VOA标准英语2008年-Jury Finds Bin Laden Driver Guilty of Supportin

A U.S. military jury at Guantanamo Bay has convicted Osama Bin¹ Laden's former driver of providing material support to terrorism, but acquitted² him on a charge of conspiracy³, which alleged⁴ he was a key member of the Al-Qaida terrorist network. Still, he could face life in prison as the military trial moves into its sentencing phase. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.
　
Sketch⁵ by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin, reviewed by US Military, shows defendant⁶ Salim Ahmed Hamdan, left, watching as FBI agent Craig Donnachie testifies about his interrogations, 24 Jul 2008

In this first Guantanamo case to go to trial, the six military officers split their verdict on the charges against Salim Hamdan, who the prosecution⁷ portrayed⁸ as a member of Bin Laden's inner circle and the defense⁹ claimed was a poor man who took a job as a driver in order to feed his family.

The 37-year-old who is reported to have only four years of schooling¹⁰ was found guilty, among other things, of transporting two surface-to-air missiles in the trunk of the car he was driving when he was captured in Afghanistan. That was during the U.S.-led invasion that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001. He was transferred to Guantanamo about six months later.

The verdict was delivered after eight hours of deliberation over three days at a multi-million-dollar legal complex built earlier this year on the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo, not far from the detention¹¹ center where Hamdan and hundreds of other alleged terrorists are held.

The U.S. military lawyers appointed to defend Hamdan claim he was abused while in custody¹², and that he cooperated with his interrogators. The Associated Press reports from Guantanamo that Hamdan put his head in his hands and wept as the verdict was read.

The military commissions process has been controversial since it was created by the U.S. Congress four years ago, and the original structure was struck down by the Supreme¹³ Court. It is the first such process the United States has conducted since World War II, and it is designed, in part, to ensure that U.S. military secrets are not revealed in the course of the trials.

While the Hamdan jury was deliberating, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said officials were pleased with how the two-week trial had been handled.

"We think that you've seen a fair and transparent¹⁴ process in which journalists were on hand, allowed to see the process, in which the defendant was offered a vigorous defense by his counsel, in which the prosecutor¹⁵ was able to make his case," Morrell said. "It was a good first effort, or so it seems at this point. And we hope it is the beginning of at least 20 additional trials that will hopefully take place sooner than later down there."

A White House statement Wednesday said the Hamdan trial was "fair" and said the military commissions process is "fair and appropriate." Human rights groups have a sharply different view.

"I don't think there's any way you could characterize it as a fair and open process," said
Stacy Sullivan of Human Rights Watch. Sullivan is just back from Guantanamo, where she and other activists¹⁶ were able to observe the Hamdan trial.

"I think the verdict in this trial was in before the trial even started," she said. "The military commissions lack such fundamental due process guarantees that we don't think that Hamdan ever actually had a chance to have a fair trial."

Sullivan says the court's security officer blocked observers from hearing much of the key evidence because the U.S. military classified it as secret, including some of the interrogation methods used on Hamdan.

Once the sentence is imposed, Hamdan can appeal the verdict to another military panel, and then to a U.S. civilian¹⁷ court. But whatever the sentence, Hamdan faces another obstacle to ever being released. A separate military process has determined¹⁸ that he is an "enemy combatant," and he would have to convince an annual review board that he is no longer a danger to the United States in order to become eligible¹⁹ for release.

About 265 alleged terrorists are in the same situation at Guantanamo. The Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Morrell, says a hundred or so may be released through the annual review process, and about 20 will be tried in military commissions. But he says the rest may be held for an indefinite period without being charged or tried.

"There is still a significant population within Guantanamo who will likely never be released because of the threat they pose to the world, for that matter," Morrell said.

The Pentagon says it either cannot get sufficient evidence against those detainees, or the evidence it has is so sensitive it cannot even be presented in secret to a military commission. Stacy Sullivan at Human Rights Watch rejects those arguments.

"If somebody is too dangerous to release, I don't think it should be too hard to find out why, gather information and build a case against them and charge them," Sullivan said. "We're not a country that holds people indefinitely without charge. It so fundamentally opposes American values."

Like other human rights groups, Human Rights Watch says all the detainees at Guantanamo should be either formally charged or released, and if they are charged they should be tried in regular U.S. civilian or military courts rather than the specially-created military commissions.

 

1 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。

2 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

3 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

4 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

5 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

6 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

7 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

8 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》

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 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

11 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。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

13 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。

14 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

15 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。

16 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》

17 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。

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

19 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。