2007年VOA标准英语-Charles Taylor Boycotts His War Crimes Trial in

By Lauren Comiteau
Amsterdam
04 June 2007

Prosecutors2 and clerks in Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, the Netherlands, 04 Jun 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070608/1438030.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

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

The trial of Charles Taylor opened without the accused in the dock Monday in The Hague, as the former Liberian President boycotted³ the proceeding⁴ he called a "charade⁵." The first African head of state to face international war crimes charges, Mr. Taylor is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in orchestrating the brutal⁶ 11-year civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. VOA's Lauren Comiteau is following the trial from Amsterdam and files this report.

 

It was supposed to be a historic opening to the trial of the former Liberian leader who prosecutors paint as a ruthless autocrat⁷ who caused death and destruction in Sierra Leone for his own benefit. But things turned dramatic as Mr. Taylor's lawyer, Karim Khan, tried to read out a letter from his client explaining why he thinks he won't get a fair trial and would therefore not attend.

"I cannot participate in a charade that does injustice⁸ to the people of Sierra Leone and Liberia and the people of Africa, and to the international community, in whose name this court claims to speak," he read. "I cannot, I choose not to be a figleaf of legitimacy⁹ for this process."

Mr. Taylor claims he has nowhere near the resources that prosecutors have. He has decided¹⁰ to defend himself, and he fired his lawyer. Mr. Khan then walked out of court, despite being ordered by the presiding judge to continue representing Mr. Taylor for the day. The judge then ruled the trial would go on with Mr. Khan's assistant representing Mr. Taylor, and she gave the floor to prosecutor¹ Stephen Rapp.

He said Mr. Taylor was thumbing his nose at the court (was being disrespectful to the court), that just as he ignored the suffering of the people of Sierra Leone, he is now trying to ignore hearing the evidence of the crimes he committed. Prosecutor Rapp called the alleged¹¹ crimes some of the "ugliest scenes of viciousness in recent memory" - crimes he said that were incomprehensible to the rest of the world.

"Human beings, young and old, mutilated. Rebels chopping off arms and legs, gouging¹² out eyes, chopping at ears. Girls and women enslaved and sexually violated. Children committing some of the most awful crimes. The exploitation of the resources of Sierra Leone used, not for the benefit of its citizens, but to maim¹³ and kill its citizens. The very worst that human beings are capable of doing to one another," said Rapp.

Mr. Rapp says the evidence will show that Charles Taylor devised and executed the plan to take control of neighboring Sierra Leone in order to exploit its diamond wealth and install a friendlier, subordinate government to help him do it. He listed the names of those who helped Mr. Taylor achieve his goal, men the prosecution¹⁴ alleges¹⁵ were later ordered killed by Charles Taylor so they could not turn against him. Prosecutors expect to call some 140 witnesses and hope for an 18-month long trial. Things are already complicated by the fact that the trial is taking place in The Hague instead of in Freetown because of security concerns.

The trial will adjourn¹⁶ Monday until the end of the month to give Mr. Taylor more time to prepare his defense¹⁷ - a defense whose shape remains¹⁸ to be seen.

1 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。

2 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。

3 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

4 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

5 charade   

n.用动作等表演文字意义的字谜游戏

参考例句：

• You must not refine too much upon this charade.你切不可过分推敲这个字谜。
• His poems,despite their dignity and felicity,have an air of charade.他的诗篇虽然庄严巧妙，却有猜迷之嫌。

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 autocrat   

n.独裁者；专横的人

参考例句：

• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。
• The nobles tried to limit the powers of the autocrat without success.贵族企图限制专制君主的权力,但没有成功。

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

9 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 gouging   

n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• Banks and credit-card companies have been accused of gouging their customers. 银行和信用卡公司被指控欺诈顾客。 来自辞典例句
• If back-gouging is applied, grinding to bright metal is required. 如果采用火焰气刨，则应将其打磨至可见光亮的金属表面。 来自互联网

13 maim   

v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残

参考例句：

• Automobile accidents maim many people each year. 汽车车祸每年使许多人残废。
• These people kill and maim innocent civilians.这些人杀死和残害无辜平民。

14 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。

15 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

16 adjourn   

v.（使）休会，（使）休庭

参考例句：

• The motion to adjourn was carried.休会的提议通过了。
• I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.我担心法庭要到3点或更晚时才会休庭。

17 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。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。