Not always a cushy job
Based on some recent news stories from central Europe, it seems that being an interpreter is not always the cushy life of coffee and doughnuts that people often imagine. Of course, we knew that this was sometimes the case; I cite the experience of local Farsi interpreters in Iraq. Not only is this work obviously dangerous, but from past reports it has not always been well rewarded; take the experience of ‘end of tour’ interpreters in recent months.
If you recall, all the interpreters working for US forces were safely shipped out to the States and given a ‘green card’ as a reward for their services…not a bad reward. Conversely all interpreters employed by us were left there and given forms to apply for entry to the UK…not a good reward.
Now it seems that sworn interpreters in the Czech Republic are in the firing line. Apparently, many of them involved with interpreting court cases against Albanians are facing serious threats of violence if they carry on translation court proceedings.
A number of interpreters have opted to heed these warnings and have dropped out of the cases that they were translating; a move that has prompted the Czech government to consider declaring such interpreters ‘protected persons’ and thus, be able to offer their testimony in camera.
The situation has arisen because under Czech law, anyone involved in a criminal proceeding who declares his inability to communicate in Czech, must be provided with an interpreter before the case can proceed; obviously this equates to “no interpreter…no case”.
Ema Kondyskova, chairwoman of the Czech association of sworn interpreters, has attested to the fact that this intimidation has only been a problem in cases concerning Albanian defendants.
It seems that besides jobs for our own forces abroad, it might be wise to add court cases against Albanians to the list of jobs not to be undertaken too lightly.