Erfurt (dpa/th) - At the start of a trial against three suspected smugglers before the district court of Erfurt, two defenders criticized the indictment. "The charges are simply based on mistranslation," said a defense attorney at the start on Wednesday. In the course of the investigation, an interpreter was called in who took witness statements out of context and translated them into German in a "result-oriented" manner. "I've never seen such a translation," said the defender. The indictment is based on these translations. The second attorney made a similar statement. At the beginning of the trial, the accused themselves remained silent about the crimes they were accused of.
The trial is against two men and one woman who are said to have provided non-EU foreigners with jobs in Germany in 2018 and 2019. Many of them are said to have worked for various companies in the Erfurt area. However, the recruited workers did not have the required work permit and entered the country with false personal details, said a prosecutor when reading the indictment.
