today

Mr Amaral’s dismissal is considered to be of huge significance to the progress and tone of the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. Mr Amaral’s appointment to the case was criticised, partly because he faces a criminal hearing over allegations that he covered up the torture of a mother accused of murdering her daughter. Leonor Cipriano, 36, claims she was forced to kneel on glass ashtrays with a bag over her head as police repeatedly hit her during almost 48 hours of questioning. She is serving 16 years for the murder of her eight-year-old daughter Joana, even though the body has never been found and she has since retracted her statement.

IMO: Sounds usual "Life on Mars" tactics. I have encountered much the same sort of thing, only much milder to date, in the UK.