Siemens cash-for-contracts trial postponed indefinitely over translations
The trial of dozens of suspects in the Siemens bribes-for-contracts scandal was indefinitely postponed on Tuesday because the charge sheet, which runs to more than 4,500 pages, and important documents relating to the case had not been translated into German and French.
The case went to court in Athens some 10 years after judicial authorities launched an investigation into claims that the German electronic and engineering giant’s Greek branch bribed Greek politicians and public officials to secure state contracts.
However, the court upheld a complaint by the legal counsel of 13 German defendants and one French-Swiss national over the fact that the charge sheet had not been presented, as stipulated by international law, in the defendants’ native language.
Sources at the Athens Appeals Court told Kathimerini that judicial authorities have repeatedly pressured the state’s translation service to provide the documents. Sources last year indicated that the Justice Ministry could not come up with the 10,000 euros needed for the translations.
