Former Portuguese detective not to have to pay McCanns compensation

Former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral will not have to pay the parents of British girl Madelaine McCann for having published a book alleging they were involved in their daughter's disappearance, Portuguese media reported on Tuesday.

A Portuguese appeals court overturned the decision on Tuesday to force Amaral, who took part in the investigation into Madelaine's death, to pay 500,000 euros (about 570,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation to Madelaine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

Amaral had been ordered to pay them compensation in 2015 after he lost the libel battle over his book The Truth of The Lie, in which he claimed that the McCanns had faked that their daughter had gone missing following her death at an apartment in the Algarve, in southern Portugal, while they were on holiday.

The court concluded Amaral had exercised his right to opinion and that he was not obligated to pay the McCanns compensation, according to local media. The McCanns have said they want to appeal this decision.

The search for Madelaine McCann is still ongoing nine years after she vanished, however the scale of the investigation has been scaled back by Scotland Yard. Endit