Pistorius: ‘trial of the century’ beset by problems

The trial got off to a bad start when – as if to underline the sheer enormity of the case in South Africa – an Afrikaans interpreter left in tears, apparently “overwhelmed” by the pressure of it all. The interpreter had been drafted in at short notice after it became apparent that no-one had booked one in the six months the trial took to set up. Unfortunately, it appeared no-one had mentioned which trial they were to assist in.

Things did not improve once a replacement was found. The first witness, Pistorius’s neighbour Dr Michelle Burger, was unhappy with the interpreter’s performance and complained that her evidence was being misrepresented – so much so that she decided to switch from Afrikaans to English. By the end of the day, the hapless interpreter was sitting silent and redundant.

The farce continued on Tuesday when, according to reports, Dr Burger’s husband Charl Johnson dispensed with the same services. The atmosphere on the trial’s first day was said to be restless as people waited around an hour and a half for it to get underway.

Some levity as witness describes the sound of a gun (in Afrikaans): “bang bang.” Which the interpreter translates as “bang bang.” #Pistorius

— Tom Peck (@tompeck) March 4, 2014

“And while we wait there is a woman causing a commotion who wants Oscar to be tested because he banged his head once,” wrote journalist Debora Patta, who is covering the trial for Channel 4 News.

Those issues may prove to be mere inconveniences in comparison to the alleged transgressions of a local broadcaster, which was accused of contravening court rules by showing a picture of Dr Burger.

‘Very disturbing’

The high court judge, Dunstan Mlambo, agreed around a week before the trial was due to begin that it could be broadcast, as long as conditions – such as not showing witnesses who did not consent on screen – were respected. The decision to do so, Mlambo reasoned, was important in the development of a relatively young democracy, in which there was a perception that the justice system goes easy on the rich but cracks down on the poor.

It took only until the trial’s second day for what the trial judge Thokozile Masipa called a “very disturbing” breach to occur.

Masipa said there would be an investigation after prosecutors accused South African television station eNCA of showing a picture of Dr Burger against her wishes.

“An investigation is to follow to find out exactly what is happening. This may just be the tip of the iceberg,” Masipa was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

#OscarPistorius not the greatest start to SA’s trial of the century

— Debora Patta (@Debora_Patta) March 3, 2014

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that the station was broadcasting a live audio feed of her testimony with a photograph of Dr Burger. He told the court that the photo was captioned: “On the stand: Michelle Burger, Pistorius neighbor.”

Nel said eNCA contacted the court clerk to ask if they could run a photograph of the witness that they had obtained from outside the court. The court said no, Nel said. “They still went ahead and did it,” the prosecutor added. The broadcaster claimed that there was no breach because the photo was found online and was not taken from the proceedings themselves.

Before the case even got to trial, there were serious issues to be overcome. In February last year, the detective in charge of the case – and a witness for the prosecution – Hilton Botha had to be replaced when it emerged that he was facing charges of attempted murder. His replacement, was “the most senior detective” in the South African police service, Lt Gen Vineshkumar Moonoo.

His appointment confirmed the importance, for anyone left in any doubt, of the case in South Africa. And the serving of justice in it will remain its primary concern. But the nation will surely want to ensure that, in addition, this exposure of its justice system to international scrutiny shows it in a better light.