Madeleine McCann suspect has rape allegations dropped by German prosecutors
The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has had the rape allegations against him dropped by a German court.
Christian Brueckner, 45, is believed to be responsible for the disappearance of the British tot from her parent's holiday home in Praia de Luz, Portugal in 2007, when she was just three years old.
The suspect has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder.
An investigation began in Germany after prosecutors there discovered "concrete evidence" of her death.
Brueckner had been charged with several sexual offences that occurred close to where Madeleine was holidaying with her family before she vanished.
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Prosecutors in the northern city of Braunschweig in October charged Bruckner in several separate cases involving sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Christian Brueckner, who is in jail for sex crimes, is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann (ENTERPRISE NEWS AND PICTURES)But since then, prosecutors have been unable to bring the charges in relation to Madeleine's case.
His lawyer Friedrich Fulscher has successfully managed to have a number of charges in cases unrelated to Madeleine dropped.
He argued that prosecutors in Brunswick, Germany, have no legal jurisdiction over the sex attacks allegedly committed in Portugal.
There have been a number of searches, but none have recovered the missing tot (PA)
Prosecutors have been unable to bring charges against Brueckner (REX/Shutterstock)The suspect is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.
In the German legal system, a court must decide after it receives an indictment from prosecutors whether to take a case to trial.
The Braunschweig state court said its supposed responsibility for the case being in the area had been based on his last residence before going abroad and then to prison.
But it said that is not valid, because the suspect produced evidence of a later residence in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, where he was registered as the owner of a property that he kept after going abroad.
The court said that, as a result of its decision, it has lifted an arrest warrant it issued for Bruckner in November.
It said in a statement that this has no influence on Bruckner completing his current sentence.
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The court said that its decision can be appealed to a higher court in Braunschweig.
Prosecutors said later on Thursday that they will examine the reasons for the decision carefully and then are likely to appeal.
Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, had hoped they would get answers as to exactly what happened on the night she went missing.
In a series of letters sent to MailOnline, Brueckner - who is currently in jail - claims that prosecutors are targeting him without evidence to bring charges.
In a statement to MailOnline his lawyer, Mr Fulscher said: "In its decision of April 19, 2023, the Regional Court of Braunschweig declared that it had no jurisdiction over the charge against Christian B. and revoked the arrest warrant against him.
Farmhouse on the outskirts of Praia da Luz where convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner lived, at the time of Madeleine's disappearance (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)"The defense already pointed out during the preliminary proceedings that the Braunschweig judiciary should not have local jurisdiction."
"For reasons that are not understandable here, the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig clung to its jurisdiction and thus risked being overturned by the Federal Court of Justice if it were opened.
"This is very questionable, in particular given the fact that a large number of witnesses would have had to appear in court again (on very incriminating issues) in the event of an annulment.
"The court's decision also means that the Braunschweig judiciary is not responsible for the 'Maddie' case."
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