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A BRITISH woman who claims she was brutally gang-raped by five men has faced her alleged attackers for the first time in court.
The 20-year-old, who cannot be identified, was allegedly raped by tourists in Ayia Napa last year.
AFPFive Israeli tou…
VLADIMIR Putin’s cronies have detained a US woman on suspicion of high treason and left her facing 20 years behind bars.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, was taken away by Russia‘s FSB security services on suspicion of raising just £41 for the Ukra…
LANGUISHING in a bone-chilling gulag in the Arctic Circle, opposition leader Alexei Navalny bore no possible threat to tyrant Vladimir Putin.
Yet — riddled with dictators’ paranoia many believe the Kremlin butcher ordered the democracy fighter’s d…
ALEXEI Navalny’s heartbroken wife has accused Vladimir Putin of murdering her husband with the deadly nerve agent novichok.
The sensational claims come as Russian authorities continue to refuse to let Navalny’s family see his body as wife Yulia Navalnaya, 47, calls out the Kremlin for “lying and waiting” for the toxins to vanish.
Yulia Navalnaya made a brave video accusing Putin of ‘killing’ her husband[/caption]
Navalny was found dead at the feared “Polar Wolf” jail, where he was serving a three-decade sentence, as he went on a walk, said prison authorities.
Russia gave the official cause of death as “sudden death syndrome” on Saturday, say Navalny’s family and lawyer.
But no one has been allowed to see his body yet outside of Russian cops and selected emergency responders as an autopsy is still yet to be conducted.
This has led to speculation over his ‘real’ cause of death as many fear the worse for Putin’s biggest critic.
They hide his body, don’t show it to his mother, don’t give it to her to mourn. They lie and wait for the traces of another Putin’s Novichok to disappear
Yulia Navalnaya
In a deeply emotional video posted on Navalny’s YouTube account, Yulia added to these claims saying: “Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband Alexei Navalny.
“Putin killed the father of my children. Putin took away the most precious I had in my life – my most dear and the most loved man.
“Putin wanted to kill our hopes, our freedom, our future. To destroy and nullify it.
“My husband couldn’t be broken, and that’s exactly why Putin killed him.”
Yulia hadn’t seen her husband for two years before his tragic death as he was behind bars and she was staying outside of Russia with their two kids Dasha, 22 and Zahar, 15.
The loving widow continued her verbal scolding of Putin and his cronies as she blasted the tyrant for his “cowardly” ways.
She claimed her husband was killed by “shameful” Putin as he ordered Navalny’s death “without ever daring to look him in the eye”.
Yulia then continued the brave speech saying: “They hide his body, don’t show it to his mother, don’t give it to her to mourn.
“They lie and wait for the traces of another Putin’s novichok to disappear.”
The video went out to Navalny’s 6.23million YouTube subscribers as Yulia called on his supporters to “gather ourselves together in one strong fist and strike at this mad regime, at Putin, at his friends, at the thugs in uniform… and murderers who are ruining our country.”
NOVICHOK – the Russian for newcomer – applies to a group of advanced nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union.
They were known as fourth-generation chemical weapons and are reported to be five times more potent than the notorious VX gas.
According to scientists who worked on the program, the aim was to create extremely potent nerve agents that were undetectable to normal instruments.
The poision was designed to be made of two relatively harmless materials which are mixed together when needed, making it easier and safer to store and transport.
Novichok agents, dispersed as an ultra-fine powder or gel rather than vapour, belong to the class of inhibitors called “organophosphate acetylcholinesterase”.
They prevent the normal breakdown of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine which, when it builds up, causes muscles to contract involuntarily.
Because the victim’s heart and diaphragm aren’t functioning properly, this leads to respiratory and cardiac arrest.
Those affected usually die from total heart failure or suffocation as copious fluid secretions fill their lungs.
But even if they don’t die, the substance can also cause severe nerve damage, leaving victims permanently disabled, Russian scientists have said.
Navalny was the Kremlin’s leading domestic critic in Russia and had bravely challenged Putin’s rule and the horrific war in Ukraine.
His supporters always feared he would be assassinated while behind bars.
Blockbuster claims from paramedics who have allegedly seen his corpse revealed he had bruises all over his body when the corpse was sent to the morgue.
Navalny has consistent marks that could show he was “murdered” under Vladimir Putin’s chilling regime after it was suggested he suffered a seizure in jail, sources said.
