Citation

"Grâce à la liberté dans les communications, des groupes d’hommes de même nature pourront se réunir et fonder des communautés. Les nations seront dépassées" - Friedrich Nietzsche (Fragments posthumes XIII-883)

08 - MAI 01 - Interviews "1 an" (1)


Les MC chez Natasha Kaplinsky
Five News Channel - 01.05.2008
transcrit par Nigel Moore
Archive footage section:
Kate MC : Madeleine is a beautiful, bright, funny and caring little girl. She is so special. Please, please do not hurt her. Please don't scare her.
Gerald MC : Until there is concrete evidence to the contrary, we believe that Madeleine is safe and being looked after.
Reverend Haynes Hubbard: And God, who searches our innermost being, knows what the spirit means.
GMC : We have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter Madeleine.
KMC : We beg you to let Madeleine come home.

Studio:
Natasha Kaplinsky : Well, Kate and Gerry, thank you very much indeed for coming and I know you find that very difficult to watch, Kate, don't you? One year on, did you ever think that you'd still be without Madeleine?
KMC : I mean, even, you know, a few hours seemed like a lifetime, in the early days, so... (big sigh) no, I guess not, but...
GMC : I think even in the first few days the key thing was to think to do everything, so we didn't end up getting to milestones like this and we're back here a day... today appealing, hoping we don't get to the next milestone. And, errr... we can't rest until everything has been done.

NK : You're here appealing, you're everywhere appealing, you've launched a really rigorous, active, 'media offensive' really, to mark this first anniversary. Clearly you have a lot of power in your voice right now but how aware are you that that might go at some point?
KMC : Well, I mean, I think it's inevitable really that the media interest will... will wane really after the anniversary, errr... unless there is a development, errr... and that's really I guess why we're trying to capitalise on it, a little bit now and try and appeal, once again, to the public. (1)

NK : Because of your arguido status, there are clearly some people who think that you are implicated in some way in Madeleine's disappearance. How do you cope with that? How do you feel about that?
GMC : Well, I hope a lot of people watched the documentary last night and, errr... to see what we have gone through as a family and, errr... everything, in the fullness of time, will come to light; what's in the file, and they will be able... hopefully, will be able to see what the facts are and that's what we need to concentrate at. The clear thing at the minute is that there is no evidence that Madeleine has been seriously harmed. Errr... Anyone who knows us, knows that we would never do anything to hurt any of our children. (2)

NK : You can't help but look at the newspapers and endless press speculation, some of it incredibly unfavourable for you and also just walking down the street. I mean you've gone from being a normal family to suddenly being thrust into the public eye, as you have been. How do you cope with it? How do you cope with not knowing what people think about you as people, as parents?
KMC : I mean, I think, you don't realise how much you value your anonymity really until something like this happens, errm... and that's kind of taken away and the fact you almost feel like you're, you know, stripped bare, in some ways, you know, that people know so much about you and...
GMC : I'm sure you've experienced a similar thing, maybe not quite so vitriolic about some of the things we've had... we've had to do but, you know, our statement in the documentary last night, and why we're here today, partly, is to remind people we are real people. Madeleine's a real child; this isn't fictional; we're not caricatures; we're... this has almost destroyed a family and has the potential to destroy other families in similar situations. (3)

NK : Kate, you've always remained very hopeful, you've always said you can't imagine that... that Madeleine isn't still alive. Nevertheless, you must have imagined what she might be going through if she is alive. What is your greatest hope of what might have happened to her this year?
KMC : (big sigh) I mean, obviously, you know, my hope is that Madeleine is safe and well and is being looked after and she is... I mean, she's a strong little character and, you know, they say children adapt well... (4)
GMC : Mmmm.
KMC : ...errm... I just hope she's well.

