In the IS trial before the Berlin Superior Court, the defense has requested suspension of the main trial. The reason is doubt about the translation service of the court interpreter. If the Senate had complied, the trial of Raad A. and his son Abbas A. would have had to start over. But the judges see no reason for it.

What happened? Refugees from Iraq and apparently also employees of the Iraqi embassy are said to have visited the trial of the alleged IS terrorists before the State Security Senate as a listener. And they should have been surprised how the interpreter translated the statements of witnesses from Arabic into German. The Senate chaired by Judge Andreas Müller learned about the irritation of the process visitors. This all happened behind the scenes.

Last Friday, the Senate informed the litigants outside the main trial that they had released the interpreter from their job due to doubts. The woman also asked for it herself after learning about her doubts about her work. The hearing was initially not continued on Friday.

"Mandatory to an interpreter"

This Wednesday, there was a new interpreter in the hall. One of his first tasks was to translate a defense application for the accused into Arabic. "In the criminal case against Raad A., we request to suspend the trial," said defender Walter Venedey. His client does not speak German. "He has to rely on an interpreter to follow the trial," Venedey said. "The trial is to start again." The new interpreter translated his words.

Venedey emphasized that it was not the defense that said the translator was not working properly. Rather, doubts arose among the judges. But then these doubts would have to refer to the translations of the woman on all previous days of the hearing. In this case, the Senate can not be sure that the interpreter has translated the accusation, the statements of the previous witnesses and everything else that has happened so far, error-free. For a fair procedure, it is therefore necessary to start over again. That's the defense. The Federal Prosecutor's Office sees it differently.

The defense did not say what exactly the woman should have translated incorrectly. She also did not show that the defendants did not hear substantial parts of the trial. The court had replaced the translator purely preventively.

The Senate withdrew for a few minutes for consultation. Then the presiding judge announced the decision: The trial will continue. Concrete translation deficiencies were neither brought forward nor apparent. Restarting the trial would also extend the length of pre-trial detention for the defendants.

"I'm scared for my family"

It's not that easy with the continuation of the process. A refugee from Iraq was again invited as a witness. The man had already testified in the previous week. Even then he had said that he was afraid. Now he does not want to say anything anymore. The judge asks if anything has happened in the meantime. His family in Mosul had been threatened by several people, says the witness. He does not want to be more specific. They would have known exactly when he left the courtroom a week ago, even what clothes he was wearing. "I'm worried about my family," he says. "Your life is in danger."

"We take your concern very seriously," says Judge Müller. "Nevertheless, we can not release you from giving information here." The witness is sent out of the hall, and the parties involved in the process advise whether the public should be excluded for his protection.

The defenders are against it. You think the witness is bluffing. He is just looking for a way to say nothing after he has been involved in contradictions already last time. His statements about the alleged threat to the family are far too vague to send out the public. The federal prosecutor, however, sees an "obvious frightening" of the man. The judge decides: listeners and journalists have to leave the hall.

The witness will be questioned behind closed doors on this day and probably also on other days.