His level of bruising could point towards someone holding him down as he was convulsing, says the Novaya Gazeta Europe source.
Cops are now believed to be closely guarding the body in a hospital morgue at Salekhard district clinical hospital amid claims Russia had him killed.
But hospital pathologists have supposedly been banned from performing an autopsy on his body, the source added.
Respected Russian political analyst Ekaterina Shulman told Bild in Russian: “We don’t have too many reasons to suspect a natural death.”
“We see an intentional murder in front of our eyes, not something else,” she said.
“Not even death from hard conditions (in the Arctic jail).”
People in Russia have said he could have potentially been drugged or poisoned inside the colony run by Colonel Vadim Kalinin, 51.
Former FSB colonel Gennady Gudkov, 67, an opposition politician like Navalny, backed these theories.
He said: “He was kept… in torture conditions.
“Either his body did not overcome such torture (or) they might have given some medication that causes heart failure, they could have given a poison.
“We will only learn the truth when Putin is gone. The fact that they killed him is beyond any doubt.”
The Kremlin’s spies also allegedly visited Alexei Navalny’s prison just days before he died.
Hundreds have been arrested in Russia for trying to place flowers to honour Navalny or protesting over his death.
As countries all across the world took to the streets to demand answers over the suspicious death.
Even world leaders called for the truth to come out.
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed they knew Putin was behind it as David Cameron scolded Putin for his role in Navalny’s death saying “we should hold Putin accountable” as he blasted Russia’s “dreadful” regime.
Navalny was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent novichok in August 2020, which he claimed was an assassination attempt by the Kremlin.
The findings were confirmed by labs in France and Sweden as by a novichok nerve agent but the Kremlin denies any involvement.
Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were also poisoned by novichok in the UK in 2018.
He was a self-professed “number one enemy” of Putin’s has blamed Russia “100 per cent” for the poisoning.
Russia claimed it had “no reason” to investigate any potential suspects after the Salisbury poisoning.
Fears are also growing for the jailed British Kremlin critic who is “clearly next” on Putin’s kill-list following the sudden death of Alexei Navalny.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, who was sentenced to 25 years last April in a hellhole Siberian prison, is both “very ill” and a “prime target” for the despot, an expert warned The Sun.
He suffers from a nerve disorder after two poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blames on the Kremlin.
A TIMELINE published by Gulagu.net, a human rights group, revealed:
February 14: Several officers from the FSB, the Russian intelligence service, are said to have paid a visit to “Polar Wolf” prison — and proceeded to disconnect and dismantle some of the security cameras and listening devices there.
February 16, 2.17pm local time: Navalny, 47, was officially reported to have died.
February 16, 2.19pm: The prison service put out what appeared to be a prepared press release.
It read: “On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.”
February 16, 2.23pm: A state-controlled channel on the Telegram messaging site claimed the cause of death was a blood clot, or thrombosis.
February 16, 2.30pm: Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, fronted the media about Navalny’s death.
February 16: US President Joe Biden blasted: “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Even in prison he was a powerful voice for the truth.”
February 16: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “Obviously, Putin killed him.”
February 17: Navalny’s mum Lyudmila Navalnaya, 69, said to be told she couldn’t see her son until an “examination” was completed.
February 17: Russian authorities claim the dad died of “sudden death syndrome”.
Hundreds of tributes to Navalny were left across the world[/caption]
Navalny was seen as Putin’s biggest critic[/caption]
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FEARS are growing for the jailed British Kremlin critic who is “clearly next” on Putin’s kill-list following the sudden death of Alexei Navalny.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, who was sentenced to 25 years last April in a hellhole Siberian prison, is both “very ill” and a “prime target” for the despot, an expert warned The Sun.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is feared to be ‘next’ on Putin’s hit-list and the UK must save him, an expert told The Sun[/caption]
‘He could die before he is murdered.’ Dr Stepan Stepanenko warned[/caption]
The Brit father’s distressed wife, Evgenia, said she that she fears for his life after Navalny’s death[/caption]
The activist and politician was arrested shortly after Putin invaded Ukraine for opposing the war and lobbying for sanctions against Moscow[/caption]
Kara-Murza holds both a British and Russian passport and worked as a prominent opposition politician in Moscow before he was locked up on trumped-up charges of treason last year.
