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