Bangkok bombing trial in limbo without interpreter

By Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter -

 

Investigators canvas the scene after the 17-Aug bombing of Bangkok's Erawan Shrine.

 

BANGKOK — One of Thailand’s biggest criminal trials remains on hold after a military court turned down an organization’s offer of a professional translator, and another prisoner recruited for the job only spoke Uzbek.

 

The military tribunal trying two Uighur men for last year’s bombing of the Erawan Shrine on Thursday rejected an interpreter offered by an organization in Europe to translate testimony for the pair accused of orchestrating the attack which killed 20 people.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2016/09/15/bangkok-bombing-trial-limbo-without-interpreter/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2016-09-15

Nothing like being organised, and as usual our hosts have nothing organised  

Proceeding well then...

My question is why reject the translator from the EU - what is the military tribunal  trying to hide 

1 hour ago, canopus1969 said:

My question is why reject the translator from the EU - what is the military tribunal  trying to hide 

 

According to the full article in the OP

 

Quote

“The prosecutor said the interpreter was sent from an organization which has a problem involving national security,” said defense lawyer Schoochart Kanpai. “We respect and agree with the court’s decision.”

 

The official issue is "security" so not from their preferred source. I'm surprised the Chinese have not offered a tame interpreter.

1 hour ago, canopus1969 said:

My question is why reject the translator from the EU - what is the military tribunal  trying to hide 

 

Most probably the real motive.

 

So they can reject a (presumably screened, professional) translator offered by the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress over some "national security" issue, but can wheel in any old immigration detainee whose language just happens to begin with the same letter?!?

Isn't it the easy way out to keep rejecting translators in order to keep them locked up?  Reminds me of the situation in Koh Tao when the first translator was a Rohingya translating for two Rakhine.  How could the court, in the first instance, be relying on a convicted drug dealer to do the translation?

Oh, Thailand. A place where law and rules are just made up as they go along. 

 

But remember, you must respect the police and law here. Ignore logic, common sense and self preservation and have trust in a completely untrustworthy system. That makes sense because we are guests. 

 

I can talk <deleted>, maybe I can help?

 

Oops, just re-read the OP, they are looking for a translator, they have a Judge and Prosecutor already.

Pretty murky stuff here:

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/courts/2016/06/01/bombing-suspect-interpreter-arrested-after-telling-court-i-worry-about-my-life/

Quote

Bombing Suspect Interpreter Arrested After Telling Court ‘I Worry About My Life’

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/courts/2016/06/14/translator-bombing-trial-says-hes-marked-man/

Quote

 

Translator in Bombing Trial Says He’s a Marked Man

 

Uzbek national Sirojiddin Bakhodirov, arrested June 1 after complaining of intimidation to a military tribunal, denied using drugs and said he was being targeted for helping the bombing suspects in court and advocating for the more than 200 Uighurs under detention in Songkhla province.

 

“I am Muslim. I never do drugs. And these drugs didn’t have my fingerprints,” 38-year-old Bakhodirov said Sunday, contending officers planted drugs on him. “And they already tested in the hospital that I was cleaned.”

 

 

They can't let another Koh Tao alike debacle spread the world news.... simple explanation...

Its always those darn little things you forget... like an Interpreter!  

Remember Koh Tao?

Why do all these court scenes end up in a complete shambles?  Answers on a postcard please.

seems odd to refuse a translator. there is supposed to be a time limit that suspects can be held or does that not apply now we are under military rule?

Well Interpreters are a great excuse for Thai courts to massage evidence. Sometimes you are lucky and will get a translator who actually can translate but usually you have to organise one yourself at huge expense or you can end up with someone quite unintelligible.  The favorite way for the court to proceed in the embarrassment is to require you to answer Yes or No because that is all some translators are capable of and the next questions will be 'Where are you from?" "How long have you been in Thailand?", "What was your job in your home country".  The evidence as translated will become the Gospel according to John and you can be persecuted for anything that turns out to have been mistranslated or is just plain wrong - it becoems your spoken word.

 

It is easy in these circumstances to see why translation becomes a tactic for abuse by those against you - just another of the multiple tactics to ensure you get nowhere - others include:

- Your own lawyer filing claims written with the express intent of ensuring you cannot win - in the wrong name - with false information - worded to implicate you - filing without providing a copy - failing to make applications necessary under the Procedure Code, "forgetting" to tell you of a hearing or plain lying about it, sending papers to the wrong address, etc. ad infinitum and there are an almost infinite number of permutations.

 

Foreigners in the Thai court system can get a fair hearing - sometimes - and more so in the Metrolpolis than the Provincial courts where corruption in the legal profession - and I use that word with the weakest interpretation - is rampant.

17 hours ago, jamesbrock said:

 

Most probably the real motive.

 

So they can reject a (presumably screened, professional) translator offered by the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress over some "national security" issue, but can wheel in any old immigration detainee whose language just happens to begin with the same letter?!?

Shades of Koh Tau where the BIB used an interpreter who didn't speak the same dialect as the accused.

Isn't there a roti seller or other vendor handy, knowledge of the necessary language not required.

Maybe they need someone who can translate English, Yiddish and Rubbish?

13 hours ago, BigBadGeordie said:

I can talk <deleted>, maybe I can help?

 

Oops, just re-read the OP, they are looking for a translator, they have a Judge and Prosecutor already.

Correction: They have a judge, prosecutor and a verdict already.

...wanna guess who is behind all these shenanigans....???

21 hours ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...wanna guess who is behind all these shenanigans....???

I'll take a punt here: The USA???

Why not call in the roti guy they used on Koh Tao, he didn't speak burmese but still translated for the police.

On 9/16/2016 at 2:01 PM, Caveat Emptor said:

Shades of Koh Tau where the BIB used an interpreter who didn't speak the same dialect as the accused.

Isn't there a roti seller or other vendor handy, knowledge of the necessary language not required.

Ah you beat me to it

On ‎16‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 8:51 AM, Jimbo2014 said:

Its always those darn little things you forget... like an Interpreter!  

Or forget where you put the accused.