He was a close aide to murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, – who was shot dead by a hit squad in Moscow in 2015 – and a vocal critic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dr Stepan Stepanenko, head of the Forward Strategy foreign policy think-tank, told The Sun that he believes he is Putin’s “next” target.
“Vladimir Kara-Murza is imprisoned on false charges, he is very ill and following Navalny, it is clear that he is next”
The father-of-three, who grew up and studied in Britain, suffers from a nerve disorder after two poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blames on the Kremlin.
“He may even die before he is murdered,” Stepanenko said. “Kara-Murza’s battle is not just against his captors but against time itself.
“Stricken with polyneuropathy, the grim reality is that he may never reunite with his family.”
The UK must step up to save him, he said. “We have a British national in Russian prison.”
Kara-Murza’s heartbroken wife, Evgenia, also spoke out over the weekend, telling the world that she fears her husband’s “life is in danger”.
She revealed she is terrified that he will meet the same fate Putin’s greatest foe Navalny, who Russia now claims died of “sudden death syndrome” and whose closely-guarded body was reportedly found covered in bruises.
“I have been afraid for my husband’s life since at least 2015, since that first call that I received about Vladimir collapsing in Moscow and going into [a] coma with multiple organ failure for no reason at all,” she told the BBC.
“I’ve been sleeping with my phone since, dreading yet another call of that sort.
“I believe that my husband’s life is in danger, as are the lives of many other political prisoners in Russian prisons.”
Evgenia said that Kara-Murza and other jailed dissidents that are suffering from “serious medical conditions” were being denied proper medical treatment “in order to make the state of their health deteriorate”.
She added that although she is afraid, she will always fight for her husband’s release.
“Continuing the fight is important, telling the stories of the people who are suffering from the regime is important.”
The former activist and journalist was sentenced to 25 years in April, 2023 by Putin’s cronies for spreading “false” information about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
He denied all the charges, comparing the case against him to a Stalinist show trial.
He was arrested only weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion and just hours after CNN broadcast an interview with him in which he said Russia was run by “a regime of murderers”.
Russia expert Dr Stepanenko said: “Putin views Kara-Murza as a formidable adversary.
“Navalny’s explosive exposés on Putin’s lavish lifestyle were a thorn in the side, but Kara-Murza struck at the heart of Putin’s empire by championing [US sanctions against Moscow], dealing a heavy blow to Russia’s economic ambitions well before 2022.
“In Putin’s eyes, losing money and power are akin to losing his life, making Kara-Murza a prime target for his attack.”
In January, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said he was “deeply concerned” over the fate of the dissident after he – similarly to Navalny in December – suddenly disappeared from his prison cell.
Evgenia later discovered he had been transferred to a new Siberian prison and immediately placed in a punishment block.
His only crime was not standing up in time when the guard commanded him to “rise” and he was slammed with a “malicious violation”, according to the letter he wrote to his lawyer.
The Cambridge graduate is now spending four months in painful solitary confinement.
More than 160 Russian citizens have been imprisoned for opposing the war, according to human rights group OVD-Info – however Kara-Murza’s sentence is the harshest so far.
A total of 19,854 Russians were arrested between February 24, 2022 and January 28, 2024 for speaking out or demonstrating against the invasion.
Soon after Kara-Murza was sentenced last year, The Sun spoke to Evgenia who insisted her husband would never give up his struggle.
She described how he had already survived two assassination attempts, which she believed were carried out on Putin’s direct orders.
“He was poisoned twice by an unknown substance. Both times it happened in Moscow,” she said.
“He developed very weird symptoms suddenly and ended up in a coma with multiple organ failure.
“Both times he was given a five percent chance of survival. He was lucky enough to survive the times because of the very dedicated team of doctors who treated him.”
Afterwards, he suffered severe nerve damage and had to re-learn how to carry out tasks as simple as buttoning up his shirt and pouring tea, but both times he soon went back to work.
She told The Sun that her jailed husband isn’t brave, but “stubborn”.
That stubbornness, Evgenia said, also comes out of her husband’s genuine love for his country.
“My husband is a genuine Russian patriot, and he has fought for years to bring change in our country,” she said.
In Kara-Murza’s final speech to the court after his sentencing he said that he only “failed” in one thing.
Failing “to convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world”.
He compared the Russia of today to that of the Soviet Union in the 1930s, when Stalin was carrying out a series of repressive show trials and purges of his political opponents.
