Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner is on trial for his alleged sex crimes which are not linked to the missing child case – prosecutors have called for a change in judges
Furious prosecutors have applied to have “biased” judges thrown off the trial of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner.
They were left fuming after Judge Ute Inse Engelmann issued a ruling which criticised the evidence of key witnesses in the case. Brueckner is suspected of abducting and killing three-year-old Madeleine in Praia da Luz in May 2007. He is nearing the end of a seven-year prison term for raping an American pensioner in the Portuguese resort.
The 47-year-old is currently standing trial on unconnected sex crimes he allegedly carried out in the Algarve. In a shock move on Wednesday, Judge Engelmann overturned an arrest warrant for Brueckner. She ruled the court had not heard strong enough evidence from witnesses to keep him behind bars.
Judge Engemann’s ruling was a strong indication that Brueckner will be cleared of the charges he is facing. If he is found not guilty, Brueckner could be freed from prison in the early part of next year. Now prosecutors have filed a motion to have Judge Engemann and her two fellow judges dismissed, citing “concerns about bias”.
A ‘chamber of representatives’ in Braunschweig must now make a ruling on the extremely rare application by early August. If the prosecution application is successful, the trial will collapse and a retrial would have to take place. Brueckner is accused of carrying out five offences in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.
They include the alleged rape of Irish tour rep Hazel Behan, who was attacked in her apartment Praia da Rocha in 2004. Brueckner is also accused of raping a teenage girl in his Praia da Luz home and raping an elderly woman in her holiday apartment.
He also faces a child sex charge for allegedly exposing himself to a German girl on a beach in Salema in April 2007. His final charge relates to an alleged indecent exposure in front of an 11-year-old in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines in 2017. Prosecutors appear no closer to proving he was behind Madeleine’s disappearance – despite claiming they have proof she is dead.
They face the nightmare scenario of seeing their prime suspect walk free if he is cleared in the latest trial. A not guilty verdict would increase the pressure on them to charge Brueckner over Madeleine’s disappearance. The trial is currently due to end in October.
