2007年VOA标准英语-Mauritanian Acquittals Seen as Sign of Judicial

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
06 June 2007

Defendants¹ and human rights activists² in Mauritania are celebrating the acquittal Tuesday of more than 20 suspected Islamic radicals⁴, calling it a sign of judiciary independence. They also say the threat of terrorism in Mauritania has been exaggerated.   Selah Hennessy reports from the VOA West Africa bureau in Dakar.

The court's president, Ould Moulaye Ahmed, said there was insufficient⁵ evidence to convict the men, who were accused of having links with a terrorist organization.  The defendants' lawyers denied the charges and argued admissions presented into evidence were obtained under torture.

Only one man, who is at large, was convicted and sentenced to two years for forging identity papers. 

Wolfram Lacher, a London-based analyst⁶ with the group Control Risks, says the trial shows the judiciary in Mauritania is displaying credibility.

"It is a demonstrative return to the rule of law after years of arbitrary rule, after years of arrest without access to lawyers," he noted⁷.  "The people who were in prison since 2005 in many cases did not even know the charges they faced."

He says the acquittals prove terrorism is not a serious threat in Mauritania. He says the danger of terrorism was deliberately⁸ exaggerated by the government of former president Maaouya Ould Taya, who was deposed⁹ in a military coup¹⁰ in 2005. 

"The judges lent authoritative¹¹ support to the view taken by many independent observers in and outside of Mauritania that there is little hard evidence for the existence of a terrorist threat in Mauritania," he added.

Salem Bokari, a Mauritanian journalist, says the new government is trying to avoid mistakes made by Mr. Taya's government.

"The new government does not like to have a permanent confrontation¹² with Islamist groups," he explained.

He says the people see the acquittal as a promising¹³ sign of democracy.

"Clearly people in the street and all of them find that the Mauritanian justice is really free, because no pressure was put on the court during this first trial in the new democratic era," he added.  "This is the first test and all the people and observers and government find that this first test was successful for the new justice of Mauritania."

But Richard Reeve, an analyst with London-based study group Chatham House, says the speed of the trial suggests that it may have been affected¹⁴ by political influences.

"It was a trial that was very swiftly concluded, you might be able to argue from the contrary perspective that with pressure elsewhere in the system, from Islamist parties or those who want to sever¹⁵ relations with Israel, that this was an expedient¹⁶ way of the government to appear to be more independent than perhaps it is," he noted.

Mauritania's transitional military government held a series of elections, leading up to a presidential poll last March.  Mauritania's military has been getting U.S. assistance to fight radical³ groups, some of which operate in large bands in the Sahel and Sahara desert.

1 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

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

5 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

9 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

11 authoritative   

adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的

参考例句：

• David speaks in an authoritative tone.大卫以命令的口吻说话。
• Her smile was warm but authoritative.她的笑容很和蔼，同时又透着威严。

12 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

13 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

16 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。