“For me, as a historian, this is cause for reflection,” he said. “Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done.
“I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate.”
By Jerome Starkey, The Sun’s Defence Editor
NAVALNY’S death is shocking – but there’s also a sense of inevitability about this.
His spokesperson had warned that they thought he was being slowly killed in prison.
And indeed, the lifespan of Kremlin critics is tragically short.
It was astonishing in many ways that Alexei Navalny had survived.
We’ve had Latvia’s president calling this a brutal murder by the Kremlin.
We’ve had President Zelensky of Ukraine, saying Putin killed him.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Schulz and France’s Foreign Minister are saying that Navalny paid for his principles with his life.
There is certainly no doubt that as a result of his political activism. As a result of daring to stand up to Vladimir Putin.
Alexei Navalny exposed himself to enormous risk and hardship. We know that he was poisoned.
We know that he’s been jailed. He’s been held in horrific conditions. Indeed, you know.
Many, many days of his time in this penal colony have been in solitary confinement in punishment cells.
His health appears to have been deteriorating. So in that sense, you know, he’s been jailed by the regime that Putin leads.
He’s been poisoned with a nerve agent, a military grade nerve agent that is only really available to Putin’s assassins.
And that clearly would have had long-term health implications. So in that sense, clearly the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is culpable for his death.
It is not clear yet exactly what caused his death. But there’s no doubt that the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is culpable to some extent because of what they’ve inflicted.
Lord David Cameron said he was ‘deeply concerned’ about Kara-Murza in January after he briefly disappeared from his prison cell[/caption]
The Sun spoke to Evgenia last year who said her husband would never give up his struggle against Putin[/caption]
A SCROUNGER “mum” has been jailed after she faked 17 pregnancies over 24 years so she could pocket almost £100,000 in maternity cash.
Barbara Ioele, 50, falsely claimed to have had five children and 12 miscarriages after stuffing pi…
A RUSSIAN rock legend has dedicated a song to the late Alexei Navalny following his death in jail on Friday.
As he performed for a huge crowd in Kazakhstan Yuri Shevchuk made a heartfelt tribute to the fallen anti-corruption activist.
Russian rock star Yuri Shevchuk dedicated one of his songs to Alexei Navalny following his death[/caption]
Alexei Navalny was the Russian opposition leader[/caption]
Yuri Shevchuk was performing in Kazakhstan when he delivered the tribute[/caption]
Navalny was one of Putin’s most outspoken opponents who spent his final moments suffering in a hellhole Arctic prison after he was locked up for three decades last August.
Navalny denied the charges of fraud and contempt of court but was nevertheless handed the devastating sentence which he had served for just two years before his death.
Shevchuk – who is known for being critical of the Vladimir Putin‘s government – addressed his audience saying: “Alexey Navalny, who spoke to us Russians about freedom, has perished.
“He reminded us that we can all become free in the best sense of the word. He said that faith without freedom is fanaticism.
“Labor without freedom is slavery. Nothing exists without freedom!”
The Russian opposition leader did not expect to be released during Putin’s lifetime.
But it would turn out he wouldn’t survive that long.
According to the Russia‘s Federal Penitentiary Service Navalny felt unwell after a walk at the feared “Polar Wolf” jail, and lost consciousness.
An ambulance arrived to try to revive him, but he died. It said the cause of death was “being established”.
Is had now emerged that Navalny’s body was found covered in bruises and being guarded in a morgue amid claims Russia had him killed.
Navalny, 47, has consistent marks that could show he was “murdered” under Vladimir Putin’s chilling regime after it was suggested he suffered a seizure in jail, said paramedics who saw his body.
A medic, who works at the hospital where Navalny’s body was sent, said: “As an experienced paramedic, I can say that the injuries described by those who saw them appeared to be from convulsions.
“If a person is convulsing and others try to hold him down but the convulsions are very strong, then bruising appears.”
There were also signs that someone in the jail tried to save Navalny before he died as there were bruises on his chest showing evidence of CPR.
The paramedic continued: “They still tried to resuscitate him, and he died, most likely, from cardiac arrest. But why this stop happened, no one is saying anything yet.”
Russia gave the official cause of death as “sudden death syndrome” yesterday, say Navalny’s family and lawyer.
His death was confirmed to be at 14.17 local time on February 16, according to a document given to Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya.
