Lawyers for the accused supervisor of the Abelenkpe branch of Marwako Restaurant, Jihad Chabaan, have requested for an Arabic interpreter to help their client give his testimony to the court.
According to the lawyers, who were expected to open their defence in the case today [Wednesday, May 3, 2017], their client, who is a Lebanese, would better navigate legal pitfalls in the Arabic language, hence their request.
Speaking to Citi News, one of the lawyers for the accused, Julio De Medeiros, said their client badly needs an interpreter.
“We have said that our client doesn’t speak fluent English. He cannot communicate in fluent English. This is a court of record; every word that he says will have some sort of legal meaning and if he is very comfortable speaking in Arabic, I think the justice of the matter demands that all the tools he requires to make his case be made available to him,” Julio De Medeiros stated.
Following the request, the magistrate adjourned the case to the 10th of May, to allow for the interpreter.
Jihad Chabaan is alleged to have shoved a female Ghanaian employee’s face into blended pepper on Sunday, February 26, 2017. The Management of Marwako subsequently suspended him for his actions after massive public outcry.
Ahead of the court session, Jihad Chaban’s lawyers filed an unsuccessful submission of no case leading to an order to his legal team to open their defence today [Wednesday, May 3, 2017].
Jihad Chabaan had also requested for an out of court settlement, citing section 73 of the Courts Act in his argument, to back his request.
The application was however opposed by the prosecution, which argued that one of the charges of causing harm, is a second-degree felony.
Source: citifmonline
