VOA标准英语2008年-First Prosecution Witness Testifies in Charles

By Lauren Comiteau
The Hague
07 January 2008

After months of delay, the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor resumed with prosecutors¹ calling their first witness - a Canadian diamond and development expert who testified how diamonds fuel war. Taylor is being tried for murder, rape², and conscripting child soldiers in neighboring Sierra Leone. Lauren Comiteau is at the special court in The Hague and files this report.

That the first witness is a conflict- or blood-diamond expert, underscores the heart of the prosecution's case - that Charles Taylor terrorized neighboring Sierra Leone in order to appropriate its diamond wealth for his own ends.

Taylor looked relaxed as Canadian Ian Smillie took the stand and told judges why African leaders like Charles Taylor needed the diamonds. He called the gemstones the "most concentrated form of wealth on earth."

"They are very small, they are high value, they are easy to move, they hold their price, historically they have held their price very well," he said. "So they have become a - not so much today, but in the 1990s, the period we are talking about - they were an alternative to hard currency in countries where there was no hard currency or where people wanted to hide the movement of money."

Smillie says Sierra Leone has far more - and better quality - diamonds than Liberia, which is where Charles Taylor ruled, but not where his alleged³ crimes were committed. Judges saw photos of an airplane filled with crates⁴ that allegedly contained weapons smuggled⁶ from the Ukraine into Liberia, despite a U.N. arms embargo⁷ on the country.

Smillie says Charles Taylor told him he had nothing to do with trafficking in stolen diamonds, that many people misused⁸ Liberia's name to smuggle⁵ them, and it was out of his control. But defense⁹ lawyers tried to discredit¹⁰ some of Smillie's other testimony¹¹ as gossip and rumor¹².

Smillie is one of eight experts expected to testify in the coming months, along with former Taylor associates and victims of the militias¹³ he allegedly supported. Those armed groups became infamous¹⁴ for hacking¹⁵ off limbs.

Taylor, who boycotted¹⁶ the start of his trial in June, saying it would not be fair, has been getting about $100,000 a month from the court for his defense, despite beliefs he is hiding a fortune.

Prosecutors have 144 witnesses lined up - half are expected to testify here, and half in writing. They have to prove that Mr. Taylor supported the rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone in their terror campaign, in which tens-of-thousands of people were killed.

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 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

3 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

4 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

5 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

6 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

7 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

8 misused   

v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had grossly misused his power. 他严重滥用职权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

11 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

12 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

13 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

14 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

15 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

16 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。