VOA标准英语2009年-Iranian Revolutionary Court Sentences Mona

By Edward Yeranian
Cairo
08 October 2009

Iran's Revolutionary Court has sentenced an opposition¹ activist² to death, in the first such verdict since trials of opposition supporters began in August. Monarchist Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani is to be hanged for participating in unrest, last June, according to opposition websites.

Several top Iranian opposition websites are reporting that Iran's Revolutionary Court has handed down a death sentence to an opposition activist for the first time since August, when it began trying those involved in post-election unrest.

 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks alongside newly-appointed head of the Iranian elite³ Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jaafari, right, at the annual military parade (File) 
Iran's Committee on Human Rights Reporters says that monarchist Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani was "sentenced to death by hanging" for participating in demonstrations⁴ in the wake of June's disputed presidential election.

Zamani, who belongs to the Association of Monarchists, was not allowed access to a defense⁵ attorney, according to the report. The opposition Green Wave website notes that Zamani "made a series of confessions⁶" during his August trial.

Iran's Mehr news agency reported, during the trial, that Zamani was an active member of a "terrorist" monarchist group, and had fought against the country's Islamic regime.

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard organization, Mohammad Ali Jaafari, also repeated a government complaint Thursday that the Iranian opposition was "trying to overthrow⁷ the Islamic Republic and replace it with a bogus regime."

Iranian monarchists have long attracted the ire of the government, which has accused them of responsibility for a number of bloody⁸ mosque⁹ bombings in recent years.

Iran analyst¹⁰ Dr. Mehrdad Khonsari of the London-based Center for Arab and Iranian Studies says that the stiff nature of the sentence handed down by the Revolutionary Court comes as a surprise, given its recent pattern of behavior:

"This particular case is really an odd-one out, in the sense that this is not the trait that the regime has indicated," said Khonsari. "I think a deal has been struck, or was struck that most of the people who have been detained would be tried and then released. The common trait in the Islamic government is to sentence people hand out a fairly sturdy sentence, but release, while at the same time warning them if they were to misbehave, they would have to return to prison to serve the rest of their sentence."

Dr. Khonsari adds that it is not surprising, however, that the Iranian regime would deal sternly with a monarchist, since "[they] are people who are outside the ruling constituency, and are faced with a different set of [rules] if they run afoul of the regime."

A number of prominent Iranian clerics have ruled that the Revolutionary Court's trials of opposition activists¹¹ "have no legal value," since "involuntary confessions made by defendents are void according to Shi'ite jurisprudence."

Iranian law states that convicts may appeal their sentences which have to be upheld by both the appeals court and the supreme¹² court before they are carried out.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 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。

6 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

8 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

9 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

10 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。

11 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》

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。