VOA标准英语2009年-5 Ethiopians Sentenced to Death

33 other people sentenced to life in prison for conspiring¹ to assassinate² public officials and topple the government

Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa 22 December 2009

 "The overall problem in the country is political and the solution is basically political. I do not condone³ any form of violence, but I do not believe that the solution is killing⁴ people." - UDJ spokesman Siye Abraha

An Ethiopian court has sentenced five men to death and 33 other people to life in prison for conspiring to assassinate public officials and topple the government. Two others received lesser⁵ sentences. Only one of those facing the death penalty was in the courtroom when the sentences were read.

A three-judge panel in Ethiopia handed down sentences to 39 men and one woman in the so-called Ginbot Seven, or May 15 conspiracy⁶ case.

The five sentenced to die are all civilians⁷ with connections to opposition⁸ political parties.  The others are mostly from Ethiopia's military services.

In handing down the sentences, chief judge Adem Ibrahim told the condemned⁹ men they should have learned lessons from previous convictions stemming from violence that followed Ethiopia's last national elections in May 2005.

 

 
AP
Dr. Berhanu Nega in his house in Lewisburg, Pa. Nega, an exiled opposition leader elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005, is an associate professor of economics at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania (April 2009 file photo)

Among those sentenced to die was Berhanu Nega.  He was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005, but never took office, and was among opposition leaders given life terms for inciting¹⁰ the post-election violence.

After being pardoned in 2007, Berhanu went to the United States, where he founded the May 15 movement, which calls Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government 'illegitimate' and advocates its ouster.  He is currently an economics professor at a university in Pennsylvania.

In interviews with VOA news, he has denied being part of any plot to assassinate officials or create public havoc¹¹.

Berhanu and three of the others sentenced to death were tried in absentia.  The only one present  to hear the sentence was Melaku Tefera, an organizer for the opposition Unity¹² for Democracy and Justice Party, whose founder¹³ Birtukan Mideksa is serving a life term in connection with  the 2005 violence.

After these latest sentences were handed down, UDJ spokesman Siye Abraha questioned the death penalty in what he called a 'political case.'

"The overall problem in the country is political and the solution is basically political.  I do not condone any form of violence, but I do not believe that the solution is killing people," he said.  "I think the problems we see here and there should be seen in the broader political context, and the fundamental solution to our problems, as they stand now, is opening the political space, and also in terms of reconciliation¹⁴ and amnesty."

Ethiopia's government has staunchly rejected allegations the case is political.  Justice Ministry¹⁵ spokesman Mekonnen Bezabeih says prosecutors¹⁶ presented clear evidence of a conspiracy to create public havoc and incite¹⁷ rebellion within Ethiopia's military.

"The court decides upon the evidences of the case and the law of the country, so at this time they may say, it just is a political case, but they saw that the court has got so [much] evidence, more than 85 personal evidences, witnesses, and we present more than 200 and above documents evidence, so this is not a political case but a pure, pure legal issue," he said.

Mekonnen said he was not sure whether the government would ask for extradition¹⁸ of those convicted in absentia.  A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Addis Ababa said there is currently no extradition treaty between the United States and Ethiopia.

The remaining 35 defendants¹⁹ are mostly current or former military officers, including two generals.  During the penalty phase of the trial, many had asked for clemency²⁰, saying they were decorated combat veterans who had proven their loyalty²¹ to the country.

All were sentenced to life in prison except for two army majors who admitted guilt²² and testified for the prosecution²³.  They were given 10 years at hard labor²⁴. 

Defense²⁵ attorneys for several of the defendants said they plan to appeal the sentences.  But they said the appeals process could take years.
 

1 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

2 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

3 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

6 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

11 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

12 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

13 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

14 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

15 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

16 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。

17 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

18 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。

19 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

20 clemency   

n.温和，仁慈，宽厚

参考例句：

• The question of clemency would rest with the King.宽大处理问题，将由国王决定。
• They addressed to the governor a plea for clemency.他们向州长提交了宽刑的申辨书。

21 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

22 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

23 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。

24 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

25 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。