2007年VOA标准英语-Taylor's Family Concerned About Trial; Other Li

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
02 February 2007

The war crimes trial for former Liberian President Charles Taylor is set for early June at the Hague. Prosecutors¹ at the Special Court for Sierra Leone have charged Mr. Taylor with war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the killing² and abuse of thousands of people during Sierra Leone's civil war. Mr. Taylor's family is concerned he will not get a fair trial. Most other Liberians appear not to be paying much attention to the court's proceedings³. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our regional bureau in Dakar, with additional reporting by Prince Collins in Monrovia.

 
Charles Taylor makes his first appearance at the Special Court in Freetown, Sierra Leone, 3 Apr 2006
Sando Johnson, Mr. Taylor's cousin and an official spokesman for the Taylor family is cleaning up the offices of the association for the legal defense⁴ of the former president. He says the former president's family is doing well and moving on with their lives. But he says Mr. Taylor's upcoming trial is on their minds.

 "What they are concerned about is the well-being⁵ of their brother, the former president of Liberia, that is their primary concern right now," he said.

"They are worried about his well-being, they are worried about his trial, and asking that he be given a fair trial, and saying that under the law Mr. Taylor is innocent until proven guilty," he continued.

 
John Richardson 
John Richardson, another Taylor cousin, is the executive director of the association. He says the international community has made it hard for the defense team to get help.

"Publicly, the United Nations, the United States, have created considerable fear about the mere⁶ mention of the [Taylor] name," he said. "So a lot of people are publicly frightened as to what could possibly befall them should they want to help or even show sympathy with the plight⁷ of Mr. Taylor."

 
Varney Karneh does not miss former Liberian President Charles Taylor 
But a student at the University of Liberia, Varneh Karneh, says he is grateful the international community made it possible to force Mr. Taylor out of power.

"His [Taylor's] regime was characterized by tyranny, he was very very much despotic and he even brought the entire subregion, the entire Mano river subregion into complete and total disrepute," he said.

Charles Taylor launched Liberia's civil war in December 1989. He is accused of using child soldiers during the conflict. He is also blamed for perpetuating⁸ a bloody⁹ civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone by supplying weapons to rebels in exchange for diamonds.

Taylor left the presidency¹⁰ in Liberia in 2003, under pressure from rebels seeking to oust¹¹ him from power. He went into exile in Nigeria but vowed¹² to return. He has denied all charges of war crimes against him.

 
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor looks for defense help
A resident in the capital, Monrovia, says whatever happens to Mr. Taylor, Liberians are doing fine not thinking of their former president.

He said, "We have normal life going without Mr. Taylor and his family and we love living a normal life."

Other Liberians say they are happy Mr. Taylor is being tried for his alleged¹³ role in Sierra Leone's conflict, rather than for what he may have done in Liberia. They say they too are ready to put memories of war behind them.

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 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。

3 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

4 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。

5 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

8 perpetuating   

perpetuate的现在进行式

参考例句：

• Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
• It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

9 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

12 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

13 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