Madeleine McCann: Christian Brueckner has nothing to hide but 'will never talk to cops' about case, lawyer says
The lawyer representing the main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has said his client will never talk to the authorities about the matter. Christian Brueckner's lawyer Friedrich Fulscher lashed out at officials during an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald just days after German investigators dug up an abandoned cellar where Brueckner previously lived.
Fulscher accused the authorities of creating a smokescreen. He said his client had nothing to "hide" but has decided not to co-operate with any investigation.
"Before our client starts to co-operate with the prosecutor's office, you could order holy water as a long drink in hell. That is not unusual. It is very normal not to talk to the police when you are suspected of committing a crime," Fulscher said. "The prosecutor's office has to prove that a suspect has committed a crime and not the suspect prove that he hasn't."
According to Fulscher, the highly publicized search of Brueckner's former property in Hanover, where he lived until 2007, was solely engineered to build "bad media" against his client.
The convicted rapist and pedophile could be released from prison after having served his sentence for drug trafficking if the European Court of Justice rules that "an arrest warrant relating to Brueckner's rape of a 72-year-old woman in 2007 was legal," per the NZ Herald.
Fulscher alleged that German prosecutors were staging the Hanover search in a bid to swing opinion before a decision is announced by the European Court of Justice.
"I am very surprised they have started a search there now and not much earlier," he said. "I was very surprised because the police had known for over two years that the garden was used by my client. I think the prosecutors are trying to influence the decision of the European Court by making bad media."
Despite a string of offenses dating back 25 years -- including child sex offenses, rape, and drug trafficking -- Fulscher insists that his client is not a "monster."
"The media has described my client as a monster," Fulscher said. "I don't recognize the person the media describes. I am able to describe him as a very calm and friendly person when I talk to him in prison."
Detectives have claimed there is concrete evidence to place Brueckner near the apartment in Praia Da Luz where the McCanns were staying when Madeleine disappeared.
A pre-paid mobile belonging to Brueckner "pinged" a reception near the resort just minutes before the child went missing, German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has said.
Brueckner's lawyer has argued that just because his cellphone was logged into a reception tower, it doesn't prove that he standing nearby the apartment.
"You can't say because of the fact that this cell phone was logged to this tower that he was standing near to the apartment of Madeleine McCann's disappearance," Fulscher told 9News. He noted that there is a lot of room for error and that his client could have been "20km away."
"I don't know if there is a chance that he could be charged, but I am sure that if he will be charged, he will be found not guilty by the court," Fulscher added.