VOA慢速英语2018--金正男被暗杀一周年

Kim Jong Nam’s Killing¹, A Year Later

As the world follows North Korea’s diplomatic offensive at the Winter Olympics, two young women could be sentenced to death. They stand accused in the murder of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader.

It is a crime that involved the two Southeast Asian women, even if they knew nothing about it.

Kim Jong Nam was the target of a deadly attack one year ago in a crowded airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was a brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the eldest² son of former leader Kim Jong Il.

Siti Aisyah of Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam are the only defendants³ in the murder case.

Malaysian officials accuse them of rubbing a cloth containing the nerve agent VX on Kim Jong Nam’s face. The poison, developed for military use, is so strong that he was dead within two hours.

Kim was once seen as a possible leader for North Korea. But he fell out of favor with the country’s leadership and moved overseas.

While Kim was not a political threat to Kim Jong Un, he may have been seen as possibly competing with his brother.

Trial of two suspects

From the start of their trial last October, the two suspects have said they thought their actions were part of a trick for a hidden-camera, television show. They face a death sentence by hanging if found guilty.

A lawyer for the women says the lack of North Korean suspects in the case hurts their legal defense⁵. He said, “As long as the North Korean suspects are away, the actual truth will never be proven. I sincerely believe that the girls should be acquitted⁷ because we have clearly shown that they are being used as scapegoats⁹.”

Both the defense and prosecution¹⁰ lawyers agree the women, coming from rural poverty, could not have been acting¹¹ completely on their own. They believe that the crime was carried out as part of a plot by a group of North Korean agents. They think the agents sought out the women, then trained and supplied them with the VX nerve agent.

The Malaysian government even has a good idea who the suspected plotters are. Four North Koreans were seen on airport security cameras after the attack. They appeared to be changing their clothing and throwing away their belongings¹². A North Korean embassy official was believed to have helped the four men with flights out of Malaysia.

But Malaysian officials have not officially accused North Korea of involvement in Kim’s death. Instead, they have focused narrowly on proving the women’s guilt⁴.

Prosecutors¹³ said the two women knew they were working with poison. They said airport video showed them moving quickly to the washroom and holding their hands away from their bodies after the attack.

Trial to re-start next week

The trial is set to continue on February 22. Prosecutors are expected to rest their case by April or early May.

If the judge finds there is no case against the women, they will be freed. If he rules against them, the trial will continue for several more months. An appeal to higher courts could add several years.

James Chin is director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania in Australia. He said, “The Malaysian government wants it all to go away by trying to rush the trial and end it.”

Chin added, “Once everything is under the bridge, which will take years, Malaysia and North Korea will likely resume normal relations. The Kim Jong Nam case will be just another footnote in history.”

I'm Caty Weaver¹⁴.

Words in This Story

eldest – adj. of the greatest age

out of favor – expression. having or showing approval

acquit⁶ – v. to find someone not guilty

scapegoat⁸ – n. someone who is blamed unfairly for something

prosecution – n. the act or process of holding a trial against someone

focus – v. to direct attention

rush – v. to do something in a hurry

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

3 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

5 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。

6 acquit   

vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出

参考例句：

• That fact decided the judge to acquit him.那个事实使法官判他无罪。
• They always acquit themselves of their duty very well.他们总是很好地履行自己的职责。

7 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

8 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

9 scapegoats   

n.代人受过的人，替罪羊( scapegoat的名词复数 )v.使成为替罪羊( scapegoat的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They were made the scapegoats for the misfire of the program. 他们成了那个计划失败的替罪羊。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Only some of the guards and a minor hotel employee, chosen as scapegoats, were imprisoned. 只有一些保镖和那个旅馆的小职员当了替罪羊，被关进了监狱。 来自辞典例句

10 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。

11 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。

12 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

13 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。

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。