Lack of Punjabi translator delays appeal by 17 on murder charge for a month

Translator in court for appeal by men accused of beating Pakistani to death in bootlegging war only spoke English, Urdu and Hindi.

SHARJAH // An Appeals Court hearing on the death sentences passed on 17 Indians for the murder of a Pakistani has been postponed because the translator available did not have Punjabi language skills. Sanjay Verma, the Indian consul general in Dubai, said the translator present in court yesterday only spoke English, Urdu and Hindi.
The first hearing on the appeal was put back to June 16 by the judiciary panel, which asked Anshul Sharma, a representative of the Indian consulate in Dubai, to arrange for a translator. "We have arranged one [a translator] for our [defence] lawyers, so we are in a position to do so," Mr Verma said. The courtroom was full for yesterday's hearing, with several people standing at the back of the room, most of them Indians and Pakistanis. A judge initially asked the accused through the translator, who addressed them in Hindi, if they had killed the victim. After an ensuing silence, he instructed the translator to ask them in Urdu, which produced another silence.
The judge then asked the defendants, in English, which languages they spoke. Mr Sharma intervened and said they spoke Punjabi. Federal law requires that a translator be accessible to a defendant, even if the judge speaks the language of the accused. The law also requires a translator to be present at the verdict to translate the sentence to defendants. "The first step is a success," said Bindu Chettur, who is also part of the defence team. "because our clients only understand Punjabi. It was not done by the lawyers that appealed on their behalf in the lower court. Nobody took this initiative. "
A group of three Indian lawyers working for Lawyers For Humanitarian Rights International and led by Navkiran Singh told the court they had been appointed by the families of the accused to represent the defendants. Mr Singh had begun yesterday telling the court how the accused claimed they were forced into confessions by police when the judge cut him short, telling Mr Singh he was postponing the hearing and that he should work with the previously appointed UAE lawyers to come up with a defence.
Mr Singh also took issue with the lower court ruling, asking how it arrived at a decision without knowing the language of the accused. Mr Singh, the general secretary of Lawyers For Humanitarian Rights International, said a report by the group had highlighted problems with the translation services. "They never understood the Hindi language during the previous trial," he said. "Even their lawyers have to communicate with them through a translator."
Mohammed Salman, another defence lawyer, was not receptive to Mr Singh's presence, telling the judge that Mr Singh should be respectful of the emirate's legal system and not politicise the trial ahead of scheduled elections in India. "I am just a human-rights activist," Mr Singh responded later outside the courtroom. "I am here to help these people get a fair hearing and a judgment."
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