VOA标准英语2009年-Trial of Burma's Democracy Leader Conclude

The trial of Burma's opposition¹ leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has concluded, and the verdict is to be announced Friday. Despite an international outcry over the trial, the Nobel Peace Prize winner is expected to be found guilty and sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Lawyers for Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday made their final statements in her defense².

The icon³ of Burma's democracy movement is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest. The military government has kept her locked up in her home for 14 of the past 20 years.

Aung San Suu Kyi allowed an uninvited American man who swam to the house to stay two nights without official permission.

Burmese authorities say for that reason she should be put in prison for up to five years, while her lawyers say she was not responsible for the break-in.

One of Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers, Nyan Win, says the court rejected their request today for a witness from the Foreign Ministry⁴. Nyan Win says the defense attorneys pointed⁵ out unlawful and illegitimate arguments made by prosecutors⁶, and says they are satisfied with the case they presented.

He says today they responded to final arguments made by prosecutors. They argued against Aung San Suu Kyi being charged under laws of the 1974 constitution because it was abolished in 1988. He says a verdict in the trial is set for Friday morning.

Two of Aung San Suu Kyi's assistants and the American man, John Yettaw, are on trial facing similar charges.

Yettaw says he broke into the opposition leader's house to warn her of a vision he had that she would be assassinated⁷.

Rights groups and Western politicians say Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest is illegitimate and call the trial an excuse to keep her locked up through next year's elections.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won Burma's last elections in 1990 but the military never allowed them to take power.

Burma's official newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, on Tuesday rejected allegations that the trial is an attempt to imprison⁸ Aung San Suu Kyi and suggested Yettaw planned to help her escape.

Her supporters, the United Nations, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations demand her immediate⁹ release.

But Burma's military government has so far rejected international pressure, saying the trial is an internal affair.

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 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。

3 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 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。

7 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

8 imprison   

vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚

参考例句：

• The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life.而这件事的影响力则会让你被终身监禁。
• Dutch colonial authorities imprisoned him for his part in the independence movement.荷兰殖民当局因他参加独立运动而把他关押了起来。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。