The mistake is one of many found in the charge sheet presented to the Chinese couple after it had been translated from Portuguese to Mandarin.
The couple’s lawyer has since asked for the translation to be dismissed, while also saying his clients are in shock as while the death penalty is not applied in Portugal, it remains very much in practice in China.
The parents of the young Chinese girl, who died after falling from the 21st floor balcony of an apartment in Lisbon’s Park of Nations, were due to start trial in May.
The Chinese couple, both aged 40, face charges of exposure to danger or abandonment, aggravated by the child’s death.
The incident happened during the early hours of 19 February 2016, after the five-year-old was left home alone at night while her parents went gambling to Lisbon Casino.
However, delays in having the charge sheet being translated into their native Mandarin saw the start of the trial being pushed back, and it is now scheduled to start on 27 September.