NK : And how do you stop your mind from going to that worst place, the worst case scenario?
GMC : First few days it was impossible. I think that's the first thing to say; absolutely impossible, but we realised that that negative speculation doesn't help you. It doesn't help find Madeleine, we're absolutely certain about that, (5) so, errr... there is an element to be able to... I think I'm probably a bit better at it; I can switch it off almost, when it... it comes in, and it's fleeting, it's occasional moments it's less so, but it really the... the negative as... it just doesn't help you; it doesn't help us; it doesn't help Madeleine.

NK : If Madeleine, for whatever reason, can hear you now, what would you say to her?
GMC : Oh, we love you very, very much and Sean and Amelie love you very much and we're doing everything we can to try and find you; bring you home.
KMC : Yeah. I love you, Madeleine, and hold on. We're still looking, we always will.


(1) Le contrat avec Bell Pottinger pour que l'affaire soit quotidiennement à la une a été signé pour un an.
(2) Gerald commet (sans doute consciemment) une faute logique. Ce qui est clair, c'est qu'il n'y a de preuve de rien, homicide, enlèvement, accident. Hormis la présomption que constituent les alertes des chiens britanniques, le bon sens veut qu'une enfant de presque 4 ans ne soit pas sortie indemne de l'arrachement brutal aux siens et la probabilité est que, disparue sans laisser de trace, Madeleine ait vraiment disparu pour de bon.
(3) L'argument d'universalité, comme si d'autres familles avaient fait l'expérience de se donner en pâture aux médias pour une noble cause. Il aurait fallu au moins que ça serve à quelque chose, que l'on n'en soit pas au bout d'un an de tapage incessant au même point. Par ailleurs, comment Madeleine pourrait-elle une "enfant réelle" ? Que sait-on d'elle ? Rien ou à peu près (louanges régulièrement destinées aux disparus). Quant à son apparence, pour en avoir une idée, il faut s'accrocher à la dernière photo, celle aux balles de tennis, pour résister aux vieilles photos faites pour attendrir.
(4) Les très petits enfants, oui, mais pas une enfant de cet âge. Il suffit de lire un peu ce que les pédiatres ont écrit sur la résilience.
(5) Comment en sont-ils certains ? Après tout chasser le réalisme n'a pas ramené Madeleine non plus...

Les MC chez Bill Turnbull et Sian Williams 
BBC1 Breakfast - 01.05.2008
transcrit par AG et Meadow
Bill Turnbull : On Saturday it'll be a year since Madeleine MC disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal
Sian Williams : And to mark this anniversary her parents Kate and Gerry are making a fresh appeal for information to find her. They joined us now. Hello to you both ! Thank you very much for coming in.
Why the media blitz ? In the documentary last night, Gerry, you said the whole world now knows about Madeleine MC, so why are you appealing for more information, is there any more information ?
Gerald MC : That's the.., I think there is more information. The problem we have is we've always said that we would leave no stone unturned and we don't know what information is in the inquiry, what is not in the inquiry, what has been done and what hasn't been done, errm I think it's unlikely everything has been done and we need to know that because it's our daughter, we strongly believe she's still out there. People may not have come forward before, they may have come forward the information may not be seen as relevant, so we really want to appeal to people and clearly there's going to be absolutely huge media attention on us and this is trying to capitalize on that and there's going to be media attention whether we participated or not.

BT : We had a lot of emails from viewers, some supportive, some critical, some asking questions we can put some to you if we may, but let's just feel (video repeat) that one asks many times and says I understand that you must have been asked this a million times but she wants to know as a mother of a young child herself why you felt it was ok to leave the children while you went out to have some food. It's a question that keeps coming back and I know you've answered it many times, but people still want the answer.
KMC :  I think that's right, I think we have answered and errm personally I feel we have been persecuted enough about this matter, and we do that to ourselves so we don't really need to keep going over it and I've heard many times I couldn't love Madeleine more than I do I would have done anything, I had no idea that there was a risk.. And I can't say more, really.
GMC : And there are 2 things there, the first is we felt completely safe, if we had had any inkling that it was unsafe we wouldn't have done it, the second thing is that we can't change it, you know, what we have done as we discovered Madeleine was taken, and we have done anything there, you know, no matter how many times...

