18 October 2011

Short Court Reports from 4/5 October 2011

4 October
The defendant who made an extensive statement on September 26 answered questions from the judge. Most of what he said last time was regurgitated. He talked about his three wives, him keeping his clan-association secret from them and that he wasn't a pirate. And how he swapped a mobile phone for 260 litres of fuel. At the end, he manages to incriminate another of the accused.

5 October.
The defence lodged several more applications to subpoena 2 ethnologists and a German army officer, and to request the interview tapes from the Tromp. Another defendant made a statement and contradicted part of what the previous defendant said.

During the interview, the judge tried visibly to phrase his questions in a way that the defendant would understand. The fact that the issue of understanding isn't just a matter of phrasing the questions is exemplified by the following exchange. The defendant talks about how his parents left with a donkey. The judge then asks:

"Did the donkey have to walk by itself?"