VOA标准英语2010年-Supermodel Appears at Charles Taylor W

Naomi Campbell at the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in Leidschendam, Netherlands, 05 Aug 2010

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has testified in the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor.  She told the court she received "dirty looking stones" after a dinner with Mr. Taylor in 1997, but she said they had not been given to her by the former president himself, and she could not be sure if the stones were diamonds. 

Naomi Campbell was called to The Hague to answer questions about an evening in South Africa 13 years ago.  Campbell's former agent Carole White and actress Mia Farrow have said Campbell was given an uncut diamond by Charles Taylor after a dinner party hosted by Nelson Mandela.

 Her version of events

In court, Campbell recounted her version of what happened.

"When I was sleeping I heard a knock at my door, and I opened my door and two men were there and gave me a pouch¹ and said, 'A gift for you.'" Campbell said.

She told the court she did not open the pouch until the next morning.  When she looked inside, she found what she described as a few "small dirty looking stones."

The prosecutor² asked Campbell if she knew who the gift was from.

"No.  The next morning at breakfast I told Ms. Farrow and Ms. White what had happened, and one of the two said, 'Well that's obviously Charles Taylor.'  And I just said, 'Yeah, I guess it was correct,'" she said.

Campbell said she gave the stones to a friend who was then director of Nelson Mandela's children's charity.

Why she tried to avoid testifying

Campbell is one of the world's highest paid models.  She fought to avoid testifying because she said she was concerned about the safety of her family.

But the prosecution³ had hoped her evidence would show that Mr. Taylor received so called "blood diamonds" from rebels in Sierra Leone during the country's decade-long civil war.

Prosecutors⁴ say Mr. Taylor - then president of West African Liberia - exchanged the diamonds for weapons, which he smuggled⁵ into Sierra Leone.

He is accused of arming and commanding rebels who raped⁷, murdered, and mutilated thousands of civilians⁸.

Why her testimony⁹ was important

Elly Harrowell is from the natural resources watchdog Global Witness.  She says Naomi Campbell's appearance at the trial is important.

"I think in such an important trial, it's very important that every piece of evidence is considered.  I also wonder whether if it's a good way of focusing the world's attention on the issue of blood diamonds and on this very important trial by getting such a high-profile figure involved with it," she said.

She says the media attention given to Campbell's testimony is a boon¹⁰ for the fight against conflict diamonds.

"I think it's very important to bring to people's attention that the issue of blood diamonds is a very important one; it's something that is still going on.  We have got cases of conflict diamonds in Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa and also in Zimbabwe where hundreds of people were murdered in the Marange diamond fields recently," said Harrowell.

What's next?

Campbell's testimony is now done, but her part in the former president's trial is not over.  Carole White and Mia Farrow, who each have their own account of that evening 13 years ago, are due to appear in court next week.

Charles Taylor faces 11 war crimes charges, including for murder, rape⁶, and recruiting child soldiers.  He says he is innocent on all counts. 

1 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 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。

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 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 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

7 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

10 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。