Dubai: Lawyers defending five executives charged with Dh42 million of financial irregularities in the Tamweel corruption case asked a jury for the replacement of Tuesday's court translator due to what they described as mistranslation.
"The Dubai Court of First Instance reconvenes on February 7 after a translator, who is familiar with real estate legal terms, is provided," announced Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout during yesterday's hearing at courtroom nine.
Advocates Samir Jaafar, Tarek Al Shamsi, Saeed Al Ghailani, Mohammad Al Tharri and Khalifa Al Salman challenged what they described before the jury as the "incorrect translation and mistranslation" and asked the court to disregard the statement of a prosecution witness who testified on Tuesday.
Sensitive
Presiding Judge Barghout then addressed the court translator and told her: "Don't feel bad… this is a very sensitive and important case and every single word said in the witness's statement is crucially important for the defence.
"We will adjourn the hearing to provide a legal translator who is familiar ... [with] ... real estate terms in English."
Defendant's complaints
While the court was in process, one of the suspects, 38-year-old Emirati, A.S., Tamweel's former deputy executive, was spotted complaining to his lawyer and arguing that the translator was mistranslating.
The incident was repeated a number of times, until lawyer Jaafar intervened and told the judge: "Your honour, the translation is not precise, and inappropriate.
"We ask the jury to adjourn the case until a better translation is made available."
Presiding Judge Barghout then discussed the matter with his deputies and the defence team before he adjourned the case until February 7.
A 44-year-old Emirati, A.N., Tamweel's ex-vice-president, a 54-year-old Ukrainian director, R.R., and two Pakistani men, 57-year-old manager, W.G., and a 40-year-old merchant, M.Y., are also involved in the case.
The suspects are all on bail.
