The mother tongue of the older gentleman in a hoodie, who is just being led through the door into a small courtroom, is Georgian. He is Georgian. He is said to have stolen 13 packs of ginkgo capsules for a total of 64.87 euros in a department store in Berlin, presumably to peddle on the black market. You could ask him now whether that’s true. If you speak Georgian.
But unfortunately no one does that in this room, a court interpreter who only speaks Russian is waiting on the chair next to him. Interpreters for Georgian are difficult to come by, says the judge who appointed them apologetically. Instead, the woman now interprets his questions into Russian. Georgian and Russian are not related.
There is much to discuss, the judge begins. And also the interpreter, an elegant appearance: talks and talks. Only when she asks the Georgian a question does it become clear that nobody understands what he is answering. Does he even understand what is being said here? So the interpreter asks the Georgian to write his answer on a piece of paper.
The Georgian writes. Then the interpreter looks at the paper. Then the judge. She says: Sorry, I can’t read that. These Georgian letters, knobbly and round, are special. “I need it in Cyrillic.” The judge looks at her, sighs, but then continues. Then without an answer from the Georgian.
The more alien the language and culture, the easier it is for nuances to be lost
That’s how it works. Good interpreters are in demand. It’s a fine art. Especially in court, where statements can sometimes be confused and illogical – and then have to be translated just as confused and illogical. The more alien the accused’s language and culture, the easier it is for nuances to be lost. At the Rwanda tribunal of the United Nations, a judge, Wolfgang Schomburg, used to speak self-critically of his “discomfort” when questioning the accused. “The cultural context, the body language of the Rwandan witnesses”: much of what he bases his assessment of credibility as a judge on, ultimately remains closed to him as an outsider.
Georgian. Russian. Which German judge knows his way around? At some point, the elderly gentleman who is supposed to answer for the gingko capsules gets restless. He interrupts the interpreter. he says something But she can’t be stopped, doesn’t translate what he’s saying now. He just turns to the judge and says quietly, “I think his rehab is starting.” Say: The Georgian is probably on drugs.
The judge nods as if to say: I understand.