VOA常速英语2008年-Khmer Rouge's Brother Number 2 Back in Court in

By Rory Byrne
Phnom Penh
07 February 2008

The Khmer Rouge¹'s former second-in-command, Nuon Chea, has been back in court, facing charges of crimes against humanity and other offenses² committed during the communist rule of Cambodia 30 years ago. Nuon Chea has asked to be released on bail³ because of poor health and legal questions surrounding his arrest. Rory Byrne reports from Phnom Penh.

This was Nuon Chea's second appearance in court in just three days. His first bail hearing was cut short over a dispute concerning the legal status of one of his two foreign defense⁴ lawyers.

That problem was quickly resolved and Nuon Chea was in court Thursday accompanied by both his foreign and Cambodian lawyers.

Known as Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea is believed to have been the chief ideologue of the secretive Khmer Rouge and right-hand man to leader Pol Pot, who died in 1998. Almost two million Cambodians died under the Khmer Rouge's rule from starvation, overwork and execution.

Appearing upbeat and alert, the 81-year-old listened intently to the proceedings⁵ through a set of earphones and conferred regularly with his lawyers.

Peter Foster is the spokesman for the United Nations' tribunal staff. He says the speed with which Nuon Chea's bail hearing was rescheduled shows the determination of court officials to push the tribunal process forward.

"The hearing was recalled the very next day - actually with less than 24 hours notice," Foster said. "I think that shows that the court, and the government of Cambodia, and everybody involved in the process, does not want to see any delay whatsoever⁶ and I think it bodes⁷ very well for the future of the process."

Nuon Chea's lawyers asked for bail because of his poor health and what they say were technical mistakes made during his arrest. They also argue that he was not fully⁸ informed of his rights when he agreed to speak with tribunal authorities after his arrest without his lawyer present.

The prosecutors⁹ argue that freeing him could pose a threat to public order.   

A decision on the bail application is not expected for about a week and Noun Chea will remain in his prison cell.

He is the second former Khmer Rouge leader to appear in court so far. Cases against at least four other prominent leaders are being prepared.

The creation of the joint¹⁰ United Nations-Cambodian tribunal was delayed for years because of funding and wrangling¹¹ over legal issues.

As a result, many Khmer Rouge officials have long since died. Some of their victims fear none of the Khmer Rouge will ever be brought to justice for the abuses that occurred when the group tried to impose an extreme form of agrarian¹² society on the country.

Foster, the U.N. spokesman, also said Thursday that the tribunal has asked for new donations of $114 million, on top of the $56 million already donated for the court. The additional money would allow the tribunal to operate until 2011.

1 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

2 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

3 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

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 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

6 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

7 bodes   

v.预示，预告，预言( bode的第三人称单数 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待

参考例句：

• This bodes ill for the failure of the programme. 这是那项计划有凶兆。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This bodes him no good. 这对他是不祥之兆。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 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。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

12 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。