VOA常速英语2008年-Pakistan's Deposed Judges Freed From House Arre

By Steve Herman
Islamabad
24 March 2008

Pakistan's deposed¹ chief justice and other ousted² high court judges have been freed from house arrest. The move was ordered by the new prime minister. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from Islamabad this ratchets up tension between the incoming government and incumbent³ President Pervez Musharraf who has vowed⁴ the judges would never return to the bench.

Within minutes of a new prime minister being selected by Pakistan's parliament, it was clear that President Pervez Musharraf was losing more authority.

Mr. Yousuf Raza Gilani, in his first act as prime minister, ordered all deposed judges to be freed from house arrest. Barricades⁵ and barbed wire were moved aside in the judges' enclave in the capital.

The deposed chief justice of Pakistan and 60 other judges had been under house arrest in the compound and elsewhere for more than four months. Mr. Musharraf had replaced them with judges he considered less likely to invalidate his re-election as president. Mr. Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 military coup⁶, was also army chief when the election was held last October.

Reporters and lawyers on Monday evening rushed into the judges' residential⁷ compound in Islamabad and headed to the home of the deposed chief judge, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Appearing with members of his family and supporters on his front balcony, the deposed chief judge thanked the people of Pakistan for what he called the five-month-long struggle for the rule of law. Mr. Chaudhry called for events to move forward in a "decent manner."

Members of bar associations in Pakistan's major cities had repeatedly protested Mr. Musharraf's tampering⁸ with the judiciary. That resulted in sometimes-violent clashes with police.

But the dispute between the legal community and the unpopular president is not over, because the judges have not been reinstated.

The two anti-Musharraf parties, which are cooperating to form a coalition⁹ government, have pledged to reinstate the judges within a month.

That could force the embattled president from office if the judges get to rule Mr. Musharraf's re-election as president for another five-year term was unconstitutional.

1 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

4 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。

5 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

6 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

7 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

8 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。