VOA标准英语2009年-UN Tribunal Acquits Milutinovic of War Crimes,

The United Nations war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia has acquitted¹ a former Serbian president of atrocities² committed in Kosovo but jailed five others on Thursday. It was the court's first ruling on Serbian crimes committed during the Kosovo war a decade ago.
　
Milan Milutinovic entering the courtroom of the U.N. war crimes tribunal (2003 File Photo)

The Hague-based tribunal acquitted Serbian ex-president Milan Milutinovic of war crimes during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war and ordered him released from custody³. The court said he had no role in driving ethnic⁴ Albanians out of Kosovo. But the judged handed down sentences from 15 to 22 years to five others, including the former defense⁵ minister and army commanders of the ex-Yugoslavia.

The 66-year-old Milutinovic had been accused of involvement in the deportation⁶ of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, along with murder and persecution⁷.

Thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced during the Serb crackdown.

The Serbian forces were driven out in 1999 by a NATO air assault. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia last year.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said he had full trust in the court's verdict. But reactions in Belgrade were mixed. Natasa Kandic, executive director of the Humanitarian⁸ Law Centre, a Serbian rights group, hailed the fact that justice had been done.

Kandic said some of the highest representatives of state had been convicted and their prison terms were what she described as "long and relevant" compared to similar cases in Serbia.

But others, like this one Belgrade resident, were less complementary.

The resident said the prison sentences were handed to men and honorable soldiers who were defending Serbia from NATO attacks at the time - and that the verdict amounted to a punishment for all of Serbia.

All six men involved in the trial had been close allies of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who had also faced trial under the war crimes court. He died three years ago, before the trial ended.

1 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。

2 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 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。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 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。

6 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

7 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

8 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。