VOA标准英语2009年-Serbia Pledges Cooperation Before Karadzic

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
25 October 2009

A stand-off is expected Monday between former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and the U.N. court in The Netherlands as the war crimes suspect says he will boycott¹ the start of the long-awaited trial. Serbia's Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic, has told VOA News his country will do "its utmost" to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
 
 
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is seen in the courtroom, in the Hague, Netherlands (File)
 
The U.N. Tribunal in The Hague wants Radovan Karadzic to face 11 charges Monday, including involvement in Europe's worst massacre² since World War II in Bosnia-Herzegovina, during the violent break-up of Yugoslavia.

Prosecutors³ say Karadzic was the architect of the killings⁴ of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian-Serb forces in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995, as part of an "ethnic-cleansing" campaign to keep areas under Serbian control. 

But the former Bosnian-Serb leader says he will not attend the official start of his trial because he had "not enough time to prepare his defense⁵." His lawyer claims he needs at least another nine months to prepare himself.

The court says it plans to start the trial anyway. Trial observers point out that judges could start proceedings⁶ without him or force the defendant⁷ or his counsel to appear.

Serbia's government extradited Karadzic to The Netherlands in 2008, 13 years after he was indicted⁸ for war crimes.

Prosecutors have expressed disappointment that another key suspect in the Srebrenica massacre, former Bosnian-Serb commander Ratko Mladic, remains⁹ at large, most likely in Serbia.

Speaking to VOA News in Budapest, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said Mladic will be extradited as soon as he is found, although he did not answer whether that may happen this year.

"If I knew how to answer this question, he would not have been at large," said Jeremic. "But what I can say in the context of the cooperation with The Hague, the government of Serbia is going to continue doing its utmost. This is something that we have been doing so far."

Minister Jeremic admits cooperation with The Hague tribunal is a key condition to realize the ambition of Serbia and other Balkan nations to join the European Union.

"I think that there is a widespread belief and understanding that this is precisely¹⁰ the way things are right now in Serbia," he said. "And I very much hope that this issue is no longer going to be an obstacle to the strategic process of integrating [the] Balkans into the European family of nations."

But there have been mixed feelings in Serbia about the trial of Karadzic and the apparent ongoing¹¹ search for Ratko Mladic. While some Serbs view it as a political trial by a "pro-Western" and "political court", others see it as the best way forward for Serbia after years of isolation¹². 

1 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

2 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

3 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。

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 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。

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 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

8 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。