JSMP PRESS RELEASE
19 NOVEMBER 2003
SPECIAL PANEL FOR EAST TIMOR IGNORES THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN COURT PROCEEDINGS
The Special Panel for Serious Crimes in Dili, East Timor is conducting trial hearings in which the public participation has been ignored. During three hearings monitored by JSMP last week and early this week, in crucial moments, general court interpretation was not provided.
In the case of
Public Prosecutor v Anastacio Martins, last Thursday, the court, when
delivering the judgment and sentence, did not read or summarize the
decision. Instead, Presiding Judge Francesco Florit indicated that the
Defence Counsel could read the decision to the accused after the
conclusion of the hearing. In this case, this conduct is compounded by the
fact that in the previous hearing the court stated that the accused was
guilty but at that time failed to provide reasons. JSMP believes that this
practice resulted in uncertainty not only for the public who were present
in the court, but also for the accused.
Earlier this week, in the
case of Public Prosecutor v Carlos Soares no Tetum translation was made
for the public present in the court gallery. In this hearing, which was
also presided by Judge Florit, closing statements for each of the parties
were presented. To save time, the Panel ordered the court translator to
make a private translation to the accused rather than provide a general
translation in the courtroom. This procedure excluded the public,
particularly the family members of the accused who had travelled from out
of Dili to attend the hearing.
Again, yesterday, 18 November 2003, in the case of Public Prosecutor v Paulino De Jesus, no Tetum nor Bahasa Indonesian translation was provided. This hearing, which was mainly conducted in Portuguese, was heard by the same panel, but presided by Judge Dora de Morais. JSMP observed that a family member of the accused who travelled from out of Dili was present in the courtroom during the morning session and was not able to follow the process due to the lack of translation. JSMP further noticed that this woman did not return for the afternoon session.
"JSMP understands that the multilingual translation in the Special Panel consumes considerable time. However, JSMP believes that these efforts to save time are not proportionate to the important public nature of the crimes being prosecuted by the Special Panel. Justice for the crimes committed in 1999 demands that the hearings, especially judgements and final statements, are understood by the Timorese public including family members of the accused and victims." - said JSMP.
"JSMP is aware that currently the Special Panel, in comparison to the other district courts in East Timor, has sufficient numbers of interpreters to provide translation to the court. We, therefore, cannot understand why these resources are not being used to the full potential." - continued JSMP
Although Special
Panel court actors are mostly internationals, it is vital to note that the
whole process of the Special Panel for Serious Crimes is an East Timorese
process. "This practice, if remained unchecked, can gradually exclude East
Timorese and will further discourage public participation in the future
proceedings." - concluded JSMP
ENDS