2007年VOA标准英语-Court Delays Charles Taylor's War Crimes Trial

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
20 August 2007

Judges presiding over the war crimes trial of ex-Liberian leader Charles Taylor have postponed² the trial until January 7 to give new defense³ lawyers time to prepare their case. Taylor dismissed his previous lawyer because he said he could not receive a fair hearing. Human rights lobbyists and victim associations are impatient for the trial to began, but agree more time is needed for a fair trial. Phuong Tran brings us this report from VOA's West African Bureau in Dakar.

Prosecutors4 and clerks in Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, the Netherlands, 04 Jun 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070825/1342360.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Prosecutors and clerks in Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, 04 Jun 2007

Taylor's new defense lawyer, Courtney Griffiths, had urged the court to postpone¹ the trial saying a focus on a speedy outcome could hurt Taylor's chances for a fair trial.

Geraldine Mattioli with the lobby group Human Rights Watch says it is fair to give the new defense team more time. She says the prosecution⁵ has had years to gather evidence and prepare its case.

The new defense team was installed on August 1. It has said it still needs to review tens of thousands of pages of evidence.

"We, in a way, expected they would request more time to prepare what will be a very complex case, the first to involve the president of an African state charged with 11 counts of very serious crimes," said Mattioli. "It is fair to grant them a delay so they can prepare their case properly."

Taylor is charged with arming and supporting rebels who murdered thousands of civilians⁶ and hacked⁷ off the limbs of thousands more during Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war, which ended in 2002. Prosecutors plan to call at least 10 such victims as witnesses.

The former leader refused to appear in court when the case opened on June 4, and initially⁸ said he wanted to defend himself, throwing the process into turmoil⁹. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Mattioli urges the court to stay firm with Taylor to prevent any more delays.

"It is totally appropriate that he [Mr. Taylor] receives a fair trial, but that does not mean he can block the trial," she said. "We look to the trial chamber¹⁰ to continue being firm to balance the rights of Mr. Taylor with the interest of justice and efficiency in carrying out this trial."

Defense lawyers visited Sierra Leone and Liberia last week in search of witnesses to help their case. Mr. Taylor's defense team has said that U.N. travel bans against his family and close friends are preventing others from coming forward to support the former leader.

1 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

2 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

3 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。

4 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。

5 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

6 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。

7 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

10 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。