This week in court

Wednesday morning was a continuation of Katya's mum's trial. Katya had received a letter requesting her presence so she could testify. She hadn't been allowed to attend the previous hearing(s).
Trac and I went with her-

She hadn't seen her mum since May, when it all happened and her mum was arrested.
To see her would be hard enough. But to be alone in the straight jacket of legal procedure in a small room where her mum would be caged behind bars in a corner...

We arrived at the courthouse and followed a group of people Katya seemed to know down the long corridor of closed doors. We stopped and waited outside one of them, until a young man who turned out to be a legal secretary opened the door, invited us in and explained some basic protocol.
Stand when the judge enters. Stand when replying to a question from the judge. Otherwise don't speak at all. Don't make noise. Turn off your mobile phones.

Guards entered with Katya's mum. She's short, like Katya, with dark chocolate-brown hair, and deep brown eyes, like Katya. She has a low, gravelly voice. Quiet.
She sat still in the barred corner, with guards on either side of the room. The female guard sitting next to me spent the entire two hours sending messages on her phone.

When Katya first saw her mum, tears started streaking down her cheeks- they didn't let up until she went to sleep that night.

The judge called Katya to testify. Her mum's lawyer asked questions- what kind of a mother was she? Why did you live in a children's home for 6 months? Where is your brother now? Why was your baby sister already in a baby's orphanage when your mum was arrested? Do you love your sister? Why did you let her go to the orphanage? Describe your relationship with your mum. Is that a hard question? Do you love each other? Are you friends? You won't answer? That's all.

After they'd finished with Katya, the judge asked her mum to give a full account of the incident- so we heard all the gory details. Thank God Trac and I couldn't understand much in this part of the hearing. But Katya could. She heard it all.

I lent Katya my sunglasses on the way home.

The hearing will continue next week.