The Court Trial on actor Vardan Petrosyan’s case today failed. The Interpreter Hripsime Harutyunyan, who was assigned by the Judicial department was unable to provide due translation. As a result Marie Toze, a French attorney who was invited to defend Vardan Petrosyan’s interests, was not able to duly carry out defense of her client.
Marie Toze had compiled a petition to present to the court; however it was accompanied by an incomplete translation, and sometimes even with mistakes. The fact caused the anger of the individuals who new French and were in the court room.
Hripsime Harutyunyan, who had an interpreter’s certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice acknowledged the court that she had never provided interpretation in the court but did only written translation. Thus, Marie Toze’s solicitation was not presented till the end as she mentioned that she was not going to speak under such conditions.
Vardan Petrosyan considered the translation and the resulted situation as comical and ridiculous. After that the representatives of the injured party began talking in the court room. The judge applied sanction and sent out some people from the court room. Defendant Vardan Petrosyan was warned for the words “comical and ridiculous” and for failure to abide the judge’s request to stop providing epithets.
Prosecutor Arthur Sargsyan also considered that providing interpretation with such qualification was inexpedient. Ruben Balayan, representative of the victim and the victim’s assignees, suggested allowing interpreter Hasmik Khachatryan, who was invited by the injured party to interpret Marie Toze’s solicitation, but the court denied.
Notably the court did not involve Hasmik Khachatryan as an interpreter in the case on the assumption of the provision of law stating that the court shall involve the interpreter on its own initiative, and the interpreter should not be an interested party. The judge announced a 10 minute’s break.
After the break Vardan Petrosyan’s attorney Nikolay Baghdasaryan informed that he recalls the solicitation on delaying the court session until a new interpreter or another interpreter would be involved, on the assumption of the fact that Marie Toze was going to leave Armenia in a few days and she must manage to introduce her solicitation. The French attorney continued reading the solicitation, but after some time refused to continue due to bad translation.
The judge had to delay the court trial till 21 May.
Nune Hovsepyan