Hospital pathologists were allegedly banned from performing an autopsy on his body, the source added.
As soon as his corpse arrived it was quickly transferred to the morgue and two cops were made to stand blocking off the door so no one could look inside, they continued.
The paramedic said: “Everyone wanted to know what had happened, what all the secrecy was about and whether they were trying to hide something serious.”
Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya wrote a message to her husband today in her first social media post since his death.
She posted a photo of them together followed by the heartbreaking caption: “I love you.”
Navalny’s mother went with his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh to say goodbye to his body at a morgue they were told his body was being sent to.
But after arriving they were shocked to find the corpse was missing.
Russian authorities later announced they delayed the release of the body because they hadn’t found the cause of death yet, prominent Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov said.
He was jailed for three decades in 2021 but died on Friday[/caption]
Here Navalny is pictured with his wife Yulia[/caption]
PUTIN’S best known opponent Alexei Navalny, 47, has died in prison.
Here is a timeline that took the leader of the opposition from the face of freedom in Russia and the Kremlin’s biggest foe to a hellhole Siberian prison and onto an early grave.
June 4, 1976 — Navalny is born in a western part of the Moscow region
1997 — Graduates from Russia’s RUDN university, where he majored in law
2004 — Forms a movement against rampant over-development in Moscow
2008 — Gains notoriety for calling out corruption in state-run corporation
December 2011 — Participates in mass protests sparked by reports of widespread rigging of Russia’s election, and is arrested and jailed for 15 days for “defying a government official”
March 2012 – Further mass protests break out and Navalny accuses key Kremlin cronies of corruption
July 2012 — Russia’s Investigative Committee charges Navalny with embezzlement. He rejects the claims and says they are politically motivated
2013 — Navalny runs for mayor in Moscow
July 2013 — A court in Kirov convicts Navalny of embezzlement in the Kirovles case, sentencing him to five years in prison – he appeals and is allowed to continue campaign
September 2013 — Official results show Navalny finishes second in the mayor’s race
February 2014 — Navalny is placed under house arrest
December 2014 — Navalny and his brother, Oleg, are found guilty of fraud
February 2016 — The European Court of Human Rights rules that Russia violated Navalny’s right to a fair trial
November 2016 — Russia’s Supreme Court overturns Navalny’s sentence
December 2016 — Navalny announces he will run in Russia’s 2018 presidential election
February 2017 — The Kirov court retries Navalny and upholds his five-year suspended sentence from 2013
April 2017 – Survives an assassination attempt he blames on Kremlin
December 2017 — Russia’s Central Electoral Commission bars him from running for president
August, 2020 – Navalny falls into a coma on a flight and his team suspects he was poisoned. German authorities confirm he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent.
Jan 2021 — After five months in Germany, Navalny is arrested upon his return to Russia
Feb 2021 — A Moscow court orders Navalny to serve 2 ½ years in prison
June 2021 — A Mocow court shuts down Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his extended political network
Feb 2022 — Russia invades Ukraine
March 2022 — Navalny is sentenced to an additional nine-year term for embezzlement and contempt of court
2023 — Over 400 Russian doctors sign an open letter to Putin, urging an end to what it calls abuse of Navalny, following reports that he was denied basic medication & suffering from slow poisoning
April, 2023 — Navalny from inside prison says he was facing new extremism and terrorism charges that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life
Aug 2023 – A court in Russia extends Navalny’s prison sentence by 19 years
Dec 2023 – He disappears from his prison as his team fear he could be assassination. He then reappears weeks later in one of Siberia’s toughest prisons – the ‘Polar Wolf’ colony
MADELEINE McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has splashed out “thousands to change his looks” and could be unrecognisable to the man he was in 2007, cops say.
German detectives monitoring the McCann case are thought to believe the convicted rapist has created “an illusion” with his current look and is now a wildly different man to when Madeleine vanished.
Christian B is currently on trial over several alleged sexual offences committed in Portugal unrelated to McCann[/caption]
Brueckner is a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case[/caption]
Brueckner arriving in court this week in handcuffs[/caption]
A source close to the investigation said that cops think this could be a key reason why the search has stalled for so many years.
On Saturday, the source said: “The Christian B of today is not the same person he was back in 2007 when Maddie disappeared.
“German detectives are convinced he looks very, very different and has blown tens of thousands of pounds changing the way he looks.
