– How can you explain yourself as well as you want when you can’t do it in your mother tongue? That’s what Elle Nystad asks after the interpreting situation in the court case against the Fosen activists. – Sami is such a rich language. And it is challenging to find the right words in Norwegian if you are the kind of person who thinks about Sami and it is your heart language. Elle Nystad says Sami is the basis for how she communicates with herself, her ancestors and with society. Photo: Håkon Mudenia / news The activists had given notice that they would explain themselves in Sami and provided for simultaneous interpretation. But it wasn’t like that for everyone. – It shows the situation our language is in, in society at large, when they don’t manage it even once. Mihkkal Hætta says so. On the first day of the trial, the Oslo district court lacked main telephones to be able to facilitate simultaneous interpretation. Nystad and Hætta’s explanations were therefore broken up and divided due to interrupted interpretation. – I did not express my opinions When Mihkkal Hætta gave his statement in court, the interpreter had to sit next to him and share the microphone. – It was very divided. I didn’t get my thoughts across before the interpreter had to come in and translate. Hætta first said a sentence and then the interpreter translated the sentence before the activist could continue his explanation. – It didn’t give me a good feeling, and it bothers me that I didn’t get to explain what I experienced in a proper way. It’s a sad feeling. Because of this, Nystad chose to take parts of her explanation in Norwegian, her second language. – What a pity. Then I sort of felt that this is a result of the harsh Norwegianisation. When it even works like that in a courtroom. We had seen that requirement before the trial, but they were unable to implement it. But then she chose to switch to her mother tongue again. – Towards the end, there was a case that touched me very much, and I also explained to the judge that now I have to take this part in Sami. Several of the activists have Sami as their mother tongue and learned Norwegian at school. – Sami means everything to me, adds Nystad. Had to explain why they needed an interpreter On day two of the trial, main telephones were in place and the activists were able to explain themselves without interruption in Sami. – It took a lot of time to sort it out, and to explain to them why we needed an interpreter and couldn’t just take it in Norwegian. Elle Rávdná Näkkäläjärvi says so. Her explanation was slightly delayed in court due to technical challenges linked to the simultaneous interpretation. – I got the feeling that I was taking up a lot of space, that I was an obstacle for the referee and others. But luckily it worked out. No statutory requirements on how the interpretation is to be carried out Judge Kim Heger regrets that the court did not get hold of main telephones to hear the interpretation from Sami. He also thanked Nystad for taking parts of the explanation in Norwegian. In an e-mail to news, communications manager Irene Ramm at the Oslo district court wrote that consecutive interpretation is relatively common in criminal cases. – Nor are there any specific statutory requirements for how the interpretation is to be carried out. Ramm writes that the accused expressed that it was fine to have the interpreter by their side. – Otherwise, the purpose of the free explanation is primarily that the accused should be able to explain himself without being interrupted by leading or confrontational questions, and that the court is neutral and impartial.
ttn-69
The Fosen activists were not allowed to explain themselves freely in their own mother tongue in court – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
