VOA标准英语2008年-Corruption Trial of ANC Leader Set to Begin in

The long anticipated trial of African National Congress president Jacob Zuma on charges ranging from corruption¹ to racketeering will get under way next week in KwaZulu Natal². VOA's Delia Robertson reports from our bureau in Johannesburg the trial will open with an application by Zuma for a permanent stay of prosecution³.

Three years after Jacob Zuma was formally charged with two charges of corruption flowing out of the conviction of his legal advisor⁴ on similar charges, his trial will get under way. However, he will now face 16 charges ranging from corruption to racketeering to money laundering⁵.

The case flows from the conviction in 2005 of Zuma's former financial advisor of corruption and fraud. Shabir Shaik, the financial advisor, was convicted of soliciting⁶ an annual bribe⁷ of $67,000 for Zuma, from a French arms company as protection against graft⁸ charges in South Africa's military refurbishment program. He was also convicted of paying Zuma $200,000 to advance Shaik's business interests.

At the time he was originally charged Zuma said he hoped for a speedy trial. However, in the intervening period he has launched dozens of court bids to halt the case or to prevent prosecutors⁹ from using evidence they have gathered. So far, five judges have ruled in his favor; but 31 judges decided¹⁰ against him.

The latest such ruling came Thursday from the Constitutional Court, the final arbiter¹¹ in cases involving constitutional matters and citizens' rights under the constitution. Zuma had asked the court to rule that the seizure¹² of some 93,000 documents by the National Prosecuting¹³ Authority from him and his legal advisors¹⁴ was unconstitutional because investigators¹⁵ had violated his rights in the search and seizure operations and that the warrants were inappropriately approved by a senior judge.

In a 9-1 decision read by Chief Justice Pius Langa, the court dismissed Zuma's application.

"The terms of the warrants were neither over-broad nor unduly¹⁶ vague and were therefore intelligible¹⁷ as the law required," he said. "This court held that it was not an unjustifiable infringement¹⁸ of Mr. Zuma's dignity."

The Chief Justice upheld the right of appeal in such matters, but warned that all courts should discourage litigation prior to criminal trials that appears to have no purpose other than to delay the commencement of those trials.

When the trial opens Monday, Zuma's lawyers will file an application for a permanent stay of prosecution, arguing once again that his rights have been violated. If that application succeeds, Zuma will leave court knowing that it will be unlikely that he will ever face in court, the charges against him. If his application fails, the trial will commence and Zuma will get his chance to answer those charges.

 

 

1 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。

2 natal   

adj.出生的，先天的

参考例句：

• Many music-lovers make pilgrimages to Mozart's natal place.很多爱好音乐的人去访问莫扎特的出生地。
• Since natal day,characters possess the visual elements such as dots and strokes.文字从诞生开始便具有了点画这样的视觉元素。

3 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。

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 soliciting   

v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求

参考例句：

• A prostitute was soliciting on the street. 一名妓女正在街上拉客。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• China Daily is soliciting subscriptions. 《中国日报》正在征求订户。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

8 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

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 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。

11 arbiter   

n.仲裁人，公断人

参考例句：

• Andrew was the arbiter of the disagreement.安德鲁是那场纠纷的仲裁人。
• Experiment is the final arbiter in science.实验是科学的最后仲裁者。

12 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

13 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

14 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 unduly   

adv.过度地，不适当地

参考例句：

• He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
• He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

17 intelligible   

adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的

参考例句：

• This report would be intelligible only to an expert in computing.只有计算机运算专家才能看懂这份报告。
• His argument was barely intelligible.他的论点不易理解。

18 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