 KMC : (interrupting/speaking over) Let's not forget, let's not forget, you know, there has been an evil crime committed, you know whatever anybody says about us, is it right for somebody to go into your apartment and take your child out of your (sic) bed ?

Ce type de répartie est typique des enfants. Afin d'excuser leur comportement, ils dénoncent le comportement aussi mauvais ou pire des autres. Mais ça ne marche pas, ou du moins ne devrait pas marcher, car c'est leur comportement, et non celui des autres, qui est en cause.
Lapsus ou non (en tout cas non corrigé ; KMC, qui interrompt, est manifestement irritée par la question n fois réitérée du risque qu'ils faisaient courir à leurs enfants laissés seuls), cette déclaration suggère que Madeleine a été extraite non de son lit, mais de celui de sa mère. L'hypothèse ne vaudrait pas que l'on s'y attarde si un élément matériel ne lui donnait quelque crédibilité. Tout ceux qui ont vu (Fiona WP, les gendarmes, Silvia B...) le lit de Madeleine après la disparition s'en sont étonnés : draps soigneusement repliés, lissés, sans désordre, petite couverture de réconfort et peluche posés sur l'oreiller. À moins que les ravisseurs d'enfant en chambre refassent le lit, hareng rouge ou non, avant de quitter les lieux... Les MC, par ailleurs, n'ont pas caché que Madeleine, lorsqu'elle se réveillait, venait dans leur lit où elle passait le reste de la nuit. La vérité a donc peut-être échappé ici à Kate MC.

BT : Do you think that's what happened because some people wonder is that what happened or is it possible that Madeleine woke up, was upset, went wandering looking for you and got lost that way... 
KMC : (interrupting, superior) I know, I know what has happened, I can't give too many details, can I, but I know my daughter, I know what I found and that's all I can say !
 GMC : I mean that's very important, we are in a very difficult situation, because the files are still under judicial secrecy, we're not allowed to let out investigationAL details and therefore there is a number of issues, the way the room was...
KMC : And we know more than a lot of people actually (superior) standing up there, giving their opinions, we know more facts and a lot of people are just speculating.
 

SW : And you say that you can't tell us  those facts because you're still official suspects and still unvolved...
KMC : (speaking over, protesting) No, it's judicial secrecy, you know... 
SW : You know, you said the night before Madeleine and Sean had been very upset and 
KMC : (speaking over) I didn't say that actually.
SW : That was in the statement wasn't it that was leaked out... Was that not the case ? Was she not upset the night before and talked to you the night before ?
KMC tries to protest.. despising
 
GMC : (very calm) Errm, what we said was.. the next morning Madeleine had said "why didn't you come when we cried last night ?" and at the time we thought "that's odd" and we looked at each other and asked her directly what she meant and she just dropped and moved on. And we thought, when the time we've been (mumble) checking it would be exceptional for particularly the twins to cry and go back to sleep in between our checks so... Obviously kids cry all the time when they're bathed, when they're tired and when you're doing that now we did wonder when they were getting put to bed or around that time, and I think you have to remember that for us everything is seen in context with the abduction. And at that time we had a very relaxed family holiday and yes it was a little line there (? strange) but ... 
KMC : (interrupting) You know, hindsight is a wonderful thing. If what happened didn't happened we wouldn't, you know, it wouldn't have crossed our minds again that Madeleine was making that comment, because of what happened, suddenly it was significant and that's the reason why we told the police.
 

BT : A lot of children are taking a close interest, are concerned with what happened. Ryan, 12 years old, asks how much it is affecting the other children, the twins, as you mentioned nearly three, a year on how staying strong for yourself and the children. The twins, what do they know about this ? 
KMC : I mean Sean and Amelie are amazing little people and, you know, they love Madeleine very much and Madeleine was with them for most of their life, you know, she's still very much in their life and they know she's missing and they know that everyone is looking for her, but as yet, you know, they're not asking more questions and to be honest we can't tell them really, because we don't know.''

