VOA常速英语2007年-Chadian Authorities Release 4 More Europeans in

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
09 November 2007

A lawyer representing the airplane crew involved in an illegal adoption¹ case in Chad says the three Spanish crew members and Belgian pilot have been released. The four had faced charges of complicity in an alleged² attempt by a private humanitarian³ group to fly more than 100 African children to foster families in France. For VOA, Naomi Schwarz has more on the story from Dakar.

Jean-Bernard Padare, a lawyer for the Spanish crew members and the Belgian pilot, told VOA by phone from Chad's capital N'Djamena, that the crew will return home Friday. He said he left the Spanish men with their ambassador Friday morning, and a special plane was flying them to Spain.

The Belgian pilot, who suffered heart problems on Thursday night, had been transferred to a French military base. Padare said is being transported in a separate, medical plane, with a doctor on board.

The four men were released after being arrested along with six workers from French charity Zoe's Ark on October 25. Zoe's Ark came to Chad three months ago, they said to rescue orphans⁴ from the Darfur conflict in neighboring Sudan. They say they planned to fly the children to France to be placed with foster families.

But Chad authorities said the children were not orphans and had been abducted⁵. The children have told aid workers from the Red Cross and the United Nations they have families. The children are still in the care of the aid workers who are searching for their relatives.

Defense⁶ lawyer Padare said testimony⁷ from Zoe's Ark's detained leader confirmed the aircrew did not have any role in the organization's activities in Chad. Padare said the judge ruled the crew members were there simply to operate the aircraft; and in the end, since they were arrested before the plane took off, the crew did not even transport any children.

Padare said the judge is still investigating whether the aircrew's boss, who signed the contract with Zoe's Ark, was aware of what the organization was planning. He said the crew member's release is provisional. Spanish authorities have promised if the judge needs to question the men again, they will return to Chad.

But Padare said he believes, for the aircrew, the ordeal⁸ is over. And he said the four men are very relieved. They were overcome with emotion, he said, because they were very upset to be considered part of a plot to hurt children, when in fact they had no idea what was going on.

The six French aid workers still face kidnapping charges in Chad. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked they be released to face trial in France. If convicted in Chad they could face between 5 and 20 years of forced labor⁹.

1 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

2 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

3 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。

4 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

5 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

6 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。

7 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。

8 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。