VOA标准英语2008年-Radovan Karadzic to Face New War Crimes Charges

Radovan Karadzic was back in court in the Hague Wednesday, where international prosecutors¹ said they would be ready with a new indictment² against the former Bosnian Serb leader within days. Karadzic has so far been charged with genocide and 10 other counts for allegedly leading his breakaway republic through a war that killed more than 100,000 people in the early to mid³ 1990s. For VOA, Lauren Comiteau followed the proceedings⁴ from Amsterdam.

Wednesday's hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal was supposed to be a straight-forward legal affair tracking the progress of his case, but with Radovan Karadzic in the dock, it is anything but. Although his trial is likely months away, the hearing provided a glimpse of what that trial will ultimately look like.
　
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic at the UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands, 29 Aug 2008

Karadzic will defend himself with a team of legal advisors⁵. He also wants the court to help him hire investigators⁶ so he can look into what he alleges⁷ was an immunity⁸ deal with former U.S. envoy⁹ to the Balkans, Richard Holbrooke, who Karadzic says was acting¹⁰ on the behalf of members of the U.N. Security Council. Holbrooke has denied there was such a deal.

Karadzic also insists he will not be a passive "object" in court - where he's not just defending himself, but everyone who suffered in the former Yugoslavia as well as the leaders of small nations who may one day find themselves similarly judged.

"I cannot allow such a major trial, you've never had a trial like this and never will have, that this be an opportunity to just make it look like a fair trial," said Karadzic. "And just as a human being cannot be half girl, half mermaid¹¹, or half fish, this either has to be a fair trial or no trial at all."

Karadzic accused prosecutors of wanting a quick trial at the expense of fairness.

Prosecutors, who sat through most of the day's session listening to Karadzic's criticisms against them and the court he calls illegal, promised by Monday that they will be filing a new indictment against him. But they didn't provide any specifics.

Karadzic was arrested in August in Belgrade where he had been living for 13 years, disguised with a beard and long hair. Judges entered a not guilty plea on his behalf after he refused to answer to the 11 counts against him, which include genocide for the Srebrenica massacres¹² and the siege of Sarajevo.

He'll get another opportunity to enter a plea if prosecutors change their eight year old indictment. But after that, Mr. Karadzic seems prepared to slow things down. "This trial," he said, "is unusual and extraordinary. No need to speed it up. I won't let you."

 

1 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。

2 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

3 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

4 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

5 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

9 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

12 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。