SW : I just want to put that one as well. He is 13, he asks similar questions as the young people writing to us, so deeply concerned if you're happy, when you come home, what's happened to them asking their parents, all the time, you know, are we going to get more news about Maddie, you know that yourself, and then he says, if the twins do ask you where Maddie is or if they will ask you, what will you tell them, what, what form of words will you... 
KMC : We don't know, we don't know but we're looking for her, that's all we can say.
GMC (speaking over) : They know errm people generally say she went missing and that we are looking for her. The fact that so many kids know about Madeleine is important to us, is actually because certainly in the States with information went out in posters it may be a child to recognize as Madeleine and they may see them through different ways, change their hair and different things like.., so that piece of information could well come from a child...

 KMC : And kids are amazing, I've had a 3 year old say to his mummy : "Mommy, that's Madeleine's mommy" and then I've had another little child pinpointing Amelie and saying "Mom, that's Madeleine". So the children are actually very perceptive...
 
SW : (interrupting) It makes some very worried as well, that's another thing, and although the campaign is really valuable in terms of getting more information, Caroline sends us an email saying that a lot of children are asking whether they're going to be abducted in the night and whether the parents are going to protect them, so in a way sometimes this is causing even more concern for children, however valuable it is, but can you see that difficulty with parents who are constantly having to ensure the children that they won't get snatched in the night ? 
KMC : I think every parent knows their child and knows what their child (smiling, superior) is able to take on board really and I think most parents find if they're honest with the children and reassuring...
 GMC : (interrupting and obviously stopping KMC) : Did that, I mean that situation there is very much, it's terrible we have to think like this and clearly where we were, at the time, in an environment it was the farthest thing from our mind and it's clearly brought this home, these crimes happen, they're more commoner than we think, a lot of crimes are unreported, may be possibly even underreported, in terms of professional recording, but clearly under reported in the media, and it's terrible, but that's a real life thing, these crimes are horrific, it's a crime and there's an abductor out there and he may strike again, I'm not saying everyone should think about that, clearly if you are in a locked apartment, in a house, there are people there, the chances are very slim and this is so real..
 
BT : (interrupting) Can I ask you a question about the police inquiry in Portugal, one or two things, have you been asked to take part in a reconstruction and under what circumstances would you go back ? 
GMC : There is a dialog and that's been reported errm cleary there's a day out there and it's under discussion and no final decision has been made, errm, and I have to say that the prospect of going back with the media trying to watch a reconstruction doesn't appeal us and our emotions, for us...to consider that.. I think there's also other issues.. 
KMC : (speaking over, inaudible).
GMC : How much more information will that get us, one year on, you know, and we have told everything to the police.
 
KMC : If we believed that it would help find Madeleine, but that's the issue really  
GMC : And our friends were voluntarily taking part recently in interviews in Leicestershire, they've given all the information and they had lots of opportunity and our friends stayed in Portugal for 10 days after Madeleine was taken.
 
SW : How much, what do you think the public is thinking when it comes to this case; I only ask because in the documentary last night you had these boxes with supportive letters and very unsupportive letters, really quite very nasty letters as well. Can you understand why people are so angry, I don't know, so angry about this and the fact that Madeleine went missing when you were on the night..  
 KMC : (interrupting) I mean to be honest, a lot of the nasty ones (were) about that. We do get letters like that but some of the nasty ones are almost nasty for nasty sake and I think that has been incredibly shocking because we are not like that, we don't know people who are like that; it's quite, I suppose it's quite scary, a bit of an eye opener, really  how people could be filled with so much venom and whatever we do they'll write and criticize you know.

BT : It is, it is the way everybody in the public eye is going to get that (inaudible).  

GMC : (interrupting) The bottom line is that Madeleine is a four years old girl who's a victim, she's completely innocent and irrespect we are doing best to find her and to get information to help us find her and this is an international problem, it's an international inquiry, and we want people to come forward, whether or not they have done previously. 
BT : Ok, just to balance things up because we have asked you some challenging questions, we have supportive emails, somebody saying "may I express my support for you both, I admire the way you cope with the publicity both good and bad like the true professionals you are". There are others who text me and say their prayers are with you on a daily basis.
G et K MC : Thank you.
 
