VOA慢速英语--马来西亚指控两名妇人暗杀金正男

 

Malaysia has charged two women with the killing¹ of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader at the Kuala Lumpur airport last month.

Siti Aisyah, a 25-year-old Indonesian, and Doan Thi Huong, a 28-year-old woman from Vietnam, appeared at a court in Kuala Lumpur under heavy security.

Court officials did not ask them to officially declare their innocence² or guilt³. Reuters news service reported that the court in which the women appeared would likely not be the one to try the murder case.

However, the women have said they did not knowingly attack the person identified as North Korean Kim Jong Nam. They said they believed they were taking part in a joke for a television program.

When the charges were read, Doan Thi Huong told the court, “I understand, but I am not guilty,” in English.

The two face the death sentence if found guilty.

Malaysian officials say the women attacked Kim Jong Nam using a powerful poison at the Kuala Lumpur Airport. He died 20 minutes later.

The officials say the poison was the deadly nerve agent VX.

Kim is the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Their father was former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.

Malaysia has blamed North Korea for organizing the killing and is seeking additional suspects in the case.

On Tuesday, a North Korean delegation⁵ arrived in Kuala Lumpur seeking the body of the man.

North Korea’s official news agency has denounced the findings as the “height of absurdity⁶.” It said the women could not have used such a poison without harming themselves and others.

Malaysia continues to hold the body of the man, who North Korea identifies only as Kim Chol, the name of his passport.

Incident has brought intense criticism of North Korea

The killing in Malaysia has caused some lawmakers in the United States to consider further punishments for North Korea.

Ted⁴ Yoho, a Republican representative from the state of Florida, says there is support for returning North Korea to the list of countries that support terrorism. Congress placed North Korea on the list after the bombing of a South Korean airplane in 1987 which killed 115 people.

North Korea was removed from the list in 2008 as part of a deal to reduce its nuclear program.

The State Department says the U.S. secretary of state must find that the North has “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism” to return it to the list. Currently, three nations -- Iran, Sudan and Syria -- are on the list.

Experts disagree on whether the attack in Kuala Lumpur can be defined as an act of terrorism.

Joshua Stanton is a lawyer who specializes in sanctions. He says the killing along with North Korea’s many other acts means that North Korea should be returned to the list.

However, Daniel Benjamin, a former U.S. State Department counterterrorism official, says the case is very unusual and lies in a “gray zone.”

A State Department spokesperson told VOA that the department uses “all available information and intelligence, from a variety of sources” on North Korea.

The spokesperson added that, “even without being designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, North Korea remains⁷ among the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world.”

Words in This Story

plea –n. an official statement of guilt or innocence given in a court of law

absurdity –n. extremely foolish, making no sense

designate –v. to officially chose as, to identify something or someone as

sanctioned –adj. to be the subject of sanctions

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。