VOA常速英语2007年-Serbia War Crimes Tribunal Opens

By Lauren Comiteau
The Hague
07 November 2007

The trial of Serb-Nationalist leader Vojislav Seselj has opened at the U.N. war crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He faces nine charges related to his use of hate speech and recruiting paramilitary groups, what prosecutors² call part of his attempts to create an ethnically³ pure Serbian state. Lauren Comiteau is following the proceedings⁴ and reports from The Hague.

Ultra-nationalist Serb Vojislav Seselj showed little emotion and at times smiled as prosecutor¹ Christine Dahl accused the former close associate of the late Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic, of making several inflammatory speeches calling for the creation of a "Greater Serbia".

"His brand of bellicose⁵ nationalism and persistent⁶ public advocation of threats and violence primed people to accept what was necessary to achieve his goals," said Prosecutor Dahl. "Without Seselj's ability and determination to instill his vision of reality into the minds of fellow Serbs, there would have been few tools, no armed men to carry out the violent goals of the Serb political and military leadership to create a greater Serbia."

In order to create that Greater Serbia, Prosecutor Dahl said Vojislav Seselj and the Serb leadership, including Milosevic, had to ethnically cleanse⁷ huge areas of Croatia and Bosnia of its non-Serbs in the 1990s.

Seselj denies the charges of murder, torture and the persecution⁸ of Croats, Muslims and other non-Serbs during wars in Bosnia and Croatia.

Acting⁹ as his own lawyer, Seselj says he does not deny making nationalist speeches, but insists they do not constitute war crimes.

He said in a pre-trial hearing that he is being tried for atrocious war crimes that he allegedly committed through hate speech as he preached his nationalist ideology¹⁰.

Prosecutor Dahl said, the Balkans war was fought first with words, of which Seselj was the master. She portrayed¹¹ him as a kind of hate speech ambassador, a war-mongering celebrity¹² on the hate circuit.

She said during his trial, prosecutors will deconstruct his many speeches, like the one she played in court from the early war years. An interpreter relays what is happening.

Dahl says Seselj's extreme language was criminal and that it directly incited¹³ people to violence in places like Vukovar in Croatia and Zvornik in Bosnia. And that it also directly caused Muslims and Croats to flee their homes for safety.

Prosecutors say as a paramilitary commander, Seselj raised his own army of volunteers, which he indoctrinated and then sent to the front lines to commit the unspeakable.

Seselj's trial began a year ago, but was almost immediately stopped when he went on a hunger strike for 28 days to push various demands, including that he be able to defend himself.

He says he is unlikely to get a fair trial here, and that he will take on the Vatican and western countries in his political defense¹⁴. He will get his chance Thursday, when he has been given time to address the court.

1 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。

2 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。

3 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

4 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

5 bellicose   

adj.好战的；好争吵的

参考例句：

• He expressed alarm about the government's increasingly bellicose statements.他对政府越来越具挑衅性的声明表示担忧。
• Some irresponsible politicians made a bellicose remarks.一些不负责任的政客说出一些好战的话语。

6 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

7 cleanse   

vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗

参考例句：

• Health experts are trying to cleanse the air in cities. 卫生专家们正设法净化城市里的空气。
• Fresh fruit juices can also cleanse your body and reduce dark circles.新鲜果汁同样可以清洁你的身体,并对黑眼圈同样有抑制作用。

8 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。

9 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。

10 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

11 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

13 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。