SW : Good luck, thank you very much for coming and if anybody had information there's that new number to contact the police (repeat twice the number) and as Gerry was saying it may have been a year on, but somebody might know something and however small it is, call that number and tell the police about it.


Les MC chez  Dermot  Murnaghan 
Sky News - 01.05.2008
Extraits

Kate MC : I cannot love Madeleine more than I love her, you know, I would never have taken a risk, it was something that wasn't.. it wasn't even a decision, that's how safe it felt, you know, I didn't...
Gerald MC : (speaking over) What information did we have that suggested it wasn't going to be safe ? We were dining 50 yards away, we were making regular checks, we were entering into the apartement, all was quiet, every night and... we, if we had thought it was unsafe for a minute, if there was any conscious element there that somebody was going to get into our apartment and steal our child, then of course we wouldn't have done that...

Dermot Murnaghan : (interrupting) But it wasn't a matter of being unsafe, was it... I mean, is it the case ? Should we not clear it up now ? Was Madeleine upset the night before about being left alone ? Had she had a moment of going out of bed and start crying and looking for you ?
KMC : (interrupting) Well I don't want to argue too much but if you saw the documentary last night we have talked about it... (long sigh and pause, as to control exasperation) Madeleine made a comment in passing that... "where were you when I cried ?", not just to Mummy by the way, just generally (ironic smile), errm... it just seemed to be a kind of passing remark, we just thought she doesn't usuallt wake up errm (play acting) she woke up and you know she must have fallen back asleep very quickly... errm and then she moved on (making a face), she moved on..
GMC : Anybody with young children will understand that children cry, they wake up at night.. During that week there was one night and errm we can't give too much detail because, as part of the investigation, but there was one night when Madeleine had come through and one twin was crying, so, you know, I went, she did mention it to us and we asked her about it and she just dropped it, she was completely fine and we thought was it when you were in the bath and getting very frustrated and that happens when they're really tired ? Of course with hindsight and the context of what happened, of Madeleine been abducted has put a different light and has put a very different light to us and of course we emphasized that...
KMC : (interrupting) If Madeleine hadn't been abducted, if Madeleine hadn't been abducted, we would never have thought of that comment again. 
(...) 
Gerald MC : We have had tremendous support - from friends, family and the public - but there's no doubt something like this could destroy you. It has wreaked havoc within our family.
Kate MC : Our other children are fantastic - we wonder where we would be today without them. They're very happy, well adjusted, they have a normal life, they're fantastic.

KMC : You must not lose sight that a crime has been committed. The person's still out there and Madeleine's still missing.
GMC : With hindsight, with the abduction, it's seen in a very different light now. The worse thing about going over and over and over this is we can't change this. 

 
GMC : You remain arguido (suspect), which is similar to being interviewed under caution in UK, until someone is charged or file no longer under judicial secrecy. Normal situation in Portugal. We want to know what's been done, what hasn't, who has been eliminated from investigation and why. We need to know.
 
DM : Reconstruction in Portugal under discussion. What additional information to help the search for Madeleine would be gained by it?   
GMC : We want responsible reporting. There's too much rumour, myth and innuendo.  
KMC : No text book on what to do when child gets taken. Would have liked to stay out of media but we have to do this. You don't see the bad side of what can come and all the horrible press.
GMC : She could easily have been moved out of Portugal. Amber Alert system saves lives. Number of children have been recovered when people have given up. Can't give up until know who took her and why.   
KMC : Nothing to say Madeleine not out there. Many children found years down the line - we cannot give up, Madeleine deserves that. Madeleine needs us to find her.
GMC : For us to rest we need to know, to make sure everything's being done. Want to ask people to call in on new hotline number with any information. Desperate for leads, we cannot give up.
KMC : Only one reason why we're in the media and that's to appeal for information. A year on but she's still missing.