2007年VOA标准英语-Jailed Libyan Wins Right to Appeal Lockerbie Co

By Sonja Pace
London
28 June 2007

A jailed Libyan intelligence officer has won the right to appeal his conviction in the downing of an American airliner¹ over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. A judicial² review panel now says he may have been wrongly convicted, as VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London.

bomber3 Abdelbaset al Megrahi listens to the verdict that his appeal of his conviction in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (Mar 2002 file photo)" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070704/1417160.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi listens to the verdict in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (Mar 2002 file photo)

After a three-year inquiry⁴, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has issued its findings. It says Abdelbaset al Megrahi may have been wrongly convicted for the downing of Pan Am flight 103 on December 21, 1988.

A bomb was smuggled⁵ aboard the New York-bound plane - it blew up over Lockerbie, killing⁶ all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground.

Megrahi was convicted in a special trial set in the Netherlands and sentenced to serve a minimum of 27 years in jail. A co-defendant, Lamin Khalifa Fhima, was acquitted⁷.

Megrahi has always maintained his innocence⁸ and some of the family members of those who perished in the bombing believed him.

Jim Swire lost his daughter on that flight.

"We cannot but be delighted that the Scottish justice has taken a decision to have another look at what this evidence amounts to, and we'll await their findings with great interest," he said.

Wrecked9 houses and a deep gash10 in the ground in the village of Lockerbie, Scotland - damage caused by the crash of Pan Am Flight 103, 21 Dec 1988" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070704/1417161.jpg" width="192" vspace="2" border="0" />

Wrecked houses and a deep gash in the ground in the village of Lockerbie, Scotland - damage caused by the crash of Pan Am Flight 103, 21 Dec 1988

Megrahi's lawyers maintained that the Libyan was framed. They said Iran, Syria and a Palestinian nationalist group, the PFLP-GC (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command), were responsible for downing the plane in retaliation¹¹ for an Iranian passenger jet accidentally shot down by an American missile in July of 1988.

Jane Berkley, who lost a son in the Lockerbie bombing said she and other families hope to finally learn the truth through the appeals process.

 

"I know that we all feel keenly that it is bad enough for us to have lost our children, our spouses¹², our siblings¹³ or our friends without feeling that for some reason the full facts about this terrible disaster have been kept from us," she said.

But not all families agree. Some feel that Megrahi should not have been granted the right to an appeal.

In a statement issued by his lawyers, Megrahi welcomed the review commission's findings and expressed confidence that his innocence would be proved in the appeals process.

The Libyan government has accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing, although the government maintains that does not imply guilt¹⁴. Libya also agreed to pay compensation to the victims' families. The move prompted the United Nations to lift sanctions against Tripoli.

1 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

2 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

3 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

4 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。

5 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

10 gash   

v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝

参考例句：

• The deep gash in his arm would take weeks to heal over.他胳膊上的割伤很深，需要几个星期的时间才能痊愈。
• After the collision,the body of the ship had a big gash.船被撞后，船身裂开了一个大口子。

11 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

13 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

14 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。