VOA标准英语2009年-Scottish Law Chief Denounces Convicted Loc

By Tom Rivers
London
19 September 2009

 
Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in his room, in Tripoli international hospital, Libya, 09 Sep 2009
Scotland's chief prosecutor¹ has denounced convicted Lockerbie bomber² Abdel Baset al-Megrahi for posting the first of hundreds of documents onto his Web site. Megrahi - who is terminally ill with cancer - says the documents will prove his innocence³ in the 1988 attack that killed 270 people.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of bombing Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, posted the 353-pages of legal arguments on the Internet Friday. 

The documents come from an appeal against his 2001 conviction, which was dropped just before he was released from a Scottish jail on compassionate⁴ grounds last month. He is dying of prostate cancer. 

One of his Scottish lawyers, Tony Kelly, says this first batch⁵ of documents is what would have been submitted if an appeal had gone forward. They relate to the identification process and other evidence the prosecution⁶ had used to link Megrahi to the bombing in the original trial held at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in 2001.

"I think the tragedy is he had to compromise upon the attempts to clear his name in order to smooth the path home to Libya," said Kelly. "Now that does not mean to say that he gives up on the fact that he is innocent. He protested that even when he was leaving and he continues to do so."

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission had found enough doubt surrounding some evidence presented in that trial to recommend the case merited an appeal.

Scotland's most senior prosecutor Elish Angiolini maintains a court is the only appropriate forum⁷ for determining guilt⁸ or innocence and she says she deplores⁹ Megrahi's efforts to put his information out into the public domain¹⁰ via the Internet.

She says the release of such material in this manner represents a selective view of the evidence in the media.

Megrahi's release in August and the festive¹¹ welcome he received upon returning to his native Libya drew international outrage¹² and strong protest from U.S. and other world leaders. 

The former Libyan intelligence agent was sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison by a specially¹³ convened¹⁴ Scottish Court in The Netherlands in 2001, but he always proclaimed his innocence.

 

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

3 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

4 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

5 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

6 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。

7 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

8 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。

9 deplores   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He often deplores his past sins. 他经常痛悔自己过去的罪恶。 来自辞典例句
• Regretting the lack of spontaneity and real sensuousness in other contemporary poets, he deplores in Tennyson. 他对于和他同时代的诗人缺乏自发性和真实的敏感，感到惋惜，他对坦尼森感到悲痛。 来自辞典例句

10 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

11 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

12 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

13 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

14 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。