2006年VOA标准英语-Egypt Police Smash Protests as Court Rules

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
18 May 2006
 
A disciplinary panel in Egypt has cleared one judge of misconduct charges, but reprimanded another in a case that has become a symbol for judicial¹ independence and the Egyptian reform movement.  VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough reports from Cairo that outside the courthouse, police dispersed² protests in support of the judges. 

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Protestors flee as police crack down on demonstrators in central Cairo, as they were protesting May 18, 2006  
  

The police broke up most of the protests almost before they started, and sealed off streets around the courthouse starting late Wednesday.  Nervous business owners closed their stores anytime a crowd started to gather outside.

Police chased reporters away from a hotel near the courthouse.  They had been seen dragging a protester inside, and plainclothes security officers swarmed³ over the area, carrying short heavy clubs.

"We now know that 90 percent of the protesters in Abbasiya were beaten up and taken because there was not enough press there," said protest organizer Rabab El-Mehd.

El-Mehdi says the police changed their tactics after last week's very public crackdowns.

"Yes, they did two things," she said. "They either trapped them before the meeting point, which is what happened to the group that was going to Mugamma el-Galaa, because that was a meeting point we agreed on yesterday.  Or what happened with Souq el-Tawfiya is that a group got together randomly⁴ and once they started chanting, the security group then started the beating up and the arrests."
 

Essam el-Erian, a senior member of outlawed⁵ Muslim Brotherhood⁶ group who was detained May 18, 2006  
  
The one protest that did not get violently dispersed consisted of most of the Muslim Brotherhood members of parliament. 

The officially banned, but tolerated, group said about 500 of its rank-and-file members were arrested during the course of the day.  The interior ministry⁷ said it had detained 240 Brotherhood members.

Two high-profile members were among the arrested - policy chief Essam El-Erian and former Brotherhood parliamentary leader Mohamed Morsi. 

The Muslim Brotherhood lawmakers wore black sashes reading "The people's representatives support Egyptian judges."

Parliament member Mohamed Shaker Sennar said they came to show support and to call for the independence of the judiciary.

The judges were hauled before the disciplinary hearing and charged with bringing the judiciary into disrepute after they went public with allegations of fraud during last year's parliamentary election, which was overseen⁸ by Egypt's judges. 

Mahmud Mekki, center, enters disciplinary hearing in Cairo May 18, 2006 at Egyptian Supreme⁹ Court    
  
One charged judge, Mahmoud Mekki, was cleared of any wrongdoing.  The other, Hisham El-Bastawisy, was reprimanded but did not lose his job. 

He was not in court.  He had a heart attack Wednesday morning and is still in the hospital. 

The judges have become a symbol for not just judicial independence, but for the Egyptian reform movement in general, according to Georgetown University Professor Samer Shehata.

"A judge told me about a week and a half ago that everyone who wants to say something nasty about the Mubarak regime is saying, today, quote, 'I am with the judges.'  And I think that is true.  This goes far beyond Bastawisi and Mekki," Shehata said. "And they have become national heroes, that is true.  But this is the latest battle between the Mubarak regime and 75 million Egyptians."

Hundreds of reform activists¹¹ have been arrested during the past three weeks as they rallied in support of the judges.

Kifaya activist¹⁰ Sayed Ragab says he has not been home for nine days out of fear that the police are looking for him.  But he would not stay away from the protests.

"The regime must understand that we will not be silent or afraid, no matter how many restrictions¹² or security forces they throw at us," he said.  "We will persist and persevere¹³ so we can free ourselves."

In a different Cairo courthouse, the Egyptian Court of Cassation rejected an appeal by opposition¹⁴ politician Ayman Nour, who placed second in last year's presidential election.  He was convicted in December and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of forgery¹⁵ that he says were trumped¹⁶ up to discredit¹⁷ him. 

His lawyers had appealed against the verdict, saying the judge in his case was biased¹⁸ against him and failed to follow due process.  But the appeals court refused to hear the case, confirming his five-year sentence.

1 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。

2 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

3 swarmed   

密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响，孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
• When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下，人群就蜂拥回了旅社。

4 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

5 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

6 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

7 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。

8 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

9 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。

10 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。

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 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

13 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。

14 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。

15 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

16 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

18 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。