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MADELEINE McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner’s lawyer yesterday pledged to get him cleared of a string of rape charges.
Friedrich Fülscher brazenly said he was confident he could defend him against the allegations — including a knifepoint rape of an Irish holiday rep in 2004.
He shamelessly claimed the charges were part of a witch-hunt against Brueckner, 47 — also suspected of abducting three-year-old Madeleine 17 years ago.
Dr Fülscher revealed he had brought in a powerful and expensive defence team, insisting: “I am convinced that there can only be an acquittal at the end of the trial.”
German drifter 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.
He is in jail serving a seven-year sentence for rape.
Brueckner was pictured arriving at court today in Braunschweig to face claims he raped three women and twice sexually molested children in Portugal.
He looked downcast wearing a dark green hooded jacket and striped shirt as he arrived in a van with bars over the window.
It is the first time he has been pictured since 2020 when he hobbled out of a hospital in shackles after being assaulted in prison.
A conviction will keep him behind bars — as fears grow he may never be charged over Madeleine’s disappearance.
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But Dr Fülscher said that the top legal team he has put were having to fight against prejudice in the media.
And he warned witnesses: “They will have to be prepared for unpleasant questions.”
It comes after Brueckner branded his trial "ridiculous".
The German drifter also remorselessly ridiculed cops saying: "I hope (they) will find some answers to (their) questions soon."
Brueckner has been moved from Oldenburg prison in northern Germany to Schnedebruch near Hannover, according to MailOnline.
He said: "My situation didn't change at all. I just moved prison. I'm still totally isolated. Since (sic) more than two years now.
"I'm still not allowed to talk with anybody else then to my lawyers and to my punishers (guards)."
CHRISTIAN B ALLEGATIONS
Prosecutors allege Brueckner raped three women and twice sexually molested children in Portugal.
His alleged victims include Irish mum Hazel Behan, who says he raped her when she was 20 and working as a holiday rep in Portugal.
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.
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.