Madeleine McCann 's parents have broken their silence after a court ruled against them in a legal battle with a former detective inspector.
The European Court of Humans Rights today ruled the courts in Portugal did give Kate and Gerry McCann a fair hearing after they tried to claim damages against Goncalo Amaral.
The ex-Policia Judiciaria officer led the initial probe into the three-year-old's disappearance in May 2007 in Praia da Luz.
But after being taken off the case, Amaral alleged in his 2009 memoir The Truth Of The Lie that the McCanns were involved in their daughter's disappearance.
He repeated the allegations in a subsequent documentary and newspaper interview.
Amaral's allegations were dismissed and there is no suggestion Kate and Gerry did any wrong-doing.
The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have this afternoon released a statement saying they are "naturally disappointed" with today's decision.
They added: "However, much has changed since we started legal proceedings 13 years ago against Mr Amaral, his publisher and broadcaster.
"We took action for one and only one reason: Mr Amaral’s unfounded claims were having a detrimental impact on the search for Madeleine.
"If the public believed that we were involved in her disappearance, then people would not be alert for possible clues and may not report it relevant information to the relevant law enforcement agencies.
"The focus is now rightly on the search for Madeleine and her abductor(s).
"We are grateful for the ongoing work by the British, German and Portuguese police. We hope that with, the help of the public, hard work and diligence we can eventually find those responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance and bring them to justice."
No trace of Madeleine has ever been found.
Lawyers for Kate and Gerry argued that the Portuguese Courts had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts there dealt with their libel claims against Amaral.
Kate and Gerry were questioned by police in September 2007 but were later cleared of any wrongdoing.
In April this year paedophile Christian Brueckner was named as Portuguese police's prime suspect for the first time.
Amaral was replaced in the investigation after just five months in charge.
Madeleine's parents lost their civil reputation case before the Portuguese courts and appealed their claim to the ECHR claiming that the former inspector's statements damaged their reputation, their good name and their right to be presumed innocent.
They also complained that they were unable to obtain redress before the domestic civil courts of Portugal.
They argued that the reasoning in decisions issued by the Supreme Court of Portugal on January 31 and March 21, 2017, at the close of an action for damages brought by them, breached their right to be presumed innocent.
In a judgment published today - Tuesday - the European Court of Human Rights found that the couple's reputation suffered by the fact they were made official suspects in the case for a short time, and that that information was in the public domain, rather than Mr Amaral's comments.
