know of any new evidence to suggest that Madeleine is not alive."
His wife added: "People haven't said to us to give up hope but they have said to get on with our lives, whatever that means. We have to find Madeleine and find out what happened to her, and balance that against what is best for our other two children. But life is going on. It is a weird life filled with uncertainty and the void created because Madeleine is not here. But it is life."
_________________
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts
Winston Churchill
Bampots- Posts : 2320
Join date : 2014-09-07
Age : 63
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