2007年VOA标准英语-Three-Man Team Appointed to Defend Former Liber

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
18 July 2007

A new team has been appointed to defend former Liberian president Charles Taylor. Mr. Taylor fired his original lawyer in the opening days of his trial last month. Selah Hennessy reports from VOA's West Africa bureau in Dakar.

London-based attorney Courtenay Griffiths has been named chief lawyer, along with two assistants, Andrew Cayley and Terry Munyard.

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor makes his first appearance at the Special Court in Freetown, in this 3 Apr 2006 file photo

Vincent Nmehielle is the principal defender¹ for the Special Court of Sierra Leone. He says Mr. Taylor has a strong team.

"Of course Mr. Courtenay Griffiths is one of the very formidable and leading QCs in the UK," he said. "Andrew Cayley comes with a robust² criminal international lawyer experience as well, and Terry Munyard also comes with quite a number of years of criminal advocacy."

 

He says many attorneys were interested in the case and met with Mr. Taylor, but the former president decided³ this team would be best suited to his case.

"Out of the many that saw Mr. Taylor he thought that these individuals bring quite a lot that will be very useful to his case," said Nmehielle.

Mr. Taylor fired his court-appointed defense⁴ lawyer, Karim Khan, at the beginning of his trial in June. He said the court had not provided him enough money to hire a strong defense team, capable of competing with the nine-member prosecution⁵.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is conducting the trial from The Hague, has since increased his defense funding to $100,000 a month - nearly three times the allowance given to other defense teams in the Special Court.

Nmehielle says the court agreed that a larger budget was needed to ensure Mr. Taylor is given a fair trial.

"The court looked into the objections raised by prior council in terms of adequacy of resources and fair trial," he said. "There was a good state effort in ensuring that more resources are made available and that is exactly what has happened."

But Alex Yearsley of the London-based non-governmental organization Global Witness, says Mr. Taylor has tried to manipulate the trial, and firing his original lawyer was merely a means of delaying proceedings⁶.

"I think it is very clear that that was a delaying tactic⁷ by Taylor to try and ensure that the trial basically takes as long as possible, but also so he can try and get some more money out of the court to pay for a defense team," he said.

He says that Mr. Taylor, who has said he has no money to pay for a defense, clearly has millions stashed⁸ away.

"Personally speaking, I think it is absolutely disgusting that someone like Taylor is getting public money from the U.N. and the tax payer to pay for his legal defense," Yearsley said. "He has more than enough money that he had stolen from Liberia and the Liberian people and I think he should pay for his own defense."

Mr. Taylor is accused of giving arms and support to Sierra Leonean rebel groups, in exchange for diamonds, during the country's decade-long civil war.

He has pleaded not guilty on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including mass murder, rape⁹, and the use of child soldiers. The trial is expected to resume August 20.

1 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

2 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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

7 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

8 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。