Rhino suspects could walk free.

[Ninja'd]

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Rhino-suspects-could-walk-free-20120316

Johannesburg - A Chinese man and Vietnamese man charged with involvement in rhino poaching could walk out of the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court as free men on Friday, if a court translator fails to appear, Beeld newspaper reported.

District Magistrate Eric Mhlari on Thursday postponed the case against the two until Friday, and warned that in the absence of a translator, he would remove the case from the court roll.

Vietnamese citizen Qifen Chen and Jigua Han, from China, appeared in court for the first time on February 21, according to Beeld.

Chen was then admitted to hospital with an ankle injury and the case was postponed until February 29, but he was unable to attend the court case as he was still in hospital.

Court translator Melody Lin was not available for either of the two court appearances, so the case was postponed until March 7, but Lin did not arrive.

She sent a message to notify the magistrate that she could only translate Chinese, not Vietnamese.

Meanwhile, Chen informed the court that he in fact could speak fluent Chinese, so the case was postponed until March 15.

On Thursday, Lin again failed to arrive, after informing the court that she had a stomach ailment.
She assured the court that she would definitely attend the case on Friday.

Mandatory comment: Smells like bribery.

 

[LazyLion]

Mandatory comment: Smells like bribery.

Or, the ANC screwing things up again... as usual.

 

[froot]

Maybe some human poachers will wait across the street if said individuals come out as free men?

Why doesn't the prosecution get a backup plan?

 

[Ninja'd]

Or, the ANC screwing things up again... as usual.

Guess you might be right.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Not-enough-translators-for-Joburg-courts-20120312

2012-03-12 12:42

Johannesburg - More than half of the cases heard on a daily basis in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court and its ten satellite courts demand foreign language translators, and there are not enough of them to meet demand.

"We've had problems with the issue of foreign language translators for years," Chief Magistrate Gert Jonker told Beeld newspaper.

 

[Hemi300c]

The courts are a total mess just like the government hence the crime in this country.