Madeleine McCann suspect refusing to give information on her disappearance and is ‘being held in solitary confinement’

: "Christian B is not making any statements on the case at the moment and we ask for your understanding that we as defense attorneys are not making any statements either."

He said he had visited his client at the Kiel Penitentiary, where the 43-year-old German was being held in solitary confinement, it was reported.

When asked how his client was doing, Fülscher replied: "How should a person be doing who is isolated in a prison and accused of the worst crimes by half the world's population?"

The lawyer announced that he would take "civil or criminal" action against false suspicions of his client.

Christian B is now the prime suspect in the infamous 2007 disappearance with prosecutors in Germany investigating him "on suspicion of murder".

They sensationally revealed last week they believe Madeleine is dead and know how she was killed - despite no body being found.

A source close to the German Police investigation told the Sun Online: "If he is responsible for taking Madeleine and suddenly crumbles and confesses it could end reasonably rapidly.

"But so far he is saying absolutely nothing to officers, he is keeping schtum, so Kate and Gerry could be left in limbo for many weeks and months which is agonising for them."

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry have vowed never to give up searching for their daughter, even 13 years on since she disappeared.

The suspect is currently in jail in the German city of Kiel serving a 21-month drugs sentence and will serve seven years for the rape if his conviction is upheld on an appeal he has lodged against the verdict.

Police in Germany fear the drifter, who stole from hotels in the area, may have snatched Madeleine after first entering the holiday home to raid it.

He was living in a campervan in Praia da Luz in Portugal around the time the three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007.

The 43-year-old couldn't legally be pictured in full in the UK initially, but we are now able to show the convicted rapist after a German newspaper published his photo.

German and UK police forces have appealed for anyone who knows him to contact them with information.

His mugshot shows he has blue eyes and blonde hair with pockmarked skin - matching an e-fit released in 2013 of a light-haired suspect seen skulking near apartment where Madeleine vanished hours later.

And it has been claimed Christian B told an ex-girlfriend: "I have a horrible job to do in Praia da Luz tomorrow" the night before Madeleine's disappearance.

Christian B disappeared at the same time as Madeleine — resurfacing three years later working in a bar in Lagos, around six miles from Praia da Luz.

German Police are also investigating Christian B over the unsolved murder of nine-year-old Peggy Knobloch, whose childhood snaps display a resemblance to Madeleine.