Christian Brueckner’s lawyer has broken his silence on his client being named a prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.
Brueckner is in German court again today, standing trial for five sexual offences he is alleged to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017, unrelated to McCann’s disappearance.
In the defence opening statement, Friedrich Fulscher said Brueckner had been persecuted by the media since being named prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.
Madeleine McCann has been missing since 2007 when she was abducted from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal at three years old.
Bruckner was identified as a suspect by German investigators in June 2020, in what they have classed as a murder inquiry.
No formal charges have ever been brought against Brueckner in the McCann case. He is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for the rape of an elderly woman in her Algarve holiday apartment.
Fulscher said in court: “Since June 2020, our client Christian Brueckner has been under constant worldwide media fire.
“According to the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office, he allegedly abducted and murdered Madeleine Beth McCann. The investigating authorities have been repeating this theory to the media like a prayer wheel.
“The greatest challenge for the court in these proceedings will be to free itself from these ulterior motives when investigating the procedural truth and assessing the evidence with regard to the accusations levelled.”
