Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
THE witnesses for the prosecution of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner have been summoned for his upcoming multi-sex offences trial.
The Olive Press can reveal a significant number of police, both from Germany and Portugal, will appear on the stand against the German sex offender.
They will be joined by over a dozen victims and witnesses to the five charges he is facing at Braunschweig court at ‘the end of February’.
The list includes former acquaintances of Brueckner’s, Helge Busching and Manfred Seyferth, as well as ‘many police’.
“Quite a number are actually coming from Portugal, as well as from here in Germany,” a German police source told the Olive Press.
“It includes the police officer who arrested Brueckner in Portugal, as well as others involved in investigating him there.”
He added: “The officers will only be identified by their numbers, not by name.
“Some of them have been working in witness protection and have to be carefully protected.”
The German paedophile is facing three rape charges and two child molestation offences, including one that took place just a month before Maddie, three, vanished from her holiday apartment in May 2007.
The sexual assault of the nine-year-old German girl took place on a beach, just outside Praia da Luz, where Brueckner lived on-and-off for a decade.
Both the girl, her sister and her parents will give evidence at Braunschweig High Court having had a very good look at the attacker during the broad daylight attack.
Prosecutors revealed that the attacker first asked her name in English, ‘then grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to the sand, starting to masturbate’.
Luckily, she was saved by her brother, who called their parents for help and the naked man ran off towards a car park, where his van was likely parked.
The pair, plus their parents, were both later able to identify Brueckner from photos.
Meanwhile, the parents of four other young victims, who were exposed to by Brueckner in a play park, also on the Algarve, are summoned to attend the trial.
They will be flown in alongside the brave WPC who instigated a citizen’s arrest on the German, while off duty that night.
Finally, Irish rape victim Hazel Behan, 40, will be giving evidence, as well as two witnesses connected to her savage four-hour assault on the Algarve in 2004.
One of them saw Brueckner climb into her flat in Portimao to film the sick attack on the mother-of-three.
The other, a hotel worker, claims he saw blonde-haired Brueckner fleeing at dawn and was able to identify him as he had taken off his mask.
“His testimony is very credible,” the police source added.
Behan told the Olive Press, earlier this month: “I’m sure it was Brueckner who spoke to men in English with a German accent.
“It was a terrifying four hour ordeal in which he beat and raped me, all on camera. He held a huge knife and knew my name.
“He must have followed me across a footbridge where I lived and then climbed up to my window.”
She added: “I’m looking forward to finally facing him in court.”
It can also be revealed that Brueckner’s defence team has so far not submitted any witnesses on behalf of their client.
So far, the team, led by Friedrich Fulscher has only added one new lawyer.
Attorney Philipp Marquort, a criminal lawyer from Kiel, will be joining Friedrich Fulscher, also based in the northern German city.
Another well known senior lawyer Johann Schwenn has allegedly withdrawn his accreditation for the trial.
The Hamburg lawyer, who had his office vandalised after announcing he was working for Brueckner, has previously spoken on his behalf to the German media.
“His accreditation for Brueckner has been withdrawn,” said the police source. “Meanwhile the new, less experienced, Marquort has been added.”
The trial, which is expected to last for between ‘four and six weeks’, will begin at the end of February and run into March.
Fulscher confirmed to Bild newspaper last week that he had been told to consult his diary for specific start dates but ‘doesn’t expect’ the trial to begin before March.
He blamed this on ‘other priority cases’.
Meanwhile two documentaries on the sex offender are set to show on British and Australian TV over the next few weeks.
The first, a special investigation by the BBC’s Panorama team will screen on Monday (October 30), while an hour’s documentary by the experienced 60 Minutes team at Channel Nine in Sydney will air in December, it can be revealed.
My Search for Madeleine, by Jon Clarke, is available on Amazon
