NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Lack of Punjabi translator delays appeal by 17 on murder charge for a month
SHARJAH - MAY 20: An Appeals Court hearing on the death sentences passed on 17 Indians for the murder of a Pakistani has been postponed because the translator available did not have Punjabi language skills.
Sanjay Verma, the Indian consul general in Dubai, said the translator present in court yesterday only spoke English, Urdu and Hindi.
The first hearing on the appeal was put back to June 16 by the judiciary panel, which asked Anshul Sharma, a representative of the Indian consulate in Dubai, to arrange for a translator.
“We have arranged one [a translator] for our [defence] lawyers, so we are in a position to do so,” Mr Verma said.
The courtroom was full for yesterday’s hearing, with several people standing at the back of the room, most of them Indians and Pakistanis. A judge initially asked the accused through the translator, who addressed them in Hindi, if they had killed the victim. After an ensuing silence, he instructed the translator to ask them in Urdu, which produced another silence.
The judge then asked the defendants, in English, which languages they spoke. Mr Sharma intervened and said they spoke Punjabi.
Federal law requires that a translator be accessible to a defendant, even if the judge speaks the language of the accused. The law also requires a translator to be present at the verdict to translate the sentence to defendants.
“The first step is a success,” said Bindu Chettur, who is also part of the defence team. “because our clients only understand Punjabi. It was not done by the lawyers that appealed on their behalf in the lower court. Nobody took this initiative. ”
Global reach Investment opportunities from all over the world Access to investments in key emerging makets Our global perspective and local insights
Mr Singh had begun yesterday telling the court how the accused claimed they were forced into confessions by police when the judge cut him short, telling Mr Singh he was postponing the hearing and that he should work with the previously appointed UAE lawyers to come up with a defence.
Mr Singh also took issue with the lower court ruling, asking how it arrived at a decision without knowing the language of the accused. Mr Singh, the general secretary of Lawyers For Humanitarian Rights International, said a report by the group had highlighted problems with the translation services.
“They never understood the Hindi language during the previous trial,” he said. “Even their lawyers have to communicate with them through a translator.”
Mohammed Salman, another defence lawyer, was not receptive to Mr Singh’s presence, telling the judge that Mr Singh should be respectful of the emirate’s legal system and not politicise the trial ahead of scheduled elections in India.
“I am just a human-rights activist,” Mr Singh responded later outside the courtroom. “I am here to help these people get a fair hearing and a judgment.”
Pair wed at last after bride's three-year Saudi torture
DUBAI - MAY 20: They were star-crossed lovers who were separated for three years when the bride was kept against her will by her father in Saudi Arabia.
But the saga had a happy ending when the couple were reunited and married in Dubai.
It is a story of love, patience and, ultimately, forgiveness.
The case of Nazia Quazi and Bjorn Singhal attracted attention when Ms Quazi, a 24-year-old Canadian of Indian origin, published an online letter calling for help in getting out of Saudi Arabia.
The case became a cause célèbre for Canadian politicians. The lobby group Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to the Saudi commissioner for human rights, urging his government to allow Ms Quazi to leave the country.
Ms Quazi and her new husband spoke yesterday of their desire to move on and forgive her parents for the separation and her suffering in Saudi Arabia.
Ms Quazi, who was educated in Canada, left for Dubai in July 2007 with the aim of marrying Mr Singhal after they met in Ottawa.
She claimed to have suffered at the hands of both parents, in her account, sometimes enduring beatings by her father.
The family objected to her marrying Mr Singhal because he was of a different caste and religion. Mr Singhal, formerly a Hindu, had converted to Islam. Ms Quazi is also a Muslim.
When the family found out that Ms Quazi was in Dubai, they arrived in the city and took her away with the promise of eventually blessing the marriage.
Call for more action on country's mountain of waste
DUBAI - MAY 20: The Government needs to create and support a recycling industry so the UAE can address its rising amounts of waste in a sustainable manner, experts said yesterday.
“What we are lacking is the political will, financing and technology,” said Fareed Bushehri, an officer at the United Nations Environment Programme’s regional office for West Asia.
Mr Bushehri, speaking at the Middle East Waste Summit 2010, which ends today, said the problem extended throughout the Arab region.
Improving waste management practices and encouraging recycling “depends on how strong regulations are and how strongly they are enforced”, he said.
While some recycling does take place, he said it was not enough to divert the huge amounts of waste that goes to landfills that do not always meet international safety requirements.
Glenn Platt, the environmental manager at KEO International Consultants and a delegate at the summit, said: “Sure, attitudes are changing, but still it is not widespread and we are not collecting a lot.”
His company, which specialises in consulting and management services in architectural design, civil engineering and infrastructure projects, has offices in the UAE, where it advises a number of Government departments.
Expats send flip-flops to young Filipinos
DUBAI - MAY 20: Three Indian expatriates who were moved by the plight of children in the Philippines have banded together to buy 400 pairs of flip-flops for them.
After reading about a project started by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in the UAE (UPAA-UAE) to collect supplies for two schools in one of the poorest parts of the country, the men contacted the group to ask what was needed most.
They then pooled several hundred dirhams to buy the items.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re helping someone from Africa, the Philippines or India,” said Reggie D’Souza, 45, a senior finance executive. “Reading about the plight of the children made me realise how privileged we are here in the UAE.”
The Lapis, Papel, Aklat Atbp (Pencils, Paper, Books etc) project was launched to help 400 pupils at the Mataguisi Elementary School and the Mataguisi Comprehensive National High School in Pudtol, about 500km north of Baguio City. The school term starts in June.
Galo Damon Calizo, the head of the special projects committee of UPAA-UAE, said most of the children’s families could not afford to buy shoes, let alone books. “Many are forced to walk barefoot to school,” he said.
Mr D’Souza and his two co-workers – Ravinder Bhandari, 57, and Pradeep Warrier, 42 – bought the rubber footwear from a wholesale market. Mr D’Souza plans to add about 50 books to the shipment.
The Mataguisi Elementary School does not have electricity, relying on generators run by crude oil, fuelled with contributions from parents. Anyone who wants to donate to the project can contact Mr Calizo at 050 841 9880 or by e-mail at lapispapelatbp@yahoo.com.