“For a long time, Christian B was a prolific drug-dealer who earned a lot of money and lived a very nice lifestyle. He had the means to have surgery and to make changes to the way he looked.
“Officers think there’s every chance the way he looks now is an illusion to the man he was 10, 15 years ago.
“They’ve always been concerned that this is a key area cops in the Algarve failed to properly grip or investigate fully from day one. So it’s an area they will be focusing on a lot more in the months ahead.”
The source added there’s even a chance they could re-issue photo e-fits and wanted posters to help find fresh information about the chilling case.
One of the ways Brueckner allegedly used to mask his identity was to have surgery to remove a birthmark on his left thigh after an alleged rape.
Prosecutors claim that Brueckner, 47, had it erased to avoid being identified after a knifepoint attack on student Hazel Behan was pinned on him.
The woman told police exactly where the recognisable mark was located during interviews although it was no longer on main suspect Brueckner’s body.
Officers did however, find scarring in the spot described by Hazel on him.
A source said: “When Brueckner was examined during his current imprisonment they found a scar where the birthmark should have been.
“They then went back through the records and found a body-scan of Brueckner done by German investigators.
“Crucially, photos of his entire body were taken and at that time he had a significant birthmark on his left upper thigh at hip level.”
The evidence against the German paedophile has been presented to judges.
It has also been said that he spent £7,500 on having his jaw reset and four “rabbit” teeth straightened just four months after Maddie vanished in Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve.
A police sketch that came out in the following few days showed a man with buck teeth near the McCanns’ holiday flat.
Brueckner appeared in court earlier this week facing a string of violent sex crimes in and around the resort where Maddie vanished.
One of these alleged victims includes Irish mother Hazel Behan, who says he raped her when she was 20 and working as a holiday rep in Portugal in 2004.
He is also charged with raping and abusing a teenage girl and a 70 to 80-year-old woman at his house in Praia da Luz between December 2000 and June 2006.
Prosecutors allege Brueckner also sexually molested children in Portugal twice.
A handcuffed Brueckner brazenly strode into the hearing with a blank expression on his face before the trial was adjourned after a judge’s “kill the b*****d” rant was read out in court.
Leaving the trial to last just nine minutes.
Brueckner’s latest trial is not related to the McCann case but cops are hoping that a string of witnesses giving evidence might lead them to discover a chilling overlap.
Further sickening allegations the court heard were that he masturbated in front of a girl at a playground in Messines in June 2017.
He also faces claims he did the same in front of another girl, on Salema beach, Portugal, in April 2007.
Brueckner, currently serving a seven-year sentence for rape, faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted.
If found not guilty he would be free in two years when his current jail term ends.
He denies all the charges against him.
Brueckner was identified four years ago as the main suspect in the abduction of Madeleine from her family’s holiday flat in Portugal in 2007.
The three-year-old vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve while holidaying with parents Kate and Gerry, 55, of Rothley, Leics.
German investigators believe Brueckner abducted and murdered her – although no charges have been filed against him.
They previously felt they had “hit a brick wall” with the investigation as no new leads had come forward for months.
The source told us: “Detectives hope the trial will offer new information and areas they can focus on.
“They are getting virtually no support from cops in Portugal who ruled out Christian B a while ago. As far as they’re concerned, linking him to Maddie is a nonsense.”
They are hoping the fallout from the new case could finally reveal crucial details about the toddler’s disappearance in Portugal.
MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 – and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearance.
Almost 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates:
May 3, 2007 – Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm
May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is named an “arguido” or formal suspect
August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine
September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”
September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins
October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview
July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of both Robert Murat and the McCanns
May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine’s eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case
April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive
July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance
October 24, 2013– Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found
November 27, 2013 – Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together
October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine’s disappearance
March 11, 2017 – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September
September 28, 2017 – British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe going until March 2018
November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria
May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office
November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
November 2018 – UK police re-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents
June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted
June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers
June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo Christian Brueckner
April 2022 – Brueckner formally made an “arguido”
May 2023 – Police search remote Algarve reservoir Brueckner called his “little paradise”
THE family of a Brit grandad being held in a hellhole Dubai prison fear he will never be freed – despite being cleared of any wrongdoing.
Albert Douglas, 61, has been held since 2021 over a debt – and his son Wolfgang has spent mor…