Murat and Malinka

Let's not forget the other arguido in this case! Also let's see how many comments there are about this in the other blogs, all made by people who "never go to" our blog, yet spend all their time commenting on it.
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At 07:00 WEST on the morning of 14 May 2007, searches began at Casa Liliana, a villa owned by Jennifer Murat, a British citizen, near the apartment where Madeleine went missing.
Police and scientific teams sealed off the house, and at 16:00 the swimming pool was drained.
Three people, including Jennifer Murat's son Robert Murat, were questioned at the main police station in nearby Portimão. Robert Murat, a frequent visitor to the villa who has dual British-Portuguese nationality, had drawn the suspicion of Lori Campbell, a Sunday Mirror journalist, who informed the police.

Former Murat classmate Gaynor de Jesus said: "I do know that he has been the official translator for the police."[32] Murat had said he was deeply concerned about Madeleine’s case because he had recently lost custody of his own three-and-a-half year old daughter who looked like the missing girl.

Robert Murat was given arguido (suspect) status on 15 May; before being given this status persons are treated as witnesses. It is not clear if Murat or the police asked for the arguido status which gives extra rights such as the right to remain silent.[6] Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa told a news conference that an un-named 33-year-old (believed to be Murat) had been interrogated, but not enough evidence was found to justify arresting him. Sousa said police had searched five houses on Monday and seized "various materials" from the properties which were being subjected to scientific tests and had questioned two other un-named people as witnesses. Murat stated that he was being made a scapegoat so that the police could be seen to have found a suspect.

It was reported on 16 May that two cars used by the Murats had been examined, and computers, mobile phones and several video tapes were taken from their villa. It also emerged that a British architect who built the villa was ignored when he called police about a hidden basement within the property.

The police were understood to have taken in for questioning Sergey Malinka, 22, a man of Russian origin, from whose property officers also took away a laptop computer and two hard drives. Malinka had set up a website for Murat and the two exchanged frequent phone calls since Madeleine's disappearance—the reason the authorities started suspecting him.Chief Police Inspector Olegário de Sousa reiterated there was insufficient evidence to make any arrests. Police said that Malinka had been questioned as a witness for approximately five hours, which did not, having regard to the "dynamic" nature of the investigation, mean that he could not become a suspect.

Malinka spoke negatively of the coverage of the case in the Portuguese media, which had alleged that he was a convicted sexual offender. Malinka denied he had contacted Murat, and said he was "completely innocent". Inconsistencies in his account of his relationship with Robert Murat emerged: he had said he had not contacted Murat in a year but Murat’s mobile phone records allegedly show he called Mr Malinka at 23:40 on the night Madeleine went missing. On 19 May, Portuguese detectives flew to England to interview Dawn Murat, the estranged wife of Robert Murat, and detectives re-interviewed other witnesses connected with Murat.

Murat was interviewed for a second and third time on 10 July and 11 July to clarify what detectives described as details and possible contradictions from his previous statement in the light of new information. On the second day detectives from the Polícia Judiciária questioned three friends of the McCanns who were dining with them at the time of the disappearance, Rachael Oldfield, Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne, "to go over their accounts of events on May 3". The three were also brought face to face with Murat. As a result of the interviews, police examined discrepancies between statements from the three friends and that from Murat, in particular claims from the friends that they saw Murat outside the holiday complex on the night of the disappearance when he had stated that he was at home with his mother. Murat's mother, Jenny, subsequently corroborated his alibi.

Police, including British detectives, resumed searching Casa Liliana on 4 August. Vegetation was cleared and the grounds were searched but despite the use of hi-tech scanning equipment and a British sniffer dog no new evidence was found.

Reports in the Portuguese press suggested that Murat met Gerry while the latter was campaigning for the Labour Party. Murat denied this on 13 September describing the reports as "absolutely ridiculous" saying "I’ve never met the man before".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_McCann