VOA常速英语2007年-Chad Agrees to Return Imprisoned Aid Workers to

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
28 December 2007

Six French aid workers convicted of attempted kidnapping in Chad are on their way back to France where they are to serve out their sentences. On Wednesday, the six were sentenced to eight years of hard labor¹, after being convicted of trying to kidnap 103 children from Chad. Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

The return of the six members of the French Zoe's Ark charity follows a request Thursday by the French government for them to be repatriated² and to serve out their sentences in France. Since France's justice system does not deliver sentences of forced labor, the six charity workers may have their sentences reduced or commuted³.

The six were convicted of trying to kidnap 103 African children and bring them to France. The charity adamantly⁴ denies the charges, arguing it had wanted to save Sudanese orphans⁵ from war-torn Darfur, just across Chad's border. But an inquiry⁶ by international agencies found that most of those children were neither orphans nor Sudanese.

France-Info radio reported Friday that lawyers representing the children's families want the charity to pay nearly $9 million in damages and interests before the six French are allowed to return home.

Josselyne Lamilane, lawyer for the families of the 103 children, said the money was nothing at all for Zoe's Ark. If the charity didn't pay up, she told the radio, its members should stay in Chad.

The six charity workers were arrested in eastern Chad in October, just as they were about to fly the children to France. Eleven other Europeans - the flight crew and reporters who had been with them - were repatriated shortly after.

On Wednesday, a Chadian court sentenced the French workers to eight years of forced labor. A Sudanese and a Chadian, accused of being accomplices⁷, were sentenced to four years in jail. Two other Chadians were acquitted⁸.

The case has sparked protests in Chad and comes at a delicate time. The European Union is to send troops to Chad to protect refugees fleeing from violence in nearby Sudan. French troops are to make up the bulk of that force.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

4 adamantly   

adv.坚决地，坚定不移地，坚强不屈地

参考例句：

• "Come over here,"he told her adamantly. “到这边来，”他对她坚定地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His family were adamantly opposed to the marriage. 他的家人坚决反对这门亲事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

6 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

7 accomplices   

从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was given away by one of his accomplices. 他被一个同伙出卖了。
• The chief criminals shall be punished without fail, those who are accomplices under duress shall go unpunished and those who perform deeds of merIt'shall be rewarded. 首恶必办， 胁从不问，立功受奖。

8 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。