VOA标准英语2008年-Former Bin Laden Driver Pleads Not Guilty at Gu

After months of arraignments and preliminary hearings in several cases, the first Guantanamo detainee to actually go on trial pleaded not guilty Monday as his case began in a make-shift courthouse not far from the detention² center where he has been held for more than six years. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.
　
Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, far left, sits flanked by his legal team inside the courtroom during a US Military Tribunal arraignment¹, at Guantanamo (File)

The trial will determine whether Salim Hamdan was just a lowly driver and mechanic, as his lawyers claim, or whether he worked closely with al-Qaida leader Osama bin³ Laden⁴ to plan and carry out terrorist attacks, as the military prosecutors⁶ claim. They say he had two surface-to-air missiles in the car he was driving, when he was captured in Afghanistan in November of 2001. Hamdan, who is a Yemeni in his late 30s, faces life in prison if he is convicted.

As the first U.S. war crimes since World War II began, the judge, Navy Captain Keith Allred, threw out some of the evidence against Hamdan, including statements he made while being held in Afghanistan six years ago, during a time his lawyers say he was mistreated. The judge allowed other disputed evidence to be used in the trial. He also instructed the prospective⁷ jury members, also U.S. military officers, that they must hear the evidence "impartially⁸" and start with the presumption⁹ that Hamdan is innocent - as is the case in all U.S. criminal trials.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman called the start of the trial "significant." "It's the beginning of the courtroom processes that will bring illegal combatants to justice for their acts. So it's an important day. But as you know with all these things there have been arraignments, there's been motions. But it is the beginning of the courtroom proceedings¹⁰ and what we call the trial on the merits. So it's a significant day."

The Hamdan trial began in spite of a U.S. Supreme¹¹ Court ruling last month that detainees at Guantanamo have the right to challenge their detention through U.S. civilian¹² courts. A lower court ruled last week that the military trials can continue while the civilian courts establish a process, and hear and rule on any challenges - a move that angered human rights groups.

Amnesty International called the ruling "a gross failure of the U.S. justice system." At Human Rights Watch, counter-terrorism advisor¹³ Stacy Sullivan calls the ruling "a big mistake," and says she does not expect the Military Commissions trials to be fair.

"I don't think there's any question what the outcome of the Military Commissions trials will be. They appear to be rigged from the get-go. There's just so much evidence showing that these are heavily politicized trials that are coming under a lot of pressure from the executive. There are so many things that are unfair toward the accused that there doesn't seem to be any question of what the outcome will be," Sullivan said.

Sullivan notes that one prosecutor⁵ resigned, claiming he was being pressured to issue indictments¹⁴ against the detainees, and she says military judges who criticized the process have been reassigned. She also says the all-military process will include unreliable evidence obtained through torture. With regard to Hamdan specifically, Sullivan says he is a "peasant" with a "fourth grade education" who worked as a driver for Osama bin Laden because he needed a job. She says he has cooperated with his American interrogators, and "the notion that he was part of the inner circle" of al-Qaida "seems pretty ridiculous."

Pentagon Spokesman, Bryan Whitman disagrees. "These are people that have conducted unlawful acts for which there is sufficient evidence to try them and hold them accountable for their crimes. There will be a full and fair trial at the military commission proceeding," he said.

A total of 20 of Guantanamo's remaining 265 detainees have been formally charged under the new Military Commissions process created by the Congress last year, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the previous process.

Officials say dozens more Guantanamo detainees will be charged, and many others will likely be released. Hundreds have already been released, and dozens of the current detainees have been approved for release, but are awaiting arrangements between the U.S. government and their home countries, or other countries that may agree to accept them.

 

1 arraignment   

n.提问，传讯，责难

参考例句：

• She was remanded to juvenile detention at her arraignment yesterday. 她昨天被送回了对少年拘留在她的传讯。 来自互联网
• Wyatt asks the desk clerk which courthouse he is being transferred to for arraignment. 他向接待警员询问了马宏将在哪个法庭接受传讯。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

5 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

6 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。

7 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

8 impartially   

adv.公平地，无私地

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• We hope that they're going to administer justice impartially. 我们希望他们能主持正义，不偏不倚。

9 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。

10 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

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

13 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

14 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网