### Main Suspect in Madeleine McCann Case Cleared of Rape Charges in Germany

Christian Brückner, the primary suspect in the disappearance of three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann, has been acquitted of rape and sexual abuse charges by a German court. The 47-year-old was cleared of five separate offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. Brückner is already serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for an unrelated rape conviction.

Although Brückner has not been charged in the case of Madeleine McCann, who vanished in Portugal in 2007, this latest court decision has sparked international interest. His defense team successfully argued for an acquittal due to insufficient evidence, contradicting the demands of the prosecutors who sought an additional 15-year jail term.

The existing seven-year sentence, handed to Brückner by the Braunschweig court in 2019 for raping an American pensioner, is set to conclude next September. However, the presiding judge, Uta Engemann, highlighted the lack of reliable evidence and credible witnesses, leading to his acquittal. German prosecutors have announced plans to appeal this decision to the Federal Court of Justice, keeping the verdict from becoming legally binding until the appeal process is complete.

Brückner was first identified as a suspect in McCann's disappearance by German investigators in 2020, as he had spent significant time in the Algarve region of Portugal. Despite his movements between Portugal and Germany, Brückner was tried in Braunschweig, his last registered place of residence. The trial, unrelated to the McCann case, drew global attention when it commenced in February.

Significant developments included the lifting of an arrest warrant over the summer, which some saw as a precursor to the acquittal. Brückner himself remained silent throughout the trial, while his lawyer, Friedrich Fülscher, contended that the lack of credible evidence against his client warranted the acquittal. The court heard varied testimonies, including one from an Irish woman, Hazel Behan, who waived her anonymity to identify Brückner as her attacker from an incident in 2004.

Although some rape charges had been previously dropped, prosecutors are keen to keep Brückner in preventive detention beyond the current prison term. His defense team also plans to contest the 2019 conviction. The acquittal has cast doubt on the strength of the prosecutors' evidence in the McCann inquiry, although it has no direct legal connection to it.

Judge Engemann emphasized that the verdict must be based solely on the evidence for the specific charges faced by Brückner and not influenced by his alleged involvement in other cases or public opinion. Prosecutors, while disagreeing with the judge's assessment of the witness reliability, maintain that the outcome will not affect their ongoing investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. The next step hinges on the forthcoming appeal to the federal court.