VOA标准英语10月-Thai Court Sentences Thaksin to 2 Years in Jail

Thailand's Supreme¹ Court has found former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty of a conflict of interest involving a land deal his wife arranged. As Ron Corben reports from Bangkok, Thai prosecutors² say they will ask for Thaksin's extradition³ from Britain.
　

Judges of supreme court take up position before verdict of ousted4 Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 21 Oct 2008, in Bangkok

A Supreme Court justice reads the verdict, saying the court has sentenced Thaksin Shinawatra to two years in jail and dismissed the case against his wife. He says a new arrest warrant has been issued for Thaksin.

In a five-to-four ruling, the judges found Thaksin violated conflict of interest laws in 2003 when his wife Pojaman Shinawatra purchased land from a government fund.

The court cleared Pojaman of all charges associated with the deal. Neither Thaksin nor his wife were in court. They fled to Britain in August after she was convicted on another charge. Prosecutors say they will use the new verdict in a requesting that Britain extradite Thaksin immediately.

This is just one of several corruption⁶ cases filed against Thaksin for actions while he was in office. He was overthrown⁷ in a coup⁸ in September 2006.

Other pending⁹ cases include allegations of corruption in the construction of Bangkok's new airport and conflicts of interest in arranging assistance to Burma's military government.

Human Rights Watch Thailand representative Sunai Pasuk says the verdict is a major step in Thailand's efforts to counter corruption in government.
　

Thaksin Shinawatra (File photo)

"The decision on Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife will serve as a reaffirmation of a new principle in Thai politics that is corrupted¹⁰ politicians will be held accountable for their misconduct, no matter how long it will take or how much the political cost that the decision will render," said Sunai.

Thaksin and Pojaman have denied wrongdoing and accuse the courts of bias¹¹.

In comments from Britain, Thaksin said he had "long anticipated" the outcome of the case.

Thaskin has been a divisive figure in Thai politics since becoming prime minister in 2001. He is highly popular among the urban working class and rural poor because of policies that addressed their concerns, such as low-cost health care.

On the other hand, urban middle class and political elite¹² consider Thaksin and his allies to be corrupt⁵ and authoritarian¹³. Months of protests in 2006 led to the coup that ousted him, but his allies in the People Power Party won national elections late last year.

For months this year, the People's Alliance for Democracy has led massive protests, demanding that the PPP government resign because, the protesters say, it acts on Thaksin's behalf.

In August, the PAD occupied the main government administration building. Efforts to negotiate an end to the siege fell apart after two protesters died when riot police tried to disperse¹⁴ a crowd around Parliament on October 7.

Political analysts¹⁵ expect the verdict will do little to ease the political tensions . There were fears that the court's decision could spark violent clashes between Thaksin's supporters and critics. But Bangkok was calm in the hours immediately after the verdict.

1 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。

2 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。

3 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

8 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

9 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

10 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

11 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

12 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

13 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

14 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。