A German court has thrown out rape and sexual offense charges against Christian Brueckner, who was identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine "Maddie" McCann.
The lawyer representing Brueckner, Friedrich Fuelscher, verified the development and clarified that the court's ruling indicates that the legal authorities in Braunschweig do not have jurisdiction over the case concerning "Maddie."
German Court Throws Out Charges
The Braunschweig court's decision revokes the arrest warrant against Brueckner, stating that it does not have jurisdiction over the case.
The court's decision means that the charges are separate from the McCann case, and it does not affect the ongoing investigation.
According to Reuters, a spokesperson for the court stated that the charges against Brueckner were unrelated to the McCann case. The prosecutor's office in Portugal has yet to comment on the decision.
The Brunswick regional court in northern Germany declared that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case against him since his most recent registered address in Germany was in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The decision has sparked outrage among the McCann family and their supporters, who have been seeking justice for Madeleine's disappearance for over a decade.
They believe that Brueckner is responsible for her abduction, and they are disappointed that he will not face any charges related to the case.
However, Brueckner's lawyer argued that the court's decision means that Brueckner's detention is unlawful and he should be released from prison.
It remains unclear whether the decision will affect Brueckner's current prison sentence, which he is serving for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region of Portugal where Madeleine went missing.
Continued Investigation
The Braunschweig state prosecutor, Hans Christian Wolters, said that the decision changes nothing for the moment.
Wolters stated that they will continue to investigate the case of Madeleine McCann.
The decision does not mean that Brueckner has been cleared of any charges related to the case, and the investigation is ongoing.
The Guardian reported that in the event of Brückner's trial being transferred to a different jurisdiction, such as Magdeburg or Frankfurt, prosecutors will need to begin afresh with familiarizing themselves with the case details, as the Brunswick authorities have been handling the case for multiple years.
The locations mentioned, Magdeburg and Frankfurt, are respectively the closest to Brückner's reported residence in a disused warehouse and the place where he was taken following his detention by Italian authorities.
The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann
In 2007, when she was only three years old, Madeleine McCann went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, located in Portugal.
Since the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, Kate and Gerry McCann have been tirelessly searching for her.
The New York Post reported that the couple was pleased to hear that the UK's Metropolitan Police was granted $370,000 to assist in the ongoing search.
However, last year, the German police assumed that Madeleine was dead and that Brueckner was likely responsible for her disappearance.
Brueckner has denied any involvement in the case, and he has not been charged with any crime related to it.
German prosecutors charged Brueckner with three offenses of aggravated rape and two offenses of sexual abuse of children in Portugal, unrelated to the McCann case, between December 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017.
