VOA慢速英语--科索沃当局领导人宣布辞职,面临战争罪指控

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci resigned on Thursday to face war crimes charges brought by a court in The Hague in the Netherlands.

The 52-year-old leader said he had decided¹ to step down "to protect the integrity of the presidency²."

The charges are for war crimes and crimes against humanity. They date back to Thaci's involvement in Kosovo's war for independence from Serbia. Thaci was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic³ Albanian guerrilla group that fought against Serbian security forces in the 1998-1999 war.

Thaci was indicted⁵ in June, along with nine other former rebel leaders, by a special Kosovo court and prosecutor⁶'s office based in The Hague. The court was established in 2015 to investigate and try former ethnic Albanian rebel leaders for alleged⁷ war crimes.

Prosecutors⁸ accuse Thaci and other suspects of being responsible for the murders of nearly 100 civilians⁹ during the war. The group is also accused of causing the "enforced disappearance¹⁰ of persons, persecution¹¹ and torture."

The charges relate to "hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and include political opponents," prosecutors said.

The president's closest ally, Kadri Veseli, said Thursday an indictment¹² against him had also been confirmed by the court and that he would go to The Hague.

Thaci and Veseli both deny any involvement in war crimes.

The 1998-1999 war killed more than 10,000 people, most of them ethnic Albanians. At least 1,641 people are still unaccounted for.

A 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbian troops brought the war to an end.

Thaci said he was proud to have belonged to the Kosovo Liberation Army during the war. He called the force "the most sublime¹³ value of the Albanian nation." He called the indictment "the smallest price we have to pay for the freedom of our people."

The government said in a statement that all defendants¹⁴ should be considered innocent unless the court decides otherwise.

"No one may judge our fight for freedom," the government said in a statement. It added that the KLA "fought for the liberation of our country, to protect the house and not in a foreign land, and as such it has the support of the international community."

Thaci held a ceremony at his office to hand over presidential duties to the head of Kosovo's parliament, Vjosa Osmani. The government said the move was in line with the country's constitution.

Thaci was elected president in February 2016. Before that, he served as foreign minister, deputy prime minister and prime minister. His current term ends in April 2021, when the National Assembly was expected to elect a new president.

Words in This Story

integrity – n. honesty and the ability to do or know what is morally right

indict⁴ – v. to formally declare that someone should be put on trial for a crime

prosecutor – n. the person acting¹⁵ on behalf of a court process against a person accused of a crime to see if that person is guilty

account for – phr v. to be part of a total number of something

sublime – adj. extreme good or enjoyable

persecution – n. the treatment of someone unfairly or cruelly because of their race, religion, or beliefs

alleged – adj. accused of having done something wrong or illegal but not yet proven guilty

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

5 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

6 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

11 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

12 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

13 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

14 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。