2007年VOA标准英语-Australian Taleban Back Home, Behind Bars

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
23 May 2007

The first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be convicted of terrorism is back in his home country, Australia. David Hicks, who had joined militant¹ groups in Kosovo, Kashmir and Afghanistan, pleaded guilty to supporting extremism and now is in a maximum-security prison, serving a sentence imposed by a U.S. military court. His return has sparked considerable debate in Australia. Phil Mercer has been following the story from Sydney.

Supporters of David Hicks have portrayed² him as a misguided young man when he was captured in Afghanistan. They believe his five-year detention³ without trial at Guantanamo Bay was unfair.

Hicks returned to Australia this week to serve a nine-month sentence at the Yatala prison in South Australia state.

His lawyer David McLeod was at the military air base in Adelaide when his client arrived home.

Handout4 photo received 27 March, 2007 shows undated photo of Australian David Hicks" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070606/1503260.jpg" width="181" vspace="2" border="0" />

Handout photo received 27 March, 2007 shows undated photo of Australian David Hicks

"David is well, and he enjoyed the trip," McLeod said, "and he's very, very glad to be back on Australian soil. He visibly was elated when we touched down at Edinburgh."

Hicks pleaded guilty in March to providing material support to al-Qaida, including attending terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors⁵ said he tried to fight on the side of the Taleban against the U.S-led forces that invaded Afghanistan after the al-Qaida attacks on the United States in 2001.

Hicks' five years in the U.S. military prison in Cuba and the military tribunal that convicted him have been roundly criticized in Australia as violations⁶ of human rights. Among those angry over Hicks' case are former Prime Minister Malcom Fraser and many academics and rights activists⁷.

Kevin Foley is the acting⁸ head of the South Australian state government. He acknowledges the concerns about the long pre-trial detention, but says Hicks belongs in prison.

"Notwithstanding legitimate⁹ concerns that Australians have held about the time in which Mr. Hicks was detained before receiving what can be considered any form of fair trial - very legitimate and understandable concerns and shared by many - but let's also understand and be very clear about this: David Hicks is no hero," he noted¹⁰. "Mr. Hicks has confessed to aiding and abetting¹¹ al-Qaida and terrorist organizations. David Hicks is a very foolish young man at best, an extremely dangerous man at worst."

Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says Hicks was treated fairly. He says his government pushed U.S. authorities to deal with the case swiftly.

Ruddock has praised Hicks' lawyers, including U.S. Marine¹² Major Michael Mori, who worked hard to have his client freed.

"One of the points I've made about that system is that the Americans treat their military justice system very seriously," Ruddock said. "It is part of their system of law. People like Major Mori participate in defending people and nobody could complain about the way in which he as a military officer - who believes in that military justice system, participated in it."

The Australian public appears split over the Hicks case.

"I thought he was treated terribly and it's good to see that he's back and he's in slightly better conditions," one woman said.

She expressed a commonly heard position here - that Hicks was made a scapegoat¹³.

But another woman was unhappy with the attention Hicks has received.

"I don't see why the media have really just glorified¹⁴ him," she said. "He's been presented to us in a way that we should feel sorry for him. … It's always about him being hard done by and I really don't see why. I mean, he's a terrorist."

Hicks is due to walk free from prison on December 29.

When he is freed, the former kangaroo skinner will enter a challenging world. He probably will be under police surveillance. And he may well face continued scrutiny¹⁵ from the media, and a possibly hostile public.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。

5 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。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 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》

8 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。

9 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 abetting   

v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的现在分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持

参考例句：

• On Earth, unknowingly abetting a criminal doesn't merit this kind of punishment. 在地球上，不知不觉地帮助罪犯并不构成这种惩罚。 来自电影对白
• "By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder." 援助和唆使谋杀的塔利班政权与杀人犯同罪。 来自互联网

12 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

13 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。

14 glorified   

美其名的，变荣耀的

参考例句：

• The restaurant was no more than a glorified fast-food cafe. 这地方美其名曰餐馆，其实只不过是个快餐店而已。
• The author glorified the life of the peasants. 那个作者赞美了农民的生活。

15 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。