Judges should be fired for bias in favour of criminal suspect Madeleine McCann, prosecutors say

Three German judges presiding over the rape trial of Christian Brückner, also implicated in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, should be dismissed because they are biased in his favour, prosecutors argued in court.

Brückner, a convicted paedophile and rapist, is on trial at the District Court in Braunschweig in northern Germany, charged with five sex offences he allegedly committed in Portugal, including three rapes and two acts of indecent exposure to children.

The trial is unrelated to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. According to German prosecutors, Brückner is the main suspect in the case, although he has not yet been charged.

In a surprise move that could potentially result in a retrial, prosecutors said the three judges who will decide his guilt or innocence in his ongoing sex crimes case were biased and ruled in his favour.

In a press release, the court said: “The Braunschweig Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed a motion to dismiss three professional judges of the Second Criminal Division due to concerns about bias.

“If the division finds the motion admissible, the relevant adjudicating division will make a decision on the issue of bias no later than the next hearing date, August 5, 2024.”

That decision will now be made by the court’s House of Representatives.

In the German judicial system, it is extremely rare for such a request to be made, and if it were granted, the entire process would have to be started all over again.

The prosecutor’s office’s sudden decision comes after it suffered a major loss in connection with the arrest warrant for Brückner.

Earlier this week, the Braunschweig District Court announced that it had lifted an arrest warrant for Brückner in connection with the sex crimes trial. It said the decision was made on the basis that the criteria for issuing a warrant were not met.

It is debatable whether the lifting of the arrest warrant is a formality, as the accused must still serve a seven-year sentence for rape by early 2025, but the defense still sees it as a major victory.

Madeleine McCann, who is presumed dead, disappeared from her bed at the age of three at the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal in 2007, where she was staying with her family at the time.

In June 2020, German prosecutors named Brückner as the prime suspect in her disappearance, but he has not been charged with any crimes related to the case.

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